The Book of 2 Chronicles

Word Study

"great," Hebrew gadol (גָּדוֹל). Solomon explains the purpose of the temple: it is "an house to the name of the LORD my God," a place for incense, shewbread, and the daily and festal sacrifices, "an ordinance for ever to Israel." The house exists for the worship of God. Then Solomon rises to a great confession: "the house which I build is great: for great (gadol) is our God above all gods." The greatness of the house is meant to answer, however faintly, to the greatness of God, and He is great "above all gods", for the gods of the nations are nothing, and the LORD alone is God.

"contain," kul (כּוּל), to hold, to comprehend. Yet Solomon immediately guards against any thought that God could be housed or confined: "who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain (kul) him?" The infinite God who fills heaven and the highest heaven cannot be boxed into any building. Solomon's humility is striking: "who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?" The temple is not a container for God but a meeting place appointed by grace, where sinful people may draw near to worship the God whom no space can hold. Transcendence and nearness meet: the God too great for the heavens stoops to be worshipped by His people.

Explanation

Solomon sent word to Huram, king of Tyre, asking for help and materials as Huram had once helped David, and explaining his purpose: he was building a temple to worship the LORD with incense, sacred bread, and the appointed sacrifices, a permanent institution for Israel. He declared that the temple would be great because the God it honored is great above all so-called gods. But Solomon was careful to say that no building, however grand, could actually contain God, since not even the highest heavens can hold Him. He humbly asked who he was even to attempt such a thing, understanding that the temple was not a house to confine God but a place appointed to worship and sacrifice before Him.

Gospel Focus

Solomon's confession holds together two truths that run through all of Scripture: God is infinitely great and transcendent, yet graciously near. "Great is our God above all gods" declares the oneness and supremacy of the LORD; there is no other, and all rival gods are nothing. And "the heaven of heavens cannot contain him" declares His boundless greatness; He cannot be housed, localized, or managed by us. As Paul preached, "God that made the world and all things therein... dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (Acts 17:24). Yet the wonder of the gospel is that this uncontainable God chose to dwell with His people, first in a tent and temple by way of shadow, and at last in flesh: "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), for "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). The God whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain was pleased to be contained in the body of Jesus, that we might know Him and draw near. And now, by His Spirit, "ye are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16). Marvel at both: the God too great for the highest heaven bends down to make His home with the humble and contrite, and has come to us in Jesus Christ. Build your worship on a right vision of His greatness, and rejoice that so great a God has drawn so near.

Word Study

"that made heaven and earth," Hebrew asher asah et-hashamayim we'et-ha'arets (אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ). Huram, a Gentile king of Tyre, answers Solomon with words of genuine praise to the God of Israel. He acknowledges that Solomon reigns because "the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them", he sees God's covenant love behind Israel's blessing. Then he blesses the LORD in strikingly full terms: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth." Huram confesses the LORD not merely as a national deity but as the Creator of all, the maker of heaven and earth, the very truth Solomon had just declared, that this God cannot be contained by the heavens He made. And he rightly credits Solomon's wisdom to God: it was the LORD "who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding." Here a foreign king recognizes the one true God and His gifts. Whether Huram's faith was full and saving we cannot say, but his words witness that the greatness of Israel's God was known even among the nations, and that the temple project was drawing Gentiles to bless the Creator. It is an early glimpse of the nations coming to acknowledge the LORD.

Explanation

Huram, the king of Tyre, replied to Solomon in a letter, agreeing to help and praising Israel's God. He recognized that God's love for His people was the reason Solomon had been made their king. He blessed the LORD, the God of Israel, as the Creator of heaven and earth, and acknowledged that it was God who had given David such a wise, prudent, and understanding son to build the temple and rule the kingdom. Though a Gentile king, Huram spoke with real respect for the LORD and credited Solomon's wisdom to God, showing that the greatness of Israel's God was recognized beyond Israel's borders.

Gospel Focus

It is a beautiful thing that a Gentile king blesses "the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth." Huram's confession is a small foreshadowing of the great gospel purpose that the nations should come to know and praise the one true God. From the beginning God's promise to Abraham was that "in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3), and the temple itself was to be "an house of prayer for all people" (Isaiah 56:7). Here, already, a foreign king acknowledges Israel's God as Creator of all. This anticipates the day when, through Christ, the gospel would go to every nation and a "great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations" would worship the Lamb (Revelation 7:9). Huram also credits Solomon's wisdom to God, reminding us that every good gift, wisdom, understanding, ability, comes down "from the Father of lights" (James 1:17). And he sees God's love as the source of Israel's blessing, "because the LORD hath loved his people." So the whole of our salvation flows from the love of God: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). The Creator of heaven and earth, whom even a Gentile king could bless, is the God who has drawn all nations to Himself in Jesus Christ. Join Huram, and greater still, in blessing the LORD who made heaven and earth and loved us enough to save us.