seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 7:11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lordand in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turnfrom their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’
19 “But if you[a] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you(b) and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”
a, 2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
b. 2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
c. 2 Chronicles 7:21 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now so imposing, all
I've been using the easy English commentary because it is the least preachy of the commentaries I've been reading.
After the dedication of the temple, Solomon built his palace. It took him 13 years to complete the palace (1 Kings 7:1). After he had finished the work, the LORD appeared to him. This was in Solomon’s 24th year as king (947 or 946 *BC).
Although it was 13 years later, this was an answer to the dedication prayer. The LORD appeared to Solomon during the night. He told Solomon that he had accepted the temple. It would be a place for sacrifices to the LORD. God chose this place for that purpose. The Israelites must come here to worship him (Deuteronomy 12:5-7).
This was the second time that the LORD appeared to Solomon (1 Kings 9:2). The first time was at the town called Gibeon at the start of his rule as king (2 Chronicles 1:7).
These people were God’s people. He had chosen them to be special to himself. In a similar way, he has chosen us in Christ to be his special people. So, the attitude in prayer that the LORD desires here is for us as well.
This attitude consists of 4 parts. Those who pray must be humble. They must trust in the LORD. They must confess that they have sinned. And they must stop their evil behaviour. Then the LORD will hear their prayer. And he will forgive their sins.
When a nation turns to the LORD in this way, he will cure their land. Here the subject is the nation called Israel. When they turn to the LORD, he will rescue them from the effects of their sin. He will send the rain. He will remove the locusts. He will cure the people.
The prayers of Israel’s people must be in or towards the temple.
I was talking to hubby about this chapter, yesterday. I told hubby I had no idea I was supposed to pray to the East like the Muslims. Of course I understand that praying in the direction of the temple [as the Muslims still do] went out with the blood sacrifices. When the stone rolled away and Jesus walked away from that cave where He as placed after hanging on the cross until His human self was sacrificed, blood sacrifices as well as praying in the direction of a brick and mortar place became obsolete. God never did like killing wildlife to support the humans.
I'm thinking of that thing the kids were doing for a while.... "talk to the hand".... How rude.... shoving a hand in a person's face to say "I don't care what you're saying". That's what all this reminds me of.... as long as I pray to God with an earnest heart.... He'll listen. If I talk to Him like a genie just out of the bottle or an amazon customer service rep waiting for my next frivolous order.... then He's going to throw up His huge hand at me.... but if I talk to him like a girl talking to her father.... then He's all ears!God wants to be my everything. That's what He was telling Solomon.
God says..... "as long as you behave.... I'm good"
