2 Chronicles 7:1-10

4. The celebration of the people 7:1-10

This celebration consisted of a seven-day dedication of the bronze altar, followed by the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. The very large number of sacrifices Solomon offered seems incredible, but there are records of other large sacrifices such as this one that scholars have discovered from ancient times (cf. 1 Kings 8:63). [Note: Edward Curtis and Albert Madsen, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Chronicles, p. 348.]

"The double attestation of the temple, in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 and 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 a, reminds one of the twofold divine endorsement of Jesus, with a voice from heaven at his baptism and a voice from the cloud of glory at his transfiguration (Mark 1:11; Mark 9:7)." [Note: Leslie C. Allen, 1, 2 Chronicles, p. 236.]

This record of the dedication of the temple emphasizes both the importance of the temple and the character of Israel’s God who indwelt it. Solomon reunited the ark, the symbol of God’s grace, and the altar, the symbol of human sacrificial response to that grace. It was now possible for Israel to fulfill the purpose for which God had created her as never before in her history. The temple was the key to this possibility. That is one reason the temple was so important in the national life of Israel.