Solomon’s Blessing
First Kings 8:12-21 and Second Chronicles 6:1-11
Solomon’s blessing DIG: Where was the ”thick darkness” that ADONAI would dwell in? In what ways had God blessed Solomon? In what ways was Ha’Shem being faithful to the promises of His covenant with David? How did Yeshua explain to people that He was the Temple?
REFLECT: How is the word “blessing” over-used today? How are other expressions over-used by believers in your circle of friends? What does it mean for us to bless God? How can we do that? Is it even possible? Do you take Messiah’s blessings for granted? How so? How not?
Solomon rejoiced over what ADONAI enabled him to do;
For us to bless God, then, is to thank Him for all His blessings to us.
How quickly a good biblical word or a true theological phrase can become a cliché for believers. Take the phrase “born again,” for example. These words express the deep gospel truth Yeshua explained to Nicodemus, that unless we are born from above by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, we cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 1:3-5). Since this is true, then a “born-again believer” is the only kind there is. Yet the phrase has become a cliché. In America it often refers to someone who has made a decision for Messiah by going forward at an evangelistic crusade, whether or not the person is committed to a life of Messiah-centered discipleship. Good words seem to have lost their full meaning.
There are many other expressions like this, including some that come straight from the Bible. Believers talk about “sharing the Good News,” or getting “washed in the blood of Yeshua,” or being “filled with the Spirit,” or becoming “brothers and sisters in Messiah.” The language of these phrases is biblical and their theology is profound. Yet, sometimes the phrases themselves are tossed around too casually. The same is true of the word “blessing” in its many popular forms: “God bless you!” “That was such a blessing!” “Count your blessings!” Believers say they are blessed with this and blessed with that. Sometimes they even say that they are “blessed to be a blessing!”163
King Solomon was wise not to make this mistake when he dedicated his famous Temple in Jerusalem. YHVH had blessed Solomon about as much as any man in history. When that great king numbered his blessings, he could count fabulous riches, a world-class intellect, the promise of everlasting fame . . . and that was just the beginning. Solomon also had the blessing of doing something important with his life by building a holy dwelling place for the living God. Solomon was well aware that everything he owned and did was the gift from God, from whom all blessings flow. So, he dedicated God’s Temple with words of blessing.
Remember the context. After seven years of costly labor, Solomon had finished the Temple – a magnificent building of white stone decorated inside with glittering gold (see a video of Solomon’s Temple click here). But the question still remained: Would God indeed dwell with His people? Would His Sh’khinah glory come down so His people could meet with Him for prayer and sacrifice.
The king recognized the Sh’khinah glory as the very Presence of ADONAI, and when it filled the Temple, it confirmed that God would indeed bless the house that Solomon built in His name. Therefore, in response, Solomon said: ADONAI said He would live in thick darkness, which was a valid description of the Most Holy Place because it had no windows or menorahs. The Sh’khinah glory provided the light necessary on Yom Kippur, the one time a year that the high priest would enter in. But I have built you a magnificent house, a place where you can live forever (First Kings 8:12-13; Second Chronicles 6:1-2).
Solomon’s heart was very full that day. All his hopes had been realized. God had descended to dwell in the house that Solomon had built. Now, for the rest of his speech the king wanted to thank God for what He had done, so he pronounced the double blessing. Presumably the king raised his hands in the air, which was an ancient and almost universal gesture of blessing. Then the king turned around and blessed the whole community of Isra’el. Then the whole community of Isra’el stood as the king directed His blessing to God Himself, saying: Blessed be ADONAI, the God of Isra’el (First Kings 8:14; Second Chronicles 6:3-4a). When YHVH blesses us, He bestows some gracious gift on us, whether physical or spiritual. But what does it mean for us to bless God? We are not able to give Him anything He doesn’t already possess for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Romans 11:36). The only thing we can really offer to God is our worship and praise. For us to bless God, then, is to thank Him for all His blessings to us.164
Dear Heavenly Father, What a joy and pleasure it is to worship You! There is nothing more uplifting than to meditate on Your greatness and offer praise back to You! When life throws us a hard time, when we are misunderstood and not able to change the situation – then the best response is to praise You. David praised You in many of his Psalms, even when he was in very hard, lonely and painful situations. In Psalm 63, David fled to the wilderness to escape being killed by King Saul. He had to flee away from family, friends and even from faithful Samuel (First Samuel 19-21). Who gathered around him? Anyone who was in distress, anyone in debt, and anyone embittered rallied around him, and he became their leader. There were about 400 men with him (First Samuel 22:2).
