And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer up upon that altar.
Solomon began his reign as a worshipper at Gibeon, the great high place, with a thousand burnt offerings on one altar. That raises two questions: why there, and why not Jerusalem, where the ark, the chest that marked God's presence, already stood?
Gibeon was not a random hilltop. The tent of meeting Moses built stood there, and its bronze altar with it. So "the great high place" meant the hill they stood on.
After Saul destroyed Nob, the tabernacle went to Gibeon. It stayed there until Solomon built the house of the LORD. The ark had been brought from Kiriath-jearim, not far from Gibeon, to the tent David had pitched for it in Jerusalem. But the tabernacle stayed at Gibeon, and so did the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made. The high place at Gibeon means the elevation upon which the tabernacle and the altar stood. God had chosen one central place for worship, the temple, and it was not yet standing. Until it was, worshipping the LORD at the Gibeon high place was not sinful.
Solomon's father was drawn elsewhere. One writer sets the public altar beside the hidden ark, and shows what each one asked of the worshipper.
The ark was what attracted. That is all the more striking, because the ark was not the public link with God that the great altar was. The great altar stood in the court. The great altar was before every eye. The great altar was the place where the offerings were made. By comparison the ark was a little thing, and no one saw it. It stood on purpose behind the veils. It was a matter of faith alone, as far as that could be for an Israelite. The Israelite of faith was sure that the LORD's glory was bound up there most of all. That was what drew king David. Not so much king Solomon.
God did not refuse those offerings. One writer weighs how much the bronze altar could give a worshipper, and how much it could not.
"And so Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD which was at the tent of meeting, and he offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it." He went up to that altar just as David had brought the ark up to the place he had prepared for it. There all the congregation met God. It was the place of approach to God — not the place where God revealed Himself, but the place where man approached as near as he could to God. Still, God accepts it, for it was good, though it was not the best — not the more excellent way.
Spreading worship over many places cost Israel something the one altar had stood for.
Solomon "sacrificed and made offerings at the high places," and not only at Gibeon, "for that was the great high place," where the bronze altar was still found, with the tabernacle and all its furniture. This practice served to scatter worship in Israel. And so Israel lost the unity of worship. Among other things, the altar expressed that unity, just as the Lord's Table does today for Christians.
One writer sees the same instinct at work today.
He wanted to worship the Lord, and he clearly thought he should do it in the most prominent places. So he went to Gibeon, which had a great high place, and offered 1000 burnt offerings there. People today often think the same way: the most beautiful church is where they ought to worship.
The striking thing is what God did next. He came to the man at the imperfect altar, and the commentators trace that to the affection behind the offerings.
Solomon went to Gibeon, but he loved the Lord, and the Lord always takes account of our affection for Him. There it was that He appeared to him in a dream. In a dream you cannot disguise the true state of your heart. Neither reason nor will holds back what is inside. In a dream the soul lies open before the Lord.
Another writer ties God's visit that night to what Solomon offered on the altar.
He began with this act of worship, and it was that same night that God appeared to Solomon. The Lord drew graciously near to him as the result of the sacrifices on the bronze altar. The burnt offering pictures the perfect devotion and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is this that brings us near.
- Place. Gibeon held the tabernacle and the bronze altar. Before the temple stood, sacrificing there was not sin.
- Pull. The altar was public; only faith sought the hidden ark. David went to the ark, Solomon to the altar.
- Price. Worship spread over many high places lost the unity that one altar expressed.
- Portion. A thousand offerings brought Solomon as near as man could approach — God owned it as good, though not the best.
- Presence. God still came to the lesser place, because the burnt offering pointed to Christ and He takes account of the love behind it.
In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
God meets Solomon at the start of his reign and tells him to name what he wants. Commentators press two questions here. Why did God appear at a high place instead of at the ark? And why in a dream?
The setting matters. The tabernacle and its bronze altar stood at Gibeon, so Solomon offered his thousand burnt offerings at the right altar.
When Saul destroyed the town of Nob, the tabernacle was moved to Gibeon. It stayed there until Solomon built the house of the LORD. The ark had been brought from Kiriath-jearim to the tent David had pitched for it in Jerusalem. But the tabernacle and the bronze altar that Bezalel had made remained at Gibeon. The high place at Gibeon means the high ground on which the tabernacle and the altar stood. At first that same spot had been a Canaanite place for the worship of idols. The temple was the one place for worship that God had chosen. As long as it was not standing, worship of Jehovah at the Gibeon high place was not sinful. Solomon and all the people with him gathered at Gibeon. They went to the bronze altar and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. He began with this act of worship, and it was the same night that God appeared to Solomon. The Lord drew near to him graciously as the result of the sacrifices on the bronze altar.
Solomon went to the altar at Gibeon, not to the ark in Jerusalem. His faith fell short of his father's. That makes God's appearing the striking thing.
With his father it was not so. In Gibeon, however, Jehovah appeared. And how great the grace of God! Solomon's faith is set here against his father's deeper and higher faith — yet in Gibeon Jehovah appears! What a God was He!
One writer reads the choice as a plain mistake. Solomon assumed the grandest place must be the right place to worship, "just as people today often think that the most beautiful church is where they ought to worship" (Leslie M. Grant).
Rossier starts with Solomon's love for the Lord, and then with what a dream does to a person.
Solomon went to Gibeon, but he loved the Lord, and the Lord always takes account of our affection for Him. There He appeared to him in a dream. In a dream a person cannot disguise the true state of his heart. Neither reason nor will is there to hold back what is inside. In a dream the soul is laid bare before the Lord. What then were the thoughts held in this young king's heart when God said to him, "Ask what I shall give you"?
This makes Solomon's answer proof rather than performance: "the genuineness of this feeling is all the clearer because he replies to God in a dream" (J. N. Darby).
What Solomon did with the offer matters as much as the offer itself.
God appeared to him in the night with the wonderful message, "Ask what I shall give you." It was as though He placed all His resources at the disposal of faith. The young king prays for wisdom and knowledge so that he may care for the flock committed to him. It was a most remarkable prayer for a man in his position. The Lord shows His pleasure by giving him far more than all he asked or thought.
An open offer shows what a person wants most. Solomon could have named any of the obvious prizes.
What an offer! What a test to this young man! Will he ask for long life, or riches, or success over his enemies? He greatly pleased the Lord. He might have been dazzled by the glory of his position. He might have held great ambitions and asked for things to match.
The invitation was not sealed off in Solomon's night at Gibeon.
What grace this was, but it also searched his innermost soul. And this offer was not made only to Solomon. The One who appeared to Solomon and put this gracious question to him was later on earth, clothed as a servant, yet greater than Solomon in all his glory. He said: "Ask, and it will be given to you." And again He said: "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do." It is faith's privilege to hear Him speak like this to our hearts and to make use of His great offer.
- Worship first. Solomon began his reign at the altar with burnt offerings, and God drew near that same night as the result.
- Grace stoops. He came to Gibeon, not to the ark. God appeared anyway, though commentators call that a real shortfall in his faith.
- Sleep exposes. A dream strips away reason and will, so the answer God got was the man's true heart, not his managed one.
- God opens everything. "Ask what I shall give you" put all His resources at the disposal of faith. The answer came back larger than the asking.
- The test travels. The same question still searches every reader. The One who asked it later said, "Ask, and it will be given to you."