After completing the building work of the temple and his royal palace, Solomon achieved all he had desired to do, 1 Kings 9:1 / 2 Chronicles 7:11. Although it was never God’s desire to have a temple built, 2 Samuel 7:5-7, God accepted it, and so the temple was consecrated with the presence of God, 2 Chronicles 7:11-22. God appears to Solomon, 1 Kings 9:2-3 / 2 Chronicles 7:12.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The design of this appearance, which was in a dream, as that was at Gibeon, was to assure Solomon that God had accepted his service, and had taken that house for his dwelling-place, and would continue it, and establish him and his descendants upon the throne of Israel for ever, provided they served him with an upright heart; but, on the contrary, if they forsook him, he would abandon both them and his temple.’
God says when He shuts up the heavens so that there is no rain, or commands locusts to devour the land or sends a plague among His people, He says there are four terms and conditions required for God to hear them, forgive them and their land, 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 / Psalm 85:6 / Jeremiah 2:2 / Malachi 3:7 / Revelation 2:4.
1. The first thing that God is looking for is for people to remember they are called by His name, 2 Chronicles 7:14 / Ephesians 4:1 / 1 Thessalonians 2:12.
2. The second thing that God is looking for is for people to humble themselves, 2 Chronicles 7:14 / Isaiah 57:15 / Revelation 3:14-22.
3. The third thing that God is looking for is for people not to have a complacent heart, 2 Chronicles 7:14 / Jeremiah 29:12-13 / Isaiah 55:6-7.
4. The fourth thing that God is looking for is for people not to have a disobedient walk, 2 Chronicles 7:14 / John 14:15 / Isaiah 1:19.
God says if they meet those terms and conditions, then His eyes will be open and His ears will be attentive to the prayers offered in this place, 2 Chronicles 7:14. It was God who chose and consecrated the temple so that His Name may be there forever, His eyes and His heart will always be there, 2 Chronicles 7:16.
God once again lays down the terms and conditions for Solomon. He had to walk faithfully with the Lord, 1 Kings 9:3-4 / 2 Chronicles 7:17. If he wanted to continue to be David’s successor, then he had to obey God’s commands, 1 Kings 8:24-26 / 2 Chronicles 7:18.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The answer given by God to Solomon’s prayer is reported more fully in 2 Chronicles 7:12-22. When God puts His Name in the temple, He does it, in intention, ‘forever.’ He will not arbitrarily withdraw it; there it will remain ‘forever,’ so far as God is concerned. But the people may, by unfaithfulness, drive it away, 1 Kings 9:7-9.’
God also tells him if he or his descendants turn away from God, disobey His commands and decrees, serve other gods and worship them, then God will cut off His people, and reject the temple, 1 Kings 9:5-7 / 2 Chronicles 7:19. Sadly, this is exactly what Israel did under Solomon’s reign and through Solomon’s example, 1 Kings 11:5-12.
Notice the consequences of breaking God’s terms and conditions, Israel will be cut off from the land, 1 Kings 9:7 / 2 Chronicles 7:19-20, the temple will become rubble, 1 Kings 9:8 / 2 Chronicles 7:21, and people will mock and scoff at them, 1 Kings 9:8-9 / 2 Chronicles 7:20 / 2 Chronicles 29:8 / Micah 6:16 / Jeremiah 18:16 / Jeremiah 19:8.
God really wants Israel to understand just how bad things will get for them if they commit idolatry, Jeremiah 26:18 / Micah 3:12.
It took Solomon seven years to build the temple and thirteen years to build his palace, 2 Chronicles 8:1.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘He employed seven years and a half in building the temple, and twelve years and a half in building the king’s house, 1 Kings 7:1 / 2 Chronicles 8:1.’
At the end of these twenty years, 1 Kings 9:10 / 2 Chronicles 8:1, his kingdom was secure, stable, and blessed. Because Hiram, king of Tyre, 2 Chronicles 8:2, had supplied labourers, the cedar and cypress trees, juniper and gold for Solomon’s temple and his royal place, 1 Kings 5:1-18, it was now time to pay him. Solomon gives him twenty towns in Galilee, 1 Kings 9:10-11.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘By the spirit, if not by the letter, of the Law, Solomon had no right to give away these cities, or any part of the inheritance of Israel, Leviticus 25:13-34. But the exigencies of a worldly policy caused the requirements of the Law to be set aside.’
Selman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A problem comes in reconciling the mention of the cities that Hiram gave to Solomon, because 1 Kings 9:11-14 indicates that they were given by Solomon to Hiram. While textual disturbance is possible, it seems more probable that they had been returned to Solomon, either because they were unacceptable, 1 Kings 9:12-13, or because they had been collateral for a loan, 1 Kings 9:14.’
When Hiram looked at the cities and the land around them, he soon noticed that the land was unproductive, hence why he calls the land Kabul, 1 Kings 9:12-14 / Joshua 19:27, which means worthless. As time went on, this land became known as Galilee of the Gentiles, Matthew 4:15.
