The temple of old was like heaven’s hot spot on earth, but now we may enter “the holiest” itself.
Having interceded for Israel and their anticipated times of need in the future, Solomon “arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice” (1 Ki 8:54-55). It’s wonderful to seek protection for someone’s future, but we can also seek provision for someone’s present. It’s interesting to see the difference between how we ask people for help and how we ask the Lord for help. With people, we may say something like this: If you help me this time, I’ll never ask for another thing. But with God, we are emboldened to ask for the very reason that He has been so kind and generous to us in the past! “There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers” (vv 56-57). Following this blessing, the king again turned his attention heavenward. “Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord” (v 62). One thing about Solomon—he didn’t do anything by halves! He “offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep” (v 63). We hasten to add that these did not all go up in smoke. The peace offering was the fellowship offering. After it was offered to the Lord, He gave it back, spreading a feast for His people. What a banquet it was for the many thousands who attended the dedication! But there was a problem—and what a nice problem to have! “The bronze altar…was too small to receive the…offerings” (v 64), so the king had to consecrate a larger area. O that our gratitude and thanksgiving might overflow as well!