New Holy Home for the Hearts of All People
Kings I 8:39
On a crisp fall day in Jerusalem, on the Seventh Month, known as the Month of Eitanim, The Strong Ones, Solomon’s Temple is dedicated with a big ceremony, attended by all elders, dignitaries and the eager public, or at least the VIP’s.
After a long hiatus in some temporary housing down below in the City of David, the Ark of the Covenant, containing the Ten Commandments, is brought up the mountain in a solemn procession to its new fancy home, flanked by golden cherubim the size of trees. Unlike previous times when the fragile ark was touched and people were instantly killed - there are no reported casualties.
The cloud that is the representation of the ever-ephemeral God who brought them out of Egypt fills the sanctuary just as it did on the day when Moses dedicated the Mishkan hundreds of years prior. It’s likely the calculated result of excessive incense and the smoke emanating from - wait for it - 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sacrificed that day alone on the brand new super size altars.
But the big news here is not the size of the altar or the enormous amount of sacrifices. What’s actually new in this temple, so long in coming, is that it’s intended for prayer, and not just for offering sacrifices, and not just the prayer of Jewish people - but all people.
While sacrifices will still be the main show in both this temple and the one that will replace it hundreds of years later, and while there will still be segregated hierarchy prioritizing priests and practice by those of the Judean faith, this dedication ceremony introduces some riveting and radical notions that will only grow over time and still have a way to go: A Universal House of Prayer for all People.
Scholars argue whether that was the reality during Solomon’s day or inserted several centuries later by prophetic editors but either way - this is the narrative, and Solomon, already married to at least one foreign wife, is extolling YHWH with a lavish new home while also indicating that the Presence is beyond this place and just his people.
When it’s his turn, the king kneels down in front of the temple, and spreads his hands up to the sky. It’s not just a very photogenic moment of a very long prayer that fills this epic chapter - it’s an indication of obedience and subservience, simultaneously indicating that YHWH will reside in this new house just built for him - but ultimately all over the world, always watching from the sky above.
The word ‘sky’ - ‘Shaymaim’ shows up 14 times in this chapter, as does the word ‘listen’ - ‘Shma.’ The numerical value of the Hebrew word for ‘hand’ - ‘yad’ is also 14. Imagine the king's hands spread out and up towards the heavens representing the embodied meaning of this mythic moment.
This house was built for you to live in, says the king to the king above, but also we know that the divine transcends the physical. This house was meant for all people to pray to, to come to with requests and needs and pleas for forgiveness. And with all this lavish set-up, here’s what we ask in return::
וְ֠אַתָּ֠ה תִּשְׁמַ֨ע הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם מְכ֤וֹן שִׁבְתֶּ֙ךָ֙ וְסָלַחְתָּ֣ וְעָשִׂ֔יתָ וְנָתַתָּ֤ לָאִישׁ֙ כְּכׇל־דְּרָכָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֥ר תֵּדַ֖ע אֶת־לְבָב֑וֹ כִּֽי־אַתָּ֤ה יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ לְבַדְּךָ֔ אֶת־לְבַ֖ב כׇּל־בְּנֵ֥י הָאָדָֽם׃
You will hear in Your heavenly abode, and pardon and take action! Render to each person according to their ways as You know their heart to be—for You alone know the hearts of all people —
The ritual that he presides over is a precise replica of the initiation ceremonies of temples found among the locals and depicted later by the Assyrians. It includes three phases: First - installation of the deity inside the new home, often accompanied by sacrifices; Second - prayers ands songs, and; third - celebration for several days.
Solomon’s prayer is lengthy, poetic, and radical in the religious cultural context of his day. In the ancient near east temples are the homes of local gods. They often include a ‘holy of holies’ where the depiction of the deity resides in privacy and occasionally exposed to the worshippers. The courtyard includes the altar where the deity’s food is prepared and the people/pilgrims get to partake. God in these contexts is an exalted form of human, a central aspect of local/national culture and affiliation.
But Solomon’s prayer introduces a new idea. Throughout his prayer and follow up speech to the people he emphasizes that the temple was not built for the deity who is up above anyway, but for the people. The temple will still serve as the place of worship through the symbolic act of sacrifices but the real deal is the art of prayer. This is new. According to scholars this is a moment that captures the evolution of faith and spiritual practice, as people realize over time that the Transcendent is both very familiar - and utterly foreign. Solomon’s speech was meant to insert this theology into the people’s mindset - this is not where God lives - but a place for people to pray at and focus on. Perhaps this is also why the invitation for all people - not just Jews - became part of this opening prayer? Solomon’s complex story with other gods, foreign wives and alternative forms of worship is far from done, but the empire he’s building is based on global alliances and cultural exchange. Perhaps it’s lip service and perhaps it’s for real. But either way - the temple is open for business, the pillar of smoke emanating from the altar connects earth and heaven as a vertical pillar 24/7, and from up above, right above this lavish temple, hopefully with love, the creator cares enough to listen.
After Solomon finishes his epic prayer he takes down his hands, the people disperse to celebrate for seven days, likely during the extended festival of Sukkot, under the full moon of the fall.
On the eighth day they all leave God’s home to go home. Welcome home, everybody.
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