And as to the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake
So far Solomon has prayed for Israel — their sin, their captivity, their famine, their turning back. Then, at the dedication of Israel's own temple, he prays for someone who is not an Israelite at all: a foreigner drawn from a far country by nothing but God's name.
Every earlier request in the prayer turns on Israel's obedience and repentance. With the foreigner, the terms change.
There are also resources for the stranger (vv. 41-43). He would come from far away, having heard of the great name and the power of the Lord. He would bring his request to Him, facing toward this house. God would hear him in heaven and answer him. For the king wants all the peoples of the earth, as well as his people Israel, to know the name of the Lord and fear Him. Here there is no judgment, no conditional blessing at all. The stranger, outside the circle of the law, approaches God by faith and receives a full blessing.
The foreigner comes for one reason: God's name. He has no covenant and no law, only a report of what that name has done. One commentator finds the first answer to this prayer in a queen who came asking about that name.
This Queen's visit was the first answer to Solomon's prayer. In 1 Kings 8:41-43 he asked God to take notice of the stranger who was not of His people Israel, who might come to His house from a far country for His name's sake. The Holy Spirit expressly records that it was "concerning the name of the LORD" that the Queen of Sheba consulted king Solomon (1 Kings 10:1). Blessed be God, He has always had true sheep outside the fold... Whatever His dispensational dealings, and these in that age were with Israel, there has always been room in His great heart for those who wanted Him, wherever and whatever they might be.
The temple itself already carried the same message — in the ground it stood on, and in the men who built it.
We note also that the Temple was to be built on the threshing floor of a Gentile. Hiram, King of Tyre, another Gentile, worked heavily with both David and Solomon in the great work (1 Kings 5). So Israel's God had Gentiles before His mind to share the blessedness of His presence on earth among His people. "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isa. 56:7). Just a hint in advance of the largeness and universality of God's grace in this Gospel day.
Only a handful of foreigners ever prayed in that temple. One writer reads the size of the request as proof that Solomon's words reached past his own day.
The stranger is prayed for, and comes in to share in Israel's blessings and privileges, even to pray in this house. The Lord said it was written "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations" (Mark 11:17). The relatively few strangers who worshipped in that temple cannot be the full answer to Solomon's request. The prophetic Spirit of God carried him beyond his own time to the day when all Israel will know the Lord. He goes on to say "that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, as Your people Israel do."
Centuries later a woman from Canaan asked and received. One writer sees Solomon's prayer answered in her — though the place she turned to had changed.
To this house the woman of Canaan came, lifting up her hands in dim but true faith. She turned not to the temple on Mount Zion, where no glory then dwelt, but to the Word of God made flesh and living among men... This "stranger" woman was not allowed into the temple at Jerusalem. When she "heard of Him" she came to Jesus as the true Temple of God on the earth. He answered her according to all that she asked of Him.
- Name. The foreigner stands outside the law. All he has heard is the report of God's great name and power — and that report alone starts him walking.
- Faith. Every earlier request in the prayer rests on Israel's repentance. This one rests on faith alone, with no judgment and no conditions.
- Design. The house stood on a foreigner's threshing floor, and a foreign king helped build it. God had outsiders in view before Solomon ever prayed.
- Reach. The few strangers who prayed in that temple cannot account for a request this wide. Solomon spoke past his own age, to the day when all the peoples of the earth know God's name.
- Answer. A woman shut out of the temple courts came to Christ instead. She received everything she asked for — the same prayer answered at a new address.
(for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy stretched-out arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house,
Solomon has spent most of this prayer on his own people and their needs. Then he prays for an outsider: a foreigner who hears about God far away and makes the long journey to pray.
Solomon's earlier requests were for people under the law, asking forgiveness. This one is not. One writer notes what is missing from it:
There are also resources for the stranger (vv. 41-43). He would come from far away, hearing of the great name and of the power of the Lord. He would bring his request to Him, facing toward this house. God would hear him in heaven and answer him. For the king wishes that all the peoples of the earth, as well as his people Israel, might know the name of the Lord and fear Him. Here there is no judgment, no conditional blessing at all. The stranger, outside the circle of the law, approaches God by faith and receives a full blessing.
One motive brings the foreigner all that way: God's name. A queen made that journey, and the reason for her visit matches Solomon's words:
This Queen's visit was the first answer to Solomon's prayer. The Holy Spirit records that it was "concerning the name of the LORD" the Queen of Sheba consulted king Solomon (1 Kings 10:1). Blessed be God, He has always had true sheep outside the fold. The Word shows us some notable examples — the Queen of Sheba, Ittai the Gittite, Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian. Whatever His dealings in a given age, and in that age they were with Israel, there has always been room in His great heart for those who wanted Him, wherever and whatever they might be.
Solomon expects the stranger to arrive because of something heard — reports of a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, the language of the rescue out of Egypt. Centuries before Solomon prayed, a woman in Jericho showed what that kind of hearing can do:
How did Rahab know what neither king nor people of Jericho knew? It was by faith. "For we have heard [and faith comes by hearing] how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. We heard and our hearts melted... for the LORD your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" (Joshua 2).
