The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 150: The Dedication of the Temple (2023)

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

Fr. Mike explains the details of Solomon's dedication of the Temple, and the power of God's presence dwelling in it. In Ecclesiastes, we continue to learn more nuggets of wisdom about friendship, prudence, and money. Today we read 1 Kings 8, Ecclesiastes 3-5, and Psalm 6. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today is day 150, that is half of 300, because I am super good at math, and that means we are trucking along, which is awesome. We're reading from 1 Kings chapter 8 today, as well as three chapters out of Ecclesiastes

chapters 3, 4, and 5. We're also praying Psalm 6. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I am using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And you can also subscribe to this podcast if you want to subscribe to this podcast.

That's the last time I want to say it. Last time. This is the last time I'm going to say it today. Ha! Last time today. As I said, what day is it? Day 150. Gosh.

So we have a number of chapters to get through. Again, just one chapter in 1 Kings chapter 8. It's a longer chapter though. And it is going to be familiar to you if you've been listening the last couple of days, because this is the dedication of the temple. So the Ark of the Covenant is going to be moved into the temple, and Solomon is going to have his prayer of dedication, and we're going to be able to be part of that as we move into the dedication of the temple and Solomon's prayer. We're also moving three chapters, as I said, in Ecclesiastes, so we need to get started because we also are going to pray Psalm 6 at the end.

The first book of Kings, chapter 8, the dedication of the temple. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the sons of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled to king Solomon at the feast in the month Athanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled before him were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could

not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place underneath the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord,

so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Solomon's Speech Then Solomon said, The Lord has set the sun in the heavens, but has said that he would dwell in thick darkness, and have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever. Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel while all the assembly of Israel stood. And he said, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David, my

father saying, since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel. Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name. Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise which he made, for I have risen in the place of David my father,

and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Solomon's Prayer of Dedication. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, and said, O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing mercy to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

who have kept with your servant David, my father, what you declared to him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with your servant David, my father, what you have promised him, saying, There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me. Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built. Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place of which you have said, My name shall be there, that you may listen to the prayer which your servant offers toward this house, the place of which you have said, my name shall be there, that you may listen to the prayer which your servant offers toward this place and hear the

supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Yes, here in heaven, your dwelling place. And when you hear, forgive. If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then here in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and make supplication to you in this house. Then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land

which you gave to their fathers. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all your people, Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know according to all his ways. For you, you only know the hearts of all the children of men, that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. Likewise, when a foreigner who is not of your people Israel comes from a far country for your namesake, for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand and of your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people

Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. If they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near. Yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive and repent and make supplication to you in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly. If they repent with all their mind

and with all their heart in the land of their enemies who carried them captive and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name. Then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions which they have committed against you. And grant them compassion in the sight of those who carry them captive, that they may have compassion on them. For they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt from the midst of the iron furnace. Let your eyes be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of

the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses, your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt. Oh Lord God. Solomon blesses the assembly. Now, as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel

with a loud voice saying, blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he uttered by Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he has commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night. And may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of all his people Israel as each day requires, that all the people of the earth may

know that the Lord is God, there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments as at this day. Solomon offers sacrifices. Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the Lord. Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. The same day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord. For there he offered the burnt offerings and the cereal offerings and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat

pieces of the peace offerings. So Solomon held the feast at that time and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt before the Lord our God seven days. On the eighth day, he sent the people away and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, his servant and to Israel his people. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Everything has a season. For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted, a time to kill and a time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted.

A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to seek and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to seek and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to tear and a time to sow. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

What gain has the worker from his toil? God-given tasks. I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. Also, that it is God's gift to man that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it.

God has made it so in order that men should fear before him. That which is already has been. That which is to be already has been, and God seeks what has been driven away. Judgment and the future belong to God. Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men that God is testing them to show them that they are but beasts. For the fate of the sons of men and the

fate of beasts is the same. As one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place, all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beasts goes down to the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him? Chapter four, injustice of life. Again, I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun and behold the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors, there was power and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead, more fortunate than

the living who are still alive, but better than both is he who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. Again, I saw vanity under the sun, a person who has no one, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, for whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure? This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

The value of friendship. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil, for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they are warm. But how can one be warm alone?

