In this chapter, Rehoboam becomes a vassal of Shishak as punishment for abandoning the Law of Moses.
This chapter covers a single sequence of events, the invasion of Judah by the Egyptians, but in this single event we can see several important themes of Chronicles emerge. I will cover these themes in turn.
First, this chapter shows the decline of Judah, which is signified by the loss of the golden shields of Solomon (v. 9). It says in v. 10 that Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields, replacing the gold with a less valuable material. This is a material representation of Judah's declining influence and wealth. Their declining prosperity is directly linked to their moral decline (v. 1-2), but through the intermediary role of the Egyptians as conquerors.
Since gold is associated with the holy place and bronze is associated with the courtyard, we can symbolically interpret this as Rehoboam (or the kingship as an institution) being driven out of the holy place and into the courtyard as a punishment for Rehoboam's sin. The fact that Rehoboam can make the bronze shields (and remain in the symbolic courtyard) is because of his repentance.
I think it is a tremendous irony that because Rehoboam became "established" and strong, he and Judah slid into idolatry. The Chronicler is basically saying that Rehoboam's sin is pride, and it's a pride that comes from his strength and security. Establishing that strength and security was the topic of the previous chapter, which is perhaps why the Chronicler spent so much time discussing the fortified cities and other details of Rehoboam's reign. The irony is that Judah's strength only comes from their previous obedience to the LORD. David had great victories over his enemies because he was faithful to God, and Solomon had great wealth because of David's victories, and now Rehoboam has great security and strength because of what Solomon built, and this is exactly why Rehoboam and the people with him begin to abandon the LORD. The lesson here is that in many cases, the blessing that comes from God can lead people into pride which takes us away from God who gave us the blessing in the first place. Biblically, material blessings can be a very dangerous thing, particularly in the Old Testament. There are a handful of men who handle it well (Abraham and David) and many who do not (such as Rehoboam).
Second, this chapter shows that after Judah sinned, they were judged, but after they repented, God showed forgiveness. This is an application of the first principle in God's declaration to Solomon. Similar to Deuteronomy 28, it shows that sin and obedience to God have direct consequences in God's treatment of Israel/Judah.
Third, in this chapter the "evil mother" theme emerges. There is a broad (but non-universal) pattern of evil kings in Judah typically having evil mothers. Most of these mothers are marked as evil for either being non-Israelite (as in this case, v. 13) or being from the house of Ahab (that had their own idolatry problem). Even the house of Ahab had their own "evil mother", in Ahab's wife, the non-Israelite Jezebel. I think there are a few things worth saying about this theme.
First, Exodus 34:12-16 condemns marriages between Israelites and the native peoples of the land. This is something I discussed before with respect to Solomon, who also had many foreign wives (1 Kings 11), and in Kings this was given as the reason why the kingdom was taken away from Solomon's descendants. Moreover, in Numbers 25 we are told that Israelite men had "sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods." This draws a very strong association between Israelite men having relations with non-Israelite women, and being subsequently drawn into idolatry as suggested by those women.
Second, while some people may think of this as a blind and perhaps even racist proscription, I think the repetition of this pattern shows that there is a definite reality here. Many people in ancient Israel did intermarry with the native tribes and were drawn into syncretism or idolatry as a result. In the Chronicler's time, this is perhaps an even more urgent issue because the Assyrians and Babylonians had resettled lots of foreigners into Israel and Judah respectively, so it was very important that Judah avoid mixing together with these foreigners to maintain their distinctive culture and faith. Otherwise, their devotion to the LORD would have definitely been compromised.
Third, I think this theme is a fascinating exposition of the power dynamics between men and women in ancient Judah. There are a lot of people who believe the bible is highly patriarchal, and I think there's a lot of truth to that, but I think this theme shows that while the role of women in the bible can be subdued, women are nonetheless highly influential in Chronicles. As we see, it is usually not the quality of the father that determines the character of their successor, but the quality of the mother. There are a lot of righteous kings who had evil successors (David to Solomon to Rehoboam is one example, a crisper example is Manasseh, an evil son of the righteous Hezekiah). However, as a general rule any time Chronicles mentions any queen by name, if that queen is evil then her son is evil and if that queen is righteous then her son is also righteous. In that sense, it is the women of the royal household who dictated the future of the nation, because the men they raised up to be kings would in turn have so much influence over the nation's faith.
That concludes my discussion for this chapter. In the next chapter, Rehoboam's son Abijah defeats Jeroboam in battle.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 11
In this chapter, Rehoboam establishes his reign in Judah by fortifying towns and placing his sons in command.
The first part of this chapter is copied from 1 Kings 12:21-24, but the rest of it is unique to Chronicles. Additionally, there are long sections from Kings that are omitted in Chronicles, particularly as it relates to Jeroboam and the northern kingdom. The stories left out are pretty significant since they explain how the northern kingdom fell into idolatry. We see a hint of that in verses 13-15 which explains some of the results of Jeroboam's actions (in particular, the Levites and priests flee to Jerusalem when Jeroboam appoints other men as his priests). As I discussed in the introduction to 2 Chronicles, this book is heavily focused on the history of Judah so that's probably why the section about Jeroboam is left out.
The more important question is why did the Chronicler want to include this new section (verses 5-23). What role does this serve in the narrative?
It's hard to say for sure, but my best guess is that this chapter is meant to show the relatively strong position of Rehoboam even after the split. After the LORD prohibits the men of Judah from retaking the northern kingdom by force, Rehoboam reinforces his position through several means. First, he builds out the fortified towns around his border, placing loyal commanders and equipment in them. Second, we see Levites and priests along with other people flowing from the north into the south in order to worship the LORD before the temple. This has the immediate effect of strengthening Rehoboam (v. 17), but it also has a longer term effect of prolonging Judah's slide into idolatry, much more so than what we will see in the northern kingdom whose very first king builds two idols in Bethel and Dan (this is barely mentioned in Chronicles but discussed at length in 1 Kings 12-13).
Third, we see Rehoboam having many children through many wives, which is typically a symbol of great influence or power (for instance, both David and Solomon are recorded as having many wives and children). Fourth, we see Rehoboam place his sons in various places around the kingdom, presumably to act as administrators and leaders in the different parts of Judah. Similar to placing his own commanders in the fortified towns, placing his sons throughout the kingdom will likely strengthen Rehoboam's reign due to their implied loyalty to him. My NIV commentary also suggests that Rehoboam may have put his sons elsewhere to keep them out of the royal court in Jerusalem, to keep them out of the way of Abijah.
It's an interesting parallel that Solomon was not David's oldest son, nor is Abijah the oldest son of Rehoboam, yet both of them were made king. In David's case, two of his oldest sons rebelled against him (Adonijah and Absalom), and it's possible that Rehoboam's sons may have also wished to rebel when the kingdom was given to Abijah. Rehoboam undercut that prospect by sending many of his other sons away from Jerusalem, so that they would have fewer connections to important royal officials. For example, when Adonijah tried to usurp the throne he first won the support of important officials in 1 Kings 1:7. By sending his other sons out of Jerusalem, this kind of betrayal would be much harder to organize. As a result, we have no evidence that his sons ever turned on Rehoboam or that there was any major rebellion against him.
In conclusion, Rehoboam is well-guarded against internal threats to his reign or his successor, but in the next chapter we will see that his preparations are not enough to protect him from the external threat of the Egyptian king Shishak.
