The dedication of the Temple was quite a celebration. It was also confirmation that the Lord was pleased with Israel and had made the Temple his new home! The glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, meaning that the presence of the Lord was among his people located at the Temple. An elaborate service unfolded. Solomon leads the service in a prayer to the Lord and continues the service through offering 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which resulted in a seven-day feast! The people went home on the eighth day “joyful and glad of heart.”
During Solomon’s prayer, he asked that the Lord might be gracious and forgiving towards his people if they should sin, repent, and pray toward the Temple! The specific judgments he mentioned were defeat, drought, famine or plague, or being taken captive. Solomon requested that if the people fall under any judgment because of their sin, should they turn and pray toward the Temple, may the Lord be gracious to them. Why pray toward the Temple? That’s where the presence of the Lord dwelt.
Where do we direct our prayers today? To the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? He is our Mediator, our sympathetic High Priest, the object of our faith, and our salvation! The focus-point of prayer is no longer a place but rather a person. No longer a man-made Temple, but rather the incarnate Son of God. The presence of the Lord at the Temple was only a foreshadow of the glory of the Lord that abides in the Son, for in him the fullness of God is pleased to dwell! Solomon’s temple couldn’t contain the Lord of the Universe (cf 1 Kings 8:27), but he is entirely present in the Lord Jesus Christ! As New Covenant believers, we pray to Christ, in Christ’s name, and for Christ’s glory, and when we do so by faith, he hears and he answers!
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