Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,
“He is good;
    his love endures forever.”
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.
So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.
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 Lord and in his own palace, 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.
“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, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
“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, 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.’
“But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 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. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 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.’”

• 2 Chronicles 7:1-22

At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace, Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram had given him, and settled Israelites in them. Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath. He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities, with walls and with gates and bars, as well as Baalath and all his store cities, and all the cities for his chariots and for his horses—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.
There were still people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these people were not Israelites). Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these people remaining in the land—whom the Israelites had not destroyed—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. They were also King Solomon’s chief officials—two hundred and fifty officials supervising the men.
Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”
On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the three annual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered. They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.
All Solomon’s work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished.
Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own men, sailors who knew the sea. These, with Solomon’s men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

• 2 Chronicles 8:1-18

When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
(The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood and precious stones. The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s day. The king had a fleet of trading ships manned by Hiram’s servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.
As for the other events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

• 2 Chronicles 9:1-31

 Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

2 Chronicles 7:1-3 ‘fire came down’: “This also occurred when the tabernacle was dedicated (Lev. 9:23, 24). This was the genuine dedication, because only God can truly sanctify.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 7:8 ‘Hamath … Brook of Egypt.’: “Lit. from the northern boundary to the southern boundary.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 7:12-22 ‘Solomon in Light of the Davidic Covenant’: “Second Chronicles 7:12-22 is parallel to 1 Kings 9:1-9. There is only one significant difference between the two passages, the noteworthy addition in 2 Chronicles, placed there for specific theological emphasis, of God’s promises in 7:12-15. These pledges supply the answer to the content of Solomon’s preceding prayer, especially within 6:22-39, that the Lord ‘would hear the prayers offered in or directed toward the temple’ (Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, p. 225).
“The LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, ‘l have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If l shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if l send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then l will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place” (7:12-15).
“The context of this passage is the people’s worship in the temple, the ‘house of sacrifice’ (7:12) of the nation of Israel. The Lord promises His covenant nation that He will be ‘attentive to the prayer offered in this place’ (7:15) and that the land He is committed to healing is ‘their’ (Israel’s) land (7:14).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Chronicles 7:17-18 ‘if … then’: “If there was obedience on the part of the nation, the kingdom would be established and they would have ‘a man as ruler.’ Their disobedience was legendary and so was the destruction of their kingdom and their dispersion. When Israel is saved (cf. Zech. 12:14; Rom. 11:25-27), then their King Messiah will set up this glorious kingdom (Rev. 20:1ff.).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 8:2 ‘cities Hiram gave Solomon’: “Cf. 1 Kings 9:10-14. Though these cities were within the boundaries of the Promised Land, they had never been conquered; so Solomon gave Hiram the right to settle them. Hiram, however, returned the Galilean cities which Solomon had given him because they were unacceptably poor. Solomon, apparently, then improved them and settled Israelites there.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 8:11 ‘the daughter of Pharaoh’: “Cf. 1 Kings 9:24. First Kings 3:1 mentions the marriage and the fact that Solomon brought her to Jerusalem until he could build a house for her. Until that palace was built, Solomon lived in David’s palace, but did not allow her to do so, because she was a heathen and because the ark of God had once been in David’s house. He surely knew his marriage to this pagan did not please God (cf. Deut. 7:3, 4). Eventually, Solomon’s pagan wives caused tragic consequences (1 Kin. 1 1:1-11).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 8:13 ‘three … feasts’: “These were prescribed in the Mosaic legislation: (1) Unleavened Bread/Passover; (2) Pentecost; and (3) Tabernacles (cf. Ex. 23:14-17; Deut. 16:1-17).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 9 ‘The Grandeur of Solomon’s Kingdom’:”Chapter 9 begins a detailed account of the glories and conquests of the Solomonic kingdom. We are treated to the story of the queen of Sheba’s visit, which illustrates how God makes His grace known throughout the nations. The Jews, in the days of the kingdom of Israel, weren’t sent out into the whole world as we are commanded to do now by the Great Commission (see Matt. 28:19-20). Instead, God’s grace was displayed by the building of a land and a people so wondrously blessed by God that word spread to the uttermost parts of the earth. People came from around the world to see for themselves what God was doing in Israel.
“This is a picture of God’s supreme method of evangelism. Believers everywhere are commanded to live lives that are so controlled by the Spirit of God that people everywhere are amazed to see the light of God shining through them. When believers manifest the victory and rejoicing of the Lord, others can’t help but ask, ‘What is it about these people? I want to know what this is all about.’ ”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

2 Chronicles 9:8 ‘His throne’: “The thought that Solomon sat on God’s throne is not included in the queen of Sheba’s words in 1 Kings 10:9. The blessing of God on Israel and on Solomon was to last as long as he followed the Lord as David had (7:17-21).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics

