"Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people" (1 Kings 8:34,36,39)
I'm here to debunk the myth. You know, the one where everyone says that the God of the Old Testament is a meanie? We hear these rumors and then when we open to Genesis and read a few chapters up to the flood (for a closer view on how God felt about this read Moses 7 about the God who weeps), we shake our heads, saying, "yep, they were right, what a meanie," close their Bibles and open the Book of Mormon. But what if someone told us that the God of the Old Testament was a sweetie? Then we wouldn't have to read but 3 chapters into Genesis to find that God Himself made clothes and "clothed them," both of them, covering them literally and symbolically, not leaving man or woman to face the world alone (Genesis 3:21). Sometimes we make pre-made decisions, and then see nothing else. But I want to say that there is no such thing as "the God of the Old Testament," because He is the same as the God of all scriptures, and is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.
King Solomon's dedication prayer for the temple shows that maybe our perspective has been skewed, concerning the Old Testament and the law of Moses. Maybe the ancient Israelites see God the same way we do, as the loving author of our salvation. This prayer can be compared to Joseph Smith's revealed dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple (D&C 109), and any sermon of Jesus' in the New Testament.
What we learn about the "God of the Old Testament" from 1 Kings 8 (Solomon's Dedication):
1. God had not allowed a permanent temple to be built until David, because it wasn't until David that there existed such a strong desire to build a house for the Lord (1 Kings 8:16-19). This goes back to God's word that more than a house, which He could build Himself, He wants a "poor and of a contrite spirit" (Isaiah 66:1-2).It would follow then, that God only wants a house if it is going to produce men of poor and contrite spirits.
2. Prayer. Solomon's dedicatory prayer has the word "prayer" 6 times, in the KJV. How often do we think of Solomon's temple as a place of prayer, and yet, Solomon says that prayer is one of the main reasons for the temple: "that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place"(1 Kings 8:29). Solomon mainly talks about people who are far away from the temple, unable to come, and yet through prayer can receive the blessings. And he gives two reasons for prayer: for God's forgiveness, and for God's help.
3. Forgiveness. The word forgive appears 10 times. Here, Solomon connects prayer with forgiveness, and asks that the Lord will accept the people's prayers that they may be forgiven. He also asks the Lord to hear the prayers of gentiles, "that is not of thy people Israel," but who also come to worship the the Lord (1 Kings 8:41-43). Solomon's understanding of the Lord is a God of forgiveness, to those who love Him, Israel and Gentile. Usually we think of the ancient temples as a place of sacrifice, which they were. But why did they make sacrifices? For forgiveness of sins through the blood of the lamb.
4. Repentance. Solomon gives the formula, several times, how to gain access to God's forgiveness: "because they have sinned against thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people" (1 Kings 8:33-34). Solomon gives several examples for times of repentance, but they are all the same: pray, confess God's name, make supplication, turn again to God. Christ says the same in the NT.
5.God knows our hearts. He knows hearts like David's, who had righteous desires, but God also knows "everyman the plague of his own heart" or our temptations and weakness, our desires versus our abilities. And, since only God "knowest the hearts of all the children of men," He can judge and forgive accordingly (1 Kings 8:38-39). Here, Solomon never mentions the law, and we can only assume that he understands the ordinances of the temple and tabernacle, that they point to the atonement (where God fully understands our hearts) and the grace of forgiveness that comes only through the Messiah Christ. Solomon got it.
6. Love your enemies. Solomon mentions that sin leaves us without God's protection, and that then the people can be carried away captive. Here (think of the parable of the prodigal son), in a strange land, if they "bethink themselves" (or come unto themselves, remember), and "repent," and "return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies" then God will "forgive" them and "maintain their cause". But, Solomon says that by "maintaing their cause" he doesn't mean military victory, but that God "give them [Israel]compassion before them who carried them captive[enemies], that they may have compassion on them [enemies]" (1 Kings 8:46-50). Is this not turning the other cheek? Being given charity from God, that our enemies might also become infected with the charity of Christ?
7. Be one with God. After his prayer, Solomon tells all of the elders and priests and princes of Israel: "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day" (1 Kings 8:61). Doesn't Christ tell us to be perfect like our Father in Heaven, to become one with Him? I like Solomon's words though. Sometimes I think of the commandment to be perfect, and I hyperventilate. But Solomon makes it clear, that our hearts need to be perfect WITH the Lord, for they cannot be perfect alone. And if our hearts are in the right place, and we keep the commandments, then there is no reason why we can't be perfect with God "this day."
So, this is a long chapter, and it still has so many wonderful things in it. Please read, and I know that you'll find more pearls of great price. In Solomon's prayer in the temple, we really only see the 'God of the New Testament', as people like to say. I'll put this forward then: God has always been a God of mercy and justice, who knows us, loves us, and forgives us, that we might be able to enter that holy of holies, His presence. Ancient Israel saw God the same way that we do today. Maybe we need to stop judging God, dividing up His personality and attributes like slices of pie, and just try to come to know Him like He knows us.
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