hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order 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.
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 Outsider's Place
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:
H. L. RossierThere 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.
A House Called By God's Name
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:
Hamilton SmithOn 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.
Bigger Than Solomon's Own Day
Only a handful of outsiders ever prayed in that temple. So Solomon was asking for something his own time could never supply:
The Bible TreasurySolomon 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."
The First Answers
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:
W. W. FeredayThis 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.
Answered In Christ
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:
The Bible TreasuryThis 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.
Summary
- 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.