{"id":61842,"date":"2019-08-26T14:08:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T11:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61842"},"modified":"2023-03-20T13:19:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T11:19:53","slug":"divine-warnings-and-foreshadowings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/divine-warnings-and-foreshadowings\/","title":{"rendered":"Divine Warnings And Foreshadowings"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[366,838,778,873],"acf":{"old_id":"61842","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"293","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But the certainty that a good thing will come to an end does not erase the value of one\u2019s wholehearted efforts in the present","content":"

Smack in the middle of construction on the Holy Temple, God suddenly sends a message to Solomon: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith regard to this House you are building\u2014if you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments, I will fulfill for you the promise that I gave to your father David; I will abide among the children of Israel, and I will never forsake My people Israel\u201d (6:12-13). <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a one-sided caution, with no mention of the possibility or consequence of <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> following God\u2019s laws, rules, and commandments \u2013 but the hint of negativity is present in that \u201cif,\u201d leaving a bit of an ominous taste in the reader\u2019s mouth. This taste is especially strong for those readers who have read far enough to know that Solomon will indeed make some serious mistakes and that God will indeed eventually step aside from the Temple.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why the interruption; why taint the excitement of this momentous construction with a dire warning?<\/span><\/p>\n

Abarbanel suggests that because Solomon was working so hard to make everything stable and firm, using the biggest and best materials to ensure his Temple would last forever, he needed a reminder that there\u2019s more to the sustainability of God\u2019s house than the physical structure. \u201cIts lastingness depends on whether you and your successors follow My laws\u201d; the strongest physical edifice can collapse like straw, along with its function as a focal point for God\u2019s presence among His people, if those spiritual conditions aren\u2019t met.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, Abarbanel sees a bit of foreshadowing in this warning: God is not just reminding Solomon of the conditions, but hinting that they will one day not be met: \u201cIf you follow in My laws\u201d \u2013 meaning, one day you won\u2019t. You may think you\u2019ve built your personal relationship with God out of the strongest metaphorical stones and beams, but that will soon crumble, paving the way for the eventual collapse of God\u2019s house and the national relationship it represents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet \u2013 the next verse tells us that Solomon continues construction, with no indication that he reacted to the message at all. While some read verse 14 as stating that Solomon completed the Temple, Abarbanel argues that he in fact has not yet completed it, and the point is rather that he continued <\/span>towards<\/em> <\/span>completion \u2013 i.e. that despite the prophecy, despite the hint that the structure into which he was devoting so many resources would not last forever, his enthusiasm for the project continued unabated.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Abarbanel\u2019s view, the point of recording this brief prophecy in the middle of the account of the Temple\u2019s construction is exactly to illustrate this quality of setting one\u2019s sights high and pursuing those dreams \u201cas if one would never die, but would live forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The uncertainty of the future \u2013 even the certainty that a good thing will come to an end \u2013 does not erase the value of one\u2019s wholehearted efforts in the present.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61843,"id":61843,"title":"1kings6-caution","filename":"1kings6-caution.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings6-caution.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/divine-warnings-and-foreshadowings\/1kings6-caution\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings6-caution","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61842,"date":"2019-08-26 11:08:36","modified":"2019-08-26 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