The Temple

If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings chapter 7. 1 Kings chapter 7. It sounded like amen to me. I don't know if anybody else heard that or not, but that's what I heard. It sounded like amen to me. So tonight, what we're going to talk about mainly is the Bible. The temple. In chapter 7 and 8, that really is kind of the theme. We'll talk a little bit about some

of the other construction projects of Solomon, but really the rest of chapter 7 is the construction of the temple, and then all of chapter 8 is the dedication of the temple. A fantastic scene in all of scripture. And so we pick up in chapter 7 with the other construction projects of Solomon, and it starts like this. Now Solomon was building his own house for 13 years, and he finished. He finished building his own house for 13 years, and he finished building his own house for 13 years,

and he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was 100 cubits, and its width 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars, and it was paneled with cedar above with the side chambers, which were on the 45 pillars, 15 in each row. There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three ranks, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and

the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and the door was opposite window in three rows, and all the doorways and the doorposts squared artistic frames, and and it was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.

His house where he was to live, the other court inward from the hall, was of the same workmanship, and he also made a house like this for the hall, like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had married. All these were costly, stones of stone cut according to the measure sawed with saws inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court. The foundation was of costly stones, even large stones, stones of 10 cubits, stones of 8 cubits, and above were costly stones, stone cut according to the measure in cedar. So the great court all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams, even as the inner court of the house of the Lord, the porch of the house.

So those are some other construction projects of Solomon. He built his own house, and Solomon gets a little bit of criticism here because if you were to look back at the end of the last chapter, it says it took him seven years to build the temple, and then in the very beginning of this chapter it says it took him 13 years to build the temple. And so there's two ways that you can look at that. Either one, he cared a whole lot more about his house than he did the temple, or he cared a whole lot more about getting the temple done faster than the house.

Either way, it's an episode of HGTV, the first half of this chapter, so we're not going to spend a whole lot of time on that. But that's what he built. Now what I want to get into is these temple furnishings. And again, we're just going to kind of breeze through this because if you've looked over these chapters, they're incredibly long. But I think were we able to get that up there?

There it is. Okay, so that's what I was hoping to get up there last week with the temple. So this gives a cutout kind of of what it would have looked like inside of the temple. So if you go all the way to the left side of the screen, left side of the screen, you'll see where the Ark of the Covenant would be, and you can kind of see those two angels. I hope you can see it.

And that's where those cherubim would be, and then you've got that inner sanctuary, or that kind of outer sanctuary where like the table of showbread and the lampstand and all that would be. And then you've got this... this outer court out here. And so the inside of the temple is kind of what we talked about last week in the building of it. And you can see just the fantastic amount of gold

that covered the entire inside of that place. Like you can just imagine with the lampstands glowing in there, like walking in, it's just like the Shekinah glow of like light off of all of that gold. It just would have been fantastic to see. And so we're going to talk a little bit about what's on the outside. Now, it says in verse 13, Now King Solomon sent and brought,

Hiram from Tyre, and he was a widow's son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. And so he came to King Solomon and performed all of his work. Now, before we get into the things that this guy is going to do, which we really are just going to kind of breeze through really quickly.

We're not even going to read all of it. I want to point something out to you. So this guy that they go and get from Tyre, his name is Hiram. But he's not the king of Tyre. This is a different guy. Same name. And some of your translations may even say Huram, H-U-R-A-M. And then some of the other ones say Hiram. Same guy. But this guy is known as something. And I think it's kind of fantastic the way that it puts it here

because it says he was filled with wisdom, middle of verse 14, and understanding and skill to do any work in bronze. Now, as I read that and was thinking, I thought back to when the, when the tabernacle was being built. And if you remember when the tabernacle was being built, there was a couple of fellas who were craftsmen. And it says that they were filled with God's spirit in order to be able to do the work that needed to be done, even though they were craftsmen.

And this guy is sort of similar, that the wording is very similar. He was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to do this work. And it reminded me of something. Sometimes we view spiritual work as like, like the thing that the pastor does or the thing that the missionary does or the, or the, or the thing that the Sunday school teacher, we forget that, that all work is spiritual work if done with the right heart.

