I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
Solomon has finished the work his father David only longed to do: God now has not a tent but a settled home, filled with the cloud of glory. His words raise two questions — can God live in a building at all, and how does "forever" fit a temple that later burned down?
A house God Himself wanted
The temple was God's idea before it was Solomon's. Commentators point to what stayed the same while the building material changed.
Hamilton SmithThe composition of the house is very different at different times. In Old Testament days it was formed of boards and curtains, and later of material stones. Today, in the purpose of God, the house is composed of "living stones." But while its composition varies, the purpose of the house stays the same. Whatever form it takes, the purpose is always to make a dwelling-place for God. God, to satisfy His own heart, determined to dwell with men.
Why the house waited for Solomon
For centuries God moved with His people instead of settling among them. One condition explains why the settled place came with Solomon, and not with David.
H. L. RossierDavid was unable to build this house. Peace must be established first (v. 3), before the Lord could make His lasting dwelling among His people. While they wandered in the desert, the Lord used the tabernacle to join them in their life as pilgrims and travellers. Then followed the wars of Canaan under Joshua and the judges; these did not cease until the reign of David. God cannot dwell in rest where there is war.
What Solomon knew, and what he did not yet have
The sentence before this one speaks of thick darkness. Solomon builds a permanent house, yet the way into God's presence was still shut.
H. L. RossierThis is what Solomon begins to establish in verse 12: "The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness." The way of approach was not yet made known. The arrangement of the temple at Jerusalem was the same as that of the tabernacle. The veil, even if it is not mentioned here, still remains (2 Chr. 3:14). Meanwhile Solomon knew that this was not the last word in the counsels of God. He had built Him a house, a fixed place, so that He might dwell there forever (v. 13).
That darkness marks the distance between Solomon's position and the believer's today.
Leslie M. GrantHow good it is for us to learn this lesson well: since Israel was still under law, God dwelt in thick darkness. Though in His very nature "God is light," Israel did not see Him revealed in light. The New Testament tells us that "He is in the light" (1 Jn. 1:7), for He is now revealed in the person of His Son. How wonderful the difference is for us!
The builder behind the builder
Commentators read Solomon's claim as a picture. People long to build God a house, but one writer traces the real building to the Lord Himself.
J. N. DarbyDavid also proposes to build a house for the Lord; then another truth comes out — the Lord builds His house. But in effect Solomon — Christ, King in peace and Priest in glory — builds a house. Its pattern was shown to David in spirit: "I have built you a house." We also desire to build a house for God. God means to dwell among us, and means us to dwell in the habitation of His holiness. We dwell in Him, and He in us, and we are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
"Forever" and a house that fell
Nebuchadnezzar later destroyed the building Solomon called permanent. One writer answers by drawing a line between what God chose and what God made holy.
J. N. DarbyThis helps us understand the importance of the events under Nebuchadnezzar, who cast down this throne, according to the judgment God Himself pronounced. The house was not chosen; but it was built under God's own direction, and He Himself made it holy, so that His name might dwell there forever.
Another writer points the promise forward to a greater builder.
H. L. RossierThe conditional warning has been fulfilled to the letter. In the same way the unconditional promise will be fulfilled to the letter, when the true king after God's heart has built Him a house. That house is a temple on earth far more glorious than Solomon's, and a home in heaven where the throne of God and of the Lamb will be. Then God will rest in Zion and at the same time in His glorious Assembly.
Summary
- Desire — The house exists because God wanted to live with people. Its materials change across the ages; its purpose never does.
- Peace — A settled dwelling waited for a reign of peace; God does not make His resting place in the middle of war.
- Place — Solomon gave God a fixed address, but the veil still stood and the way in was not yet open.
- Light — What was thick darkness for Israel under law has become light for those who know God revealed in His Son.
- Forever — The building fell, but the word stands. The true King will build the house where God rests at last, on earth and in heaven.