God Calls: Solomon

sermon intro: Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken time to trace the way God called a few people in the Old Testament narrative. We’ve looked at the calling of Samuel, a young boy who did not yet know God, but whom God called and who would help to transition God’s people into the monarchy.

Then last week, we looked at the calling of David. Or, the not-calling of David’s seven brothers. And then the idea that this shepherd boy who would eventually become king was someone who was after God’s heart, not because of managing not to make some huge mistakes, but because of his contrite heart. His willingness to repent and to respond to God’s continued call is what

This week, we turn out attention to David’s son. Unlike Saul, whose sons would not inherit their father’s throne, David’s throne was going to pass down generation to generation… in fact, God promised David that his son would not only succeed him, but that his son would be the one who would be allowed to build a temple for God’s name. Do you remember? Last year we looked at 2 Samuel 7 - in which David wants to build a house for God. But God says no. And then promises that he will not take his love away from David’s family they way he did from Saul.

Now, the distance from the promise to the fulfillment is great. The road is not straight and easy. David’s sons… well, that’s a whole story unto itself. A quick summary… with thanks to the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary!

David had eight wives who are named in Scripture, seven of whom bore him children, the other being Michal, Saul’s daughter (2 Sam 6:23). The He also had many unnamed wives and concubines, who likewise bore him children (1 Chr 3:9; 14:3).David had 19 sons who are named, along with one daughter, in addition to numerous unnamed sons and daughters. Of these only four sons—Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah, and Solomon—and one daughter—Tamar—are known in any detail.

Amnon - and Tamar

Absalom

Adonijah

Solomon

Amnon (David’s firstborn) and Tamar appear together in a grim story in 2 Samuel 13, where Amnon brutally rapes his sister. Absalom, his brother, then conspires to kill Amnon in revenge - and succeeds. Eventually, after a power struggle and rebellion, Absalom is killed in battle by David’s general, Joab.

Adonijah (David’s fourth son) was the oldest living son at the end of David’s life, and seized power briefly in a short-lived kingship (1 Kings 1–2). It was only after personal appeals on Solomon’s behalf by his mother Bathsheba and by Nathan the prophet that Solomon was sanctioned as the chosen heir to the throne. Solomon spared Adonijah’s life initially, but he eventually felt threatened by him and had him executed after David’s death.

So Solomon, the tenth son of David in the lists preserved, was David’s successor to the throne (1 Kings 1–11). But not the son who anyone expected to be the heir.

Solomon He was blessed with incomparable wisdom by YHWH, and he initially followed YHWH. He built the temple and an ornate palace for himself and succeeded in gathering riches and in establishing an international reputation. YHWH established a conditional covenant with him (9:1–9), but, in the end, Solomon’s heart, under the influence of his foreign wives, turned away from his God. As a result, the kingdom was divided, and his son Rehoboam was made king over the S remnant, Judah.

Our reading for today gives us a glimpse of two key moments surrounding the building of the temple that was part of Solomon’s calling. The first part of the reading is like the ground-breaking of the Temple. And then the second section skips ahead to after all the work has been completed, to the dedication.

Stephen, will you come and read for us?

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 5:1-7 1 Kings 7:51-8:13

1 Kings 5:1–7 CEB

1 Because King Hiram of Tyre was loyal to David throughout his rule, Hiram sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that Solomon had become king after his father. 2 Solomon sent the following message to Hiram: 3 “You know that my father David wasn’t able to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. This was because of the enemies that fought him on all sides until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4 Now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side, without enemies or misfortune. 5 So I’m planning to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord indicated to my father David, ‘I will give you a son to follow you on your throne. He will build the temple for my name.’ 6 Now give the order and have the cedars of Lebanon cut down for me. My servants will work with your servants. I’ll pay your servants whatever price you set, because you know we have no one here who is skilled in cutting wood like the Sidonians.” 7 Hiram was thrilled when he heard Solomon’s message. He said, “Today the Lord is blessed because he has given David a wise son who is in charge of this great people.

1 Kings 7:51–8:13 CEB

51 When all King Solomon’s work on the Lord’s temple was finished, he brought the silver, gold, and all the objects his father David had dedicated and put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple. 1 Then Solomon assembled Israel’s elders, all the tribal leaders, and the chiefs of Israel’s clans at Jerusalem to bring up the chest containing the Lord’s covenant from David’s City Zion. 2 Everyone in Israel assembled before King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim, during the festival. 3 When all of Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests picked up the chest. 4 They brought the Lord’s chest, the meeting tent, and all the holy equipment that was in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up, 5 while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. 6 The priests brought the chest containing the Lord’s covenant to its designated spot beneath the wings of the winged creatures in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place. 7 The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. 8 The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today. 9 Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there while at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt. 10 When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple, 11 and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple. 12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in a dark cloud, 13 but I have indeed built you a lofty temple as a place where you can live forever.”

Where is it that God dwells?

And where do we encounter God?

These are the two questions that this text raises for me - and that I’d like us to explore a little more together this morning.

In 1 Kings 8 verse 12 Solomon says: “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.”

Wow. What an image.

What does it mean for God to dwell in “thick darkness”?

Light, good. Darkness, bad.

We tend to associate God with light and the absence of God, or even the presence of evil, with darkness. Just as we sang earlier, “He wraps Himself in light and darkness tries to hide and trembles at His voice...”

And the metaphor works. But it doesn’t mean that darkness can only be a bad thing. In fact, in scripture, we’re given depictions of darkness as being part of God’s good creation, as a creative or transformative force (think of the womb imagery, the darkness in an event like Easter, and even the darkness of Paul’s blindness that was part of his conversion?

