The Pulpit Commentaries
1 Kings 9:1-9
EXPOSITION
THE ANSWER TO SOLOMON'S PRAYER.—This chapter opens with an account of God's second appearance to Solomon. It must not be supposed, however, from the apparent close connexion of this relation with the preceding narrative, that it stands to it in equally close chronological order. It probably finds a place here because the historian has grouped together all the suitable materials in his possession which related to the temple. But see on 1 Kings 9:1.
And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house [1 Kings 7:1], and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do [By "desire" we are not to understand "pleasure buildings" (cf. 1 Kings 7:10, 1 Kings 7:19). The chronicler gives the true meaning: "all that came into Solomon's heart." It is, however, somewhat doubtful what works are comprehended under this term. 2 Chronicles 7:11 limits it to the two great erections already described—"all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house." But it is by no means certain that our author intended the word to be thus restricted; it is quite possible, e.g; that some of the buildings mentioned below (2 Chronicles 7:15-14) are to be included. But another question of much greater importance presents itself here. In the Divine communication of 2 Chronicles 7:3 there is constant and unmistakeable reference to the prayer of dedication (see especially 2 Chronicles 7:3); in fact, this message is the answer to that prayer. It has been held, consequently, that the answer must have followed, if not immediately, yet soon after the petitions were uttered; if so, the dedication must clearly have taken place, not on the completion of the temple (1 Kings 6:38), but on the completion of the palace, etc.; in other words, the temple must have been finished fully thirteen years before it was consecrated and occupied. Rawlinson suggests that the delay was perhaps occasioned by the circumstance that the furniture of the temple was not till then ready; but 1 Kings 6:38, Hebrews, seems to state distinctly that all the vessels and appointments of the sanctuary were finished at the date there given. Reasons have been given elsewhere (see note on 1 Kings 8:1) in support of the position that the dedication possibly have been delayed for so long a period, especially after the strenuous efforts which had been made to hurry on the undertaking. Nor does the text, when carefully examined, really require this hypothesis; indeed, it suggests some reasons for thinking that a considerable period must have intervened between the prayer and the response. For the tone of this response is unmistakeably foreboding, if not minatory. Verses 6-9 contain a stern warning. But there was nothing, so far as we know, in the attitude of Solomon or of Israel at the time of the dedication to call for any such denunciation. At that time, as the prayer surely proves, Solomon's heart was perfect with the Lord his God. But the response has unmistakeably the appearance of having been elicited by signs of defection. The wide difference, consequently, between the spirit of the prayer and the tone of the answer suggests that some time must have elapsed between them, and so far supports the view that the dedication was not delayed until the palace, etc; was completed. And it is also to be remembered that the prayer of dedication had not been without acknowledgment at the time. The excellent glory which filled and took possession of the house was itself a significant and sufficient response. No voice or vision could have said more plainly, "I have heard thy prayer, I have hallowed this house." But when, some thirteen years later—about the very time, that is, when he was at the height of his prosperity, and when, owing to the completion of his undertakings, we might fear lest his heart should be lifted up with pride—when Solomon and his court began to decline in piety and to go after other gods, then this merciful message opportunely refers him to the prayer which he was in danger of forgetting, and warns him of the consequences of the apostasy to which he was tending.]
That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time [see on 1 Kings 6:11, and 1 Kings 11:9; Solomon had received a message during the building of the temple], as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon [i.e; in a dream (1 Kings 3:5) ].
