Day 99. 1 Kings 8-9

Most of our reading for today is concerned with the celebration surrounding the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. It takes place at the time of the harvest festival, in the month of Ethanim, which is September-October (8:2) by our calendar. The Ark of the Covenant, the golden box containing the two tablets of stone which represent the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai (8:9), is carried in procession from the tabernacle, the old Tent of Meeting, to the new temple and installed there in the Holy of Holies. At its installation we are told that a cloud—the glory which both hides and reveals the presence of God--"filled the house of the LORD" (8:11). To mark the great occasion Solomon himself gives a speech and offers a prayer of dedication, which is the fullest expression of we might call the "Theology of the City and the Temple." He recalls for the people the faithfulness of God who promised David that his son should "build a house for [his] name" (8:20), and now has fulfilled that promise. Notice that God himself is not said to dwell in the temple. As Solomon later exclaims, "Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built" (8:27).  It is not God himself, but the holy "name of God" that dwells in Jerusalem, the city of David, and in the temple. Jerusalem is the City of God on earth. Then in his great dedication prayer Solomon expands upon the role of the city and the temple for Israel. The LORD is the one who makes and keeps covenants with his people, promising David that "there shall never fail' to be "a successor before [him] to sit on the throne of David" (8:25). And he asks the LORD to extend his covenant further, promising to "heed and forgive" (8:30) anyone who prays toward the Temple in Jerusalem. The very direction of Jerusalem becomes the direction in which oaths are to be sworn (8:31). From now on prayers oriented toward Jerusalem and the temple in times of military defeat (8:33), drought (8:35), famine and plague (8:37) will always have the ear of God. Even foreigners, when they pray toward the city and the temple, will be heard. Their prayers will be granted by the LORD, for his name's sake, so that they may know that it is the name of the living God that is invoked in the house that Solomon  has built" (8:41-43). Here we can see the beginnings of a theology of the LORD as a universal God, embracing in his concern not only Israel, his chosen family, but all people who call upon his name. Prophetically, Solomon looks forward to a time when Israel will be taken captive and led off into exile (8:46). Even then prayers of repentance oriented toward Jerusalem will win forgiveness and salvation from the God who chose Israel "from among all the peoples of the earth" to be his own heritage. He will not forsake his people, as he demonstrated when he brought Israel out of the land of Egypt (8:53), snatching them as "from the midst of the iron smelter" (8:51).  Finally Solomon asks for assurance that the LORD has indeed heard his plea (8:59). And calls upon the people to join him in devoting themselves "completely to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day" (8:61). And following the temple dedication, the LORD again appears to Solomon to assure him that his dedication prayer has been heard. God has "indeed consecrated" the house that he has built and has put his "name there forever," together with his eyes and his heart (9:3). But the promise made to David that his throne will be established forever is conditioned upon the integrity of his descendants (9:4-5).  If they break the covenant and worship other gods, the glorious temple will be reduced to a "heap of ruins" (9:8) and Israel will become an example to others of what happens to those who are unfaithful. Relationship to God always calls us to live in discipline and responsibility—it can never be taken for granted.