Thank you, Father, that when I am away from everyone who cares about me and surrounded by the ungrateful, Your steadfast love is still with me! What a wonderful example that David clung tight to Your steadfast love even when away from family, friends and faithful Samuel. David’s heart cry to you was not for the “good life”; rather he thirsted for relationship with You as number one priority. O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and weary land, where there is no water (Psalms 63:1). David had his focus right when he said: since Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You (Psalms 63:3). Praising God was what David ran to when in trouble. He did not go complaining, though he for sure asked for Your mercy and help. Please help us to do as David did and run to You in praise when problems come.
Praise enabled David to focus his attention away from his hard and painful situation and be satisfied as he looked up and saw God’s steadfast love! I will praise you as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods (Psalms 63:4-5a). David made praise a part of his daily waking experience by setting his mind before he slept on God’s wondrous acts and steadfast love. As David slept, his mind played back the greatness of God. He was renewed and refreshed. And so my mouth praises You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You through the night watches (Psalms 63:5b-6). Please help me when trials come, to be like David and to renew my mind which will refresh and transform me (Romans 12:2). I love You always! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
The king’s blessing focused on God’s faithfulness, specifically to the Davidic Covenant: The God of Isra’el spoke to my father David with His mouth and fulfilled His promise with His hand. Just as God had chosen a people for Himself (Isra’el) and a place for them to worship (Jerusalem), He also chose a king to rule over them (David). He said: Since the day I brought My people Isra’el out of Egypt, I chose no city from any of the tribes of Isra’el in which to build a house, so that My name might be there, nor did I choose anyone to be the leader of my people Isra’el. But now I have chosen Tziyon so that my name can be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Isra’el (1 Kgs 8:15-16; 2 Chron 6:4b-6). As YHVH said through the psalmist: I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn David as My servant (Psalm 89:3, 132:11-12).
Here is how Solomon recounted the history of that promise. Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of ADONAI the God of Isra’el. In other words, it was totally David’s idea, but God did sanction it. But ADONAI said to David my father, “Although it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, and you did well that it was in your heart, nevertheless you will not build the house. Rather, you will father a son, and it will be he who will build the house for my name” (First Kings 8:17-19; Second Chronicles 6:7-9). Solomon recognized that now the promise had come true. By the grace of God, working through the dramatic events described in First and Second Kings, Solomon had ascended to David’s throne. Then the new king built a Temple, which was also by His grace, as described in First Kings 5 to 7. The promises God made to David were coming true, as they always do, because God is the Promise Keeper.
And the evidence was: Now ADONAI has fulfilled this spoken word of His; for I have succeeded my father and sit on the throne of Isra’el, as ADONAI promised; and I have built the house for the name of ADONAI, the God of Isra’el. And there I have made a place for the ark containing the covenant of ADONAI, which he made with our ancestors when He brought them out of the land of Egypt (First Kings 8:20-21; Second Chronicles 6:10-11). All that God had told David, had been fulfilled at that time.
For us these promises take on an added dimension in Yeshua Messiah. ADONAI is still building His Temple today – a spiritual Temple that is dedicated to YHVH by the ministry of Yeshua Messiah as Solomon’s greater Son. This, too, is a sign of the faithfulness of the LORD, as He builds His people into a spiritual house for the praise of His Name. That’s what a Temple is supposed to be: a place that God inhabits.
Solomon could only hope that ADONAI would dwell in His Temple forever, but in Messiah that hope has become a reality. Yeshua told people: Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). When Messiah said that, He was speaking about the Temple of His body (John 2:21). What He said was really a prophecy, because three days after His body was killed on the cross, Yeshua came back to everlasting life. Then His apostles remembered what He said about tearing down and raising up the Temple and they recognized that it referred to the crucifixion and resurrection. Believing in the crucified and risen Messiah, they received the blessing of eternal life.
Yeshua is the King. Yeshua is the Temple. Yeshua is the One who gives us all the blessings of our faithful heavenly Father. This is not something to pass off as a mere cliché, but a truth to celebrate. With a heart full of praise, the apostle Paul said: Blessed be ADONAI, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who in the Messiah has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven (Ephesians 1:3). Yes, every blessing of God belongs to us through faith in Messiah. Yeshua blesses us with full forgiveness for all our sins, with the righteousness we need to stand before YHVH, with the privileged status of becoming sons and daughters of the Most High God with the faithful promise of His provision for all of our needs, with the living presence of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, with the total guarantee of eternal life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), and with a million other blessings that are His to give.
When we receive these blessings, we should say what Solomon said: Blessed be ADONAI, the God of Isra’el (First Kings 8:14), and also what Paul said: Blessed be ADONAI, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who in the Messiah has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven (Ephesians 1:3). It is good to say: “God bless you!” as long as we really mean it and are not merely throwing around a religious cliché. But is also good for us to change the order of the words, to turn our blessing in God’s direction, and to say: Bless You, God, for all the blessings that You have given to us.”165
Leave A Comment