2 Chronicles 7

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Fire from Heaven

1 1As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, 2fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, 3and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house.
3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good, 4for his steadfast love endures forever."

The Dedication of the Temple

4 5Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD.
5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6 The priests stood at their posts; 6the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD--7for his steadfast love endures forever--whenever David offered praises by their ministry;[a]8opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.
7 9And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.
8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from 10Lebo-hamath to the 11Brook of Egypt.
9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days.
10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

If My People Pray

11 12Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished.
12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: "I have heard your prayer 13and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 14When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,
14 if my people who are called by my name 15humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 16Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
16 17For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
17 And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules,
18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 18'You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.'
19 19"But if you[b] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,
20 20then I will pluck you[c] up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it 21a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21 And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, 22'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'
22 Then they will say, 'Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.'"

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2 Chronicles 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

God's answer to Solomon's prayer.

- God gave a gracious answer to Solomon's prayer. The mercies of God to sinners are made known in a manner well suited to impress all who receive them, with his majesty and holiness. The people worshipped and praised God. When he manifests himself as a consuming Fire to sinners, his people can rejoice in him as their Light. Nay, they had reason to say, that God was good in this. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, but the sacrifice in our stead, for which we should be very thankful. And whoever beholds with true faith, the Saviour agonizing and dying for man's sin, will, by that view, find his godly sorrow enlarged, his hatred of sin increased, his soul made more watchful, and his life more holy. Solomon prosperously effected all he designed, for adorning both God's house and his own. Those who begin with the service of God, are likely to go on successfully in their own affairs. It was Solomon's praise, that what he undertook, he went through with; it was by the grace of God that he prospered in it. Let us then stand in awe, and sin not. Let us fear the Lord's displeasure, hope in his mercy, and walk in his commandments.

Cross References 22

  • 1. 1 Kings 8:54
  • 2. Leviticus 9:24; 1 Kings 18:38; 1 Chronicles 21:26
  • 3. See 2 Chronicles 5:13
  • 4. See 2 Chronicles 5:13
  • 5. 1 Kings 8:62, 63
  • 6. [1 Chronicles 15:16]
  • 7. [See ver. 3 above]
  • 8. 2 Chronicles 5:12
  • 9. For ver. 7-10, see 1 Kings 8:64-66
  • 10. See Numbers 34:8
  • 11. See Numbers 34:5
  • 12. For ver. 11-22, see 1 Kings 9:1-9
  • 13. See Deuteronomy 12:5
  • 14. [2 Chronicles 6:26, 28]
  • 15. [2 Chronicles 12:7]
  • 16. See 2 Chronicles 6:40
  • 17. [See ver. 12 above]
  • 18. 1 Kings 8:25; See 2 Chronicles 6:16
  • 19. [Leviticus 26:14; Deuteronomy 28:15]
  • 20. [Deuteronomy 29:28]
  • 21. See Deuteronomy 28:37
  • 22. Deuteronomy 29:24; Jeremiah 22:8, 9

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Hebrew by their hand
  • [b]. The Hebrew for you is plural here
  • [c]. Hebrew them; twice in this verse

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 7

In this chapter is an account of the Lord's acceptance of the sacrifices offered at the dedication of the temple by fire, to the great surprise and encouragement of the people, 2Ch 7:1-7, and of the feast kept on that account, and the feast of tabernacles, 2Ch 7:8-12, and of the Lord's appearance to Solomon, giving an answer to his prayer, 2Ch 7:13-22.

2 Chronicles 7 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.