All work is spiritual work if empowered by the Lord. And sometimes we don't think about the physical things that we do, the, the physical ways that we serve as being really spiritual work. But, but I am reminded that, that there's probably a good number of, of people in this church that maybe don't feel qualified to do something like teach a Bible study. But, but that doesn't mean that the work that you do is not spiritual.

I'm, I'm so blessed. I'm blessed by people that have giftings and talents that I do not. I couldn't fix the car if my life depended on it. If I was sitting and looking at a car, I would just be like, well, that's a bummer, right? Like that car doesn't work and that's, I'm going to have to call someone, right? And so I'm so glad that God has gifted some of you in here

with the ability to fix the car, right? Because that's, that's spiritual work, especially for a guy like me who looks at it and goes, man, that's an engine, all right. Like they do this thing over across from the coffee shop on Saturdays. And I, and I see the advertisement for it. And I'm like, I wonder what that is. And so one day I looked to see what it was.

It's called cars and coffee. I'm like, I like coffee. So I went, it's like, and it's just, there's just cars out there and they've got their hoods up and, and everybody's standing around and, and they're talking about the engine. And I remember just thinking, the only thing I would be able to say is, it's a good dark roast that you've got there. I have no idea what's going on under the hood,

but I know exactly what's going on in that cup right now, right? That's my, be my only contribution to the conversation. So I'm so blessed that God has given people these skills and abilities. So those of you that are in this room that, that think, I don't have any spiritual ability because all God has given me the ability to do is something with my hands. I want you to know that's still spiritual ability because God has filled you

with the wisdom. God has filled you with the skill. God has filled you with the understanding to be able to do those things. And if done for the Lord, that's about as spiritual as it gets, right? And so God has filled this guy with the ability to do these things. And he undertakes the task of putting together all of the things that will go on the outside. Of the temple.

So the first thing that it talks about, again, we're just going to breeze through this, okay? The first thing that it talks about in verses 15 through 22 is it talks about these pillars. Can I get the map back up there again? Or that picture back up there again? Those pillars. You can see one of them right there, just a, just a gigantic pillar that is in bronze and it's covered in the top with

really artistic things. And there's like a, a, a, a lily on top of it. And, and those two, those two great big beams. And the one thing I want to point out to you about these, these pillars that are at the very front of, the nave of this building is in verse 21. I want you to notice what it says. Thus he set up the pillars at the porch of the nave. And he set up the right pillar and he named it Jaquine.

And he set up the left pillar and he named it Boaz. And on the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished. Now I find it fascinating that those pillars were so immense, so enormous. Remember we said that this was an incredibly tall building that was made, probably four or five stories high, like really, high, right? These pillars were so immense that they gave them names,

right? Like that's, this is actually what they called these pillars. Only there's some fascinating things about these names. First of all, the, the, the name Jaquine means he establishes or he will establish it. The name Boaz means in him is strength. Now I think that this is kind of neat because these are the pillars that hold up the front of the temple where everybody can go in.

And so if you will, the, the temple is built upon, the foundation or the thing that holds it up is the fact that he will establish it and he is the strength. And that's a really good reminder for us that whether it's the temple or whether it's the church or whether it's your life, if it's going to stand firm, he must establish it and he must be your strength. And there's something for us to learn there. And that's that we are reminded that our lives in Christ are both established by Christ and they are empowered by Christ.

In other words, he who began a good work in you, he established it, will be faithful to complete it because he is your strength. And I think that that's kind of interesting that that's what they named those. And there's this beautiful picture that this temple is established and strengthened by none other than God himself. And so we see those two pillars that are, that are built.

The next thing that we see is, is we see the sea. Literally, it says in verse 23, now, he made a sea of cast metal. That's that big pool looking thing right there. It looks like a swimming pool sitting on a bunch of cattle. That's because it is basically a swimming pool sitting on a bunch of cattle. Um, it's actually the sea and inside of that, uh, it was all made of bronze and that's where the priest would have cleansed themselves in order to go and do the work of the ministry.

And it sits on, um, on those, uh, 16 oxen that are there. They're not real oxen. They're made of bronze. But inside of that, that sea is about 12,000 gallons of water. That's about how much that holds. Now I looked up to find out how much water is there in the average home swimming pool and the average home swimming pool. There's anywhere between 15,000 and 30,000 gallons of water.