The first part of this chapter is copied from 1 Kings 12:21-24, but the rest of it is unique to Chronicles. Additionally, there are long sections from Kings that are omitted in Chronicles, particularly as it relates to Jeroboam and the northern kingdom. The stories left out are pretty significant since they explain how the northern kingdom fell into idolatry. We see a hint of that in verses 13-15 which explains some of the results of Jeroboam's actions (in particular, the Levites and priests flee to Jerusalem when Jeroboam appoints other men as his priests). As I discussed in the introduction to 2 Chronicles, this book is heavily focused on the history of Judah so that's probably why the section about Jeroboam is left out.
The more important question is why did the Chronicler want to include this new section (verses 5-23). What role does this serve in the narrative?
It's hard to say for sure, but my best guess is that this chapter is meant to show the relatively strong position of Rehoboam even after the split. After the LORD prohibits the men of Judah from retaking the northern kingdom by force, Rehoboam reinforces his position through several means. First, he builds out the fortified towns around his border, placing loyal commanders and equipment in them. Second, we see Levites and priests along with other people flowing from the north into the south in order to worship the LORD before the temple. This has the immediate effect of strengthening Rehoboam (v. 17), but it also has a longer term effect of prolonging Judah's slide into idolatry, much more so than what we will see in the northern kingdom whose very first king builds two idols in Bethel and Dan (this is barely mentioned in Chronicles but discussed at length in 1 Kings 12-13).
Third, we see Rehoboam having many children through many wives, which is typically a symbol of great influence or power (for instance, both David and Solomon are recorded as having many wives and children). Fourth, we see Rehoboam place his sons in various places around the kingdom, presumably to act as administrators and leaders in the different parts of Judah. Similar to placing his own commanders in the fortified towns, placing his sons throughout the kingdom will likely strengthen Rehoboam's reign due to their implied loyalty to him. My NIV commentary also suggests that Rehoboam may have put his sons elsewhere to keep them out of the royal court in Jerusalem, to keep them out of the way of Abijah.
It's an interesting parallel that Solomon was not David's oldest son, nor is Abijah the oldest son of Rehoboam, yet both of them were made king. In David's case, two of his oldest sons rebelled against him (Adonijah and Absalom), and it's possible that Rehoboam's sons may have also wished to rebel when the kingdom was given to Abijah. Rehoboam undercut that prospect by sending many of his other sons away from Jerusalem, so that they would have fewer connections to important royal officials. For example, when Adonijah tried to usurp the throne he first won the support of important officials in 1 Kings 1:7. By sending his other sons out of Jerusalem, this kind of betrayal would be much harder to organize. As a result, we have no evidence that his sons ever turned on Rehoboam or that there was any major rebellion against him.
In conclusion, Rehoboam is well-guarded against internal threats to his reign or his successor, but in the next chapter we will see that his preparations are not enough to protect him from the external threat of the Egyptian king Shishak.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 10
In this chapter, Rehoboam becomes king and all the northern tribes rebel against him.
This whole chapter exists as a response to a missing piece in Chronicles. Like I discussed in the previous chapter, Chronicles leaves out almost the entirety of 1 Kings 11, which describes Solomon committing idolatry in the later parts of his life due to the influence of his foreign wives. 1 Kings 11:11-13 explains that the LORD would take away the kingdom from Solomon because of his sins, but not during his lifetime and also leaving one tribe to his descendants for the sake of David. Because Chronicles wants to present Solomon in a more positive light, it leaves out the record of his sin and the corresponding explanation for why the kingdom is being divided during the lifetime of his son. This leaves us with the description of the rebellion against Rehoboam, but without the moralizing that we found in Kings.
This chapter is the beginning of the royal succession narrative, which continues all the way to the end of 2 Chronicles. It should be viewed in terms of the three principles that we identified in 2 Chronicles 7 when God spoke to Solomon. In case my readers have forgotten, the three themes were God's promise to forgive Israel (i.e. Judah) if they repented of their sins, to establish Solomon (and his descendants) if they walk in David's ways, and that he would destroy Judah and cast them out of the land if they worship other gods. Since the Chronicler does not want to impugn Solomon's character, we are left with God's response (tearing away the kingdom) without quite knowing the reason why. That said, verse 15 even says that Jeroboam is made king in response to a prophecy of Ahijah, which is included in 1 Kings 11:29-39, but not in Chronicles. This once again shows that the author of Chronicles, and perhaps his intended readers, were familiar with the Kings narrative even while the Chronicler is reshaping it for his own purposes. Verse 15 itself is copied from 1 Kings 12:15, but it makes a lot less sense here in Chronicles with the context of the prophecy itself removed from the text.
In any case, this chapter is definitely an instance of the second principle, because we know from elsewhere that Solomon drifted into idolatry and now the kingdom is being dis-established from his descendants as a result. A single tribe is left to him as a consequence of David's faithfulness, but most of the tribes leave. This is due to a prophecy of Ahijah, and the foolishness of Rehoboam, but even more so it's due to the justice of God punishing Solomon's idolatry. At least, that is the moral explanation for what is happening.
On the more practical side, it appears that the people are rebelling against the "heavy burden" of Solomon (v. 4). It's pretty clear this is a reference to the numerous building projects enacted by Solomon, and while the text in Chronicles clarifies that the forced laborers were all foreigners (2 Chronicles 2:17-18, 2 Chronicles 8:9-10), but from this chapter it is evident that the heavy burden has fallen on the native Israelites as well. It's clear that this is a widespread perception, and it's also clear that the people moved to challenge Rehoboam early in his reign when he would be in the weakest position to resist them. Think about it; the people were under a heavy burden during all the years of Solomon's reign, and yet we have no evidence that they ever complained to him about it, probably because it would have been suicidal. When Solomon took over as king from David, he inaugurated his reign by murdering a bunch of David's enemies, and "thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46). If Rehoboam had time to consolidate his rule, establish his officers and commanders throughout the country, and generally dig into the bureaucratic infrastructure of the nation, then he would be positioned to fight off any challenge and the people would lose any effective leverage to negotiate with him. This is why the people didn't complain during the reign of Solomon and why they are complaining now.
I think it's interesting that the people called for Jeroboam to come back; funny enough, 1 Kings 11:28 tells us that Solomon appointed Jeroboam over the forced labor of the house of Joseph (i.e. the northern tribes). We don't know exactly what kind of reputation Jeroboam might have had with the people, but we can reasonably speculate that he must have applied (or argued for) a lighter burden on the people because the people called for him to represent them before Rehoboam regarding the very same matter of the forced labor. Regardless of the reason why, it's clear that Jeroboam was regarded favorably by the northern tribes because afterwards they make him king.
We also see the emergence of a generational gap here. Rehoboam has two sets of advisors: the elders who advised his father Solomon and the young men who grew up with him. The elders advise him well, and the young men advise him foolishly, but Rehoboam listens to the young men instead of the elders. This was foolish, but the loss of the kingdom was unavoidable because "this turn of events was from God" (v. 15). I do think this shows the importance of listening to the wisdom of elders, especially for young people who don't have as much experience.
In verse 16, the people see that the king is not taking care of them and will only look after his own tribe, Judah, and so they cease to obey any king from the house of David.
In verse 18, we again see forced labor being the contentious issue. Rehoboam sends out Adoniram, perhaps to punish the people and perhaps expecting that the people would continue to obey the masters they were familiar with. Since the people had been performing forced labor for so long, maybe they would continue to obey out of habit. Rehoboam discovers that his ploy would not work when the people stone Adoniram to death, breaking off the last vestige of their obedience to the king.
In any case, the kingdom is divided by the hand of God and the northern tribes largely vanish from the Chronicles narrative at this point. In the next chapter, we will learn about the rest of Rehoboam's kingship.
