God Fulfills His Promises

13 For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,

14 And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

16 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Golden Text: These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.—Luke 24:44.

People have been known to make promises they didn’t keep. When people do keep promises, especially to us personally, it makes us trust them more. The same is true for God. The God we worship is a promise-keeping God. The Scriptures declare that God has kept every promise He ever made and continues to do so. But what about promises we make to God?

I remember making a bold promise to God once. It happened when I was about eight years old. My father was an alcoholic, and our family suffered the usual consequences. My mother was often frustrated with the weekend drinking bouts, and arguments continued throughout the evening on a regular basis. One night my father hit my mother and slammed her against the bedroom wall so hard it shook the house. I saw it happen.

Feeling helpless and hopeless, I ran out of the house to the back lot and jumped into the middle of briars and thistles. There in my “wilderness” surroundings in the middle of the night I prayed. I was not a Christian at the time, but I prayed this prayer anyway: “God, if you are there, please don’t let my dad hit my mom again. I will give you my life if you will do this.” That was perhaps a rather brazen offer to make. But to my knowledge my parents never fought like that again, although it would be another 13 years before my father would conquer his alcoholism.

Does this kind of bargaining mean anything to God? I felt I had made a promise to God. And if God answered my prayer, I was certainly obligated to keep my promise. He did, and I did! I did not become a Christian until age 14, but my experience at age 8 was the beginning of my life dedicated to full-time Christian ministry. May we all keep our promises. God sure does!

Today’s text of 2 Chronicles 6:12–17 closely follows the parallel of 1 Kings 8:22–26. A broad look at 2 Chronicles 6 reveals three separate addresses. First, Solomon prayed to God (2 Chronicles 6:1, 2). Solomon did this again as he faced the temple, acknowledging God as present in “the thick darkness” (compare Exodus 19:9, 16; 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22).

Second, Solomon turned from facing the temple toward the congregation in order to bless them (2 Chronicles 6:3–11). The content of this blessing was to praise God for fulfilling His promises to David (see v. 10, a major theme of this chapter). Solomon, David’s son, had become king over David’s house, the fulfillment of one promise. Another promise was fulfilled when God allowed Solomon to build the temple (vv. 10, 11).

Third, Solomon resumed his prayer to God as he stood on a specially built platform (v. 13) before the altar in the courtyard. Much of today’s text is in this third section, with the dedication occurring in about the year 959 bc. The focus is on gratefulness for promises kept and anticipation of the keeping of promises in the future.

Luke 24 is the resurrection chapter of that Gospel. Here Luke records an appearance of Jesus that is not included in the other Gospel accounts: that of the resurrected Lord to Cleopas and his friend (vv. 13–35) as they walked seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

Before today’s text from Luke 24 opens, Jesus taught those two disciples from Scripture that the Messiah had to suffer before He entered into His glory (Luke 24:26, 27). After recognizing Jesus during the breaking of the bread (vv. 30, 31, 35), they reported their encounter to the disciples in Jerusalem.

Jesus then appeared to them while they were all together. They were so amazed and disbelieving that Jesus resorted to eating a piece of broiled fish in their presence to convince them that His resurrection was real (vv. 41–43)! No doubt the group had experienced this type of meal with Jesus many times before His crucifixion. This is where the second part of today’s lesson picks up. Talk about a promise kept!

12, 13. And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands: for Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

As our text begins, we see Solomon in the third posture that he takes in this ceremony of dedicating the temple of God. (See Lesson Background I for a description of the first two postures.) It is logical to presume that Solomon is in the temple’s outer court where the people are, yet he has oriented himself toward or before the altar.

Why the altar? Because it is the place where sacrifices are made and forgiveness is to be found. The need for forgiveness is a major theme of the prayer to follow in 2 Chronicles 6:22–39 (not in today’s text).

The parallel account of 1 Kings 8 does not mention this brazen scaffold. It is an interesting touch added by the author of Chronicles. Converting the cubits to modern measurements, the platform is seven to eight feet square and four to five feet high.

The use of platforms for special occasions is attested to in other cultures of the ancient Near East. The purpose of this platform is for Solomon to be seen by the crowd (compare Nehemiah 8:4, 5). This allows the full impact of the occasion to have its effect on the people when Solomon kneels with his hands outstretched toward heaven (compare Exodus 9:29, 33; Ezra 9:5; Job 11:13; Psalm 44:20). The setting is dramatic.

The parallel account of Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8:22–61 makes for an interesting comparison. That account begins by noting Solomon to be standing; much later, it notes that Solomon rises from where he has been kneeling (v. 54). Thus at some point Solomon has moved from standing to kneeling during his prayer. But the 1 Kings 8 account by itself does not allow us to know exactly when Solomon makes that transition. The account in 2 Chronicles 6 fills that gap: Solomon kneels right at the point we see in 2 Chronicles 6:13, which comes between verse 22 and verse 23 of 1 Kings 8.

