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cording to all that He promised. There hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us, nor forsake that He may incline our hearts unto Him, to walk in His ways. ... Let heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day."

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Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. "And the priests waited on their offices; and the Levites also with instruments of music, which David the king had made to praise the Lord; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood."

"Thus the king and all Israel dedicated the house of God."

Solomon kept the feast of the dedication of the temple seven days, and all Israel with him. And he offered to the Lord at that time, as a sacrifice of peace-offering, two and twenty thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And all Israel feasted for the seven days upon those por

tions of the sacrifices, which it was lawful for the people to eat; for there was enough for the whole multitude who were gathered together at Jerusalem. And on the eighth day they made a solemn assembly, and fasted before the Lord, and humbled themselves before Him; for it was the great day of atonement, when the high-priest went into the Holy of holies, and sprinkled the blood of the sin-offering before the mercy-seat, to make atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people. And on the fifteenth day of the month they kept the feast of tabernacles, according as it was commanded in the law, for another seven days.

And after the feast of tabernacles was ended, on the twenty-third day of the month, Solomon sent the people away. "And they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness which the Lord had showed to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people."

1 Kings viii. 12-66. 2 Chronicles vi. vii. 1–11.

To verify, is to prove to be true.

Chapter CXLIV.

THE COVENANT OF GOD WITH SOLOMON.

AFTER Solomon had dedicated to God the temple which he had built on Mount Moriah, the Lord appeared to him by night a second time, as He had appeared to him before at Gibeon, in the beginning of his reign. And the Lord said, "I have heard thy prayer which thou hast made before Me; I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put My name there for ever. Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. And if thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father. But if ye shall at all turn from following Me, ye or your children, and will not keep My commandments which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them;

then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house which I have hallowed for My name, will I cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people. And at this house which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished; and they shall say, 'Why hath the Lord done this unto this land, and to this house?" And they shall answer, 'Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them; therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.” ”

The Lord had made the glory of His presence to rest upon the temple which Solomon had built, and to fill the holy place. He had accepted the offerings of Solomon and of David his father, because they offered in faith and love the best of all they had, that they might honour His holy name. Therefore He hallowed the house which Solomon had built for His name before all the people, who saw the cloud of His glory rest upon it, and the fire from heaven consume the sacrifice on the altar

of burnt offerings. And He promised that His ears should be open to the prayers that were made there, and that His name should be there for ever.

Yet God said, that if His people sinned and turned from Him to serve other gods, He would cast out of His sight that chosen place, and would make that holy house to be a thing despised, a byword, among all nations. For the temple had no holiness, but that which God gave it. So long as Israel served Him, He made it holy, and caused it to be a means of blessing to His people, and to be honoured among all nations. But if His people turned from Him to serve other gods, His presence would no longer rest there, and it would become in His sight as any other house. Then He would make His name to be honoured by the overthrow of that place which Solomon had built for His name, and had made exceeding magnifical, because it was for the Lord. By the overthrow of that house which was built for Him, and which was of fame and of glory among all nations, He would make all men know that the Lord God of Israel is a holy God, and that His presence

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