But if ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
God has just answered Solomon's prayer with fire from heaven and glory filling the temple. Now, in the same night, He names the terms — and the warning reaches the king, the nation and the temple itself.
Everything hangs on one family, and the whole nation pays if that family fails:
Then, as for Solomon and the line of David as a whole, the blessing of the whole people was to depend on their faithfulness. If the house of David turned away from God, Israel would be rooted out of the land. And the house, set apart by the worship of the Lord, would become a byword among all nations. It would stand as a witness to the just judgment of God.
Solomon himself was the first test of this condition, and he failed it:
The Lord Himself made Solomon understand, at the beginning of his reign, that the continuance of his kingdom depended on his own faithfulness. "If you will walk before Me, as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you … then I will establish the throne of your kingdom … But if you turn away, and forsake My statutes," and so on (2 Chron. 7:17-22). Solomon did not stay faithful. His hand was not steady enough to hold the full cup of earthly glory and blessing which the great God put into it. So his kingdom became doomed.
A house God set apart for His own name was still destroyed. One commentator asks how that could happen:
God affirms again that He had both chosen and sanctified the temple. That is, He had set it apart for Himself, so that His name might be there forever, His eyes and His heart there always (v. 16). Yet after this the temple was destroyed, and there has been no temple in Jerusalem for centuries! Why is this? Because Israel themselves were guilty of desecrating the temple.
God gives a way back — and the warning itself came true:
There can be no recovery apart from the conditions mentioned in these verses. His people who have failed must first humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn away from their evil ways. The warning given in verses 19-22 had passed into history and found its literal fulfilment.
One writer points to the people and the land long afterwards:
God's favoured earthly people are a proverb and a byword among all nations, and driven out from a country of which God delighted to be the landlord.
The same writer traces this wording to Deuteronomy, and marks off what the threat is and is not about:
In Deuteronomy 28 the law is not looked at in its own nature, as a question between God and man. It is looked at as the rule of earthly government … "And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations where the Lord shall lead you." So it is not a question of dealing according to God's nature. It is a matter of His ways of government with a nation in this world, and nothing more.
Everything in this verse could be lost. One thing could not.
But there is one promise that their sin and judgment do not touch. Every blessing that depended on their obedience is lost, yet this one becomes more necessary, so to speak, through their unfaithfulness. The Lord had said there shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel; that God's king should sit upon His throne in Zion. It is His eternal purpose, declared in His word (Ps. 2), though kings and rulers take counsel against Him. Nothing in God's righteous judgment on the land, the people or the house — not even on the royal family of David, from whom the promised king was to come — could in any way set aside God's unchangeable decree concerning His Son.
- Condition. God held the land and the house on terms. If David's line turned away, Israel would lose the land and the house would become a byword.
- King. God set the condition before Solomon at the start of his reign. He did not stay faithful, and his kingdom became doomed.
- House. God chose this temple and set it apart for His name. It was still destroyed, because the people themselves desecrated it.
- History. The warning of verses 19-22 came true in history. The way back never changed: humble yourself, pray, seek His face, and turn from evil.
- Promise. Every blessing tied to their obedience was lost. God's decree about His King stood: no judgment on land, people or house could set it aside.
And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?
The temple was finished, and God's word to Solomon carried a condition. If the king turned away, this splendid house would become a ruin. Travellers would stop and ask why — and God gave the answer before the ruin ever came.
God tied the promise and the threat to one man. His conduct would carry the whole nation with him, and one writer notes that the watching nations would learn why.
Solomon is reminded of his own responsibility. The continuation of the kingdom, as it was given to him, hung upon his own faithfulness. God says, "If you," and adds, "if you turn away," for the people would certainly follow their king. And the resulting judgment would — and did — fall upon all Israel. "I will root them up": even the house called by His own name should become a reproach. But the nations, the Gentiles, would know why God so dealt with them.
The height of the house is what exposed it. One writer draws out the rule behind the ruin:
Judgment must begin at the house of God. It always begins there. The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility. To be near God on the outside, with the heart far away, only invites judgment all the more.
Solomon needed this warning, and he needed it soon. One writer traces what followed.
Was such a warning necessary for Solomon? Absolutely! For he very soon fell into the trap of marrying many women of foreign nations and the false worship of their various idols (1 Kings 11:1-8). In time the judgment of God fell on Israel for this. Their land became desolate, the Babylonians destroyed their temple, and the people went into captivity. Then indeed everyone who saw the ruin of the land and the temple was astonished. They asked why the Lord had done this, after He had blessed Israel so greatly (v. 21). Yet 2 Chronicles does not speak of Solomon's shameful failure in turning from the Lord, as 1 Kings does. Chronicles emphasises the grace of God, while Kings emphasises His government.
