1 Kings 9:1-9--The LORD Appears to Solomon

1 Kings 9:1-9
English Standard Version
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The LORD Appears to Solomon
9 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them.’”

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The LORD appeared to Solomon at the beginning of his reign when Solomon asked for wisdom.  Now, after Solomon had finished building and dedicating the Temple, the LORD appeared to Solomon again to let him know that He had heard Solomon's prayer of dedication, and that it was consecrated and that the Name of the LORD would be placed there forever (though that Temple would not last forever, but it would forever be known as the LORD's house).  The eyes and heart of the LORD would always be on Jerusalem, the City of David and "The City of the Great King."

Then the LORD speaks directly to Solomon about his request for the LORD to fulfil the Davidic Covenant, and the LORD reminds Solomon that this is a conditional covenant based on the obedience of him and his descendants after him.  However, if Solomon or his descendants turn aside from the LORD's commandments, statutes and rules, or they fail to live and walk in integrity and uprightness, then the LORD would have to judge them according to the curses of the Law, and He would cause the Temple to be forgotten and He would not look upon it.  If the LORD does not look upon the sacrifices offered there, then there is no hope of atonement for the sin of the people and there is no hope of redemption.  They are as lost and under as much judgement and wrath as the Gentiles at that point.

The LORD promises that in that day when the people cease to remember the LORD and His Law and He judges them, He will allow the Temple to be destroyed and become a heap of ruins so that it will be visible to all the people that He has removed His Presence from that place and that His blessing is no longer on those who once were called by His name, because they have failed to obey the covenant.  The place that once was a place that everyone came to admire will instead be a place that everyone will wag their heads at and say mocking words as they pass by.  The nations will know that it is because the Israelites abandoned the LORD that He would do such a thing to them, and the people will wonder how the Israelites could ever turn away from the LORD after all He had done for them starting with the Exodus.  It will be obvious to all that they have brought this disaster and the curses of the Law upon themselves by their rebellion and iniquity (not unintentional sin, but flagrant offenses against God and either daring Him to act and judge them or proclaiming that He "loves" them so much that He would simply wink at their sin and let them get away with anything because they did not understand what it meant to be His people called by His name).  Jesus will correct their incorrect thinking in the New Testament to let them know that it is not biology that makes them children of Abraham (those who would inherit the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant), but they would have to believe God by faith just as Abraham did, even when it doesn't make any sense.

The LORD is preparing His people for the idea (even though He told Moses long ago that He would do this) that they are going to be sent away into Exile because they are going to turn to false gods and become as bad or worse than the Canaanites ever were.  The LORD will send many prophets to His people (and to some of the surrounding nations) to call them to repent, and it may be surprising to us that some of the most wicked nations will be the ones who respond in faith and repent while the Israelites most often seem to double-down and become more and more wicked (there are a few moments of what we might call "revival," but they are not the norm).  The LORD will be very patient with His people, but eventually there will come a time when He has to judge them.  Similar warnings are given in the New Testament to those who call themselves by the name of the Lord but live in open rebellion to His commandments.  These warnings are especially dire as the Day of Judgment is approaching when Jesus will return as the Judge of the living and the dead.  The punishment for rebellion in that day will not be seventy years of exile, but the words "depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" and all those who are outside of Christ whose lives are marked by rebellion will be cast into the lake of fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.