So it's like a small home swimming pool. That's how big that thing is. So that gives you any perspective on, on the size of that sea. And again, that's where the priests would cleanse themselves. And it was just simply known as the sea. And then he talks about these 10 stands. That's kind of the next thing it says, um, in verse 27 it says he made 10 stands of bronze.

These were, these were other places where we're washing ceremonial washings would take place in the washing of animals would take place. You may notice just to the left of the sea, there's a bunch of little carts there. Those are called the stands and on top of them each was a basin of water and they would use that for the washing of the different sacrifices and things. And if you want to find out an incredible amount of information, information about how those were fashioned informed and exactly what they look like, you should go back later and read that.

So and then um, and then he in verse 40, he starts talking about all of the different different implements, the basins and the shovels and the bowls and and all those kinds of things. Again, things that would be good for you to go back and look at, but we're not going to spend a lot of time talking about here. Then in verse 51, see how quickly we buzz through 51 verses. It says, thus all the work that King Solomon, that King Solomon performed and the house of the Lord was finished and Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father, the silver, the gold and the utensils and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

Now you can imagine what it's like at this point in time, right? I don't know if you've ever really been a part of a construction project, but having worked in construction, I was a part of a lot of these. And at the very end, you know all the things maybe are being made by different vendors or or or by different subcontractors. And and and the week that everything gets moved in is just a crazy week, right?

Because everybody's bringing all their things in and and the statues are getting put up and all the decorations are getting put up. And there's and there's so much a buzz around a construction site when everything's finally getting put in there. And it's just a fantastic time to be. There's it's kind of exciting like finally the circus is going away and everything's going back to normal and and it's just a really exciting time.

And and I imagine what it would have been like with the construction of this temple that finally, everything's done, you know, seven years that it takes them to do this. Finally, everything's done and it's time to bring all of the things in some things that have been fashioned for a very long time, perhaps some things that were even taken out of the tabernacle. And now it's time. Now it's time to dedicate the temple.

You can imagine the excitement that surrounded it. The excitement for Solomon, who is finally seeing something that he had heard his dad talk about for years is finally about to hit that place of of culmination. All of the Children of Israel who keep. Checking in on the job side who keep checking in on things that are going on. They finally get to see things happen and in chapter eight we see the dedication of the temple.

So it starts off in chapter eight verse one. He says this then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the father's households of the sons of Israel, King Solomon in Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion and all. The men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month and all the Israel, all the elders of Israel came and the priest took up the Ark. They brought up the Ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent and the priests and the Levites brought them up and King Solomon

and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him were with them before the Ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be. They counted or numbered. Then the priest brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place into the inner sanctuary of the house to the most holy place under the wings of the cherubim for the cherubim spread their wings over the Ark and the cherubim made a covering of the over the Ark and its poles from above the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside and they are there to this day. There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone,

which Moses put there at Horeb where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land and it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. And then Solomon said the Lord has said that he would dwell in the thick cloud. I have surely built you a lofty house, a place for your dwelling forever. So as we see this dedication of the temple take place, the first thing that we see is the bringing of the Ark into the temple.

Again, all of the people are there, right? They call in all of the elders, all of the leaders, all of the dignitaries, if you will, everybody showed up, right? So picture it in your mind, kind of see how this goes because this feels a little cold and scientific the way that it says it here, but this was a huge celebration. After all, there's more sacrifice.

There's more sacrifice being made than can be counted. That's the kind of celebration that's going on because the Ark is being brought into the temple. The presence of God is going to fill the temple. And so everyone's there, the ribbon-cutting is taking place, right? They have the giant scissors and everyone follows this procession. And I want you to pay attention to the fact that Solomon does the procession correctly

because the poles are there. You remember the first time David tried to bring the Ark of the Covenant to where it belonged? It had been taken by the Philistines and he was finally getting it back to where it belonged, only he didn't pay attention. He didn't pay attention to the rules and so instead of paying attention to the rules, he put it on a cart instead of using the poles and then Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark and he was put to death and David got all kind of huffy about it and God's like, if you'd have done it right, we wouldn't have had this problem.