This whole chapter exists as a response to a missing piece in Chronicles. Like I discussed in the previous chapter, Chronicles leaves out almost the entirety of 1 Kings 11, which describes Solomon committing idolatry in the later parts of his life due to the influence of his foreign wives. 1 Kings 11:11-13 explains that the LORD would take away the kingdom from Solomon because of his sins, but not during his lifetime and also leaving one tribe to his descendants for the sake of David. Because Chronicles wants to present Solomon in a more positive light, it leaves out the record of his sin and the corresponding explanation for why the kingdom is being divided during the lifetime of his son. This leaves us with the description of the rebellion against Rehoboam, but without the moralizing that we found in Kings.
This chapter is the beginning of the royal succession narrative, which continues all the way to the end of 2 Chronicles. It should be viewed in terms of the three principles that we identified in 2 Chronicles 7 when God spoke to Solomon. In case my readers have forgotten, the three themes were God's promise to forgive Israel (i.e. Judah) if they repented of their sins, to establish Solomon (and his descendants) if they walk in David's ways, and that he would destroy Judah and cast them out of the land if they worship other gods. Since the Chronicler does not want to impugn Solomon's character, we are left with God's response (tearing away the kingdom) without quite knowing the reason why. That said, verse 15 even says that Jeroboam is made king in response to a prophecy of Ahijah, which is included in 1 Kings 11:29-39, but not in Chronicles. This once again shows that the author of Chronicles, and perhaps his intended readers, were familiar with the Kings narrative even while the Chronicler is reshaping it for his own purposes. Verse 15 itself is copied from 1 Kings 12:15, but it makes a lot less sense here in Chronicles with the context of the prophecy itself removed from the text.
In any case, this chapter is definitely an instance of the second principle, because we know from elsewhere that Solomon drifted into idolatry and now the kingdom is being dis-established from his descendants as a result. A single tribe is left to him as a consequence of David's faithfulness, but most of the tribes leave. This is due to a prophecy of Ahijah, and the foolishness of Rehoboam, but even more so it's due to the justice of God punishing Solomon's idolatry. At least, that is the moral explanation for what is happening.
On the more practical side, it appears that the people are rebelling against the "heavy burden" of Solomon (v. 4). It's pretty clear this is a reference to the numerous building projects enacted by Solomon, and while the text in Chronicles clarifies that the forced laborers were all foreigners (2 Chronicles 2:17-18, 2 Chronicles 8:9-10), but from this chapter it is evident that the heavy burden has fallen on the native Israelites as well. It's clear that this is a widespread perception, and it's also clear that the people moved to challenge Rehoboam early in his reign when he would be in the weakest position to resist them. Think about it; the people were under a heavy burden during all the years of Solomon's reign, and yet we have no evidence that they ever complained to him about it, probably because it would have been suicidal. When Solomon took over as king from David, he inaugurated his reign by murdering a bunch of David's enemies, and "thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46). If Rehoboam had time to consolidate his rule, establish his officers and commanders throughout the country, and generally dig into the bureaucratic infrastructure of the nation, then he would be positioned to fight off any challenge and the people would lose any effective leverage to negotiate with him. This is why the people didn't complain during the reign of Solomon and why they are complaining now.
I think it's interesting that the people called for Jeroboam to come back; funny enough, 1 Kings 11:28 tells us that Solomon appointed Jeroboam over the forced labor of the house of Joseph (i.e. the northern tribes). We don't know exactly what kind of reputation Jeroboam might have had with the people, but we can reasonably speculate that he must have applied (or argued for) a lighter burden on the people because the people called for him to represent them before Rehoboam regarding the very same matter of the forced labor. Regardless of the reason why, it's clear that Jeroboam was regarded favorably by the northern tribes because afterwards they make him king.
We also see the emergence of a generational gap here. Rehoboam has two sets of advisors: the elders who advised his father Solomon and the young men who grew up with him. The elders advise him well, and the young men advise him foolishly, but Rehoboam listens to the young men instead of the elders. This was foolish, but the loss of the kingdom was unavoidable because "this turn of events was from God" (v. 15). I do think this shows the importance of listening to the wisdom of elders, especially for young people who don't have as much experience.
In verse 16, the people see that the king is not taking care of them and will only look after his own tribe, Judah, and so they cease to obey any king from the house of David.
In verse 18, we again see forced labor being the contentious issue. Rehoboam sends out Adoniram, perhaps to punish the people and perhaps expecting that the people would continue to obey the masters they were familiar with. Since the people had been performing forced labor for so long, maybe they would continue to obey out of habit. Rehoboam discovers that his ploy would not work when the people stone Adoniram to death, breaking off the last vestige of their obedience to the king.
In any case, the kingdom is divided by the hand of God and the northern tribes largely vanish from the Chronicles narrative at this point. In the next chapter, we will learn about the rest of Rehoboam's kingship.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 9
In this chapter, Solomon meets the queen of Sheba and after other events his life is concluded.
This chapter copies a significant amount of material from 1 Kings 10, which has two main sections. It first tells us the story of Solomon's meeting with the queen of Sheba, and then it tells us about Solomon's great wealth and power. This chapter also concludes with a brief account of Solomon's death, which is taken from 1 Kings 11:41-43.
The first question I find myself asking about this chapter is, how does it fit with the larger themes and narrative in Chronicles? To me, this chapter feels similar to 2 Samuel 21-24, which were a sort of appendix with miscellaneous stories from David's life. I feel like these are a handful of miscellaneous stories from Solomon's life that don't really play much into the larger narrative of Chronicles like the temple project.
I think to some extent, this chapter could be seen as glorification of Solomon (which is another one of the themes of Chronicles), and perhaps it can be seen as a depiction of God's blessing over Solomon in response to Solomon's devotion to God in the previous chapter. Since the Chronicler is certainly trying to emphasize the connection between faithfulness to God and material blessing (consistent with Deuteronomy), perhaps we could see Solomon's wisdom and his blessing as a fulfillment of the promise that God made to "establish" him. But like I said, I feel like this is a fairly weak association and I mostly think these are stories about Solomon that just don't fit anywhere else so we get them here at the end.
The next question we should ask is what differences exist between the narrative in Chronicles and the same stories from 1 Kings? The answer is, very few. Some of the numbers are different but the vast majority of the text is the same. There is one important difference which is that Chronicles leaves out the entirety of 1 Kings 11:1-40. This is a major change, because that part of Kings is extremely critical of Solomon. In it, we are told that Solomon had many foreign wives, which was forbidden by the Law (and Kings paraphrases from Exodus 34:12-16 which essentially forbids foreign wives). Then we are told that because Solomon was led on to worship other gods by his wives, the LORD raised up enemies to fight against Solomon and would "tear the kingdom from you" (1 Kings 11:11). It's a long and harshly critical section and Chronicles omits it entirely. This is definitely part of Chronicles long-standing pattern of idealizing Solomon (as well as David).
Other than that, I think the main theme of this chapter is just to show us how amazing is Solomon's kingdom. There is a particular emphasis on exotic luxury items. We can also see that much of Solomon's wealth was based on long distance trading in partnership with Hiram, and the queen of Sheba herself appears to have arrived as part of a substantial trading expedition. Some of the different elements mentioned: the fine spices and precious stones (v. 9), gold, exotic wood (almugwood, v. 10), ivory, apes and baboons (v. 21), the chariots imported from Egypt (v. 28) and many other things.
