1 Kings 8:63, commentary and pictures

Solomon led the king and all the children of Israel in dedicating the house of the Lord with a national offering of twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep as peace offerings. The temple followed the same plan and ministration as the tabernacle and was made according to the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary, representing the mediatorial ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary rather than giving every detail for an earthly counterpart in the Christian church. As the eyes of all Israel at home and abroad were turned toward that typical sanctuary, eyes and voices are now to turn earnestly toward the house not made with hands, the true tabernacle where the Mediator is performing the closing priestly acts. God showed He was pleased with the dedication prayer and sacrifices by answering with fire and taking possession of His dwelling in the crowning visitation of the glory, and the dedication was kept as a joyful and willing service that was not grievous or burdensome. Though the great sacrifice fulfilled the meaning of animal sacrifice, it did not end the duty to bring offerings in worship, for greater light and privileges bring greater obligation, and the dedication gives the pattern for consecrating estates, buildings and people to divine control for use in the cause of God.

Dedication History and Setting

Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as peace offerings to the Lord, and by that offering the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. The dedication was a national act of worship in which Solomon took the leading role, with the king and all Israel joining together in the work. The total of the two numbers is 142,000 animals offered at the dedication.

The dedication took place in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, dated here to 1020 B.C., a month before the temple was fully completed. The verse stands in the history of the undivided kingdom under Solomon in 1 Kings 1 to 11, paralleled by 2 Chronicles 1 to 9, concerning the house Solomon built and furnished. This is the first of three great sections of the kings' history running from Solomon's accession to the Babylonian captivity. The books of Kings form one whole, counted as one book in the Hebrew canon and divided into two in the old versions and the English version, which reckoned Samuel and Kings as the four books of the Kingdoms or Kings, with the break between 1 Kings and 2 Kings falling at an arbitrary point of no special significance.

The verse belongs to Solomon's preparation for building the temple followed by his dedication prayer, which is the longest prayer recorded in Scripture. The total of 142,000 animals was made possible by multiplying altars and using more priests. Solomon hallowed the middle of the court before the house to hold many altars for burnt offerings, meal offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the altar before the Lord was too little to receive them. The offering lasted fourteen days, averaging about 10,145 animals a day or about 845 an hour, with many animals offered upon one altar at once, so with the great assembly and all the facilities at hand the work could be carried on without difficulty.

The 142,000 is the sum of all offered during the two weeks feast, averaging about 10,143 a day and about 845 an hour over twelve-hour days with morning and evening offerings. It was accomplished by many priests with the great altar and many temporary altars offering many animals at one time, so the large total is not surprising. Because the brazen altar was too little to receive the burnt offering, meal offering and fat of the peace offerings, the middle of the court was hallowed to receive them. The scale of killing would have made the temple court resemble a great slaughterhouse and required a way to dispose of the blood and remains.

Sanctuary Meaning and Application

The house dedicated in this verse had two holy places, followed the same plan and ministration as the tabernacle, and like the tabernacle was made according to a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary. It represented Christ's mediatorial ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, and was not a pattern for finding an earthly counterpart in every detail of the Christian church. It was a typical sanctuary toward which the eyes of all Israel at home and in foreign lands were turned. So eyes and voices should now turn earnestly toward the house not made with hands, the true tabernacle where the Mediator is performing the closing priestly acts, whose glory is so great that the half has never been told.

God showed He was pleased with the dedication prayer and sacrifices by answering with fire and with a divine answer. He took possession of His dwelling in the crowning visitation of the shekinah, and He greatly blessed Solomon's wholehearted devotion in building and dedicating the temple. The dedication was a day of joy in Israel and the most imposing religious service ever performed in this world either before or since, with offerings consuming on the altars with additional meat offerings, burnt offerings, drink offerings and the offerings of the assembled multitudes, clouds of incense, music and singing, Solomon's prayer, the glory of the new temple, and a vast concourse of people. The king and all Israel kept the feast to the Lord fourteen days with a great congregation from Hamath to Egypt, and on the eighth day the people blessed the king and returned to their tents and homes blessing the king and glad of heart for all the goodness the Lord had showed to David and to Israel.

The service God requires is not grievous or burdensome but joyful and willing, offered as by servants whose bonds are loosed in the sacrifice of thanksgiving while calling upon the name of the Lord. The immense sacrifice of oxen and sheep was acceptable to God. The end of animal sacrifice and the fulfillment of its meaning in the great sacrifice do not end the duty to bring offerings in worship, for greater light and privileges bring greater obligation. The chapter gives the pattern for dedicating an estate, buildings, and people to God, showing that dedication means consecrating property and those connected with it to divine control to be used in the cause of God as a solemn act the Lord accepts.