2 Chron 6 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 2 Chron 6:1-11

1 Then Solomon said, ‘The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 2 I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell for ever.’

3 While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned round and blessed them. 4 Then he said:

‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David. For he said, 5 “Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.”

7 ‘My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to my father David, “You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 9 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood – he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.”

10 ‘The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 There I have placed the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.’

A. Find Out:

1. What had the Lord said about Himself? v.1
2. Who did Solomon do what to? v.3
3. What had the Lord said about where He would dwell? v.5,6
4. What had the Lord felt about what David had intended? v.7,8
5. Yet what had God decreed? v.9
6. So how did Solomon see his present activity? v.10,11

B. Think:

1. How had David been unique as a leader?
2. Read 1 Chron 17:10c-14 How did Solomon interpret that?
3. How, spiritually, did that apply to Jesus?

C. Comment:

      Solomon first now addresses God, and then he blesses the nation. After he had blessed them he explains why they have done what they’ve done in building a temple.

First he remembers that this was all because of a promise to his father, David. Until David, the Lord hadn’t chosen any particular place to be a central focus and hadn’t previously chosen a man to rule – the tabernacle had been mobile, the judges hadn’t been true rulers, and Saul had been the people’s choice! The Lord knows that we are frail and need a focal point in our relationship with Him.

     Now God had chosen Jerusalem and had chosen David. David had desired to build a temple for the Lord which had been approved by Him, but because of his blood-covered history, he wasn’t allowed to build, only his offspring. Now Solomon clearly understood that to means materially (i.e. as a physical building), yet further on in history we can see that it applied to the coming of Jesus, for the prophecy spoke about an everlasting reign. The building of a ‘house’ would be both materially (then) and spiritually through the church (future). Yet God blessed the building with His manifest presence.

D. Application:

1. Church building. When it comes to building the temple of the Lord (the church) the Lord looks for clean hands and a pure heart.

2. Understanding prophecy? When it comes to interpreting prophecy, we so often misunderstand and only see half of the picture, yet God still speaks.

Passage: 2 Chron 6:12-21

12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in the centre of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands towards heaven. 14 He said:

‘Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 15 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it – as it is today.

16 ‘Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, “You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.” 17 And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.

18 ‘But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple that I have built! 19 Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20 May your eyes be open towards this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. 21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling-place; and when you hear, forgive.

A. Find Out:

1. Where was Solomon, and what did he do? v.12,13
2. What did he first remind himself about the Lord in prayer? v.14,15
3. So what does he ask? v.16,17
4. What next does he remind himself? v.18
5. But what does he ask? v.19
6. How does he enlarge that request? v.20,21

B. Think:

1. What truths about God does Solomon pray here?
2. How does that direct his praying?
3. How might this act as a lesson for us?

C. Comment:

     Solomon has declared before the people that the reason for the temple being built was because God had suggested it. He now goes on to pray before the people. It is a very public prayer.

     Note first the things that he says about the Lord. His starting place (v.14,15) is a reminder that God is a promise-keeping God. God has made a covenant with Israel and a covenant with Solomon’s father, David. The one thing Solomon knows is that God is faithful and keeps His word. The second thing he says about the Lord (v.18) is that God is too big to dwell in man-made buildings, He lives in heaven. This makes God great but distant. These two truths become the basis for his petitions. Our praying should come out of what we know about the Lord. We can only pray because of this.

     So next, let’s see what he actually asks in prayer. First of all (v.16) he simply asks that God will carry on keeping His promises and, specifically, the promise He made to David about his offspring. He is praying for continuity of his family and security for them in their relationship with the Lord. The next thing he asks (v.19), because he is aware that God is in heaven, is that God will listen to his requests. He does not take for granted his position. He comes humbly. He asks the Lord to hear not only his prayers, but those of others coming here.

D. Application:

1. The basis of prayer? Do my prayers start from my knowledge of the Lord?
2. Confidence in prayer? Does that knowledge of the Lord give me confidence to pray?

Passage: 2 Chron 6:22-42

22 ‘When anyone wrongs their neighbour and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 23 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

24 ‘When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

26 ‘When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray towards this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land that you gave your people for an inheritance.

28 ‘When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel – being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands towards this temple – 30 then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), 31 so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land that you gave our ancestors.

32 ‘As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm – when they come and pray towards this temple, 33 then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house that I have built bears your Name.

34 ‘When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you towards this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

36 ‘When they sin against you – for there is no one who does not sin – and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; 37 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, “We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly”; 38 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray towards the land that you gave their ancestors, towards the city you have chosen and towards the temple that I have built for your Name; 39 then from heaven, your dwelling-place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

40 ‘Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

41 ‘Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place,
        you and the ark of your might.
May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
        may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.
42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.
        Remember the great love promised to David your servant.’

A. Find Out:

1. Identify each potential situation that Solomon now prays for and note what he asks for in each case: a) v.22,23   b) v.24,25  c) v.26,27   d) v.28-31    e) v.32,33  f) v.34,35  g) v.36-39
2. What is his petition of v.40?
3. What further 5 things does he ask in closing? v.41,42

B. Think:

1. What are most of Solomon’s petitions about?
2. How much of a prophetic element do you think there is here?

C. Comment:

    There is a lot in this prayer. There are seven major petitions. Some of the petitions are of a fairly general nature. The first one (v.22,23) is simply to judge between disputes. The fifth one (v.32,33) simply asks that foreigners who come to God at the Temple may be heard and accepted. The sixth one simply asks for help for God’s people when they go to war at his bidding.

     The other four petitions are all to do with possible times when the people of God may sin, judgement comes on them, and they repent. In each case the plea is then to hear their prayer of confession and restore them. The judgements are losing at war (v.24), when there is a drought (v.26), when there is a famine or plague (v.28), and when they sin generally and are taken into exile.

     Note in each case, each of these things is seen as a specific act of God requiring His mercy to bring restoration when the judgement has brought repentance. Watch in your further reading of the Old Testament to see how each of these things did occur in the future life of Israel. The seventh one in particular was so clearly seen in the whole exile that took place at the end of 2 Chronicles and was exactly fulfilled. In this sense many of these don’t only reflect the curses of the Law (Deut 28:15-68 & Lev 26:14-45) but they also have a distinct prophetic ring about them.

      This prayer indicates that Solomon is fully aware of the sinful potential of Israel and their need of God’s mercy.

D. Application:

1. Sin & Judgement. Do we see a link between national sin and major catastrophes?
2. The way through? Do we understand that repentance is always the answer to sin?