2 Chronicles 6:1-2
The dwelling in a dark cloud is a reference to God's appearance on Mount Sianai; look to Exodus 19:9 to see this. Solomon had already acknowledged that no temple or house could contain the Lord (2 Chron 6:18); he did, however, complete this work at the Lord's instruction as a place for the Lord to meet His people and for the people to meet the Lord.
2 Chronicles 6:3-11
Solomon's thoughts must have been on his father David. He surely considered that David would have loved to have seen the completed temple as it was on David's heart to build it. God had given many promises to King David; including the promise that his sons would rule from the throne of David. But David was not to build the temple, this work was to be done by his son.
We can look to a future son of David in Jesus Christ and see that by his work our bodies might be the temple of the Holy Spirit. By the work of Christ, we have access to the Most Holy Place when the veil was torn. While Solomon, the son, build the temple; the promises of the Son of David are also fulfilled fully in Jesus Christ.
2 Chronicles 6:12-17
Solomon's prayer is paralleled in 1 Kings 8:22-53. Verse 13 is not included in the prayer recorded in 1 Kings 8. Nothing is really known of this bronze platform. Solomon honoroed God as creator as his father did (1 Chronicles 17:20). prayer acknowledged that God was good to his promise and word; he now prayed that God's promise would be fulfilled that David's sons take heed of their ways and walk in the law.
2 Chronicles 6:18-35
Will God dwell with men on earth? Yes, but that was as hard for them to imagine as it is us. For God is everywhere; the heavens couldn't contain him. How can he dwell with all of us at once, all over the world. We can't grasp this concept of an omnipresent God. Even with that said, Solomon asked that God's eyes be on the temple, hear the worship that came to Him from there; that He would hear the prayers from the place that bore His name. He asked that God would hear and forgive. He prayed the temple would be a place of justice and righteousness. It might also be a place for repentance; a fresh start after failure and faltering. The temple was to be a place to learn at the hand of God; that he might teach them the good way in which to walk. Whatever affected or afflicted a life might be brought before the Lord at the temple. The external circumstances of life or the internal state of the heart might be taken before the Lord – for the Lord knows the heart.
We have to note that the state of sin among the people is directed tied to the nation and way things would go with the nation. As the people go, so goes the nation.
Solomon then extends the prayer and blessing outside the Jewish community to the foreigner who might live among them. They also came to Israel for the sake of the name of God. He prayed that God might hear their prayer.
In battle it wasn't possible to worship and pray at the temple; yet, they would look toward the temple in their heart as they prayed from the battlefield or foreign lands. Solomon asked that God would honor the prayer as if it were offered in the temple.
2 Chronicles 6:36-42
What a fascinating passage. Solomon acknowledges that no one is without sin; this surely would have shocked the Pharisees in an age to come. The passage becomes prophetice in speaking of the judgement that would befall them. Solomon prays for that time when they are led to captivity. He asked that God might hear those prayers from the foreign land as if they were offered in the temple.
©2017 Doug Ford
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