Sunday Morning Service (I Kings 8:44-66)

I Kings 8:44-66

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"The Dedication Feast"  •  1.8.17  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- As we return to First Kings, I feel that it might be important to re-orient ourselves. To date, this book has dedicated to the life of King Solomon.

- In chapter 1, we marked Solomon's Ascension to the throne. In chapter 2, we saw Solomon's Authority In Action, wisely dispensing with men who had been his enemies.

- Chapter 3 revealed Solomon's Aptitude to rule over more delicate issues. Chapter 4 gave us a picture of Solomon's Administration.

- In the fifth chapter, we read of Solomon's Agreement with Hiram King of Tyre to supply him with material for the Temple, leading to Solomon's Achievement of building it in chapters 6 and 7.

- Last time we were together, we began a new section of the book relating to Solomon's Address. He stood before the Temple that had seen the presence of the Lord fill it.

- He began by addressing the people and then God in what is the longest prayer of the Bible.

- The Temple accentuated the sinfulness of God's people, but also stood as a reminder that God's willingness to dwell there signaled an enduring hope. Let's pick it up in verse 44.

 Text

• I Kings 8:44,45 : "When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause." : It's tough to know if Solomon prayed this with or without knowledge of the future. It is prophetic in either case.

- There will be many battles to come, even though Solomon's reign will be one of peace.

- They will go out against their enemy under the supervision of their Lord. God would be responsible for sending them out.

- You'll see that while Israel is not generally the aggressor, nations will find their way to her borders. As they began to engage the enemy, Solomon prays that they will call out to the Lord.

- They will not be near the Temple. They will be in remote parts of Israel, but they will be centered by the Temple that has been built. It will be their spiritual north.

- It won't be the Temple itself, as if a building could be the source of Israel's strength. It will always be what the Temple represented: The presence of God among His people!

- When they turn to the Temple, when their minds are turned to the correct source, the King calls upon the Lord to hear their prayers and maintain or work on behalf of their cause.

- When you read of the battles or perhaps the "non-battles," you'll see that God did in fact, hear their prayer and maintain their cause. But there were times when He would not. Verse 46.

• I Kings 8:46-53 : "When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near; yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace), that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.'" : Israel would have to fight eventually because they would fall into sin.

- Often, they would remain in sin while they were fighting and cut off their own help from God!

- Here we find the Old Testament twin verse to Romans 3:23! We are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God! Solomon declares rightly that there is no one that does not sin!

- The King knows that the nation of Israel would soon find themselves on the wrong side of God's law, which would issue in God's anger toward them and their deliverance to their enemy.

- When the people of Israel were rebellious, the best that could happen would be their defeat at the hands of their enemies or quite worse, captivity at the hands of the heathen.

- Israel understood that when God was on their side, when they were living in righteousness, according to God's law, nobody could stand against them. One could make a thousand flee!

- But the opposite was true when they turned from the Lord and rebelled, even to the point of losing their privilege of living free before the Lord in their own land.

- I can't begin to understand what hopelessness that would bring to the human soul, to be displaced in a foreign land. But even there, the Lord's people have hope! Where does it begin?

- "Yet when they come to themselves." The HCSB translates it "when they come to their senses." Literally, it seems to mean to return to their heart.

- Does this not remind you of the Prodigal son, who returned home after "he had come to himself?" (Luke 15:17) This is the second such picture that Solomon provides us with regarding sin.

- The first was related to a plague of the heart in verse 38. Being in sin is like having a sickness that wastes away your life. Here, Solomon likens sin to being out of your mind in madness!

- Truly, to entertain rebellion against the Lord is to invite sickness into your soul and madness into your mind!

- Such forays into sin will land you in captivity for sure, physically for Israel and mentally, spiritually for the child of God! Thankfully, a child of God can return to the Lord wherever they are!

- Wherever they found themselves, either near to Israel or far from it, Solomon entreats the Lord to hear their repentant cry.

- Listen to Solomon express what he means by a repentant heart. It's expressed first in their confession, "We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness."

- Nobody can claim to repent who hasn't seen themselves as the cause of their own wretched condition. Do you see how simple this is and yet, how difficult we make it!

- Don't blame others. Say "I have sinned." Don't claim to be mistaken. Say "I have done wrong!" Don't term your actions to be simply foolish. Call it what it is, "wicked" in the sight of God!