In her book entitled Learning to Walk in the Dark, Barbara Brown Taylor explores ‘the treasures of darkness’ that the Bible speaks about. She invites her readers to learn about how we encounter the ways of God when we cannot see the way ahead, are lost, alone, frightened, not in control or when the world around us seems to have descended into darkness?

Scripture also gives us depictions of darkness as a place of protection - think of the exodus or even David escaping from Saul, and then of Joseph fleeing with Mary and the newborn Jesus from the raging Herod. Darkness as protection.

And then finally, we see in scripture that darkness can be a place we encounter God. Jacob and Samuel both met God in the night… in the dark. Moses received the Law in darkness, Joseph was informed of Mary’s pregnancy at night (Matt 1:20) and of course, as we know from the beloved nativity verses, the announcement of the birth of Jesus was proclaimed to shepherds ‘watching their flock by night.” The world encountered the Incarnate One at night!

Jesus often sought the solace of lone prayer at night, in the dark. Nicodemus encountered God – as he approached Jesus under the cover of night. And Mary encountered the Risen Christ in the still dark hours of the early morning.

Light. Dark.

Where is it that God dwells?

And where do we encounter God?

Of course, our text today is about Solomon building a magnificent dwelling place for God. But even in hearing about this place - which I would LOVE to have been able to see for myself… even in hearing about it, and in reading what we did, it’s clear, isn’t it, that God doesn’t need a dwelling place. God isn’t allowing Solomon to build something because God needs a spot.

So what is the building of this temple about?

Well, first of all, it was David’s idea, not God’s.

So, unlike the ark, in which God brings the idea to Noah. An idea that makes no sense to Noah, I remind you.

This is an idea that makes no sense to God, but seems really important to David, and then to Solomon. “We live in fancy places and You have a tent... Let’s fix that.”

And God seems to be willing to go along with the idea, but I think it matters that God hasn’t requested a place to dwell. In fact, God has told David that the temple will be “for God’s name” …

but this is not about containing God to a particular location. This is about giving access to God to the people. The place of worship is a place to encounter God.

So, once again, where is it that God dwells?

And where do we encounter God?

Let’s trace this a bit. Let’s start back with the garden. Back to the beginning. Back to Eden.

In Genesis 1-2 we see that God created humanity to dwell with him and bear the divine image in the world. The creation narrative is a temple narrative, borrowed from the surrounding ANE cultures… but instead of idols placed as the image of the god in the temple, the humans take on that role in the Genesis account. And the garden is a place of encounter with God.

Then, much later, after the Exodus, God’s people are commanded to build a tent structure - a tabernacle - that will be go with them on their journey, God will be present in the midst of God’s wandering people.

Several hundred years later, Solomon’s Temple replaces the Tabernacle and it’s an international project from the beginning, that the prophet Isaiah will call “a house of prayer for many nations.” Encountering God will not be something that only one group of people can experience.

Next, we see a new version of God pitching a tent among the people when Jesus shows up as Emmanuel - God with us. And John writes that Jesus tabernacled among us. Word become flesh. The gospels are full of people encountering God as they interact with this man named Jesus.

Temple language doesn’t stop once Jesus comes on the scene, but it ceases to be about a building and functions as a nimble metaphor.

In Ephesians 2:20-22 ,

Ephesians 2:20–22 CEB

20 As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. 22 Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit.

a household of once divided people (Jews & Gentiles) are being made into a building - a temple in which God can live.

And God seems to live both in communities of believers AND simultaneously, in the believers themselves. They are temples of God… both as individuals and as a collective. Not one or the other. But both.

Where does God live? In you. You the you. And you the y’all.

Finally, if we look ahead into the future… towards the new heaven and the new earth, what can we expect? Where will God live and where will we encounter God when all things have been made new?

Revelation 21:3 CEB

3 I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God.

God with us. God’s dwelling is here with us.

God lives here. Not here in this building because it is a church.

Here in the people of God. You and you and you and you… but also, us together. Y’all.

So, where is it that God dwells?

And where do we encounter God?

In the light. In the dark.

In the buildings we build in order to have places where we can encounter God.

But also in burning bushes in the wilderness.

In the night time wrestling.

In the messy families and big mistakes of our lives.

In moments of regret and repentance. In moments of celebration and victory.

And everywhere in between.

God dwells, now as always, with God’s people.

On the move. And fixed.

In the light. And in the dark.

Let’s pray.

Psalm 84 CEB

For the music leader. According to the Gittith. Of the Korahites. A psalm. 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces! 2 My very being longs, even yearns, for the Lord’s courtyards. My heart and my body will rejoice out loud to the living God! 3 Yes, the sparrow too has found a home there; the swallow has found herself a nest where she can lay her young beside your altars, Lord of heavenly forces, my king, my God! 4 Those who live in your house are truly happy; they praise you constantly. Selah 5 Those who put their strength in you are truly happy; pilgrimage is in their hearts. 6 As they pass through the Baca Valley, they make it a spring of water. Yes, the early rain covers it with blessings. 7 They go from strength to strength, until they see the supreme God in Zion. 8 Lord God of heavenly forces, hear my prayer; listen closely, Jacob’s God! Selah 9 Look at our shield, God; pay close attention to the face of your anointed one! 10 Better is a single day in your courtyards than a thousand days anywhere else! I would prefer to stand outside the entrance of my God’s house than live comfortably in the tents of the wicked! 11 The Lord is a sun and shield; God is favor and glory. The Lord gives—doesn’t withhold!— good things to those who walk with integrity. 12 Lord of heavenly forces, those who trust in you are truly happy!

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