From Splendor to Shadow

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The Lord Warns the King Against Backsliding

Now once more, as at Gibeon early in his reign, Israel's ruler was given evidence of divine acceptance. In a night vision the Lord appeared to him with the message: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land ... . For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever: and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.” Verses 12-16. SS 22.2

Had Israel remained true to God, this glorious building would have stood forever, a perpetual sign of God's special favor. “The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath, from polluting it, ... them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: ... for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:6, 7. SS 22.3

The Lord made very plain the path of duty before the king: “If thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe My statutes and My judgments; then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.” 2 Chronicles 7:17, 18. SS 23.1

Had Solomon continued to serve the Lord, his entire reign would have exerted a powerful influence over the surrounding nations. Foreseeing the terrible temptations that attend prosperity and worldly honor, God warned Solomon against apostasy. The beautiful temple that had just been dedicated, He declared, would become “a proverb and a byword among all nations” should the Israelites forsake “the Lord God of their fathers” and persist in idolatry. Verses 20, 22. SS 23.2