- Such honesty and agreement with God opens the door to restoration. That is the repentant cry of the heart, but notice that this heart condition issues in action.

- Once they have made this confession, Solomon further describes what occurs in the heart of Israel, namely that they return to Him with all their heart and soul.

- The idea is that their words are not simply the right words. There are the words and right after, immediately, their actions that express a full hearted return to God!

- Where would that take place? It would happen right where they were, in the place of their captivity! Verse 48 says clearly that they are in the land of their enemies!

- Repentance doesn't wait for everything to be right. It's not conditioned upon an external change of circumstances. It happens right where the sin has led a person!

- Often you hear of people who talk of another place or time when it comes to obedience to God. They pledge to begin doing something right before the Lord when they are in a better position.

- I've heard people claim this in relation to sins of commission and ommission!

- Sins of commission meaning that you are doing what you know you shouldn't, ommission relates to not doing what you know you should.

- The problem with such pledges is that the desired position never comes. Solomon is painting a picture of a person whose heart cannot wait to be right with God.

- There is no time like the present and no place better than the place that they are standing in! Your repentance is genuine when it prevails over your present circumstance!

- Solomon pleads for God to see this and to begin to act accordingly on Israel's behalf. Forgive them and then work in their captor's heart to grant them compassion.

- Solomon doesn't ask for divine or miraculous intervention. "Just airlift them out of their captor's nations!" He asks that God begin to turn the hearts of their enemies.

- Solomon would later write in Proverbs 16:7, "When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."

- Far from miraculous intervention, God often moves the heart of the King, the boss, the supervisor! You will see this quite often as you study the history of the people of Israel.

- Nebuchadnezzar, Darius and Artaxerxes were all heathen Kings who favored God's people while they were in captivity. But even so, why would God not just give up on Israel?

- They have lost the battle and have found themselves in captivity because they have left the Lord. Could He not simply leave them to their own devices? Solomon knows He will not!

- God would listen to these people because He had separated them to Himself when He pulled them out of Egypt. Solomon is saying that God made a commitment to be Israel's God while in Egypt.

- This was God's first act toward the nation of Israel. Exodus 2:23-25 tells us that Israel began to groan before the Lord and God "acknowledged them!" He chose to concern Himself with them!

- Not only was that His initiatory act, but it was also an illustrative one. The God of Israel was not limited to location, but could hear His people in the most distant places!

- Egypt at the time of the Exodus, was a world dominating power. Who could rescue a slave nation from such a powerful adversary? What God could compete with the gods of Egypt?

- Solomon recognizes that God's power to reach His people has already been tested and proven to be sufficient! Verse 54.

• I Kings 8:54-56 : "And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:  'Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses." : What a model that the King left his people. He's not ashamed to pray in public or to be in a vulnerable position before God!

- He kneeled before the Lord, which is the appropriate response to the very presence of God. What a moment! He finishes his prayer to the Lord for the people and then turns to the people.

- He has not been addressing them, but now turns with them in mind. What is his heart filled with? Blessing for the people! It can be no other way!

- When you spend time in God's presence you can't help but turn around and bless the people of God! Your response to the people in your life will be a reflection of your communion with the Lord.

- Solomon finished his prayer and turned to the people, to speak of God's goodness to them!

- He is the God that has given them rest. In what way had he given them rest? They had stopped wandering and God had signaled their establishment by inhabiting the Temple.

- How could God's people not have rest when their God dwelt in their land? What could be more restful than that!?

- Additionally, on every side of the Kingdom, there was peace. That had been His promise and His faithful record resonates in Solomon's heart. "Not one word of His good promise has failed us!"

- When the people of Israel initially came into the land of Israel, Joshua expressed this same sentiment in Joshua 21:44,45.

- Both Joshua and Solomon have steeped themselves in the law, the Pentateuch and have seen first hand, God's Word fulfilled! All who look into it will see the same thing! Verse 57.

• I Kings 8:57,58 : "May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers." : May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our Fathers.

- God's presence literally led the people of God visibly while they were in the wilderness.

- What a terror it would have been to wake up and not see the cloud or the pillar of fire above the camp! In the same way, God's presence has filled the Temple visibly.

- Solomon knows that the glory of God had once departed Israel when Saul had been the King.

- May it never happen again! "May He not leave us or forsake us!" Why would He?

- When the hearts of God's people went away from Him! Solomon recognizes what is true of all of God's people, whether Israelite in the Old Testament or Christian in the New.

