{"id":61963,"date":"2019-08-28T12:55:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T09:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61963"},"modified":"2019-08-28T12:55:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T09:55:33","slug":"points-to-ponder-i-kings-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-i-kings-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Points to Ponder – I Kings 8"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"61963","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38102,"related_cahpter":"295","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"","content":"
    \n
  1. A Home for God?<\/em> Can there be such a thing – a home for God? In this chapter you\u2019ll find several answers to that. Solomon declares in verse 13 that the Temple is \u201cA place where You May dwell forever,\u201d and that \u201cthe Presence of the LORD filled the House of the LORD\u201d (verse 11). On the other hand, verse 27 expresses a clear reservation on these points: \u201cBut will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u201cOh, hear in heaven!\u201d<\/em> A recurring motif in the chapter, that embodies the message that God dwells in the entire universe and not (just) in the Temple, and hears the prayers of all people – via the Temple.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Not alone<\/em>. Alongside the clear recognition that God has chosen Israel, \u201cFor You, O Lord GOD, have set them [Israel] apart for Yourself from all the peoples of the earth as Your very own\u201d (verse 53), there is also an invitation to all peoples to pray in the Temple, so that all shall know \u201cthat all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD alone is God, there is no other\u201d (verse 60).<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. A house of prayer<\/em>. That is how this dedicatory prayer of Solomon terms the Temple. Not a word about sacrifices or offerings. We\u2019ll get those in the description of the lavish celebrations: \u201cSolomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices of well-being to the LORD\u2026.the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the meal offerings, and the fat parts of the offerings of well-being\u201d (verses 63-64).<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Back to the future<\/em>. Verses 46-50 tell of exile, repentance and pleading for mercy in prayer: \u201cAnd they turn back to You with all their heart and soul, in the land of the enemies who have carried them off, and they pray to You in the direction of their land which You gave to their fathers, of the city which You have chosen, and of the House which I have built to Your name\u201d (verse 48), which describes the age old tradition of facing Jerusalem in prayer from any place in the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","image":{"ID":53645,"id":53645,"title":"general-qs-points to ponder","filename":"general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-chapter-9\/general-qs-points-to-ponder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"general-qs-points-to-ponder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53644,"date":"2019-04-13 21:49:41","modified":"2019-04-13 21:49:55","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":603,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-300x94.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":94,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-768x241.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":241,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-1024x322.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":322,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":482,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":603,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-1200x377.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":377,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-1337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1337,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"I Kings 8","main_caption":"Points to Ponder","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":53645,"id":53645,"title":"general-qs-points to ponder","filename":"general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-chapter-9\/general-qs-points-to-ponder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"general-qs-points-to-ponder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53644,"date":"2019-04-13 21:49:41","modified":"2019-04-13 21:49:55","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":603,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-300x94.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":94,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-768x241.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":241,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-1024x322.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":322,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":482,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":603,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-1200x377.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":377,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder-1337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1337,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61965,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61963\/revisions\/61965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}