Morning Bible Study 2 Chronicles 6:1-21 20141120 2Ch 6:1 Then King Solomon prayed, LORD, you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness. 2Ch 6:2 Now I have built a majestic temple for you, a place for you to live in forever. 2Ch 6:3 All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned to face them and asked Gods blessing on them. 2Ch 6:4 He said, Praise the LORD God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said to him, 2Ch 6:5 From the time I brought my people out of Egypt until now, I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a temple where I would be worshiped, and I did not choose anyone to lead my people Israel. 2Ch 6:6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where I will be worshiped, and you, David, to rule my people. 2Ch 6:7 And Solomon continued, My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the LORD God of Israel, 2Ch 6:8 but the LORD said to him, You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, 2Ch 6:9 but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple. 2Ch 6:10 Now the LORD has kept his promise: I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built a temple for the worship of the LORD God of Israel. 2Ch 6:11 I have placed in the Temple the Covenant Box, which contains the stone tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with the people of Israel. 2Ch 6:12 Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar and raised his arms in prayer. 2Ch 6:13 (Solomon had made a bronze platform and put it in the middle of the courtyard. It was eight feet square and five feet high. He mounted this platform, knelt down where everyone could see him, and raised his hands toward heaven.) 2Ch 6:14 He prayed, LORD God of Israel, in all heaven and earth there is no god like you. You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 2Ch 6:15 You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 2Ch 6:16 Now, LORD God of Israel, keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided that they carefully obeyed your Law just as he did. 2Ch 6:17 So now, LORD God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to your servant David. 2Ch 6:18 But can you, O God, really live on earth among men and women? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 2Ch 6:19 LORD my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer and grant the requests I make to you. 2Ch 6:20 Watch over this Temple day and night. You have promised that this is where you will be worshiped, so hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 2Ch 6:21 Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us Scriptures marked as (GNB) are taken from the Good News Bible – Second Edition © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission. 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 2. Solomon’s Blessing and Prayer (2Ch_6:1-42) The appearance of the glory of God in the cloud (2Ch_5:13-14) reminded Solomon that God had made His presence known to Moses in the same way though in a much more modest tent, or tabernacle. Now, however, the Lord… would dwell in a more permanent magnificence (2Ch_6:1-2). Solomon addressed the people in a blessing (2Ch_6:4-11). First he praised God for having fulfilled His promises to… David by choosing him and his dynasty, selecting Jerusalem as the divine “residence,” and permitting the erection of a temple (2Ch_6:4-6). The term name, which occurs 14 times in this chapter and 14 times elsewhere in 2 Chronicles, refers to God’s attributes or presence (cf. 1Ch_13:6). David had not been allowed to build the temple but God in His infinite grace had ordained that Solomon, David’s son, do so and now that promise had come to pass (2Ch_6:7-11). 2 Chronicles 6:12-21 After blessing the people, Solomon offered a dedicatory prayer (2Ch_6:14-42). Kneeling on a specially constructed bronze platform… in the center of the outer court (2Ch_6:12-13), he extolled the Lord for His covenant-keeping faithfulness (2Ch_6:14-15). Love translates ḥeseḏ, meaning God’s loyal love (cf. 2Ch_5:13; 2Ch_7:3, 2Ch_7:6; 2Ch_20:21). The king then implored the Lord to continue His favor on David’s dynasty as the people continued to serve Him according to the Law (2Ch_6:16-17). In one of the finest statements of divine transcendence found in the Scriptures, Solomon acknowledged the insufficiency of a mere temple, no matter how grand and commodious, to contain the Lord of the heavens (2Ch_6:18). Yet Solomon was persuaded of God’s interest in human affairs. He besought the Lord to recognize the temple as a focal point of His communion with Israel (hear occurs five times in 2Ch_6:19-21) and to respond from heaven (cf. 2Ch_6:23, 2Ch_6:25, 2Ch_6:27, 2Ch_6:30, 2Ch_6:33, 2Ch_6:35, 2Ch_6:39), His true dwelling place (cf. 2Ch_6:30, 2Ch_6:33, 2Ch_6:39; 2Ch_30:27). Because Solomon spoke of the Israelites praying toward this place (2Ch_6:21; cf. 2Ch_6:34, 2Ch_6:38), centuries later Daniel faced Jerusalem as he prayed (Dan_6:10). THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty Based on the New International Version by John F. Walvoord Roy B. Zuck Cook Communications Ministries Finally we see Solomon acknowledge that he built the temple and that it is inadequate house for the Lord our God. Nothing can contain God. Solomon also describes the opulence of the Temple as it is not enough to glorify God. Then Solomon pleads with God to hear the prayers of the people and to grant those petitions. The Lord does not need a Temple to hear our prayers, God hears and observes our prayers and petition all the time and he grants the petitions of the faithful who are praying to preform Gods will. God grants the petition that allow His will to be preformed for His righteousness. God does not grant the prayers that are for our selfish ambitions, where we are trying o build our Temple instead of Gods Temple. Revelation from God
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:27:47 +0000
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