Comments on 1 Kings 9 v1-9 Tho Lord appears to Solomon again and informs him He has accepted the Temple and consecrated it as His own (v. 3). However, the Lord makes it perfectly clear that His acceptance of the Temple is entirely conditional upon the worthiness of Israel (v. 6-9). This echoes the admonition in 5:11-13 and emphasizes the completely conditional nature of the Lord's abidance in the Temple. Note the way these two admonitions of obedience bracket the construction and dedication of the Temple. The Lord wants to make it perfectly clear the physical acts of construction and dedication and so on do not make the Temple holy. Those are just acts. It is the obedience that goes into the Temple which makes it holy, and if the obedience is there God will be there too. Thus, the holiness of the Temple is dependant upon spiritual things, and not physical things. This may seem didactic to us, but consider the way we view our own Temples. We oftentimes see the structures as holy because they are beautiful and ornate. But, that is just so much of man's handiwork. That does not make the structure holy. If people think building something beautiful as a sacrifice to God is a means to sanctification and holiness, they are dead wrong. What makes and keeps the Temple holy is the people who make it and attend it are obedient to His commands. It doesn't matter how much time, money, or effort was spent to create a beautiful edifice. If the people inside it are not holy, the structure is not holy. v4-5 The Lord informs Solomon that if he is faithful to Him, as was David, then his lineage will continue as leaders in Israel. To this we might wonder what the Lord means when he says that David was always faithful to Him, as a result of the Bathsheba incident. I would assume what it means is David never abandoned the Lord and never got involved in idolatry, as Solomon ultimately does. Yes, David sinned against the Lord, but afterwards humbled himself and was contrite, and therefore faithful in that he never abandoned Him. v10-14 The purpose of these verses is unclear to me. Solomon does not appear to be under any obligation to give Hiram these towns as he was paying him in wheat and oil. I would guess Solomon is trying to persuade Hiram (who's mother was Israelite) to live among Israel, and his rejection of the cities is his way of saying he likes Tyre better. Otherwise I cannot see why Hiram would send him 120 talents of gold. If the gift really were an insult, then why would Hiram send the gold? Perhaps to avoid risking offending him? It is also entirely possible Solomon's intent here was to politically unify Tyre with Israel. They already had strong economic connections, and Hiram's mother after all was an Israelite. Galilee was in the Northern limits of Israel's territory and was close to the port city of Tyre, so Solomon's intent here probably was to absorb/incorporate Tyre by land exchange. Or perhaps Solomon hoped Hiram would reciprocate and give a number of Tyrene towns to him, thereby solidifying political ties. But, instead, Hiram pays him gold. v15-23 An accounting of the administration of labor over the Temple. Note in v. 20-21 it is the subdued Canaanites that are put into forced labor, with the Israelites and Tyrenians acting as administration (v. 22). No longer are the Israelites laboring as was the case in 5:13. Tyrene and Israelite administrators involved in the construction appear to have worked side by side as equals. One would have to wonder if complaints from Israelites over the forced labor of the Temple necessitated this shift in labor source. Or if the gentiles were not used in Temple construction because they were considered unclean. v25 Apparently Solomon has abandoned his former practice of sacrificing on hilltops as was the case in 3:3-4. The three times a year would be the three big Regalim, or ingatherings, of Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles. v26-28 Solomon also sets up a merchant fleet with the assistance of Hiram. It is quite clear Hiram's assistance was crucial to making Israel what it was at that time. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.