So David looked it up and they finally did it right. Solomon wasn't going to have that problem. They put the poles through the way that they're supposed to and they're carrying the Ark of the Lord. And you can imagine the procession, the parade, the excitement. As there are sacrifices that are taking place, you can imagine that there's probably singing, there's probably dancing, and there's great excitement as the elders are following this procession

greater than any parade you've ever seen to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the temple. And perhaps they're following the whole way and they bring the Ark of the Covenant into the temple and of course, once you hit the doorway of the temple, nobody can go in there, right? The only ones that can go in there are the priests. No one else is allowed in. So the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant and they set it down between where those two angels were sitting

and that Ark of the Covenant sits there and they come back. The veil comes in front of it and it says that this cloud of the Lord filled the temple. A cloud so thick that nobody could see. As a matter of fact, the priests weren't able to minister. All they could do was back away and get out of the temple because the glory of the Lord had filled the temple. And Solomon, sort of in celebration, says, God himself has said he will dwell in a thick cloud.

It's fascinating to see how that cloud was always present with the children of Israel. From the moment that God truly began to guide the nation of Israel, that cloud was present. Remember the first time that we saw that cloud? The children of Israel were at the edge of the Red Sea and they were being pursued by Pharaoh and his army. And as they were being pursued by Pharaoh and his army, a cloud came between them and the army.

That presence of God protected them from Pharaoh's army until they had completely crossed over the Red Sea on dry land. And once they did, the cloud was removed and the Egyptian army was dealt with. The next time that we see the cloud is it was guiding them as a protection by day and, of course, a pillar of fire by night. The next time that we really see this cloud is when the tabernacle was dedicated.

And it says that the cloud settled upon the tabernacle because God's presence was there. That cloud of God's presence was always visible to the nation of Israel. It's how they knew when to move. It's how they knew how to stay. They always followed that cloud because that presence of God was always with them. And you can imagine the joy that filled Solomon's heart and the joy that filled all of the children of Israel's heart

as they saw that cloud settle upon the temple. And they said, the presence of God is here. We've heard about it our entire lives. We've heard all of the stories. And now God is here among us. Can you imagine the overwhelming excitement that this was? And in all of this excitement, of the cloud settling upon this place so thick that no one can see and the priest can't even minister,

Solomon stands up to dedicate this temple. In verse 14 it says, And then the king faced about, and he blessed all of the assembly of Israel. And while the assembly of Israel was standing, and he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father David, and has fulfilled it with his hand, saying, Since the day that I brought my people Israel from Egypt I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that my name might be there, but I chose David to be over my people Israel. And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

But the Lord said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, You did well. That it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build me a house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for my name. And now the Lord has fulfilled the word which he spoke. For I have risen in place of my father and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised.

And have built the house of the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. There I have set the place for the ark, which is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers when he brought them from the land of Egypt. I'd like you to notice how he begins this dedication of the temple. He begins by reminding himself and all of God's people that God is the God who keeps his promises.

That God is always the God who does what he says he's going to do. He said, my father David, he wanted to build. He said, I'm going to build a house for God. And God's like, that's a great idea, but it's not yours to do. But because that's what you wanted to do, because that's what was in your heart, I'm going to build you a house. As a matter of fact, your son is going to go on to build a house for me.

And God has kept his promise. You know, I think one of the greatest ways that we can start off our prayers is to remind ourselves of the promises that God has kept for us. To remind ourselves of how many things we can do. To remind ourselves of how many things that God has done that he said that he was going to do. As a matter of fact, I think a really good thing for us to do in our lives is to go back and recount those times when God has kept his promises.

Because we're a short-term memory sort of people, right? Like, what have you done for me lately? And we forget what God has done. And we go, Lord, why do you have me in this position now? And he says, no, wait a second. I want you to think about everything that I've done for you up to this point in time. And as we recount those promises that God has kept for us, we're going to be able to do that.

And as we recount those promises that God has made to us, and as we recount those promises that God has kept for us, we are reminded of what God in the future will do for us. Because God's past promises are reminders of God's present faithfulness. And that's what Solomon kind of reminds himself of. And he reminds the people of that, listen, what you're seeing in front of you right now is the promise of God being fulfilled.