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. Bitter is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will no longer take advice, even though he had gone from prison to the throne or in his own kingdom had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, as well as that youth who was to stand in his place. There was no end of all the people. He was over all of them. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind. Chapter 5. Reverence, Humility, Enjoyment Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.

To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you upon earth. Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow,

than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase, empty words grow many, but you must fear God. If you see in a province the poor oppressed and justice and right violently taken away, do not be amazed at a matter. For the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But in all, a king is an advantage to a land with cultivated fields. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with gain. This also is vanity. When goods increase,

they increase who eat them, and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the surfeit of the rich will not let him sleep. There is a grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun. Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is a father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother's womb, he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil, which he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil. Just as he came, so shall he go. And what gain has he,

that he toiled for the wind, and spent all his days in darkness and grief, in much vexation and sickness and resentment? Behold, what I have seen to be good and to be fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun, the few days of his life which God has given him. For this is his lot. Every man also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them,

and to accept his lot and find enjoyment in his toil, this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. Psalm 6. Prayer for recovery from grave illness. To the choir master with stringed instruments, according to the Shemineth. A Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath. with stringed instruments, according to the Shemineth, a Psalm of David. How long? Turn, O Lord, save my life. Deliver me for the sake of your merciful love.

For in death there is no remembrance of you. In Sheol, who can give you praise? I am weary with my moaning. Every night I flood my bed with tears. I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and sorely troubled. They shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Father in heaven, we give you praise and we thank you. We just ask that you please open your ears to our cry, open your eyes to our trouble. And Lord God, open your hand in our need. You know what we need and you hear our prayers always.

You see us constantly and yet you desire that we ask, you desire that we pray, you desire that we seek and knock and ask. And so we ask you, please hear our prayer this day. See our need this day and open your hand to give us what we need. But also we ask you, Lord, to open our hands that we can receive from you. Open our eyes to be able to see you clearly in your will and open our ears to hear your voice. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So 1 Kings chapter 8, I mentioned this already, is that it's kind of a, it's actually almost word for word in second Chronicles, that prayer of King

Solomon who blesses and says to the people, he instructs them. Okay, so let's rewind. What we have is the Ark of the Covenant being brought into the temple for the first time here in first book of Kings. A couple of things to note is that it's brought in the right way. I mentioned this when we read this in second Chronicles, but it's so important. It was brought in the right way. It was brought in by the priests and by the Levites. That's who went into the temple. No one else went into the temple. Also to be noted was the fact that 1 Kings specifies, just like 2 Chronicles specified, that in the ark, there was only one thing, only the two tables of stone that were given to Moses on Mount Horeb, right? On Mount Sinai. It's two names for the same mountain. You probably know that already.

Okay. Why? Why is that notable? Well, it's notable because originally there were three things in the Ark of the Covenant. There were not only the tables of stone, there was also the manna, right? The bread from heaven. And there was Aaron's staff. So that priestly staff. We don't know what happened to those other two objects. Yeah, the Bible doesn't say what happened to them. It just says that they were there. And now it says that they're not there, or at least it doesn't say that they're there still. But it does kind of say only thing in the ark was the tables of stone. So that's important for us just in the sense of to keep in mind what we're looking at, what we're dealing with, because the most important thing, well, gosh, how to say most important thing, a very important thing as well is the fact that as they brought the

ark of the presence, right, the ark of the covenant into the holy place, the most holy place, the presence of God, the Shekinah glory cloud filled the temple and the priests couldn't even do their normal work. They were actually prevented from worshiping because God's presence was so, or momentarily presented at least, because God's presence was so palpable. God's presence was so overpowering. And that's one of the things we have to just even understand is that God's presence, it can be like Elijah, it can be that still, soft, quiet voice of God, but also God's presence, yeah, it can be like Elijah, it can be that still, soft, quiet voice of God, but also God's presence is also power, that it is often overwhelming,

so much so that when people have an encounter with God in the Bible, a lot of times when there's an angel, the angel has to say, be not afraid. Why? Because our natural response would be to be afraid, and that is completely normal. And that's what happens here in the Shekinah glory cloud, filling the temple. And then Solomon, of course, gives his teaching.