As I said elsewhere, this is the apex of Israel's power and wealth in the bible. David defeated all of their national enemies and now Solomon is reaping the benefits, using the slave labor as well as the peace to build the temple and many other structures and monuments, and he is financing it all through long distance, international trade, as well as accruing luxury goods. All of this enhances Solomon's prestige and we see that in the queen's response when she is overwhelmed at all of Solomon's amazing stuff. Since Chronicles leaves out all the negative stuff about Solomon, we are left with an entirely positive picture of his reign.
In the next chapter, we will nonetheless see Israel fracture into two nations, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. The rest of Chronicles will be entirely devoted to the history of the southern kingdom, Judah.
This chapter copies a significant amount of material from 1 Kings 10, which has two main sections. It first tells us the story of Solomon's meeting with the queen of Sheba, and then it tells us about Solomon's great wealth and power. This chapter also concludes with a brief account of Solomon's death, which is taken from 1 Kings 11:41-43.
The first question I find myself asking about this chapter is, how does it fit with the larger themes and narrative in Chronicles? To me, this chapter feels similar to 2 Samuel 21-24, which were a sort of appendix with miscellaneous stories from David's life. I feel like these are a handful of miscellaneous stories from Solomon's life that don't really play much into the larger narrative of Chronicles like the temple project.
I think to some extent, this chapter could be seen as glorification of Solomon (which is another one of the themes of Chronicles), and perhaps it can be seen as a depiction of God's blessing over Solomon in response to Solomon's devotion to God in the previous chapter. Since the Chronicler is certainly trying to emphasize the connection between faithfulness to God and material blessing (consistent with Deuteronomy), perhaps we could see Solomon's wisdom and his blessing as a fulfillment of the promise that God made to "establish" him. But like I said, I feel like this is a fairly weak association and I mostly think these are stories about Solomon that just don't fit anywhere else so we get them here at the end.
The next question we should ask is what differences exist between the narrative in Chronicles and the same stories from 1 Kings? The answer is, very few. Some of the numbers are different but the vast majority of the text is the same. There is one important difference which is that Chronicles leaves out the entirety of 1 Kings 11:1-40. This is a major change, because that part of Kings is extremely critical of Solomon. In it, we are told that Solomon had many foreign wives, which was forbidden by the Law (and Kings paraphrases from Exodus 34:12-16 which essentially forbids foreign wives). Then we are told that because Solomon was led on to worship other gods by his wives, the LORD raised up enemies to fight against Solomon and would "tear the kingdom from you" (1 Kings 11:11). It's a long and harshly critical section and Chronicles omits it entirely. This is definitely part of Chronicles long-standing pattern of idealizing Solomon (as well as David).
Other than that, I think the main theme of this chapter is just to show us how amazing is Solomon's kingdom. There is a particular emphasis on exotic luxury items. We can also see that much of Solomon's wealth was based on long distance trading in partnership with Hiram, and the queen of Sheba herself appears to have arrived as part of a substantial trading expedition. Some of the different elements mentioned: the fine spices and precious stones (v. 9), gold, exotic wood (almugwood, v. 10), ivory, apes and baboons (v. 21), the chariots imported from Egypt (v. 28) and many other things.
As I said elsewhere, this is the apex of Israel's power and wealth in the bible. David defeated all of their national enemies and now Solomon is reaping the benefits, using the slave labor as well as the peace to build the temple and many other structures and monuments, and he is financing it all through long distance, international trade, as well as accruing luxury goods. All of this enhances Solomon's prestige and we see that in the queen's response when she is overwhelmed at all of Solomon's amazing stuff. Since Chronicles leaves out all the negative stuff about Solomon, we are left with an entirely positive picture of his reign.
In the next chapter, we will nonetheless see Israel fracture into two nations, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. The rest of Chronicles will be entirely devoted to the history of the southern kingdom, Judah.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 8
In this chapter, Solomon builds many other cities and infrastructure throughout Israel.
To begin, as with so many other parts of 2 Chronicles, this chapter also has strong parallels in the text of 1 Kings. For this chapter, it is a parallel text to 1 Kings 9:10-28. There are a few differences but the majority of the text is similar and it has the same general structure. This chapter has two main sections: Solomon's continued construction activities (v. 1-11), Solomon's religious devotion (v. 12-16). Verses 17-18 tell one other brief story about Solomon's partnership with Hiram in long distance trade.
I see the first section (Solomon's construction projects) as being a natural extension of the temple project. Basically, Solomon is a strong and wealthy ruler and Israel as a nation is quite successful as well. As part of that, we see in v. 7-8 that Solomon is conscripting vast numbers of non-Israelites for his building projects. Of course, we knew that from when he built the temple (2 Chronicles 2:17-18), but the point is that when you have 150,000 conscripted workers, you don't have them just make the temple and them stop. You have them keep building you stuff because why not? All of the infrastructure, organization and planning that went into making the temple can be easily redirected to other construction projects when the temple is finished, and that is exactly what Solomon does. Ignoring the religious justification, all of these building projects enhance Solomon's prestige and have military and economic benefits as well (the temple doesn't but these other projects do). It's only natural that he would keep building. The general picture we can take away from this is that Solomon is a very successful and powerful ruler. He has all of the trappings of a strong king including monumental construction projects and lots of slave labor. This is one of the high points in Israel's political history.
The second section (Solomon's religious devotion) is a response to God's promise in the previous chapter. In 2 Chronicles 7:17-18, God says that he would establish Solomon's kingdom if Solomon walks faithfully in the same way as his father David. What I take away from this chapter is that the Chronicler is saying yes, Solomon did walk in his fathers ways and was an honorable and devoted king. 1 Kings 11 certainly gives us a different picture of Solomon, claiming that he married foreign women who "turned his heart away after other gods" (1 Kings 11:4). 1 Kings 9 does record Solomon going to make offerings at the temple three times a year, but it does not include the additional details that we see in verses 13-16. Verse 13 establishes Solomon's faithfulness towards the commands of Moses, and verses 14-15 establish Solomon's faithfulness towards the commands of David. If we view Moses as being the architect of the tabernacle and David as the architect of the temple, then Solomon is a person who is faithful to both the old and the new patterns.
Out of these two sections, we can draw several patterns.
The first is idealization of Solomon as a ruler. This is something I've touched on multiple times when going through Chronicles, which is that Chronicles has a general tendency towards omitting the stories that make David or Solomon look bad and including extra details that tend to make them look good. In this chapter, it shows up by the emphasis on Solomon's religious devotion that is notably more detailed than the parallel description in Kings, and by omitting the record of Solomon's later idolatry.
The second is the continuation of the temple building project. This chapter is a transition between the temple narrative to the royal succession narrative, and it does that by describing the remainder of Solomon's life before moving on to the next generation. It specifically describes his building projects which are related to the temple project for the reasons I described above. We also see the temple project continuing in Solomon's faithful devotion to the annual sacrifices and his adherence to David's division of the priests and Levites. Basically what this shows is that after the temple was completed, Solomon continued to perpetuate the religious rituals that were mandated at the temple by both Moses and David. Solomon's faithfulness in the perpetual rituals is a natural extension of Solomon's faithfulness in building the temple in the first place.
The third pattern is Solomon's response to God's command. We see Solomon faithfully obeying in David's footsteps, thereby ensuring that he would have a everlasting kingdom in accordance with God's promise. In the language of Kings and Chronicles, "walking in the ways of his father David" is a kind of benchmark for whether a certain king was good or bad. Those who follow the ways of David are "established" (2 Chron 7:18) and those who don't are cast out or punished or whatever is the opposite of being "established". I mentioned that this "walking in the ways of your father David" is going to be one of the major themes of Chronicles, and as it relates to king Solomon, the Chronicler wants to make it clear that Solomon obeyed the LORD in the same way as his father, and that Solomon was a godly ruler. The book of Kings is a bit more circumspect on Solomon's reign, but also has a largely-positive outlook on Solomon as a ruler.
