I Kings 8: (1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43
Dedication of the Temple (II Chronicles 5.2—6.2)
8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. … 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. … 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication (II Chronicles 6.12—39)
I Kings 8: (1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43 is part of the story of Solomon that includes depositing the Ark in the temple, the dedication of the temple, and a prayer by Solomon. The chapter includes some material from the time of Solomon, some from the time of the writing of the Deuteronomic History in the 600s BC, and some from the exile.
I Kings 8:1,6,10-11, part of a larger segment embracing verses 1-13 describe the depositing of the Ark in the temple and the dedication of the temple. It is part of the dedication of the Temple. The formal dedication ceremonies consisted of moving the Ark and attendant items from a tent where they had been kept since the days of David, joyful celebration, public sacrifices, prayers, and speeches. 8:1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. The sacred objects had to be carried up to the temple, which had been constructed on a hill north of the city. A broad consensus among historians and archeologists maintains that the temple was built beneath the platform around the Dome of the Rock and in the surrounding area. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim (a Hebrew plural). Cherubim were carved representations of scary winged beings that, in covering the ark, formed a throne for the Lord’s glorious presence. The text strains to express the mystery of divine presence. It invites us to ponder this mystery as well. The ancient tradition of the Ark resonates with the sense that divine presence is mighty, unfathomable, and beyond control. The Ark is handled with the greatest reverence. The priests carry the Ark, and sacrifices accompany the procession of this powerful and mysterious presence. 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud, a conventional metaphor signifying this overwhelming presence of Lord, as in Exodus 33:9, filled the house of the Lord, alluding to traditions about the Tabernacle in Exodus 40:34-5, with part of the ritual consisting of incense offerings on the small, golden altar, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. In verses 12-13, serving as an introduction in the canonical text to the prayer in verses 14-61, Solomon offers a poetic declaration, which some think might be from the Book of Jashar. “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.” As a practical matter, the Temple was dimly illuminated by light entering through apertures high on the wall and by ten lamps. The square back chamber, where the Ark was kept, was blocked off from the long hall, so that it was always dim. A cloud symbolizing divine presence is an interesting one. The cloud suggests divine presence is mysterious and confuses rather than enlightening and giving clarity. It suggests that we do not see the Lord quite as clearly as we think. Yet this mysterious, cloudy, unknown presence is kindly disposed toward human beings. We are fearful and anxious creatures. It comes naturally. We often assume the unknown is a danger. Our experiences have taught us this. However, the Bible assures us that in the case of divine presence, its unknown, mysterious, and cloudy presence is a gracious one. Solomon goes on to say, “I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” This is an expression of personal piety. The concept is that the Temple is the place where God dwells. We see here the tension in the Old Testament between the Lord dwelling in heaven, yet also having a dwelling on earth. This poetic declaration shows the religious truth of God as creator of the universe, unbounded by human efforts, yet is also near in power. It expresses a mystery of God that surpasses revelation. The attribute of the Infinity of God shows a tension between the transcendent God as also present in creation. How is transcendence compatible with earthly presence? In the Old Testament, we see the tension expressed between God enthroned in heaven and has a dwelling on earth. In this case, the poetic verse of Solomon has a mild form of this tension in that the name of God dwells in the temple, while God is enthroned in heaven. The building of the temple required justification since God dwells in heaven. [1] Thus, it would be a mistake to think of Solomon as trying to fix the presence of the Lord to the Temple. He is aware of the tension of the transcendent mystery and the need to have the Lord near. In any case, it would be well to ponder where either the experience of transcendent mystery and power or the experience of the nearness of the Lord are part of our experience.