And the Lord said unto him [This message is given at greater length in 2 Chronicles 7:12. 2 Chronicles 7:13, 2 Chronicles 7:14, e.g; contain a reference to that part of the prayer which related to drought and rain], I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication [These two words are found similarly united in Solomon's prayer, verses 38, 45, 54], that thou hast made [Heb. supplicated] before me; I have hallowed this house which thou hast built [sc. by the manifestation described 1 Kings 8:11. Cf. Exodus 29:43 : "the tabernacle shall be sanctified" (same word) "by my glory." In 2 Chronicles we read, "I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice," where, however, it is worth considering whether instead of the somewhat singular בית זבח the original text may not have been בית זבל, as in 1 Kings 8:13] to put my name there [1 Kings 8:29; cf. 1 Kings 8:16, 1 Kings 8:17, 1Ki 8:18, 1 Kings 8:19; also Deuteronomy 12:11; Luke 11:12] forever [1 Kings 8:13. As Solomon offered it, so God accepted it, in perpetuity. That the house was subsequently "left desolate" and destroyed (2 Kings 25:9) was because of the national apostasy (1 Kings 8:8, 1 Kings 8:9) ], and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. [In 1 Kings 8:29 Solomon asked that God's "eyes may be open… towards the house." The answer is that not only His eyes shall be open, but eyes and heart shall be there [Ephesians 3:20; see Homiletics on 1 Kings 3:5);—the eye to watch, the heart to cherish it.]
And [Heb. And thou, emphatic] if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart before me and in uprightness [cf. 1 Kings 3:6, 1Ki 3:14; 1 Kings 11:34. David was not perfect, as our author tells us elsewhere (1 Kings 15:5; cf. 1 Kings 1:6; 2 Samuel 24:10). His integrity consisted in his unvarying loyalty to the true God. Even when overcome by that fierce temptation (2 Samuel 11:1.) he never faltered in his allegiance to the truth. There was no coquetting with idolatrous practices; cf. Psalms 18:20-19], to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments [the echo of David's last words, 1 Kings 2:3, 1 Kings 2:4. It is probable, however, that the historian has only preserved the substance of the message. It is doubtful whether Solomon himself would remember the exact words]:
Then I will establish [same word as in ch. 1 Kings 2:4, where see note. Surely he would remember this word as it would recall his father's charge to his mind] the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever [this is the answer to the prayer of 1 Kings 8:26] as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. [2Sa 7:12, 2 Samuel 7:16; 1 Kings 2:4; 1 Kings 6:12; Psalms 132:12. But the primary reference is to 1 Kings 8:25; see Introduction, sect. III.]
But if ye shall at all [rather altogether, or assuredly] turn from following me [The A.V. entirely misrepresents the force of the Hebraism, If to turn, ye shall turn, which must mean complete, not partial, apostasy. Cf. 2 Chronicles 7:19, and 2 Samuel 7:14, 2 Samuel 7:15], ye or your children [as the promises of God are to us and our children (Acts 2:39), so are His threatenings], and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I [LXX. Μωυσῆς; Qui facit per allure, etc.] have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them [Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 13:2]:
Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them [Cf. Deuteronomy 4:26, Deuteronomy 4:27; and for the fulfilment see 2 Kings 25:11, 2 Kings 25:21;] and this house which I have hallowed for my name [Jeremiah 7:14] will I cast out of my sight [same expression, 2 Kings 24:20]; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people [the exact words of Deuteronomy 28:37. Similar words in Isaiah 14:4; Micah 6:16. Much the same punishment is denounced in Leviticus 26:14-3, and Deuteronomy 4:45, 63]:
And at this house, which is high [Heb; And this house shall be high, עֶלְיוֹן יִהְיֶה. Our translators were probably influenced by 2 Chronicles 7:21, the text of which is אֲשֶׁר הָיהָ עֶלְיוֹן which would seem to be an emendation, designed to clear up the difficulty rather than an accidental variation of the text. But here the literal rendering is probably the truer, the meaning being "this house shall be conspicuous, as an example"—so the Vulg. domus haec erit in exemplum. The LXX. accords with the Hebrew text, ὁ οἷκος οὗτος ἔσται ὁ ὐψηλὸς, but the Syriac and Arabic read, "this house shall be destroyed." Keil sees in the words an allusion implicite to Deuteronomy 26:19, and Deuteronomy 