In the next chapter, Solomon's life story concludes with his encounter with the queen of Sheba.
To begin, as with so many other parts of 2 Chronicles, this chapter also has strong parallels in the text of 1 Kings. For this chapter, it is a parallel text to 1 Kings 9:10-28. There are a few differences but the majority of the text is similar and it has the same general structure. This chapter has two main sections: Solomon's continued construction activities (v. 1-11), Solomon's religious devotion (v. 12-16). Verses 17-18 tell one other brief story about Solomon's partnership with Hiram in long distance trade.
I see the first section (Solomon's construction projects) as being a natural extension of the temple project. Basically, Solomon is a strong and wealthy ruler and Israel as a nation is quite successful as well. As part of that, we see in v. 7-8 that Solomon is conscripting vast numbers of non-Israelites for his building projects. Of course, we knew that from when he built the temple (2 Chronicles 2:17-18), but the point is that when you have 150,000 conscripted workers, you don't have them just make the temple and them stop. You have them keep building you stuff because why not? All of the infrastructure, organization and planning that went into making the temple can be easily redirected to other construction projects when the temple is finished, and that is exactly what Solomon does. Ignoring the religious justification, all of these building projects enhance Solomon's prestige and have military and economic benefits as well (the temple doesn't but these other projects do). It's only natural that he would keep building. The general picture we can take away from this is that Solomon is a very successful and powerful ruler. He has all of the trappings of a strong king including monumental construction projects and lots of slave labor. This is one of the high points in Israel's political history.
The second section (Solomon's religious devotion) is a response to God's promise in the previous chapter. In 2 Chronicles 7:17-18, God says that he would establish Solomon's kingdom if Solomon walks faithfully in the same way as his father David. What I take away from this chapter is that the Chronicler is saying yes, Solomon did walk in his fathers ways and was an honorable and devoted king. 1 Kings 11 certainly gives us a different picture of Solomon, claiming that he married foreign women who "turned his heart away after other gods" (1 Kings 11:4). 1 Kings 9 does record Solomon going to make offerings at the temple three times a year, but it does not include the additional details that we see in verses 13-16. Verse 13 establishes Solomon's faithfulness towards the commands of Moses, and verses 14-15 establish Solomon's faithfulness towards the commands of David. If we view Moses as being the architect of the tabernacle and David as the architect of the temple, then Solomon is a person who is faithful to both the old and the new patterns.
Out of these two sections, we can draw several patterns.
The first is idealization of Solomon as a ruler. This is something I've touched on multiple times when going through Chronicles, which is that Chronicles has a general tendency towards omitting the stories that make David or Solomon look bad and including extra details that tend to make them look good. In this chapter, it shows up by the emphasis on Solomon's religious devotion that is notably more detailed than the parallel description in Kings, and by omitting the record of Solomon's later idolatry.
The second is the continuation of the temple building project. This chapter is a transition between the temple narrative to the royal succession narrative, and it does that by describing the remainder of Solomon's life before moving on to the next generation. It specifically describes his building projects which are related to the temple project for the reasons I described above. We also see the temple project continuing in Solomon's faithful devotion to the annual sacrifices and his adherence to David's division of the priests and Levites. Basically what this shows is that after the temple was completed, Solomon continued to perpetuate the religious rituals that were mandated at the temple by both Moses and David. Solomon's faithfulness in the perpetual rituals is a natural extension of Solomon's faithfulness in building the temple in the first place.
The third pattern is Solomon's response to God's command. We see Solomon faithfully obeying in David's footsteps, thereby ensuring that he would have a everlasting kingdom in accordance with God's promise. In the language of Kings and Chronicles, "walking in the ways of his father David" is a kind of benchmark for whether a certain king was good or bad. Those who follow the ways of David are "established" (2 Chron 7:18) and those who don't are cast out or punished or whatever is the opposite of being "established". I mentioned that this "walking in the ways of your father David" is going to be one of the major themes of Chronicles, and as it relates to king Solomon, the Chronicler wants to make it clear that Solomon obeyed the LORD in the same way as his father, and that Solomon was a godly ruler. The book of Kings is a bit more circumspect on Solomon's reign, but also has a largely-positive outlook on Solomon as a ruler.
In the next chapter, Solomon's life story concludes with his encounter with the queen of Sheba.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 7
In this chapter, God answers Solomon's prayer for the dedication of the temple.
Around half of this chapter is copied from 1 Kings, equivalent to the passage between 1 Kings 8:62-66 and 1 Kings 9:1-9. It's the same general flow but a lot of details are different, which I will cover briefly later.
At a high level, this chapter has two main parts. The first part is verses 1-10, which discusses the celebratory festival in dedication of the temple, and the second part is verses 11-22 which contains God's response to Solomon's prayer.
Beginning with verses 1-3, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offering. This is not recorded in the book of Kings. In fact, this is the second time in the book of Chronicles that we have seen fire falling from heaven, and the second time it is not recorded in the book of Kings. The other reference in Chronicles was 1 Chronicles 21:26, when David offered a sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah. In this case, it's possible the Chronicler is trying to allude to Leviticus 9:23-24. In that passage, Aaron is offering a sacrifice as part of his ordination as high priest, and when the offering is performed, it says that fire from God's presence goes out and consumes the offering. This is not the same event as the dedication of the tabernacle, so I don't think it's exactly a parallel in the same way that so many other aspects of Chronicles parallels the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus.
More importantly, we should be looking to see how this fits into the larger narrative of Chronicles. Basically, the previous chapter concluded the dedication of the temple. This is after many, many chapters describing all of these things that David and Solomon were doing for the LORD. This chapter, then, contains God's response to David and Solomon and the temple project as a whole. In both the first and second part, I would characterize God's response as unreserved approval. "The king and all the people offered sacrifices" (v. 4), and God responds by sending fire down from heaven onto their offering. The answer to Solomon's prayer comes in the second half of this chapter.
Meanwhile, with all the people gathered in Jerusalem in the seventh month, they take this as an opportunity to celebrate the Day of Atonement and the feast of Tabernacles, which both occur during this time frame. Verse 9 clarifies this because it says they celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days, and then the festival (of Tabernacles) for seven more days. Since the Law mandates that all able-bodied people of Israel should go to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles, timing the dedication of the altar to occur just before the festival was likely deliberate and certainly more convenient than doing them at separate times.
After all the celebrations were concluded and all the people returned home, the LORD visits Solomon privately at night to bring him the answer to his prayer. This is the second half of the chapter.
I see the LORD's response to Solomon as being directed at his prayer. In particular, in 2 Chronicles 6:26-31, Solomon asks the LORD to forgive his people if they ever sin and are afflicted by drought, famine or plague, and the LORD addresses that in verses 13-15 by basically saying yes, he will answer those prayers of repentance if they pray towards the temple. Furthermore, God offers a conditional promise to uphold Solomon's "royal throne" if he follows God's Law like David did, which is perhaps in response to Solomon's prayer in 2 Chronicles 6:16-17,42.
On the other hand, in verses 19-22, the LORD promises to cast Israel out of their inheritance and even to destroy the temple itself if the people go off to worship other gods, and for some reason God's response does not contain a promise that he would "uphold their cause" like what Solomon asked for in 2 Chronicles 6:39.
