(2)"The Mystery of Jacob's Covenant"

📖 Solomon’s Dedication Prayer at the Temple

2 Chronicles 6:24–31

"If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you,
and they return and praise your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple,
then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
Bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors."

"When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you,
and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin
because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants,
your people Israel.
Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance."

"When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers,
or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,
and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their own afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts
(for you alone know the human heart), so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you
all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors."

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This is the prayer that Solomon lifted up to the Lord at the dedication of the Temple, after its completion.

It was a holy, reverent moment when God responded immediately by sending fire from heaven to consume

the burnt offering and sacrifices. 

The glory of the Lord filled the temple, and not only the priests, but all the Israelites witnessed it.

It was reminiscent of the Sinai encounter when the Israelites saw the glory of God descend upon the mountain.

 

God listens to the prayers of those He loves—especially the prayers of the lowliest among His people.

He remembers every prayer we lift up, and He sees the very center of our hearts.

The LORD God abides in the temple He has chosen as His dwelling place, and He even gave Solomon

the beautiful name Jedidiah (Yedidyah, יְדִידְיָה), which means “Beloved of the LORD.”

 

When Solomon dedicated the temple and prayed before the Lord, God responded with fire from heaven 

to consume the sacrifices, revealing His glory.

Yet the people soon forgot what God had done in response to that heartfelt prayer.

Because of Israel’s sin, God sent warnings—wars, famines, plagues, and infestations.

 

Solomon had prayed that whenever these calamities came, if the people repented and returned to God, 

He would forgive them. So when these disasters struck, they were not mere coincidences—they were

the result of the people’s rebellion. Still, even in their suffering, they did not return to the LORD.

 

These words are so deeply moving.

It touches my heart to know that the Lord uses even our difficult circumstances to awaken us,

to lead us to repentance, to remind us to seek Him.

 

In our own lives too, God is constantly calling us back to Himself. 

He is working in our circumstances to draw us closer.

So how grieved must God have been…

His beloved people forgot Him and turned to idols.
But even then, God was ready to forgive if only they would return to Him.

All He ever wanted was for His people to fear Him alone and walk with Him forever in the land He had given them.

 

From the first man, Adam, to the final chapters of Revelation, God’s desire has remained unchanged:

“Return to Me. Walk with Me.”