The ruin did not end with Babylon. The same writer follows the story down to today:
Yet after this the temple was destroyed and there has been no temple in Jerusalem for centuries! Why is this? Because Israel was guilty of desecrating the temple themselves. It was rebuilt in the days of Ezra, then destroyed again and rebuilt by Herod. Before His crucifixion, His disciples showed the Lord Jesus the buildings of the temple. He declared, "Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." That came true before long, and Israel has been without any temple for nearly 2,000 years!
The curse and the question were written down long before the ruin came. One writer notes that travellers really have asked it:
We find the curse mentioned once more as the result of turning away from the Lord. Such evil is to come upon them and upon the land that the foreigner who comes from a far land will speak. When they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses the LORD has laid on it, all the nations will say, "Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?" Strangers from far lands, tourists and pilgrims, have visited Palestine, exactly as this prediction said. They have seen the wretched condition of that land, and they have often asked these questions and known the answer. "Then people will say, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers.'"
One writer carries the same warning forward to Christendom — the whole sphere of people who bear the Christian name.
The Apostle shows that Christendom has taken the place of Israel in the earth as regards the outward privileges and responsibility. The Jewish branches of the olive tree were cut off because of unfaithfulness, as everyone knows. But what of the Gentiles, who have succeeded them as wild branches grafted in? "Do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off" (Rom. 11:20-22). This does not touch the question of individual salvation, which is eternally secured in Christ; it is dispensational responsibility.
- High — The house stood exalted. The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.
- Conditional — The kingdom hung on Solomon's own faithfulness. The people would follow their king.
- Rooted up — He turned to foreign gods. The land went desolate, the temple fell, and Babylon carried the people away.
- Astonished — Passers-by did stop and ask the question. Travellers have asked it of that land ever since.
- Answered — God gave the reply in advance: they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers. The same warning now stands over everyone who holds that place of privilege.
And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.
These are the closing words of God's answer to Solomon about the temple he had built. God tells the king in advance what onlookers will say when the land lies waste and the house lies in ruins.
The wording of the answer was not new. Long before, in Deuteronomy, God foretold both the question outsiders would ask and the answer they would get. What Israel let go of was a covenant — one God made with them when He brought them out of Egypt:
Travellers from distant lands, tourists and pilgrims, have visited Palestine, and so this prediction came true. They saw the terrible condition of that land. They have often asked these questions and known the answer: "Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt."
The charge names two acts: leaving the God who rescued them, and taking hold of other gods. Solomon, the man hearing the warning, did both.
Was such a warning necessary for Solomon? Absolutely so! For he very soon fell into the trap of marrying many women of foreign nations and the false worship of their various idols (1 Ki. 11:1-8). In the end the judgment of God fell on Israel for this. Their land became desolate. The Babylonians destroyed their temple and took the people captive.
God also set out a way back for His people. It came with conditions — and the warning itself came true.
Suppose He has disciplined His people by sending drought, locusts or disease. He graciously assures the king that if they humble themselves and seek His face, turning away from their wicked ways, He will forgive them and heal their land. There can be no recovery apart from the conditions mentioned in these verses… The warning given in verses 19-22 had passed into history and found its literal fulfilment.
Solomon had been given as much as God gives a man in this life. What happened to him settles a question that matters for every reader.
In Solomon's greatness and his later fall we have an answer to the all-important question. Can man keep himself, by his own strength, in the highest position of favour and dignity possible? That position was God's own direct gift, short of new and eternal life. Let Solomon's fall answer.
God gave up to ruin the very house that carried His name. And that pattern repeats.
Judgment fell upon the house "which was in Shiloh," where the Lord first set His Name. Then it came upon the house at Jerusalem too. God had said, "Therefore I will do to this house, which is called by My Name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh." And so it happened. God will judge corrupt Christendom no less than He judged corrupt Judaism… When men falsify the truth and true piety is gone, what can come but judgment from God? — and all the more so if this false thing bears His holy Name.
Even while recording this threat, the book keeps a different emphasis from the parallel account in Kings.
Yet 2 Chronicles does not speak of Solomon's shameful failure in turning from the Lord, as 1 Kings does. Chronicles emphasises the grace of God, while the books of Kings emphasise His government.
The judgment was complete, yet one thing stood. It was a promise that never rested on Solomon's obedience.
They lose every blessing which depended on their obedience. This one becomes more necessary, so to speak, through their unfaithfulness… God's judgment on the land, the people and the house was righteous. It even fell on the royal family of David, from whom the promised king was to come. Yet nothing in it could set aside God's unchangeable decree concerning His Son. This promise shines all the brighter when everything else seems lost.
- Gift — The temple and the throne were God's own gift. But the blessing came with conditions: it lasted only while the people stayed with Him.
- Grip — The charge has two halves. They let go of the God who brought them out of Egypt, and took hold of other gods instead.
- Ground — No amount of favour keeps a man standing in his own strength. Solomon's fall settles that question for good.
- Given up — God gave up the house that carried His name, at Shiloh and then at Jerusalem. Judgment starts at God's own house.
- Guarantee — Israel lost every blessing tied to obedience. God's promise of His King held, and it shines brightest when all else is gone.