Months, maybe years, had passed since Solomon's prayer of dedication. Several other building projects were completed after the Temple. After all this time, God told Solomon that He had heard his prayer. How often do we look for immediate answers to our prayers and, when nothing happens, we wonder if God heard us? God does hear, and He will provide for us, but we must trust that He will answer at the proper time.
In Chapter 6, Solomon asked God to make provisions for the people when they sinned. God answered with four conditions for forgiveness: (1) humble yourself by admitting your sins, (2) pray to God asking for forgiveness, seek for God continually, and (4) turn from sinful behavior. True repentance is more than talk - it is changed behavior. Whether we sin individually as a group, or as a nation, following these steps will lead to forgiveness. God will answer our earnest prayers.
When we are in need, there may be no one with whom we can talk, or we maybe afraid to share our need with another person, God assures Solomon, however, that He will not lack assistance when he comes to God in humility, seeking help. God promises to listen to every prayer offered in the right attitude. God is always available.
God plainly set forth certain conditions for Solomon to meet if he wanted the kingdom to continue. If he followed God Solomon and his descendants would prosper: if he did not, he and the nation would be destroyed. In Deuteronomy 27 and 28, these conditions were outlined before all the people. But sin is deceptively attractive, and Solomon eventually turned from God. As a result, his son and heir lost most of his kingdom. Following God brings benefits and rewards (not necessarily material). Turning away from Him brings suffering, punishment, and ultimately destruction. Today, God conditions are just as clear as they were in Solomon's day. Will you choose to obey God and live?
The LORD appeared to Solomon at night. The LORD said, I have heard your prayer, I have chosen this place for myself. It is a temple where sacrifices will be offered.
Suppose I close up the sky and there isn't any rain. Suppose I command locusts to eat up the crops. And I send a plague among my people.
But they make themselves humble in my sight. They pray and look to me. And they turn from their evil ways. Then I will listen to them, from heaven. I will forgive their sin. And I will heal their land. After all, they are my people.
Now my eyes will see them. My ears will pay attention to the prayers they offer in this place.
I have chosen this temple. I have set it apart for myself. My name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
"But you must walk faithfully with me, just as your father David did. Do everything I command you to do. Obey my rules and laws. Then I will set up your royal throne. I made a covenant with your father David to do that. I said to him, You will always have a son from your family line to rule over Israel'.
But suppose all of you turn away from me. You refuse to obey the rules and commands I have given you. And you go off to serve other gods and worship them.
Then I will remove Israel from my land. It is the land I gave them. I will turn my back on this temple. I will do it even though I have set it a part for my Name to be there. God will make all the nations hate it. They will laugh and joke about it.
This temple will become a pile of stones. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will say, why has the LORD done a thing like this to this land and temple?
People will answer, 'Because they have deserted the LORD. He is the God of their people who lived long ago. He brought them out of Egypt. But they have been holding onto other gods. They've been worshiping them. They have been serving them. That's why the LORD has brought all this horrible trouble on them.
God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, He accepted your prayer; yes, He had chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If God ever shut off the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on His people, Solomon's God-defined, and the people respond by humbling themselves. Praying, seeking God's presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, He will be there ready for them: He will listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on God will be alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe God, He have chosen and sanctified this Temple that Solomon had built. God's Name was stamped on it forever: and His eyes are on it, and His heart in it always. As for you, if you live in God's presence as his father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life he had set out for you, attentively obedient to God's guidance and judgments, then God will back Solomon's kingly rule over Israel - make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee God gave to David Solomon's father He will give it to Solomon. Solomon could count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.
But if Solomon or his sons betray God, ignoring His guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: God would wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this temple Solomon had just sanctified to honor God's Name. And Israel will be nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; tourists will shake their heads, saying; What happened here? What's the story behind these ruins? Then they will be told, the people who used to live there betrayed their God, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them.
Scripture reference from The Life Application Bible, The Message Bible and The NIrV Bible
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