28:1, where God promises to make Israel עֶלְיוֹן, and says "the blessing will be turned into a curse." The temple should indeed be "high," should be what Israel would have been, but it shall be as a warning, etc.; but this connexion is somewhat far fetched and artificial. Thenius would read for, עִיִּין עֶלְיוֹן. "ruins," after Micah 3:12; Jeremiah 26:18; Psalms 79:1; but it is hardly right to resort to conjectures, unsupported by a single version or MS; so long as any sufficient meaning can be extracted from the words as they stand, and no one can deny that "high" may surely signify "conspicuous." Cf. Matthew 11:23], every one that passeth by it shall be astonished. [שָׁמֵם primarily means to be dumb with astonishment, Gesen; Thessalonians 3. p. 1435] and shall hiss [שָׁרַק, like "hiss," is an onomatopoetic word. It does not denote the hissing of terror (Bähr) but of derision; of. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 49:17; Job 27:23; Lamentations 2:15, Lamentations 2:16. Rawlinson aptly remarks, as bearing on the authorship of the Kings, that this is a familiar word in Jeremiah (see 1 Kings 18:16; 25:9; 29:18; 50:13; 51:37, in addition to the passages cited above), and that the other prophets rarely use it. The fact that much of this charge is in Jeremiah's style, confirms the view taken above (note on verse 4), that the ipsissima verba of the dream are not preserved to us. The author indeed could hardly do more than preserve its leading ideas, which he would naturally present in his own dress]; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land and to this house? [Similar words Deuteronomy 29:24, Deuteronomy 29:25; Jeremiah 22:8.]
And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt [Based on Deuteronomy 29:25. Solomon in his prayer referred repeatedly to this great deliverance, Deuteronomy 29:16, Deuteronomy 29:21, 51, 53], and have taken hold upon other gods and have worshipped them and served them; therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.
HOMILETICS
The Second Appearance to Solomon.
"Behold the goodness and severity of God" (Romans 11:22). To Solomon goodness, to Israel severity.
I. The GOODNESS OF GOD is manifested—
1. In revealing Himself to Solomon. The greatest favour God can show us is to show us Himself; the greatest gift is to give us Himself.
"Give what Thou wilt, without Thee I am poor,
And with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away."
"I will love him and will manifest myself unto him" (John 14:21). "I will come in to him and sup with him" (Revelation 3:20). "We will make our abode with him" (John 14:23). There are no richer promises than these. Well may we exclaim, "O altitudo!" (Romans 11:33.) "O why should heavenly God to men have such regard!"
Yes, the riches, honour, glory, etc; given to Solomon were of small account compared with the good thoughts and high aspirations bestowed upon him. Riches are such third-rate blessings that God bestows them indiscriminately on the evil and the good. But noble resolves and high purposes—"courtliness and the desire of (true) fame, and love of truth, and all that makes a man"—these He reserves for His children. Solomon's riches and glory proved his ruin; the revelations he received were the true source of his greatness.
2. In warning Solomon. The very kindest thing a friend can do for us is to admonish us when we are going wrong. "Thou mayest be sure that he that will in private tell thee of thy faults is thy friend, for he adventureth thy dislike and doth hazard thy hatred" (Sir W. Raleigh). God showed this proof of love to Solomon. In the night watches, in the darkness and silence, away from the glamour and flattery of the court, the Divine voice was heard in his secret soul. And the plainness of the warning was a part of its mercifulness. The trumpet gave no uncertain sound (1 Kings 9:5). God set before him that day "life and good, death and evil" (Deuteronomy 30:15). By one to whom such wisdom had been vouchsafed, warnings should have been unneeded. But they were needed—and they were mercifully granted. The good Shepherd goes "o'er moor and fell, o'er crag and torrent" to bring back the straying sheep.
II. The SEVERITY OF GOD is exhibited -
1. In the punishment denounced against Israel. "Cut off;" "cast out of my sight;" "a proverb and a byword;" "shall be astonished and shall hiss"—these are its terms. But observe:
(1) None of these things needed to have befallen them. God had no pleasure in the death or dispersion of His elect people. It was their own fault if they were cut off.