I think if I had to characterize God's response, I would say we got something pretty similar to Deuteronomy, especially Deut 28. We see God offering blessings to Solomon and Israel if they obey the Law. He promises to forgive them if they repent of their sins, but also promises to cause them harm in many different ways if they sin, up to the ultimate punishment of banishment from the promised land. I think this is very similar to the blessings and curses paradigm that is expressed in Deut 28, but with a much stronger expression of God bringing healing whenever Israel repents of their sin. In fact, I would say that verses 19-22 are very similar to Deut 29:22-28, except that Chronicles adds references to the desolation of the temple, while Deuteronomy just focuses on the desolation of the land.
In the previous chapter I said that Solomon's prayers are an expression of what he thinks the temple is there for, and more generally what he thinks about how he and the people should relate to God. This chapter is the converse: God's response to Solomon is a statement about how God thinks Israel and Solomon should relate to him. God's response contains three core elements, which I have already briefly described above.
First, he says that when Israel is punished for sinning, they should pray and repent and God would forgive them and bring healing. We have already seen this principle in action many times (throughout the book of Judges, for instance), but here the LORD is stating it plainly.
Second, God says that if Solomon walks in the same ways as his father David, he will receive the same promise as David, that his throne would be established forever. In short, Solomon's legacy and his status before God cannot be based on David's faithfulness: Solomon must also be faithful to God to receive the same reward. This is basically a statement of justice, of similar character to Deut 24:16, but in the opposite direction: Solomon will not be rewarded by God for something that he didn't do.
Third, God says that if the people turn away from him, not only will he uproot them from the land (like mentioned in Deut 29:22-28), but he will also reject the temple and make it "a heap of rubble". What this means is that God's approval of the temple and his favor over Israel is not unconditional. The essential elements of the Law of Moses still apply, which means that if Israel sin egregiously they will be kicked out of hte land in spite of the temple. If I may paraphrase from Star Wars, God is not altering the deal. Building the temple has not changed any of the fundamental characteristics of the covenantal relationship between Israel and God, and the overhanging threat of expulsion from the land is one of the central elements of the covenant.
In conclusion, even though we have reached the end of the temple narrative, the book of Chronicles does not end here. In fact, it continues for another 29 chapters. One might wonder how the narrative about the kings of Judah to follow relates to the temple narrative that we are just finishing, and the answer is in the three elements that I just explained. These three principles of how God relates to Israel are exemplified in the narrative to follow, and we will see all three of them expressed in different ways. During periods of sin, Judah will crumbles; during periods of repentance, they will be exalted; and in the dark conclusion when they turn away from the LORD with finality, they will be cast out of the promised land and taken to exile in Babylon. Meanwhile, the kings of Judah who follow in the ways of David will be established in the same covenant as David.
Meanwhile, in the next chapter, we will read about Solomon's other accomplishments during his lifetime.
Around half of this chapter is copied from 1 Kings, equivalent to the passage between 1 Kings 8:62-66 and 1 Kings 9:1-9. It's the same general flow but a lot of details are different, which I will cover briefly later.
At a high level, this chapter has two main parts. The first part is verses 1-10, which discusses the celebratory festival in dedication of the temple, and the second part is verses 11-22 which contains God's response to Solomon's prayer.
Beginning with verses 1-3, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offering. This is not recorded in the book of Kings. In fact, this is the second time in the book of Chronicles that we have seen fire falling from heaven, and the second time it is not recorded in the book of Kings. The other reference in Chronicles was 1 Chronicles 21:26, when David offered a sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah. In this case, it's possible the Chronicler is trying to allude to Leviticus 9:23-24. In that passage, Aaron is offering a sacrifice as part of his ordination as high priest, and when the offering is performed, it says that fire from God's presence goes out and consumes the offering. This is not the same event as the dedication of the tabernacle, so I don't think it's exactly a parallel in the same way that so many other aspects of Chronicles parallels the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus.
More importantly, we should be looking to see how this fits into the larger narrative of Chronicles. Basically, the previous chapter concluded the dedication of the temple. This is after many, many chapters describing all of these things that David and Solomon were doing for the LORD. This chapter, then, contains God's response to David and Solomon and the temple project as a whole. In both the first and second part, I would characterize God's response as unreserved approval. "The king and all the people offered sacrifices" (v. 4), and God responds by sending fire down from heaven onto their offering. The answer to Solomon's prayer comes in the second half of this chapter.
Meanwhile, with all the people gathered in Jerusalem in the seventh month, they take this as an opportunity to celebrate the Day of Atonement and the feast of Tabernacles, which both occur during this time frame. Verse 9 clarifies this because it says they celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days, and then the festival (of Tabernacles) for seven more days. Since the Law mandates that all able-bodied people of Israel should go to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles, timing the dedication of the altar to occur just before the festival was likely deliberate and certainly more convenient than doing them at separate times.
After all the celebrations were concluded and all the people returned home, the LORD visits Solomon privately at night to bring him the answer to his prayer. This is the second half of the chapter.
I see the LORD's response to Solomon as being directed at his prayer. In particular, in 2 Chronicles 6:26-31, Solomon asks the LORD to forgive his people if they ever sin and are afflicted by drought, famine or plague, and the LORD addresses that in verses 13-15 by basically saying yes, he will answer those prayers of repentance if they pray towards the temple. Furthermore, God offers a conditional promise to uphold Solomon's "royal throne" if he follows God's Law like David did, which is perhaps in response to Solomon's prayer in 2 Chronicles 6:16-17,42.
On the other hand, in verses 19-22, the LORD promises to cast Israel out of their inheritance and even to destroy the temple itself if the people go off to worship other gods, and for some reason God's response does not contain a promise that he would "uphold their cause" like what Solomon asked for in 2 Chronicles 6:39.
I think if I had to characterize God's response, I would say we got something pretty similar to Deuteronomy, especially Deut 28. We see God offering blessings to Solomon and Israel if they obey the Law. He promises to forgive them if they repent of their sins, but also promises to cause them harm in many different ways if they sin, up to the ultimate punishment of banishment from the promised land. I think this is very similar to the blessings and curses paradigm that is expressed in Deut 28, but with a much stronger expression of God bringing healing whenever Israel repents of their sin. In fact, I would say that verses 19-22 are very similar to Deut 29:22-28, except that Chronicles adds references to the desolation of the temple, while Deuteronomy just focuses on the desolation of the land.
In the previous chapter I said that Solomon's prayers are an expression of what he thinks the temple is there for, and more generally what he thinks about how he and the people should relate to God. This chapter is the converse: God's response to Solomon is a statement about how God thinks Israel and Solomon should relate to him. God's response contains three core elements, which I have already briefly described above.
First, he says that when Israel is punished for sinning, they should pray and repent and God would forgive them and bring healing. We have already seen this principle in action many times (throughout the book of Judges, for instance), but here the LORD is stating it plainly.
Second, God says that if Solomon walks in the same ways as his father David, he will receive the same promise as David, that his throne would be established forever. In short, Solomon's legacy and his status before God cannot be based on David's faithfulness: Solomon must also be faithful to God to receive the same reward. This is basically a statement of justice, of similar character to Deut 24:16, but in the opposite direction: Solomon will not be rewarded by God for something that he didn't do.
