“If they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin — and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near,
Solomon kneels at the dedication of the new temple. In the middle of asking God to hear His people, he stops to state a fact about every human being. These words shape the rest of his prayer. If sin is certain, Israel will not need a better record. It will need somewhere to turn when the record has failed.
When, not if
In the ESV the verse opens with "If they sin against you." One commentator argues the real sense is "when."
Leslie M. GrantAgain, in verse 46, Solomon says, "When they sin against You," not "If," and God in anger delivers them into an enemy's hand, so that they are carried captive. Then they repent and make supplication to the Lord, and he asked that God may hear in heaven and forgive them. This section (verses 46-53) bears directly on Israel's condition today. They sinned terribly against God by rejecting His beloved Son, and so they were carried away into other lands. Solomon likely did not realise that a dispersion would last for centuries, as it has.
A prophecy, and a turn from law to grace
Because sin is certain, the outcome Solomon describes is certain too. But there is still a way back.
H. L. RossierVerses 46-53 mention the end of their history as a responsible people. Their sin brings them into captivity. Solomon is a prophet here. He sees in advance what must come upon this people under the law, for there is no man who does not sin. Yet a resource still exists. The house is there, and God cannot deny His promises. Solomon does not refer to the law, but to grace. By pure grace the God of the promises had saved His people from Egypt — could He deny this grace, even under the system of law? They are His people; will God abandon them? No. If they repent and turn toward the land, the city, and the house, God will listen to them. Daniel is an example (Daniel 6:10).
Forgiveness sought in heaven, not in the building
Solomon had just built a magnificent temple. Yet he aims his plea for pardon past it. One writer explains why:
The Bible TreasuryForgiveness is linked with God in His dwelling place, the heaven of heavens, and not with the house. For grace is sovereign and has its source in God dwelling in the heavens. The temple and its magnificence were well suited for the law and the covenant, but forgiveness is with God in His dwelling place... Up to this point Solomon's prayer is general. But he knows there is no one who does not sin. And he stands in the presence of the holiness and righteousness of God, who can only meet man on the ground of infinite mercy and sovereign grace. He did not know, as we do, how the cross of Christ secures that mercy — and indeed makes it overflow.
The line self-confidence forgets
A ruler once told Jesus he had kept the commandments. One writer sets that answer beside Solomon's words.
C E StuartBy his answer the ruler claimed he had kept the commandments. That showed how completely he had forgotten the confession of the wisest of men, that "there is no one who does not sin" (1 Kings 8:46).
The answer Solomon could not yet see
Solomon can only ask God to forgive. Another writer asks how God can forgive sinners and still be righteous.
J T MawsonHow can He do it, and be consistent with God's holy name and righteous rule? That question we must ask as we draw near to Him, and He answers it. Look at the multitude He calls. "There is no one who does not sin," said Solomon, as he knelt and stretched out his hands in prayer to Almighty God. How can this question be met? Above that multitude of sinners a cross raises its rugged head, and to that cross Jesus went. On it He bore our sins in His own body. There He was wounded for our transgressions.
Daniel took Solomon at his word
The captivity Solomon foresaw came. Daniel still prayed toward Jerusalem, though the city and the temple lay in ruins.
C. H. MackintoshWas there any divine reason for Daniel's praying toward Jerusalem? There certainly was!... Jerusalem was God's centre. It was, it is, and ever shall be. True, it was in ruins — the temple was in ruins; but God's word was not in ruins, and here is faith's simple but solid warrant.
Summary
- Certain — Solomon treats the sin and the captivity as settled facts, not as risks. Israel's long dispersion has proved him right.
- Universal — the words allow no exception. The wisest man in Israel counted himself in, and the ruler who claimed he had kept the commandments shows how fast that is forgotten.
- Upward — because sin is certain, Solomon aims his plea for pardon past the new temple. It goes to God's dwelling place in heaven, where grace is sovereign.
- Grace — he pleads the God who saved Israel by pure grace, not the law they had broken. The cross secures the mercy he could only ask for.
- Usable — Daniel later prayed toward a city in ruins. The temple had fallen, but God's word had not.