What is the relationship between King Solomon’s Temple Dedication Prayer and Yeshua’s (Jesus) World-Wide Evangelism and Discipleship imperatives? The answer is extremely simple and extremely complex at the same time. What commenced in the Garden of Eden as recorded in Genesis 3:15, continued to be revealed in 1 Kings 8:41-43, Acts 1:8 and Matt 28:16-20.
Let’s be like the Bereans of Acts 17:10-12 and search the scriptures for insight into the LORD’s plan and our response. Will you meditate upon Amos 3:7 and Jer 29:1-14 as well?
At the appropriate time, as the Nation of Israel was living under the Mosaic Covenant (Ex 19:4-8), King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem upon the mount of Moriah. King Solomon’s prayer is recorded in 1 Kings 8:22-61; yet the question that needs to be explored comes from 1 Kings 8:41-43.
Jerusalem is the center of the world. (Eze 5:5, 38:12) The people of Israel were instructed to occupy the land promised to Abram, realized under Joshua, and remain separated from the nations that surrounded them. As the gentiles, the people, who were not of the blood line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, traveled from the north to south i.e. Mesopotamia to Egypt or from the south to the north ie Egypt to Mesopotamia, they trekked on the King’s Highway and passed thru the City of Peace, Jerusalem, the location of the Temple.
Will you review 1 Kings 8:41-43 again? Did you notice that this portion of the prayer focuses on the gentiles, who are in Jerusalem (traveling through or joining a pilgrimage feast), who have an opportunity to see the Temple that King Solomon built, and the place that the glory of God resided. The God of Israel may have been visible via some combination of clouds and light (Eze 10:4).
Did you observe King Solomon’s request? He requested that the Lord hear the prayer of the gentiles and He would answer their prayer requests, so that they would come to know the LORD of Israel. It was the LORD’s desire for all human beings to follow HIM. Under the Mosaic Covenant, this was the LORD’s strategy for world-wide evangelism and discipleship.
At the appropriate time, as predicted, the Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) entered this world and fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the Mosaic Covenant. (Matt 5:17) Biblical Revelation is progressive. The responsibility of proclaiming the gospel to the nations of the earth, became the mandate of the CHURCH. The CHURCH started at Pentecost (Acts 2, Jer 31:31-34, Lev 23:15-22) and concludes at the Rapture (1 Thes 4:13-18).
Therefore, today, during the CHURCH age, it is the Body of Messiah’s mission to share His story and to build the Kingdom of God.
Will you review Acts 1:8 and Matt 28:16-20 again? Did you notice the imperatives from those passages? The writer of Acts teaches us that we, followers of the Jesus the Messiah, will receive power to be His witnesses from Jerusalem to the End of the Earth. We have been tasked with sharing the gospel story with every human being (Rom 1:16). Not only are we required to proclaim the gospel witnesses to unbelievers, but we are also required to make immature followers of Jesus into mature followers of Jesus, according to the instruction known as the Great Commission.
Finally, scripture records two methods of evangelism. The first model lives at Isa 40:1-9 and the second model lives at Rom 11:11. Both models require believers in Jesus to be bold and to make the unbelieving Jewish people and the unbelieving gentile people jealous. Once a person becomes a follower of Jesus, then that new believer starts the maturation process.
Therefore, the answer to the question “What is the relationship between King Solomon’s Temple Dedication Prayer and Yeshua’s (Jesus) World-Wide Evangelism and Discipleship imperatives?” is as follows. From the Garden of Eden to Eternity, the LORD God desired that all human beings would be redeemed and to live with HIM forever. Under the Mosaic Covenant, the Nation of Israel was tasked with proclaiming the LORD’s message. Under the New Covenant, the CHURCH is tasked with proclaiming the LORD’s message today.
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