When we read 2 Chronicles 8:3-6, we find that Solomon gained these cities back, and the cities were actually given to Hiram as some kind of security until Solomon was able to pay him in gold. We are told that Hiram had sent Solomon one-hundred and twenty talents of gold, 1 Kings 9:14.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning why Hiram paid Solomon this money.
‘Apparently, to show that, although disappointed, he was not offended. The sum sent was very large, above a million and a quarter of our money, according to one estimate of the weight of the Hebrew gold talent; or about 720,000 according to the estimate adopted in Exodus 38:24-29. At any rate, it was more than equal to a sixth part of Solomon’s regular revenue 1 Kings 10:14.’
It appears when Solomon conquered a nation he put them under slave labour, the forced labourers were Canaanites, 1 Kings 9:15-22 / 2 Chronicles 8:7-8 / 1 Kings 5:15-18, the very people God had asked Israel to totally destroy when entering the promised land.
But Israel failed to do so, Joshua 16:10 / Judges 1:29. The Israelites were used to help build the temple but they weren’t forced to do so, 1 Kings 5:13-14 / 2 Chronicles 8:9-10.
The forced labourers mentioned, 1 Kings 9:15, were Canaanites, 2 Chronicles 8:7-8, the very people God had asked Israel to totally destroy when entering the promised land, but Israel failed to do so, Joshua 16:10 / Judges 1:29.
No one really knows what these ‘terraces’, 1 Kings 9:15, were but some believe they were some kind of stronghold. The cities which are listed in 1 Kings 9:16-18 are not exhaustive, because Solomon built many other cities.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer were three of the most important sites in the holy land.’
Pharaoh, after capturing Gezer, 1 Kings 9:17 / Joshua 10:33 / Joshua 12:12, gave it as a gift to his daughter, Solomon took his daughter as one of his wives in order to have some kind of political tie to Egypt, 1 Kings 3:1. There were also several grain storage cities, 1 Kings 9:19, which supplied provisions for Solomon’s court.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The cities of store contained provisions stored up for the troops, 2 Chronicles 32:28. They seem to have been chiefly in the north, in Hamath, 2 Chronicles 8:4, and Naphtali, 2 Chronicles 16:4. The ‘cities for his chariots,’ 1 Kings 10:26.’
Although God commanded all the Canaanites to be utterly destroyed, Israel failed to drive them out of the land and as a result, Israel made them slaves. The Canaanites mentioned here were descendants of those slaves, 1 Kings 9:20-21 / 2 Chronicles 8:7-8 / Joshua 9:22-27.
Solomon didn’t make slaves of the Israelites for his work because they were his fighting men, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers, 2 Chronicles 8:9.
Some cities were given to Solomon’s officials, those of high ranking, for them to rule over and store the wealth of the nation, 1 Kings 9:22 / 1 Kings 5:13-14, and five-hundred and fifty officials supervised the work, 1 Kings 9:23 / 2 Chronicles 8:10 / 1 Kings 5:16.
After all the building work was complete, it was time for people to move in, 1 Kings 9:23. This would include Pharaoh’s daughter, 2 Chronicles 8:11, one of his many wives, 1 Kings 11:1-3.
It’s incredible to think that Solomon openly admits his wife was an unbeliever and unholy, yet he marries her anyway, and as we know, this didn’t go well, 1 Kings 11:4-8.
Three times a year, three feasts were celebrated, and sacrifices were made: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles, 1 Kings 9:25 / 2 Chronicles 8:12-13 / Numbers 28:1-8. Notice Solomon arranged the whole temple service according to how David wanted it, 2 Chronicles 8:14 / 1 Chronicles 24.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning who sacrificed the offerings.
‘Not with his own hand, but by his priests, 1 Kings 8:6 / 2 Chronicles 5:12-14. In sacred, as in ordinary, history, men are said to do that which they cause to be done.’
Notice they didn’t deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries, 2 Chronicles 8:15. The temple was finally completed, 2 Chronicles 8:16.
Ezion Geber, 1 Kings 9:26 / 2 Chronicles 8:17, was on the shore of the Red Sea, and Hiram’s men served as sailors along with Solomon’s men, 1 Kings 9:27 / 2 Chronicles 8:18 / Numbers 33:35-36 / Deuteronomy 2:8.
The people of Hiram’s kingdom were very knowledgeable of the sea. The Israelites, however, were a farming culture of people. In the construction of the ships, it was only natural that Hiram’s men construct the ships and provide guidance in sailing the seas for Solomon, 1 Kings 9:26-28 / 2 Chronicles 8:18.
Some believe that from Ezion Geber, Solomon sent his ships on voyages to Ophir to get gold, 1 Kings 9:28 / 2 Chronicles 8:18. No one knows exactly where Ophir was located; some suggest Africa, others suggest Arabia, Job 22:24, and some suggest India, 1 Kings 10:22.