It's the promise of God being kept. Because that's the faithful God that we serve, the God that keeps his promises. And as he does so, he moves into this prayer of dedication. It says, And then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel. And he spread out his hands towards heaven. And he said, And he said, And he said,

And he said, Kind of the second thing that Solomon does when he begins this prayer is he reminds himself and God's people of God's unchanging nature. That he is the God who is the God in heaven above. He is the God. who is the God over the earth beneath, and he is the God who never changes, the God who always remains faithful to us. And I love the posture of Solomon at this point in time. Did you pick up on

this? Solomon stood before the altar in the presence of the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands towards heaven. There's just something about putting your hands up and and presenting yourself to the Lord. There's just something about that surrender in your prayers to the Lord. Now we're going to find that Solomon finds himself in a couple of different positions.

He's going to be standing with his hands up, and pretty soon he's going to be kneeling. And so there's really no right or wrong position for prayer, but there is something to be said to paying attention to these kinds of things and allowing the Spirit to lead. I have a question for you. Do you ever just take and put your hands up before the Lord with nobody else around you and just complete surrender to him?

Just think about it. There's something important about that in our lives, because we can have this guarded position when it comes to God, and he's looking for open hearts and open hands when it comes to accepting what he has for us. So Solomon reminds himself and the people of God's unchanging nature, and he goes on in verse 25 to say, Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised, saying, You shall not lack a man, to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your son takes heed to walk before me as you have walked. Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word, I pray, be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant, my father David.

The third thing that he does is he claims God's promises. He claims God's promises for himself. Now, there's an entire movement out there that is completely unbiblical, and it's called the name it and claim it movement. It's called positive confession. Well, if you want that thing, you need to name that thing, and you need to claim that in God's presence. And that's not what Solomon's doing here.

That's usually based upon something that you want, something of this world that you want, and saying, I'm going to claim that for myself, and I'm going to claim by faith that it's mine, and God's going to give it to me. That's not the idea that's given to us here. You see, what he's claiming here is a true promise. A promise of God. Lord, this is what you've promised.

You've promised to always keep a member of the house of David on your throne. So Lord, keep your promise. Throughout scripture, we see great men of God continuing to pray based upon one thing. Lord, this is what you've promised. I just want you to keep your promise in my life. I think there's something really important for us in the claiming of the promises of God. There's something really important in our prayer

life, of claiming the promises of God. That's why praying scripture is so important for us, because it keeps our hearts focused on what God wants. And if God's told us in his scripture, then God's going to intend on keeping that promise. Amen? And so David kind of reminds, or Solomon reminds himself and claims those promises of God. And then notice verse 27. He says,

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less? This house which I have built. He says, this is a great place. I love this house that we've built, but it can't hold God. Lord, you can't be contained in a house. You can't be contained in a temple. The heavens can't contain you. The earth can't contain you. How much less this temple?

Are we reminded as often as this that God can't be contained? Are we reminded as often as this that God is so much bigger? Are we reminded as often as this that God is so much bigger than everything that goes on in our world? I was reading this morning in the book of Mark, and Jesus had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration with his disciples. And the man with the demon-possessed child said,

Lord, if it's possible, can you heal? And he says, if it's possible, anything is possible to him who believes. And of course that guy goes, I believe. Help my unbelief. But I think that there's a good word there for us. And this is what the Lord spoke to me. Anything is possible to him who believes. You see, sometimes I fear that I make God too small. Sometimes I fear that I put God inside of a box where God's always going to do this,

and this is the way God's always going to act, and this is what's too big for God, this is what's too small for God, this is what's just right for God. And we have to be reminded at times, that God is bigger than everything. The heavens can't contain him. The earth can't contain him. A temple can't contain him. He won't be held inside of one church. God's going to do what God's going to do.

And nothing is impossible with God. Again, we are watching this happen in our world right now, where nothing is impossible for God, because he just keeps doing the most, phenomenal things. I saw this thing on one of the Christian deals that I follow on Instagram, and it's the NFL Combine, and I know most of you probably don't care about this, but I keep up with this kind of thing. The NFL Combine is going on where all of these college athletes are coming together, and they're trying to see if they can be drafted into the NFL.

And so basically they go, and they perform as best as they can in all these different competitions, and all these scouts watch them, and all these general managers watch them, to see exactly what they can do. And there's this picture of the last day of the offensive linemen's NFL Combine before they go and do all their competition. And you know what they did? All of these future NFL players got in a circle, and they all prayed for each other.