2 Chronicles 9:16 ‘shekels’: “Bekah, not shekel or mina, is the correct unit of weight. Since one mina equals fifty shekels and one shekel equals two bekahs, then the three minas in 1 Kings 10:17 equals the three hundred bekahs here, and both texts agree. This would represent a little less than four pounds.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Chronicles 9:29 ‘Solomon’s Death’: “First Kings 11:41 reports that Solomon’s deeds were written in ‘the book of the acts of Solomon.’ For the rest of the record of Solomon’s life, read 1 Kings 10:26-11:43. In later years, he turned away from God and, due to the influence of his wives, he led the nation into idolatry. This split the kingdom and sowed the seeds that led to its defeat and dispersion. The Chronicles do not record this sad end to Solomon’s life because the focus is on encouraging the returning Jews from Babylon with God’s pledge to them for a glorious future in the Davidic covenant.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

Fire came from heaven.  I like Rev. MacArthur’s comment that only God can truly sanctify.  But when this happens. the people fell to the ground, face down and sang “He is good.  His love endures forever.”  I think they were scared out of their minds and surely hoped God was good and His love endured forever.  They might be remembering the sin they committed earlier in the day.  And I think we will have the same reaction when we see God in all His splendor and holiness.

The text reiterates that David made at least some of the musical instruments, inventing some.

From Hamath to the wadi of Egypt is used here, but you might see from Dan to Beersheba meaning the same thing elsewhere, meaning all of the nation of Israel, from the north to the south.

Then, after the sacrifices, God came to Solomon to confirm He had heard Solomon’s prayer, but He also challenged Solomon.  Solomon must keep his eyes on God as David had done (which he did not).  And when the people humble themselves as calamity strikes, if they pray, if they seek God and repent.  They must do all four for God to restore them.  Otherwise, just as God said through Moses, the people will be uprooted.  And God would have the temple destroyed. So, the people had the warning of exile in Deuteronomy before they ever entered the Promised Land, and then the warning is repeated here.  Yet, the people chased after false gods, but that gets ahead of us – not by much as Solomon chased after the false gods to keep his many wives happy.

And Solomon started out knowing better.  He had married Pharaoh’s daughter, and he knew her to be a pagan, unworthy of being near anything holy.  It was obvious that she had made no effort to conform to the Israelite practices.  Solomon’s great-great-grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite, but it is recorded in Ruth that she swore total faith in the God of her mother-in-law, Naomi.

Solomon kept the division of the work at the temple as his father David had done and is recorded in the latter chapters of 1 Chronicles.

Now we come to his palace furnishings and the visit from the Queen of Sheba.  On one map, they showed Sheba just north of present-day Yemen on the Sinai Peninsula, but I do not know if I trust that map, as Ophir was just to the west of Sheba, on the coast.  Every map seems to place Sheba near the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Others suggest Ophir as being as far away as the Philippines, with ship routes hugging the coastline.  One article that I browsed said that the Philippines was not the location for there are no hidden gold reserves, almost begging prospectors to stay away. But yet another idea is found in The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands by Barry J. Beitzel, where he places Ophir in present-day Djibouti, on the other side of the Red Sea, thus requiring ships to go there. Ophir is at least accessible from the Gulf of Aqaba, where Elath of Edom is thought to have been.

Note that the Queen of Sheba provided spices that were not known in the lands around Israel.  If Ophir is near the Philippines, could Sheba have traded for spices from Indonesia and Malaysia?  The Nutmeg wars were fought over many more spices than just nutmeg, and they were discovered on those islands.

The throne description is impressive, but I like Rev. MacArthur’s comment that it was God’s throne and Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, lost most of his kingdom, much because of Solomon’s sin.

Yet, while historians seem to miss David and Solomon in their histories of the area, every nation from within the envelope of Egypt to Philistia to the Euphrates was ruled by Solomon.  The nations existed as separate nations, but the gave tribute to Solomon for their protection.

But the downfall of Solomon is recorded elsewhere.  Here, it simply states that he died and was buried with his ancestors.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

2 Chronicles 7:1-10 The Dedication of the Temple 1. What makes a celebration enjoyable for you? ls there any time soon your group could have a ‘Solomon-like’ party?
“2. What kinds of things do you offer to God to express your gratitude and thanksgiving?
2 Chronicles 7:11-22 The Lord Appears to Solomon 1. What might God say if he appeared to your nation’s leader tonight as he did to Solomon?
“2. Do any of your nation’s problems happen because people ‘serve other gods and worship them’ (v.19)? What should be done about that?
2 Chronicles 8: 1. Whal do you find admirable in Solomon’s accomplishments as king? What would you rather he hadn’t done? Why?
“2. How is your own worship of God like Solomon’s? Does his example suggest any changes you need to make?
2 Chronicles 9: 1. Do you wish you were a wealthy person (if not already)? In what ways would you use your wealth and possessions to bring honor and glory to God? What spiritual dangers might you encounter?
“2. What three accomplishments do you want mentioned in your obituary? ls there anything you hope gets left out?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There are two sets of questions for 2 Chronicles 7 as indicated above.  There is one set of questions each for 2 Chronicles 8 and 9.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.