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SO THAT ALL THE PEOPLE ON EARTH MAY KNOW

1King 8:54-66

Key Verse 60

“so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.”

Introduction

We are living in the age of information and knowledge. When we google it, we are able to obtain many useful facts instantly. But knowing that the Lord is God and that there is no other is the most important knowledge because it is directly related with our eternal destiny. Jesus says, “the eternal life is to know the true God and the one who He sent.” May the Lord help us to know God daily so that we may share our personal knowledge with many wandering souls. In this way we may promote God’s eternal kingdom and His righteousness first.

Read verses 54-59. After prayer, what did Solomon do? (54) What did he say in a loud voice to bless the assembly? (55-59) What can we learn from his praise and prayer topics for the people?

1-1, Read verses 54-59.

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need,

1-2, After prayer, what did Solomon do? (54)

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

In the previous passage, Solomon prayed before God based on His great mercy. In verse 52, he said, “May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.”
He did not want to enjoy his position as a king over the people of God. Rather he called them as God’s people and he himself identified himself as your servant.
Now before the dedication ceremony with sacrifice, he rose from before the altar of the Lord. He had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

1-3, What did he say in a loud voice to bless the assembly? (55-59)

He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

1-4, What can we learn from his praise and prayer topics for the people?

He was thankful to the Lord in that he had kept all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
Now he asked the Lord God to be with the Isrealites. He also asked God to turn their hearts to Him and to walk in obedience to Him and keep the commands.
In this way of prayer, he blessed the assembly by calling the Lord their God who had been faithful and asking the Lord to be with them.
Also this loud and kind of intercessory prayer of Solomon may remind us of Revelation 12:10-11a. “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
Our enemy, the devil, accuses us before our God day and night. But we triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Likewise, we continue to pray for our spiritual and physical children based on what Jesus has done for us and relied on His words of promises with thanks.

Read verses 60-61. What did Solomon want all people to know about God? (60) What was his prayer for the Israelites? (61) Why is it important for all people on earth to know that the Lord is God?

2-1, Read verses 60-61.

so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. 61 And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

2-2, What did Solomon want all people to know about God? (60)

60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.

This prayer was not the first time Solomon mentioned here. Verses 41-43 shows the same. “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.”
Solomon never neglected a sense of mission that God wanted the Israelites to have. Exodus 19:5-6 reads, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Blessing to Israel wasn't meant to end with Israel; God wanted to bless the world in and through Israel.

Psalm 72:17-20 (of Solomon) reads,

“May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.”

Our prayer should be closed with the glory of God always just as our Lord Jesus Christ offered his high Priesthood prayer in John 17.

Romans 16:25-27 reads,

“Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

2-3, What was his prayer for the Israelites? (61)

61 And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

It is an amazing prayer topic. It is to commit our hearts fully to the Lord our God and to live by His decrees and obey his commands always.
But it is easier said than done because Solomon will be rebuked shortly later by the Lord when he did not keep his commitment.
May the Lord have mercy on each of us to be faithful and commit ourselves to His words continually on top of our lip service and mere prayers.

2-4, Why is it important for all people on earth to know that the Lord is God?

Knowing the Lord God and what He has been doing is related to our eternal life. John 17:3 reads, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
So much information or knowledge is available in google search. But nothing is more important than knowing the Lord God because of our salvation.

Read verses 62-66. What did Solomon and all the Israelites do that day? (62-63) What did they have to do in the middle of the courtyard? (64) What happened when they observed the festival? (65-66)

3-1, Read verses 62-66.

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord.

64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

65 So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

3-2, What did Solomon and all the Israelites do that day? (62-63)

When a king Solomon gave his whole heart to the Lord in prayer, all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. What a beautiful scene of unity!
A fellowship(peace) offering in the Old Testament Law is described in Leviticus 7:11–21. It was a voluntary sacrifice given to God in three specific instances.
A peace offering could be given as a freewill offering, meaning that the worshiper was giving the peace offering as a way to say thank God and His generosity. It was basically just a way to praise God for His goodness.

3-3, What did they have to do in the middle of the courtyard? (64)

3-4, What happened when they observed the festival? (65-66)

This account of the dedication of the temple ends where the story of the temple began with David, not Solomon.
The writer remembers that it was David's heart and vision that started the work of the temple (2 Samuel 7:1-3 and following).
Also we have more explanation from 2 Chronicles 7 as follows. Dedication for 7 days and the feast of the tabernacle for 7 days.

“When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.” 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments,which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing. 7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions. 8 So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.

Conclusion

What a beautiful chapter it is! Solomon and all the people were together praising the Lord with all their hearts. As he prayed to the Lord and blessed the people in the right ways, people were filled with joy and the glory of God was filled in the temple. We often think that something is lacking in our situations. But when we give ourselves in worshipping God fully, the Holy Spirit may fill our hearts with great thanks and we are strengthened in Him. Then all the nations may know who God is.

One word: So that all the people may know!