Isn't that fantastic? Because nothing is too hard for God. Because God's going to do what he's going to do. And the earth can't contain him, and the heavens can't contain him. He's just going to keep moving. We just got to get on track with him. And he says, this house can't contain you because you're bigger than we can imagine. And we have to make sure that we keep God in the place

where he's bigger than we can imagine so that he can do what he wants to do. And so he goes on from there to say this. Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God. Listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you, today. Now, we'll keep working our way through this, but I want you to take note of a theme

in the rest of what Solomon prays. Because the rest of what Solomon prays will involve two main things, repentance and forgiveness. They will all surround the fact that he knows humanity. And he knows that humanity has a tendency towards drifting from God, has a tendency towards walking in sin against God. And when they walk in sin, Lord, keep an opportunity,

be open for them to repent so that you can forgive and you can restore. That's going to be the theme of the rest of his prayer. Notice what it says. That your eyes, verse 29, may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you have said, my name shall be there, to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray towards this place. Listen to the supplication of your servant

and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Here in heaven, in your dwelling place, hear and forgive. If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and he comes to take an oath before your altar in this house, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn to you again, and confess your name, and make supplication to you in this house, then hear in heaven and forgive this sin of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers.

In other words, when we find ourselves in a place where we're being defeated by our enemies and we realize that the reason why we're being defeated by our enemies is because we have walked in sin and Lord, they decide to repent of that sin and they pray towards this house where you have established your name and Lord, forgive them. And restore them and bring victory again. He goes on in verse 35 to say, and when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, we should pay attention to this, because they have sinned against you and they pray towards this place and they confess your name and turn from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the good way

in which they should walk and send rain on your land. Which you have given your people for an inheritance. And if there's famine in the land or if there's pestilence or there is blight or mildew or locusts or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and spreading his hands towards this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and act, and render to each according to all his ways whose heart you know. For you alone know the hearts of all the sons of men that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you have given

to our fathers. He says when all of the things in the world are going wrong, there's famine in the land, there's pestilence in the land, there's disease, there's no rain. And Lord, when each person begins to examine their own heart and figure out exactly what's going on and each person begins to raise their hands towards this place and confess their sins, Lord, the sins that are in their heart because only you know the heart, then hear and forgive and restore. It's such a beautiful section and he's going to go on and keep doing this, but I'm reminded of Daniel at this point in time because if you remember, you remember Daniel, read in the book of Jeremiah that the time was almost up for the children of Israel to be done with their captivity

and he had known what sin had done to his nation and he had known what sin had done to his people and quite frankly what sin had done to him. It says he turned his heart towards God and he turned his face towards Jerusalem and he began to seek God. And you know what it says he began to do? He began to confess the sins of his people and his own sins to the Lord so that God would move on the nation again.

Well, he goes on from there again to say, and concerning the foreigner who is not of your people, Israel, when he comes from a far country, for your name's sake, for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and of your outstretched arm, when he comes and he prays towards this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all which you have done. Which for which the foreigner calls to you in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name to fear you as do your people Israel that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. And when your people go out to battle against their enemy by whatever way you shall send them and they pray to the Lord toward this city which you have chosen

and the house which I have built for your name and hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. Verse 46 always gets me. And when they sin against you, for there's no man who doesn't sin and you are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy far off or near. If they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive and repent and make supplication to you in the land of those who have taken them captive saying we have sinned and we've committed iniquity and we've acted wickedly.

If they repent and return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive and pray to you toward their land which you have given to their fathers, the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name and hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven for your dwelling place and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against you and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive that they may have compassion on them for they are your people and your inheritance which you have brought forth from Egypt from the midst of the iron furnace

that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication of your people to listen to them whenever they call to you for you have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as your inheritance as you spoke through Moses your servant, when you brought them into the land of Israel, you brought out our fathers from Egypt, oh Lord God. That particular section about seeking them with their whole heart again reminds me of the book of Jeremiah. Because in Jeremiah chapter 29, which is where the 70 years that Daniel had read about is put down on paper, Jeremiah told the people, this is a message from God. You're gonna be in Babylon for a while.