(2) These things were denounced inkindness to stay them in their sin and so to prevent their dispersion. These were the sanctions of that dispensation. "The law is not made for a righteous man, but," etc. (1 Timothy 1:9).
(3) There was no disproportion or undue rigour in these penalties. What seems to us severity is really exact justice, or rather mercy, to the world. As Israel had been favoured above all peoples, so, in strict equity, should it be punished above all. "The glory, and the adoption, and the covenants," etc. (Romans 9:4), could not appertain to them without bringing with them "many stripes" for the disobedient. Those exalted to heaven shall be brought down to hell (Matthew 11:28). It was necessary for our admonition that the chosen people should not afford the world the spectacle of a nation sinning unpunished (1 Corinthians 10:11).
2. In the punishment inflicted. For how literally have these words been fulfilled! What an evidence of the truth of God the history of Israel supplies! This, at any rate, is no vaticinium ex eventu. "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). "A proverb and a byword"—eighteen centuries at least testify to the truth of these words. "Cast out of my sight;" let the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem (see Joshua, B.J. 5. ch. 10-13, Joshua 6:1. passim. "Never" he says, "did any other city suffer such miseries") explain to us these words. And there is not a country of Europe, there is hardly a city, in which the history of the Jew is not traced in blood, written within and without in" mourning and lamentation and woe." Claudius expelled them from Borne (Acts 18:2); our Edward I. drove them out of Guienne and England. "Ivanhoe" gives some idea of their treatment in this country; but a romance could not record a tithe of the horrors of which Clifford's Tower in York or the Jews' house in Lincoln could tell. And yet it is allowed that they have always been treated more tenderly in England than in the rest of Europe. But even here, and down to the present day, the word "Jew" is too often a name of hate. In Servia, in Moldavia and Wallachia, they are still the objects of fierce, persecution and.not always unmerited obloquy. Even the "Anti-Semitic League, now being organized in Germany, is a part of the "severity" of God, a proof of the "sure word of prophecy." In Jerusalem, again, the metropolis of their race, they are accounted the filth and offscouring of all things. At the Greek Easter the refrain is often heard in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, "O Jews, O Jews, your feast is a feast of apes." What a commentary, too, is the Jews' "place of wailing" on this scripture I The "holy and beautiful house" a desolation, the temple precincts trodden under foot of the Gentiles I Conqueror after conqueror, pilgrim after pilgrim, has asked the question, "Wherefore hath the Lord done thus?" etc; while the "ever extending miles of gravestones and the ever lengthening pavement of tombs and sepulchres" answer, "Because they have forsaken the Lord their God," etc. (1 Kings 9:9; Jeremiah 22:8, Jeremiah 22:9).
"Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast,
When will ye fly away and be at rest?
The wild dove hath its nest, the fox its cave,
Mankind their country—Israel but the grave."
Application. Romans 2:21. In the history of the Israelitish nation we may see the principle of God's dealing with individual souls But we may also read in it a warning for the Christian Church (Revelation 2:5).
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE
The Reviewed Covenant.