He uses blessing and says, wherever you're at, come back to the temple. This is establishing Jerusalem as the center and establishing the temple as the sole place of worship. As I mentioned in 2 Chronicles, that's where it's happening here in 1 Kings. When it comes to Ecclesiastes, there is so much wisdom here. Remember, this is a wisdom book, wisdom literature. It's not straightforward wisdom in the sense that every single thing, you'd say, yeah, take that and run with it. It's the wise one, the preacher, right, Koalath, who's working through some things.

And what he's working through is he's working through, okay, I find happiness in this particular thing. I find happiness in toil. I find happiness in pleasure. I find happiness in wisdom, all these different things. And then realizing, oh, but then I still die. Then I still lose. Then I still, things are taken away from me. And there's something so powerful about watching Koalath or hearing Koalath wrestle with this reality. And yet again, it is a wisdom book. For example, I heard in chapter four, the value of friendship, which is so, so good. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Gosh, so

powerful. So necessary for us to remember. If they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, it goes on. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. I just think about how this is real in our lives, right? To have a true friend, to have a Jonathan to your David or David to your Jonathan, to have that person who can walk with you, but also not just one other, a threefold cord is not quickly broken. It goes on to say, right before this, it says, and though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him.

A threefold cord is not quickly broken. So to have that one dear friend, to have that one powerful friend, that one friend united in pursuing the Lord, but have two, my gosh, that would be incredible, incredible. And one kind of basically last quote there is in chapter five, there's a line that says in our translation, the Revised Standard Version translation says, for when dreams increase, empty words grow many, but you must fear God. So another way to translate that is in the Great Adventure Bible, it shows a different translation, which is for me more understandable. And it says this, for in a Great Adventure Bible, it shows a different translation, which is for me more understandable. And it says this, for in a multitude of dreams, there is futility and ruin

in a flood of words. It goes on to talk about a multitude of dreams. There is futility and ruin in a flood of words, which comes immediately after making rash vows or the warning against making rash vows. So it says, let not your mouth lead you into sin and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? Like basically saying, I'm going to do all these things when you don't have any intention. There's just things you would like to do, things that are your dreams, things that are wishes. And here's the wise one saying, be careful about all these things. Instead of having dreams, maybe have plans. Instead of having rash words, maybe think about your words ahead of time. Last little note. Oh gosh, there's something so, again,

powerful about all of this wisdom. One of the last pieces of wisdom that we heard in the Bible today from chapter five of Ecclesiastes is he who loves money, chapter five, verse 10. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with gain. This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase wheat them. And it's just so, isn't that reality? I know a number of people who I know of them. I guess I don't know them personally. I know a number of people who their yearly salary is insane. It's just off the charts crazy. So, and they work crazy hours, like insane hours where they don't see their spouses, where they don't see their children, not much of a life outside of work. And I think, wow, after two years of that, after four years of

that, you could retire and you could be, you could live really, really well, or you could even just back off, take your foot off the pedal a little bit. And yet it seems like, no, I need more. I need more. I need more. Now it might be, I need to make more of a contribution. It might be, if I make more, I can give more. There's all those motivations. So I'm not, I don't know the motivation, so I'm not judging this. But part of me sees the wisdom of Ecclesiastes here, where it says, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money because when goods increase, they increase who eat them. Just, okay, I got more. Okay. I want more. And sometimes that can be us. Now that might be easy to say about someone else, right? Who makes gajillion dollars and say, look at those people over there who do this. But where is that? Does

that exist in my life is the question we always have to come back to where it might not be money. It might be something else. Um, but where is it in my life where I'm looking at myself and thinking, oh, when I get more, I just want more, more of that. When I get what would be enough, it's not enough. I constantly am pursuing more and more and more. See, the thing is, when it comes to Ecclesiastes, when it comes to any of the wisdom literature,

when it comes to the Bible, I can easily see the problems other people have. Why don't those people just in the, with those jobs, just take a break? Why can't they just back off? Why can't they just spend more time with their family? And I don't see it in myself, yet it exists in myself. And so what I have to do is say, okay, God, reveal me to me, reveal the brokenness that I see in other people. Where, where does that exist in me? Because I'm the only one who has control over me or the way around too, that the only person I have influence over really,

truly, ultimately is myself. And so I surrender myself to you, Lord God, and say, make me whole again, make me new again, forgive me and set me on the right track. I can do that, but I need help and I need prayers and I need grace. And so please pray for me because I'm praying for you. Let's pray for each other.

My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.