Read: 1 Kings 8:1-66; Acts 7:51-8:13; Psalm 129:1-8; Proverbs 17:1
Once the Temple was finished the only thing missing was the presence of the Lord. The Ark was brought up from Zion, the city of David and placed in the Holy of Holies. When the priests left the room a thick cloud of God’s glory so filled the whole Temple that the priests could no longer continue their service. (God interrupts everything when he comes into the room.)
Solomon turned to the people and pronounced a blessing over them. Then he stood before the ark of the Lord and lifted his hands to heaven and prayed aloud. He praised the Lord of heaven and earth for his faithfulness to them and asked for his blessing.
He prayed for several groups of people: anyone who does wrong to another person, if Israel is defeated by their enemies, if there is no rain because of their sin, if there is a famine or plague due to their sins, if foreigners come and choose their God, and if any one sins against God. Any of these people may come here to pray, repent and find mercy, forgiveness and help. Solomon thanked God for the rest He had given them and covenanted with God to obey him in all that they did.
Then Solomon offered 142,000 sacrifices and dedicated the Temple of the Lord with all the people. They celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles for 14 days instead of the normal 7. Then the people went home joyful and blessed.
In Acts, things were joyful but not in the same way. Stephen finished his speech condemning them for resisting the Holy Spirit and deliberately disobeying God’s law. The Sanhedrin was furious and enraged. They rushed at Stephen to kill him but not before Stephen could tell them he saw heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He also forgave them for what they were doing.
Saul was there condoning what was happening and overseeing Stephen’s death. His wrath moved him to begin a fury of persecutions to other followers of Jesus, scattering the believers.
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