And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on 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?
Why Gibeon
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.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAfter 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.
The altar everyone could see
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.
William KellyThe 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.
Good, but not the best
God did not refuse those offerings. One writer weighs how much the bronze altar could give a worshipper, and how much it could not.
William Kelly"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.
One altar, one people
Spreading worship over many places cost Israel something the one altar had stood for.
H. L. RossierSolomon "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.
Leslie M. GrantHe 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.
Grace met him there
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.
H. L. RossierSolomon 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.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe 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.
Summary
- 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.