Third, God says that if the people turn away from him, not only will he uproot them from the land (like mentioned in Deut 29:22-28), but he will also reject the temple and make it "a heap of rubble". What this means is that God's approval of the temple and his favor over Israel is not unconditional. The essential elements of the Law of Moses still apply, which means that if Israel sin egregiously they will be kicked out of hte land in spite of the temple. If I may paraphrase from Star Wars, God is not altering the deal. Building the temple has not changed any of the fundamental characteristics of the covenantal relationship between Israel and God, and the overhanging threat of expulsion from the land is one of the central elements of the covenant.
In conclusion, even though we have reached the end of the temple narrative, the book of Chronicles does not end here. In fact, it continues for another 29 chapters. One might wonder how the narrative about the kings of Judah to follow relates to the temple narrative that we are just finishing, and the answer is in the three elements that I just explained. These three principles of how God relates to Israel are exemplified in the narrative to follow, and we will see all three of them expressed in different ways. During periods of sin, Judah will crumbles; during periods of repentance, they will be exalted; and in the dark conclusion when they turn away from the LORD with finality, they will be cast out of the promised land and taken to exile in Babylon. Meanwhile, the kings of Judah who follow in the ways of David will be established in the same covenant as David.
Meanwhile, in the next chapter, we will read about Solomon's other accomplishments during his lifetime.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 6
In this chapter, Solomon dedicates the temple with a prayer.
This is a fairly long chapter and it has a lot of material. Even though there is considerable overlap with 1 Kings 8 (which I previously discussed here), I think it's important enough to the Chronicles narrative that I want to take a more detailed look here.
This chapter has two main sections. In the first section (verses 1-11), Solomon addresses the gathered people of Israel who have come for the dedication. In the second section (12-42), Solomon prays to the LORD on behalf of the people and on behalf of the temple.
The first section contains Solomon's statement of intent. It explains why he built the temple, giving several reasons. Solomon begins in verses 1-2, explaining that the LORD will "dwell in a dark cloud" and that he built a temple for the LORD to dwell forever. I'm not sure if there is a connection between these two points. Certainly the "dark cloud" metaphor is present in other places in the bible. For instance, Deuteronomy 4:11 says that Mount Sinai was covered "with black clouds and deep darkness", which accompanied the LORD's presence when he met with Moses. Deut 5:22 says essentially the same thing, and 2 Samuel 22:12 (which is part of a Psalm of David) says that the LORD "made darkness his canopy", which in context means that the LORD descended to the earth in the midst of a thunderstorm. I think this is possibly connected to the temple in the sense of concealment; the temple helps to enclose the LORD's presence so that his holiness might be hidden from us.
Now, my readers may be wondering why the LORD would seek to conceal his presence. One might suppose that the LORD wishes to be dwell amongst his people, seeing them and being seen by them, so that he might have fellowship with them in a more direct way. If the LORD is dwelling in darkness and clouds, or hidden away in the holy place of a temple that is excluded to 99% of Israel's populace, then in some sense it feels like the LORD is trying to make himself inaccessible to his people. To a person who is seeking God, it may be frustrating that God would conceal himself. We may even question the LORD's intentions and wonder if he is trying to make us fail in our pursuit of him.
The LORD is indeed seeking to conceal himself, but he explains the reason why in Exodus 33:18-23. In that passage, Moses is in the midst of a powerful encounter with the LORD. Moses is on Mount Sinai, having just received the ten commandments and the orders for the construction of the tabernacle. He is surrounded by fire, clouds and earthquakes, and he has secured the LORD's presence in their journey to the promised land. In this moment, Moses asks for an even greater thing, to behold the glory of the LORD. The LORD grants his request, but with one major exception: Moses is not permitted to see God's face, "for no one may see me and live". This is the first point: God's glory must be concealed because anyone who is not properly sanctified would be harmed by God's glory.
I think this is a really important point and I hardly have the time to fully address it. In many places, God is called an "all consuming fire". Fire can burn and destroy many things, and in the same way God's glory will destroy unprepared people. One similar example is Exodus 28:35. Aaron must wear this particular vest when he enters the holy place, "so that he will not die". Exodus 30:20 explains that the priests should wash before they enter the holy place "so that they will not die". There is a remarkable list of things the priests needed to do to enter the holy place and not die. Imagine if that presence were everywhere? People everywhere, who were not consecrated and holy, would have been swept away. We must be consecrated before we can enter the LORD's presence, and the process for how to become consecrated is laid out in the bible as well. It is possible for everyone, because God really does want to be with his people, but it is not instant and it's not cheap either. However, explaining the process of sanctification is beyond the scope of my commentary here so I will move on.
Solomon gives several other reasons he is building the temple. Solomon basically says that the LORD made two promises to David: to establish David's place on the throne of Israel and that his son would build the temple in Jerusalem. Therefore in verse 10, Solomon claims that both his own reign and the construction of the temple are fulfillments of the LORD's promises. Even though Solomon was the man building the temple, he says that the LORD was the one bringing it about, in accordance with his promise to David. Not only was it in fulfillment of a divine command, building the temple was also empowered and overseen by the LORD who "chose" it to happen (v. 6). Later, in verse 15, Solomon says "with your hand you have fulfilled it", referring to his promises to David. One could reasonably argue that includes building the temple as part of what the LORD "fulfilled".
That concludes the first section.
In the second section, Solomon kneels upon this peculiar "bronze platform" and prays for the temple (v. 13). This bronze platform is not mentioned in 1 Kings 8, and it's not clear to me why this is only mentioned in Chronicles.
I think some of the symbolism here is interesting. Solomon kneels and "spreads out his hands towards heaven" (v. 13). I just think it's so cool that people would raise their hands in prayer over 2,600 years ago. This image, of kneeling before the LORD in honor and raising one's hands in surrender, is still with us to this very day.
Afterwards, Solomon begins his prayer by reciting God's promise to David, and then he goes on to describe what is his understanding of the temple's purpose. Surprisingly, he doesn't talk at all about sacrifices or offerings, or any of the other common priestly functions in the temple. He doesn't say, "LORD, please regard the incense and consecrated bread, and the perpetual fire before you." Nearly the entirety of what Solomon asks is for the LORD to have regard towards prayers of mercy.
Starting in verse 19, Solomon asks the LORD to "have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication... when they pray toward this place". The basic structure is for people to pray directed towards the temple, and then the LORD would hear from heaven and forgive [the sins that the people are praying about].
In verse 22, Solomon adds a justice element. When two people are in disagreement and one of them has sinned, both are to come and take an oath upon the altar and then the LORD will judge between them, striking down the wicked and upholding the innocent. I see this as quite similar to the role that Moses and the priests are supposed to fulfill, since in many other places it is written that the priests would judge over disputes amongst the people. It appears that in the same way, the LORD was expected to judge between disputes, perhaps the very serious or unclear disputes that the priests could not resolve.
In verse 24-31, Solomon lists several different kinds of curses that would fall on the people "because they have sinned against you", and asks that when the people repent and "pray toward this place" that the LORD would forgive and heal whatever is afflicting them. It is troubling imagery when the primary relationship that Solomon can envisage between Israel and God is for God to be smiting Israel while Israel is alternately sinning or repenting. And this is supposed to be Israel's golden age, too.
Verses 32-35 have two additional categories of prayer (foreigners and prayer for victory in battle), but verses 36-39 have the grand finale: when Israel sins and are exiled from their homeland, they are to pray towards their homeland, city and the temple, and then the LORD will forgive and "maintain their cause", whatever that means.
Solomon concludes in verses 41-42 with part of a Psalm of David, which is a modification compared to 1 Kings 8. In the book of Kings, Solomon concludes by extending his prayer (from v. 36-39) with references to Israel's deliverance from Egypt, perhaps as an archetype for Israel's deliverance from future captivity. In this case, the Chronicler wished to change the focus towards God's eternal promise to David's house, which may be part of Chronicles larger theme of David as an ideal ruler.
