1 Kings 8:35

_IF ANY MAN TRESPASS AGAINST HIS NEIGHBOUR, AND AN OATH BE LAID UPON HIM TO CAUSE HIM TO SWEAR, AND THE OATH COME BEFORE THINE ALTAR IN THIS HOUSE:_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

22-53 In this excellent prayer, Solomon does as we should do in every prayer; he gives glory to God. Fresh experiences of the truth of God's promises call for larger praises. He sues for grace and favour from God. The experiences we have of God's performing his promises, should encourage us to depend upon them, and to plead them with him; and those who expect further mercies, must be thankful for former mercies. God's promises must be the guide of our desires, and the ground of our hopes and expectations in prayer. The sacrifices, the incense, and the whole service of the temple, were all typical of the Redeemer's offices, oblation, and intercession. The temple, therefore, was continually to be remembered. Under one word, "forgive," Solomon expressed all that he could ask in behalf of his people. For, as all misery springs from sin, forgiveness of sin prepares the way for the removal of...

Verse 35. _WHEN THE HEAVEN IS SHUT UP, AND THERE IS NO RAIN_] The THIRD case. When, because of their sin, and their ceasing to _walk_ _in the good way_ in which they should have walked, God refuses to send the _early_ and _latter rain_, so that the appointed weeks of harvest come in vain, as there is no crop: then, if they pray and confess their sin, hear thou in heaven, c....

EXPOSITION THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.—The stately and impressive service with which the Temple, the character and contents of which have now been described, was dedicated, is related in this chapter, and divides itself into four sections. We have (1) the removal of the ark and Solomon's ascription of praise on the occasion (1 Kings 8:1). (2) The prayer of consecration (1 Kings 8:23-11). (3) The benediction of the congregation (1 Kings 8:55-11), and (4) the festal sacrifices which followed on and completed the dedication ...

WHEN HEAVEN IS SHUT UP,.... As it may be said to be when the air is quite serene, and not a cloud in it: AND THERE IS NO RAIN; in its season, neither the former nor the latter, as it was in the times of Elijah: BECAUSE THEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THEE; want of rain was threatened in case of sin, and was always the effect of it, Leviticus 26:19, IF THEY PRAY TOWARDS THIS PLACE; in any part of the country where they were; for it sometimes rained on one city, and not on another, Amos 4:7 AND CONFESS THY NAME; own his power and his providence, and the justness of his dealings with them: AND TURN FROM THEIR SIN, WHEN THOU AFFLICTEST THEM; their affliction being made useful, to bring them to a sense of their sin, and to re

CHAPTER 8THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE _ 1. The great assembly (1 Kings 8:1)_ 2. The transportation of the ark (1 Kings 8:3) 3. The glory of the LORD filling the house (1 Kings 8:10) 4. Solomon's opening words (1 Kings 8:12) 5. Solomon's great prayer (1 Kings 8:22) 6. Solomon's benediction (1 Kings 8:54) 7. The sacrifices and the feast ...

SOLOMON'S DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE, PRAYER AND ADDRESS. This chapter is mainly Deuteronomic, being clearly written from the standpoint of one who has seen the Temple as the one national sanctuary of Israel, and has either witnessed its downfall or perceived that it was imminent. 1 Kings 8:1 is, however, probably from the early record of how the house of Yahweh was dedicated by Solomon, of which 1 Kings 8:62 is the continuation, the prayer of Solomon being Deuteronomic. In 1 Kings 8:12 f. we may have preserved an authentic poetic utterance of Solomon himself in the words of the dedication of the Temple. As they are given in the LXX they read as follows: Yahweh set the sun in heaven,...

WHEN HEAVEN IS SHUT UP. Compare Leviticus 26:19; Deuteronomy 11:17. Compare Ch. 1 Kings 17:1....

_When heaven is shut up_ The king next intreats against a plague of drought. This also had been proclaimed in the Pentateuch as one of God's methods of discipline and punishment. So Deuteronomy 11:17 the people are warned to beware of sin lest the Lord shut up the heaven that there be no rain; and in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 28:23) and Leviticus (Leviticus 26:19) the striking phrase is used -I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass....

C. THE DEDICATORY PRAYER 8:22-53 The dedicatory prayer of Solomon is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. No doubt the author of Kings copied this composition from the _book of the acts of Solomon_ (1 Kings 11:41), or possibly from the _book of Nathan_ (2 Chronicles 9:29). Modern critics have attacked the authenticity of the prayer on the dubious grounds that it contains too many references to the Pentateuch! Of course if the Pentateuch in its entirety be regarded as Mosaic in origin, there is no reason in the world why Solomon could not or would not have alluded to it frequently. It is interesting to note that in the entire prayer there is not one reference to offering sacrifice in the Temple. The concept of the Temple as a house of prayer was not, then, a postexilic e