1 Kings 6:11-14

C. THE PROMISE TO SOLOMON 6:11-14

TRANSLATION

(11) And the word of the LORD came unto Solomon, saying, (12) With regard to this house which you are building, if you continue to walk in My statutes and My judgments you execute, and you keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will establish My word with you which I spoke unto David your father. (13) And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake My people Israel. (14) So Solomon built the house and finished it.

COMMENTS

During the course of the building of the Temple the Lord came to Solomon with a gracious promise. While this promise is absent from the Greek or Septuagint version of the Old Testament, there is no substantial reason to question its genuineness. The word of the Lord came to Solomon on this occasion (1 Kings 6:11) probably through a prophetic intermediary (Nathan?). That God spoke to Solomon directly is ruled out by 1 Kings 9:2 which alludes to the second direct revelation to that king. The promise contained in these words is essentially a renewal of that gracious promise made by Nathan to David some years earlier.

In effect the message of the Lord contained an implied commendation of Solomon for having begun such a noble work as the construction of the Temple. If Solomon continued to follow the leading and direction of the Lord, God would establish or confirm the words of promise spoken to David in 2 Samuel 7:12 ff. (1 Kings 6:12). In addition, a new element was introduced into the promise. God promised that He would dwell in the midst of His people (1 Kings 6:13). Just as God had pledged that He would occupy the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45), so now He assured Solomon that the house being constructed would be His earthly dwelling place. These verses point to the conditional character of God's association with the Temple, a point emphasized again and again by the prophets of Israel. It was the prophetic recognition of this conditional aspect of Israel's relation to God which made it possible for the destruction of the Temple to be recognized not as a sign of divine impotence, but rather as a result of unfaithfulness to the covenant. Thus encouraged by the gracious promise of the Lord, Solomon proceeded with the construction of the interior of the Temple (1 Kings 6:14).