Few foreigners ever prayed at that building. One writer says the prayer reaches far past what followed it:
The stranger is prayed for, and comes in to share in Israel's blessings and privileges, even to pray in this house. The Lord said it was written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations" (Mark 11:17). The few strangers who worshipped in that temple cannot be the full answer to Solomon's prayer. The prophetic Spirit of God carried him beyond his own day to the time when all Israel shall know the Lord. He goes on to say, "that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name as do Your people Israel." In that day Israel will be the greatest nation and bear rule over the Gentiles, but will also be a model of obedience and worship.
Solomon asked God to answer prayer aimed at a building — the stranger faces toward it from wherever he stands. Outsiders later brought their requests to a Person instead:
These requests were made by Gentile strangers straight to Jesus. In them we see individual instances of the LORD's full reply to the petitions of Solomon at the dedication of the temple... When this "stranger" woman "heard of Him," though she was forbidden to enter the temple at Jerusalem, she came to Jesus as to the true Temple of God upon the earth. He answered her according to all that she sought of Him.
- Report. It starts with news travelling. The stranger hears of God's great name, mighty hand and outstretched arm, and that hearing turns into faith, as it did in Rahab.
- Journey. The name itself draws the foreigner. The Queen of Sheba came about God's name, and she was the first answer to this prayer.
- Welcome. The stranger stands outside the law, so this request carries no condition and no judgment. Faith comes near, and receives a full blessing.
- Answer. God's reply is not limited to one building; strangers who came straight to Jesus received what they asked, and found in Him the true Temple.
- Reach. Solomon's prayer was too large for his own day. It looks on to a time when all the peoples of the earth know God's name as Israel does.
hear thou in the heavens thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; in order that all peoples of the earth may know thy name, [and] that they may fear thee as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
Solomon's prayer has just walked through every trouble that could fall on Israel — defeat, drought, famine, captivity. Then he prays for an outsider, asking God to answer him in full so that the whole earth would learn God's name.
The man in this prayer stands outside Israel's law. Older translations call him "the stranger." He hears about God from far off and turns toward the house, and one writer points out what is missing from Solomon's request for him:
There are also resources for the stranger (vv. 41-43). He would come from far away, having heard of the great name and the power of the Lord. Facing toward this house, he would bring his request to Him. God would hear him in heaven and answer him. This is because the king wants all the peoples of the earth, as well as his people Israel, to know the name of the Lord and fear Him. Here there is no judgment, no conditional blessing at all. The stranger, outside the circle of the law, approaches God by faith and receives a full blessing.
Solomon does not ask God to weigh the man's record. He asks God to do everything the man calls for.
The verse ends with the point of the whole building: this house carries God's name. Solomon comes back to the same request again and again through his prayer:
On the side of man's responsibility and privilege, we see that Solomon's temple becomes the gate of Heaven. Nine times the king asks God to hear in Heaven the prayers made toward this place. The House becomes the gate of access to Heaven. The House that Solomon built was also to be a witness to God among all the nations of the earth, like Jacob's pillar. As he says: "that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name."
God's home is heaven, not the building. The house is the door that prayer goes through, and the name on it tells the nations whose door it is.
Only a handful of outsiders ever prayed in that temple. So Solomon was asking for something his own time could never supply:
Solomon prays for the stranger, who comes in to share Israel's blessings and privileges, and even to pray in this house. The Lord said it was written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations" (Mark 11:17). The few strangers who worshipped in that temple cannot be the full answer to Solomon's request. The prophetic Spirit of God carried him beyond his own time, to the time when all Israel will know the Lord. So he goes on to say, "that all the peoples of the earth may know your name ... as do your people Israel."
God did not wait for that far-off day to start answering. Scripture gives examples of people outside Israel who sought the God of Israel:
This Queen's visit was the first answer to Solomon's prayer. In 1 Kings 8:41-43 he asked God to take notice of the stranger who was not of His people Israel. That stranger might come to His house from a far country for His name's sake. The Holy Spirit records plainly that the Queen of Sheba consulted king Solomon "concerning the name of the LORD" (1 Kings 10:1). Blessed be God, He has always had true sheep outside the fold... His way of working differs from age to age, and in that age He was dealing with Israel. Even so, there has always been room in His great heart for those who wanted Him, wherever they were and whatever they were.
Later, a woman from outside Israel came to Jesus with a request. She could not enter the temple courts, so she came to the Person the temple pointed to:
This woman was a "stranger." She was forbidden to enter the temple at Jerusalem. When she "heard of Him," she came to Jesus as to the true Temple of God on the earth. He answered her according to all that she asked of Him.
- Hearing. The foreigner's journey starts with a report. He hears of God's great name and strong hand, and that hearing sets him moving toward the house.
- Faith. He comes with no legal standing and no conditions attached. He stands outside the circle of the law, approaches by faith, and receives a full blessing.
- Access. The house is the gate to heaven. Nine times Solomon asks God to hear the prayers turned toward it. The name on the building is what makes it worth praying toward from a far country.
- Reach. The few strangers who prayed there in Solomon's lifetime are not the full answer. The Spirit carried him past his own day, to a time when all peoples know God's name.
- Fulfilment. The Queen of Sheba came asking about the name of the LORD. Another woman from outside Israel came to Christ Himself. Each received all she asked for. God's house was always meant to be a house of prayer for all the nations.