- What is different about the Old Covenant Saint and the New Covenant Christian is the covenant that each exists under.

- Israel's covenant was conditioned upon their obedience to the law. Our covenant is conditioned upon Christ who has obediently and perfectly fulfilled the law!

- That being the case, the issue is that the hearts of a human being are naturally inclined in other directions. This is why Solomon wisely states this in his benediction.

- As much as Solomon recognizes God's faithfulness, he also acknowledges our weakness!

- May He incline our hearts to Himself! The word means to influence or to bend down our hearts in His direction. Lord, we want this to be the case. Please move our hearts toward you!

- This isn't to say that we are not involved. He can influence and bend our hearts toward Himself, but we must also yield ourselves to His influence! How do we know that we are?

- A yielded, influenced heart will respond by walking in His ways, keeping His statutes, commands and judgments!

- You will delight in His Word. Your actions will correspond to Biblical Christianity. Your heart will be aligned with what God desires for your life! It won't be a chore or a work!

• I Kings 8:59-61 : "And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.'" : What a beautiful statement. May these words be near the Lord our God day and night!

- "Let these requests resonate in His ears continually." Let God always remember what I've said that He would work for our cause, however those needs unfold! Did you see that?

- As each day may require. This faithful God is not only a pardoning deity or powerful deliverer. Solomon sees Him as an present provider! "Meet our daily needs as they come up!"

- This presumes a watchful and willing eye, like that of any Father over his children! That is God's promised role among His own people!

- Why does He provide? Why does He show such intimate concern? Solomon reveals that this is related to His reputation among all the peoples of the Earth!

- What other God is there that shows tangibly His concern for His people? What other God remains faithful and true to Himself in spite of His children's fidelity or lack thereof?

- Solomon says correctly that there is no other! How should His person respond? Let your heart be loyal the Lord! The word "loyal" is better rendered to be whole or perfect.

- When there is a choice between how you feel and what God commands, where will your loyalty lie? Let your heart be loyal and your actions be consistent! Verse 62.

• I Kings 8:62-66 : "Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven more days—fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people." : The end of Solomon's prayer signaled the beginning of this wonderful feast made from 144,000 animals.

- If one lamb could feed a family, let's say, a minimum of six people, then 120,000 would cover over 700,000 people!

- Add the bulls to that list and you can see here that over a million people were fed over this two week period of time marking the dedication of the temple!

- And what a dedication ceremony it was! The altar proved to be far to small so the King set the court in front of the house aside for holy service.

- He offered burnt sacrifices, which signaled the people's complete consecration. He offered the grain offerings, an Old Testament shadow of communion.

- Then there was the peace offering, which was the meal that was shared between the offerer and the Lord. The Lord was given the fat parts of the animal and the worshipper received the rest.

- In their way of thinking, sharing a meal meant partaking of a single substance which connected you with the person you shared it with mystically.

- In essence, the people of God were close enough to share a meal with the God of the Universe! Can you imagine such a thing?

- This was the closest any Israelite would be to full communion with God! On that fifteenth day, the people were sent away full from the feast and of the joy that they had experienced in the Lord!

- They spent all this time celebrating God's faithfulness to David and to Israel.

Conclusion

- Would you have liked to be there on that day? I'm sure we all would have loved it, but on that 16th day, after all those animals were sacrificed, a new batch were sacrificed.

- It was never enough because of the nation's sin. It was the plague of their hearts, the madness of their minds, to turn from the Lord, but that was their inclination.

- Solomon declates it: There are none that do not sin! That is why the sacrifice was necessary and that is also why hope was possible, because of the innocence of another!

- How much better then is the New Covenant, which is not predicated upon our faithfulness, but on the faithfulness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

- Because He perfectly offered Himself once for the sins of His people, the effects stands for all eternity, cleansing all of His people for all time.

- Because of His faithfulness and because He lives forever, we can know with assurance that He will never leave or forsake us!

- When Solomon prays that God will bend the hearts of HIs people to Himself there is a bit of doubt.

- Jesus continually bends our hearts to Himself by providing us with His Spirit leaving us confident of His intention to finish what He has started in us!

- The people of God were overjoyed to spend two weeks near the presence of God.

- One day, you and I will stand in the presence of God and sit at His table, where we will eat, not for two weeks, but for all eternity with the God who saved us! Who is in for that day?