This Divine manifestation was probably similar in form to that with which Solomon was favoured at the beginning of his reign, of which it is said, "In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night "(1Ki 3:1-28 :50). We have no means of judging as to the precise time of this occurrence; but the close connection of thought between what God here says to Solomon and the prayer at the dedication (seen most clearly in 2 Chronicles 7:14, 2 Chronicles 7:15) leads us to suppose that it took place immediately after that event. It illustrates:
I. THE FIDELITY OF GOD AND THE BLESSED RESULTS THAT ATTEND IT. God's faithfulness is seen
(1) in the answering of the prayer—"I have heard thy prayer," etc. The vision was itself an instant and very gracious Divine response. All true prayer is heard. No pure breath of supplication, the incense of the heart, ever ascends to Heaven in yam. God does not disappoint the hopes and longings He has Himself awakened. As the vapours that rise from land and sea sooner or later return again, distilling in the silent dew, descending in fruitful showers upon the earth—not one fluid particle is lost—so every cry of filial faith that goes up to the great Father of all comes back in due time in some form of heavenly benediction. And more, the answer is often far larger and richer than our expectations. He "doeth exceeding abundantly," etc. (Ephesians 3:20). Solomon had prayed "That thine eyes may be open towards this house." God answers, "Mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually." The very heart of God dwells where His suppliant people are. This anthropopathic mode of speech is a gracious Divine accommodation to our human wants and weaknesses. God condescends to us that we may the better rise to Him. It is the necessarily imperfect yet most welcome expression of a sublime reality that we could not otherwise know. God has a tender "heart" towards us as well as an observant "eye." And wherever we seek Him with all our hearts there His heart responds to the throbbing of ours—a sympathetic personal Presence, meeting our approach, pitying our necessities, giving love for love. Note, too, the constancy of this grace—"forever." "perpetually." "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Wherever He records His name there He "dwells." When He blesses, when He gives or forgives, it is "forever." If the grace is cancelled, if the benediction is withdrawn, the fault is ours, not His. "Though we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:18).
(2) In the repetition of the promise, "If thou wilt walk before me," etc. (1 Kings 9:4, 1 Kings 9:5). The promise is reiterated as a sacred and inviolable engagement which God on His part will never break. "The sure mercies of David." All Divine promises are sure. We have but to place ourselves in the line of their fulfilment and all is well with us. They are steadfast as the ordinances of heaven and earth. Natural laws are God's promises in the material realm. Obedience to them is the sure path to physical well being. Are His counsels in the moral and spiritual sphere likely to be less steadfast and reliable? Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the promises of His grace can never fail. "They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness" (Psalms 111:8).
II. THE INFIDELITY OF MAN AND THE FATAL CONSEQUENCES THAT FOLLOW IT. "But if ye shall at all turn from following me," etc. Here is a solemn note of warning, the presage of that guilty apostasy by which the Jewish people became in after years the most signal example to men and nations of the waywardness of human nature and the retributive justice of God. We are reminded that the faithfulness of God has a dark as well as a bright side to it. As the cloud that guided the march of the Israelites out of Egypt was light to them, but a source of blinding confusion and miserable discomfiture to their adversaries, so this and every other attribute of God bears a different aspect towards us according to the relation in which we stand to it, the side on which we place ourselves. Be true to Him, and every perfection of His being is a joy to you, a guide, a glory, a defence; forsake Him, and they become at once ministers of vengeance. Even His love, in its infinite rectitude and purity, dooms you to the penalty from which there can be no escape. Whether in the physical or the spiritual realms, one feature of the very beneficence of God's laws is that they must avenge themselves. Learn here
(1) that all human loss and misery spring from forsaking God. "If ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children," then shall all these woes come upon you. All sin is a departure from the living God. "My people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me," etc. (Jeremiah 2:13). Adam cast off his allegiance to God when He listened to the voice of the tempter. Idolatry in its deepest root has this meaning (see Romans 1:21). Every sinful life is a more or less intentional and deliberate renunciation of God, and its natural results are shame, and degradation, and death. The course of the prodigal in Christ's parable is a picture of the hopeless destitution of every soul that forsakes its home in God. "They that are far from thee shall perish" (Psalms 73:27).
(2) That according to the height of privilege so is the depth of the condemnation when that privilege is abused. The very height of the "hallowed house" shall make the ruin the more conspicuous and the more terrible. There is no heavier judgment that God pronounces upon men than when He says, "I will curse thy blessings." The best things are capable of the worst abuse. And when the highest sanctities of life are violated they become the worst grounds of reproach and sources of bitterness. The greater the elevation, the deeper and more dreadful the fall. "Thou Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven," etc. (Luke 10:15).
(3) That one inevitable penalty of transgression is contempt and scorn. "Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people." "He that passeth by shall be astonished and shall hiss." "When the salt has lost its savour it is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13). The wicked may be in honour now, but the time is coming when they "shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt."—W.