Summary

1 Kings 6:11–13 may seem to be an interruption in the flow of the chapter that tells us of the construction of the temple. These verses separate the building of the structure according to its general plan from the more detailed account of its construction and furnishings. The verses don’t appear to link the two sections together. We have here an account of the Lord speaking to Solomon concerning the people’s obedience to the Lord.

Yet, this is not an irrelevant interruption. Indeed, from our perspective of 2600 years after the destruction of Solomon’s temple and almost 2000 years after the destruction of its successor, these three verses may be the most important in the chapter. They explain in part, given the history of Israel and Judah that followed through the centuries, why the temple was destroyed and abandoned by the Lord.

God’s stated context is the building of the temple. For he says, Concerning this house that you are building. The structure of the Lord's statement to Solomon is in the form of an if, then statement. Specifically, if Solomon would obey the Lord, the Lord would fulfill certain promises. The obedience is described as walking in God’s statutes, obeying his rule, and keeping and walking in all his commandments. With that obedience, God promised certain things. He said he would establish his word with Solomon, but what word is that? It is the word God spoke to David concerning the establishment of David’s house. God also promised that based upon those same conditions, he would dwell with the people of Israel without forsaking them.

Did God establish here a works-righteousness relationship with Israel? This is not the case, but how is it not the case? There are a couple of matters that need to be mentioned in answer to that question. First, the conditions are laid upon Solomon and not Israel as a whole. The verbs that the Lord uses are in the second-person singular. While it is true that Solomon as the anointed king was in a sense the representative head of Israel, he was not the federal head in the sense that both Adam and Jesus Christ were.

Second, and more importantly, the statutes, rules, and commandments of the law included the regulations of the sacrificial system. That system was based upon the assumption that Israel would find itself guilty of iniquity, transgressions, and sins. Failure in perfect obedience was built into the very fabric of the law.

The law told Israel that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Likewise, it should have been obvious to them that the blood of bulls, goats, rams, and all the other sacrificial animals could never be a sufficient substitution for the human beings that sinned. They were disqualified in two ways. They were not of the same nature as the sinner, and though they were innocent of the sins and transgression, they were not positively righteous. They had not broken God’s commandments, but they had not obeyed them either. The law did not apply to them!