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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Chronicles 8:11 - 8:18
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Solomon's Worship and Navigation
v. 11. And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the City of David unto the house that he had built for her, a special building of his palace for his chief wife; for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come. She had lived in some part of the lower city since her marriage to Solomon, because the king deemed it improper for a former heathen, particularly with servants who were still heathen, to live on the premises where the Tabernacle of David had once stood, which had been hallowed by the presence of the Ark of the Covenant. In a similar manner we set our churches apart from ordinary use, preferably solely for the administration of the means of grace.
v. 12. Then Solomon, through the priests ordained for that ministry, offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch, just east of the great entrance portico leading to the Sanctuary,
v. 13. even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, above all, the great festivals, three times in the year, even in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles, for all of which the sacrifices were exactly prescribed in the books of Moses.
v. 14. And he appointed, according to the order of David, his father, 2Ch_24:25-26, the courses of the priests to their service, their divisions and the sequence of their ministry having been established by David in solemn assembly, and the Levites to their charges, 1Ch_25:1, to praise and minister before the priests, by assisting them in the various tasks of the Temple, as the duty of every day required; the porters also by their courses at every gate, 1Ch_9:7; 1Ch_26:1; for so had David, the man of God, commanded.
v. 15. And they departed not from the commandment of the king, that is, of David, unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, in regulating the courses and fixing the tasks, or concerning the treasures, in applying the available precious metals and votive gifts to the construction and adornment of the Temple.
v. 16. Now, all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished, this including the entire fitting up and arrangement of the Temple for divine worship. So the house of the Lord was perfected, made ready in all its parts for the consecrated use for which it was intended.
v. 17. Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, at the head of the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea, and to Eloth, another port on the same gulf, at the sea side in the land of Edom. Solomon was shrewd enough to see that his country needed more commercial enterprises if it was to become powerful among the nations.
v. 18. And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea, seasoned and experienced mariners; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, the location of which is unknown, though it is generally placed on the southeastern coast of Africa, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold (almost $9,000,000), and brought them to King Solomon. That was the regular load of his navy. But all this wealth is as nothing beside the heavenly and eternal glory which the Second Solomon, Jesus Christ, gives to those who are faithful to Him to the end.