As a matter of fact, you're gonna be here for 70 years. So build a house, get a job, start a family because you're gonna be here for a while. But I know the thoughts I have for you, declares the Lord, thoughts for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Therefore, when you seek me, you will find me when you search for me with all of your heart and I will be found of you.

It's almost like that exact same prophecy that Solomon just gave in this prayer was fulfilled through Jeremiah and the children of Israel. And you know what? That's exactly what God did for his people. Well, so this is the prayer that Solomon gives. He finishes praying. We read that in verse 54. But do you know that God answers this prayer? That God will speak to Solomon after this?

Go with me one place in scripture. I don't know if I highlighted this or not. Go over to 2 Chronicles chapter seven. 2 Chronicles chapter seven because God responds to Solomon. And it's a verse you've probably heard before. You may even have it on the wall of your house. I want you to look at verse 11. Oh, I did, look at me go. Of 2 Chronicles chapter seven.

The same recording, just some other details are given of Solomon dedicating the temple. It says this. Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord in the king's palace and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord in his palace. And then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night. This would be the night after he made this prayer.

At night and said to him, I have heard your prayer and I have chosen this place for my house as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or if I command the locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence among my people, this is the part you probably know, and my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways and I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. See, that's how God responded to Solomon when Solomon said, Lord, win this. When they find themselves falling away from you, when they find themselves separated from you, when everything's falling apart around them, then may they turn back to you,

may they repent of their sins, and Father, when they do so, would you please forgive them? And God says, you know what, when that happens and I have to bring judgment on the land, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways and pray to me, then I will hear them and I will forgive their sin. That's what Solomon did. That's what Solomon did.

That's what Solomon did. And I will heal their land. Now, brothers and sisters, at the risk of applying a promise of the nation of Israel to us today, I want to remind us as God's people that as we see what's happening in our nation, because I don't care who you like that's in charge or not in charge right now, our nation is about the most divided I've ever seen it. I think, if anything, we saw that last night.

It's the most divided I've seen some of these things here lately. Then it's time for God's people to start to pray. And it's time for God's people who know that nothing is too big for God because God can't be held by the heavens, God can't be held by the earth, He can't be held by a temple or a church. It's time to pray to that God that He would continue to move in our nation, that He would continue to move in our world because it's necessary right now.

Because that's what God told Solomon. If that's what you want to see happen in your nation, then yes, when they cry out to me, I will hear them. And I will heal them. And that's what God wants to do. And I believe that what we're seeing take place right now is because a lot of God's people have been praying. But it's not time to stop. It's time to start praying even more.

It's time to start making it a dedication to pray for God to move. Amen? And so back over here. We're almost done. Back to chapter 8. It says, When Solomon had finished praying, verse 55, before this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees, see, he started off standing, now he's kneeling,

with his hands still spread toward heaven. And he stood and he blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to His people according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all of His good promise which He promised through Moses His servant. May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers.

May He not leave us, or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in His ways and His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant, the cause of His people of Israel, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is no one else. Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord, our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments as at this day. And the king and all Israel offered sacrifices before the Lord.

Solomon offered the sacrifice of peace offerings which he offered to the Lord, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. The king and all of the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. And on the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, because there he offered the burnt offerings and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offering. The bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offering.

So Solomon observed the feast at that time and all Israel with him in a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt before the Lord our God for seven days, seven more days, even 14 days. That's a really long feast. And on the eighth day, the king sent the people away and they blessed the king. They went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

What a fantastic scene. One that I hope gets replayed in heaven that we get to see exactly what took place with that amazing scene in the temple. Father, we come to you and we thank you. I thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you for a chapter where you can wear out an ink pen underlining all the important things, underlining all the things and taking the notes of all the great moments.

And Father, like Solomon, I just want to pray that when we find ourselves far from you, when we sense your hand upon us, your hand of conviction, your hand of judgment, your hand of discipline heavy upon us, Lord, may we quickly turn our hearts back toward you and repent of our sins. And Lord, may prayer for our nation be the thing that occupies us more than complaining about our leaders. Father, may we be occupied with the work of prayer. May we be occupied with the work of pursuing you with all of our hearts.

Because you do promise to be found by us. And Father, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.