I Kings 8:22-26, part of a segment that embraces verses 14-26, 62-66 has the prayer of Solomon, the covenant with David, and the communal sacrifices that conclude the dedication. Solomon performs a priestly function throughout this text. The passage has the tone of the author, the Deuteronomic Historian. When one looks upon the structure of the work, we find speeches with Moses, Joshua, and Samuel. We now receive one from Solomon. This prayer reviews the past and gives prospects for the future. Verses 22-26 focus on the dynasty of David and the covenant with David, rather than deliverance from Egypt. II Samuel 7 has an unconditional covenant with David. The covenant as expressed here has some conditions. It corresponds to I Kings 2:1-4, where David stresses that if the heirs of Solomon walk before the Lord with faithfulness with all their hearts and souls, the Lord will maintain the line of succession in the family of David. Some scholars would say that we have an example of royal power asserting itself. 22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven, which was the proper posture for petitionary prayer in the ancient world. We see a similar description in Exodus 9:29 and Isaiah 1:15. We also find it in drawings from Israel, Assyria, and Egypt. 23 He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God (Elohim) like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, (Deuteronomy 4:39), keeping covenant (berit) and steadfast love (hesed) for your servants who walk before you with all their heart (Deuteronomy 7:9, 12), 24 the covenant (berit) that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled (Deuteronomy 2:30, 4:20, etc.) with your hand. 25 Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ The covenant requires obedience. He melds the Mosai and Davidic covenants. Faithfulness to the Mosaic covenant becomes the condition for fulfilling the Davidic covenant. 26Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David. As far as Solomon has met conditions presented by the Lord in the dream at Gibeon by building the temple, the Lord should fulfill the conditional promise to David about his descendants that would include guaranteeing Solomon a long life.
In I Kings 8: 27-30, 41-43, part of a segment in verses 27-61, we find a long meditative prayer. Given that in this prayer, Solomon is kneeling (verse 54), that we go directly from verse 26 to verse 62 seamlessly, that verse 55 has him standing to bless the people again (verse 14), and calling for the restoration of Israel to the land (verse 34), many scholars think this prayer is inserted into this context. In its present context, the section dilutes the aura of the immanence of God cast by the materialistic physicality of the speech of Solomon in verses 12-26. The prayer moves from David to the accessible presence of the Lord through the Temple. In a final speech as we find in the canon, Moses warned of the dangers of disobedience in bringing the plagues of Egypt upon them and defeat before their enemies (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). Later, a prophet said the northern kingdom, Israel, would become desolate due to its disobedience (Amos 7:1-9). Another prophet focused upon the destruction the day of the Lord will bring for Judah (Joel 1:1-2:27). All of this suggests the type of liturgy when the nation experiences a drought. The point here is that the Temple is the place where God and person meet. Yet, II Samuel 7:5-7 stresses that the Lord has not lived in a house since liberation from Egypt. The tent was a symbol of how the Lord moved about among all the people of Israel. However, even in the passage before us, the temple is not large enough to contain the presence of God. The text provides a wonderful opportunity to talk about the purpose of the physical place of worship for the people of the Lord. This prayer asks God to honor the repentance of the people. 27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? This rhetorical question challenges the notion expressed in verses 12-13 that God now has an actual presence on earth in the Temple. Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less, using an expression of personal piety, this house that I have built! In the Gospel of John, the books of the world could not contain what we could say about Jesus (John 21:25) and that Jesus had done other signs not written in his book (John 20:30-31). 28 Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. The transcendence of God is compatible with earthly presence, pictured here as the name of God dwelling in the temple while the throne of God is in heaven.[2] This is a more abstract conception qualifies the notion that God would dwell in the Temple (verse 13). It suggests a way that the transcendent God is with us. The name is a symbolic extension of personal authority and presence, even in the absence of the person named. This manner of understanding divine presence communicates the freedom of God and points to the faithful presence of God within Israel. 30 Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place (Deuteronomy 26:15); heed and forgive. God is with us in freedom. Human action in the form of a building or ritual cannot contain God. Solomon can only ask of God and wait for the response. He also trusts in the remarkable connectedness of God to Israel. Neither heaven nor earth can contain God, which suggests the omnipresence of God. Yet, God dwells anywhere in a way unique to God, and not in a way that that we might dwell.[3] Such meditative prayer asserts that God, truly present in heaven, resides only symbolically on earth in the Temple. Yet, prayers should be directed to the temple. The language is that of Deuteronomy 6:13, 12:4, 11. It attempts to harmonize the Deuteronomic notion of divine immanence in the Temple with the contrasting notion of the universal transcendence of God. In verses 41-43, 41 “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name 42 —for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm (Deuteronomy 4:34, 5:15, etc.) —when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, 43 then hear in heaven your dwelling place (Deuteronomy 26:15), and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel (Deuteronomy 21:8, 26:15), and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house, that I have built, an expression of personal piety. The post-exilic prophet III Isaiah noted that foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, minister to the Lord, love the name of the Lord, become servants of the Lord, keep Sabbath, and keep the covenant, would have joy in the house of prayer. The Lord will accept their sacrifices, for the temple will become a house of prayer for all prayers (Isaiah 56:6-7). We find a similar sentiment affirmed by Jesus in the “cleansing of the temple” story of Jesus in Mark 11:17.
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