Year 1, Week 46, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 46, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Chronicles 6-7.

Today’s reading is a continuation of the historical record of the Temple’s dedication. As we have been noting, today’s reading coincides with the parallel historical account provided in 1 Kings 8-9. 2 Chronicles 6 notes Solomon’s prayer: “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands” (2 Chronicles 6:12). 1 Chronicles 7 picks up at the end of Solomon’s prayer and records the LORD consuming the sacrifices and the glory of the LORD once again filling the Temple: “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple” (1 Chronicles 7:2). Then the Chronicler records additional Words from the LORD not recorded in the report provided in 1 Kings: “Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished. Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice” (2 Chronicles 7:11-12).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the contents of Solomon’s prayer: “Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O LORD, God of Israel…Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David…And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive” (2 Chronicles 6:13b-14a,17,21). Solomon’s prayer surveys seven scenarios, identifying different situations of potential need within Israel, five of which were because of Israel’s sinfulness. These petitions are greatly informed by the covenant curses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.

In most of Solomon’s requests, sin is involved, and therefore, forgiveness is needed. Such as when Israelites sin against a neighbor: “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous” (2 Chronicles 6:22-23). Or when Israel is defeated by an enemy: “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people” (2 Chronicles 6:24-25). Or when there is drought: “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants” (2 Chronicles 6:26-27); or famine: “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive” (2 Chronicles 6:28-30). Or when Israel is taken into captivity: “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity…then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas” (2 Chronicles 6:36-39).

The irony of these prayers is that they are voiced on the grand day of the Temple dedication. This was to be a day of great celebration; but it was also a day for sober realism. God’s presence had gloriously filled the Temple. Israel was the recipient of the LORD dwelling in their midst; they were extremely blessed and privileged. And yet the cold hard facts of reality was that Israel was sin-infected. Solomon acknowledged that God would be dwelling with a very sinful people. Thus, the constant need for forgiveness and restoration was at the forefront of the prayer requests posed by Solomon. But there was hope in these matters as well. The LORD had pledged Himself to His people and the arrival of His presence to the Temple was a demonstration of that pledge: “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, You shall not lack a man to rule Israel” (2 Chronicles 7:16-18). God would discipline His people when they sinned, but He would preserve them for the sake of His covenant promises.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe