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2 Chronicles 7

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God Responds with Fire and Glory 1–3

1
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house. ​
2
And the priests could not enter into the house of Jehovah, because the glory of Jehovah filled Jehovah’s house. ​
3
And all the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of Jehovah was upon the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and gave thanks unto Jehovah, saying, For he is good; for his lovingkindness endureth for ever. ​

The Dedication Feast and Sacrifices 4–11

4
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before Jehovah.
5
And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ​
6
And the priests stood, according to their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music of Jehovah, which David the king had made to give thanks unto Jehovah (for his lovingkindness endureth for ever), when David praised by their ministry: and the priests sounded trumpets before them; and all Israel stood.
7
Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat. ​
8
So Solomon held the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt.
9
And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. ​
10
And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away unto their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Jehovah had showed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
11
Thus Solomon finished the house of Jehovah, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. ​

God Appears and Gives Conditions 12–22

12
And Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. ​
13
If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; ​
14
if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ​
15
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place.
16
For now have I chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. ​
17
And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; ​
18
then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.
19
But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20
then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ​
21
And this house, which is so high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall say, Why hath Jehovah done thus unto this land, and to this house?
22
And they shall answer, Because they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Chronicles 7

Verse 1

the fire came down from heaven — The sign given at the tabernacle's first sacrifices, when 'there came a fire out from before the LORD' (Lev 9:24), and to David at the altar he built, when 'he answered him from heaven by fire' (1 Chr 21:26). It falls as soon as Solomon ends his prayer, and with it the glory fills the house, as in 5:14.

Verse 2

the priests could not enter — At 5:14 they 'could not stand to minister'; now they 'could not enter', as Moses 'was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation' when the glory filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:35). Rev 15:8 gives the same sign for the temple in heaven: 'no man was able to enter into the temple'.

Verse 3

they bowed themselves — The people fall with their faces to the ground, as at the first fire on the altar when 'they shouted, and fell on their faces' (Lev 9:24). They then sing the refrain the Levites sang at the opening, 'For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever' (5:13), which Jehoshaphat's singers use again before battle (20:21).

Verse 5

twenty and two thousand oxen — The same figures are given in 1 Kgs 8:63, where they are peace offerings. The fat of such offerings was burned on the altar, for 'all the fat is the LORD'S' (Lev 3:16). 'Dedicated' is chanak, the verb behind the 'dedication' (chanukkah) of the altar in Num 7:10 and in v.9 here.

Verse 7

hallowed the middle of the court — The brass altar Solomon made (4:1) was twenty cubits square, and still it 'was not able to receive' all the burnt offerings, meat offerings and fat. So the ground before the house was set apart (qadash) for the day, as 1 Kgs 8:64 also records.

Verse 9

a solemn assembly — Atsarah, the closing gathering 'on the eighth day' of the feast of tabernacles (Lev 23:36; Num 29:35). The people had kept 'the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days', and were sent home on the twenty-third day of the month (v.10).

Verse 11

he prosperously effected — Tsalach, to prosper, the word of David's charge to Solomon, 'the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house' (1 Chr 22:11). David added a condition: 'Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments' (1 Chr 22:13). The LORD's reply in vv.12–22 restates it.

Verse 12

an house of sacrifice — Zebach, the offerings of the law that were to be brought to the one place the LORD would choose (Deut 12:5–6). The LORD 'appeared' to Solomon 'the second time' (1 Kgs 9:2), as he had at Gibeon. He says he has heard the prayer, and his reply in vv.13–15 takes up the cases Solomon had set out.

Verse 13

I shut up heaven — The LORD names the afflictions Solomon had listed and takes them as his own acts. 'Shut up' is atsar, the verb of 6:26, and the locusts and pestilence are those of 6:28. Moses had taught the same: 'he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain' (Deut 11:17).

Verse 14

if my people, which are called by my name — Four verbs: humble themselves (kana), pray, seek my face, turn. This book shows it taking place: Rehoboam's princes 'humbled themselves' and the LORD said 'I will not destroy them' (12:6–7), and Manasseh 'humbled himself greatly' (33:12). In Hezekiah's day the LORD 'healed the people' (30:20).

Verse 16

mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually — The LORD's eyes answer Solomon's request in 6:20, and v.15 adds the ears of 6:40. Here he adds his heart. The house is 'chosen and sanctified' (qadash), and 'perpetually' is literally 'all the days'. The promise of 'for ever' is then set beside a condition in vv.19–20.

Verse 17

as David thy father walked — 1 Kgs 9:4 adds the manner, 'in integrity of heart, and in uprightness'. The condition came to a test: Solomon's heart, turned by his wives to other gods, 'was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father' (1 Kgs 11:4–6). This book does not record that end.

Verse 20

pluck them up by the roots — Nathash, the verb of Deut 29:28, 'the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger'. 'A proverb and a byword' is the phrase of Deut 28:37. The house itself, 'sanctified for my name', is warned of rejection, and 2 Chr 36:19 records the fulfilment: 'they burnt the house of God'.

Verse 22

because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers — The answer is given in the pattern of Deut 29:24–26 and Jer 22:8–9, where nations ask 'Wherefore hath the LORD done thus…?' and are told 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD'. Four verbs set out the charge: forsook, laid hold on other gods, worshipped them, served them.