In any case, this has already gotten really long so I will stop here, but I would like to end by encouraging my readers to focus on the different purposes that Solomon imagined for the temple and the different kinds of prayer that he anticipated. When you look at your own relationship with God, consider what kind of dedication you would pray towards the temple in your own life. Is it characterized by sinning and repenting, like the Israelites, or something else?
In the next chapter, the dedication of the temple concludes with the LORD's dramatic appearance.
This is a fairly long chapter and it has a lot of material. Even though there is considerable overlap with 1 Kings 8 (which I previously discussed here), I think it's important enough to the Chronicles narrative that I want to take a more detailed look here.
This chapter has two main sections. In the first section (verses 1-11), Solomon addresses the gathered people of Israel who have come for the dedication. In the second section (12-42), Solomon prays to the LORD on behalf of the people and on behalf of the temple.
The first section contains Solomon's statement of intent. It explains why he built the temple, giving several reasons. Solomon begins in verses 1-2, explaining that the LORD will "dwell in a dark cloud" and that he built a temple for the LORD to dwell forever. I'm not sure if there is a connection between these two points. Certainly the "dark cloud" metaphor is present in other places in the bible. For instance, Deuteronomy 4:11 says that Mount Sinai was covered "with black clouds and deep darkness", which accompanied the LORD's presence when he met with Moses. Deut 5:22 says essentially the same thing, and 2 Samuel 22:12 (which is part of a Psalm of David) says that the LORD "made darkness his canopy", which in context means that the LORD descended to the earth in the midst of a thunderstorm. I think this is possibly connected to the temple in the sense of concealment; the temple helps to enclose the LORD's presence so that his holiness might be hidden from us.
Now, my readers may be wondering why the LORD would seek to conceal his presence. One might suppose that the LORD wishes to be dwell amongst his people, seeing them and being seen by them, so that he might have fellowship with them in a more direct way. If the LORD is dwelling in darkness and clouds, or hidden away in the holy place of a temple that is excluded to 99% of Israel's populace, then in some sense it feels like the LORD is trying to make himself inaccessible to his people. To a person who is seeking God, it may be frustrating that God would conceal himself. We may even question the LORD's intentions and wonder if he is trying to make us fail in our pursuit of him.
The LORD is indeed seeking to conceal himself, but he explains the reason why in Exodus 33:18-23. In that passage, Moses is in the midst of a powerful encounter with the LORD. Moses is on Mount Sinai, having just received the ten commandments and the orders for the construction of the tabernacle. He is surrounded by fire, clouds and earthquakes, and he has secured the LORD's presence in their journey to the promised land. In this moment, Moses asks for an even greater thing, to behold the glory of the LORD. The LORD grants his request, but with one major exception: Moses is not permitted to see God's face, "for no one may see me and live". This is the first point: God's glory must be concealed because anyone who is not properly sanctified would be harmed by God's glory.
I think this is a really important point and I hardly have the time to fully address it. In many places, God is called an "all consuming fire". Fire can burn and destroy many things, and in the same way God's glory will destroy unprepared people. One similar example is Exodus 28:35. Aaron must wear this particular vest when he enters the holy place, "so that he will not die". Exodus 30:20 explains that the priests should wash before they enter the holy place "so that they will not die". There is a remarkable list of things the priests needed to do to enter the holy place and not die. Imagine if that presence were everywhere? People everywhere, who were not consecrated and holy, would have been swept away. We must be consecrated before we can enter the LORD's presence, and the process for how to become consecrated is laid out in the bible as well. It is possible for everyone, because God really does want to be with his people, but it is not instant and it's not cheap either. However, explaining the process of sanctification is beyond the scope of my commentary here so I will move on.
Solomon gives several other reasons he is building the temple. Solomon basically says that the LORD made two promises to David: to establish David's place on the throne of Israel and that his son would build the temple in Jerusalem. Therefore in verse 10, Solomon claims that both his own reign and the construction of the temple are fulfillments of the LORD's promises. Even though Solomon was the man building the temple, he says that the LORD was the one bringing it about, in accordance with his promise to David. Not only was it in fulfillment of a divine command, building the temple was also empowered and overseen by the LORD who "chose" it to happen (v. 6). Later, in verse 15, Solomon says "with your hand you have fulfilled it", referring to his promises to David. One could reasonably argue that includes building the temple as part of what the LORD "fulfilled".
That concludes the first section.
In the second section, Solomon kneels upon this peculiar "bronze platform" and prays for the temple (v. 13). This bronze platform is not mentioned in 1 Kings 8, and it's not clear to me why this is only mentioned in Chronicles.
I think some of the symbolism here is interesting. Solomon kneels and "spreads out his hands towards heaven" (v. 13). I just think it's so cool that people would raise their hands in prayer over 2,600 years ago. This image, of kneeling before the LORD in honor and raising one's hands in surrender, is still with us to this very day.
Afterwards, Solomon begins his prayer by reciting God's promise to David, and then he goes on to describe what is his understanding of the temple's purpose. Surprisingly, he doesn't talk at all about sacrifices or offerings, or any of the other common priestly functions in the temple. He doesn't say, "LORD, please regard the incense and consecrated bread, and the perpetual fire before you." Nearly the entirety of what Solomon asks is for the LORD to have regard towards prayers of mercy.
Starting in verse 19, Solomon asks the LORD to "have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication... when they pray toward this place". The basic structure is for people to pray directed towards the temple, and then the LORD would hear from heaven and forgive [the sins that the people are praying about].
In verse 22, Solomon adds a justice element. When two people are in disagreement and one of them has sinned, both are to come and take an oath upon the altar and then the LORD will judge between them, striking down the wicked and upholding the innocent. I see this as quite similar to the role that Moses and the priests are supposed to fulfill, since in many other places it is written that the priests would judge over disputes amongst the people. It appears that in the same way, the LORD was expected to judge between disputes, perhaps the very serious or unclear disputes that the priests could not resolve.
In verse 24-31, Solomon lists several different kinds of curses that would fall on the people "because they have sinned against you", and asks that when the people repent and "pray toward this place" that the LORD would forgive and heal whatever is afflicting them. It is troubling imagery when the primary relationship that Solomon can envisage between Israel and God is for God to be smiting Israel while Israel is alternately sinning or repenting. And this is supposed to be Israel's golden age, too.
Verses 32-35 have two additional categories of prayer (foreigners and prayer for victory in battle), but verses 36-39 have the grand finale: when Israel sins and are exiled from their homeland, they are to pray towards their homeland, city and the temple, and then the LORD will forgive and "maintain their cause", whatever that means.
Solomon concludes in verses 41-42 with part of a Psalm of David, which is a modification compared to 1 Kings 8. In the book of Kings, Solomon concludes by extending his prayer (from v. 36-39) with references to Israel's deliverance from Egypt, perhaps as an archetype for Israel's deliverance from future captivity. In this case, the Chronicler wished to change the focus towards God's eternal promise to David's house, which may be part of Chronicles larger theme of David as an ideal ruler.
In any case, this has already gotten really long so I will stop here, but I would like to end by encouraging my readers to focus on the different purposes that Solomon imagined for the temple and the different kinds of prayer that he anticipated. When you look at your own relationship with God, consider what kind of dedication you would pray towards the temple in your own life. Is it characterized by sinning and repenting, like the Israelites, or something else?
In the next chapter, the dedication of the temple concludes with the LORD's dramatic appearance.
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