14. And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts.

In the King James Version (as in many other translations), the word Lord as rendered in capital letters reflects the Hebrew word Yahweh. The stately phrase Yahweh, God of Israel occurs three times in our printed text (2 Chronicles 6:14, 16, 17). The exact phrase there is no God like thee is found in the Bible only here and in the parallel of 1 Kings 8:23. A similar idea (though not the exact wording) occurs in Deuteronomy 4:39; 2 Samuel 7:22; and elsewhere.

Thus does Solomon introduce his praise to God for being a covenant-keeping God. When God keeps a covenant with His people, He shows covenant loyalty to them. [See question #1, page 264.] To keep the covenant going, God forgives sins against Him; without this forgiveness the covenant would collapse; thus, the idea of “covenant love” and “covenant loyalty” has the idea of mercy built in. Yet even with God’s mercy expressed to us in forgiveness, He still expects us to walk before Him with all [our] hearts.

15. Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

It is on the basis of covenant-faithfulness and mercy that God kept His promise to David to allow his son Solomon the task of building the temple (see 2 Chronicles 6:8, 9). Solomon also anticipates that God will keep His promise that the Davidic dynasty will be forever (compare 1 Chronicles 17:12–14, 23, 24; 22:10; 28; 2 Chronicles 6:10; 13:5; 21:7; 23:3). Solomon thus interprets the completion of the temple and his enthronement as king over Israel as a continuing fulfillment of God’s past promises. [See question #2, page 264.]

16. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

Solomon now looks to the future of the Davidic dynasty. He petitions Yahweh not to fail (literally, “cut off”) the dynastic line. The fact that the author of Chronicles is writing many years after the apparent “cutting off” of David’s line in 586 bc makes this request all the more significant.

Solomon, speaking in about 959 bc, knows that the promise of an enduring dynasty is conditional in a sense. That is, the people as well as the king are to take heed to their way to walk in my law (see also 1 Chronicles 28:7). The Hebrew word translated keep, used to refer to God’s keeping His promises to David, is the same Hebrew word that challenges the Israelites to take heed of God’s law.

Interestingly, the parallel passage 1 Kings 8:25 lacks the phrase to walk in my law that the author of Chronicles includes. While Solomon prays for God’s promise of an eternal dynasty, the author of Chronicles can hope only for a Davidic Messiah to come in the future. For the author of Chronicles, writing centuries before Christ, the promise is still to be fulfilled. This author has seen how badly the people have sinned in rejecting God’s law.

General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) uttered one of the most famous promises in American history. When Japanese forces overran Allied troops in the Philippines in 1942, President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to withdraw. MacArthur publicly vowed, “I shall return.”

The tide of the war eventually turned, and the Philippines were liberated. As Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Area, MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. Historians still debate the character of MacArthur in certain regards. He could be flamboyant and arrogant at times. But no one can doubt that he kept his promise.

When Solomon dedicated the temple, he placed the focus where it belonged: on God’s faithful fulfillment of His promises. There is no debating the character of God on this matter—He takes His promises seriously and exhibits no flaws in doing so. This fact is both a blessing and a challenge. We are blessed to serve a God who is faithful to His people. We are also challenged by this fact to replicate that divine characteristic in our own lives. Can others count on us for that kind of integrity? —C. R. B.

Solomon certainly wants God’s promise to be verified, that is, “come true.” This is similar to David’s own request in 2 Samuel 7:25–29. The verification can come only as each succeeding king takes his place on the throne of Israel and as each king remains faithful to God’s law.

The fact that most of the Davidic kings end up being unfaithful to God according to His law may leave the author of Chronicles wondering how God will fulfill His promise that David’s dynasty will last forever. Yet the author of Chronicles hopes for the future. Christians know that God has fulfilled this important promise through the person and work of Jesus the Christ. [See question #3, page 264.]

44, 45. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.

Solomon reigned between about 970 and 930 bc. Thus we jumped forward almost 500 years to reach the day of the author of Chronicles, whether the author was Ezra or someone else. Now we jump almost another 500 years to Jesus’ day in the first century ad. How grand is the sweep of history!

After Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, He appeared to various people. In the text before us, Jesus stands in the presence of His apostles (them) in their hiding place. Luke has prepared us for verse 44 by reporting at the beginning of his Gospel what the angel Gabriel said to Mary: “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32b, 33). That time has come!

Here Jesus reminds His stunned disciples how everything written about Him had to be fulfilled. [See question #4, page 264.] The prophecies cover the entire Hebrew Scriptures, described here as the law of Moses, … the prophets, and … the psalms. These three designations sum up the totality of the Hebrew Bible, which we call the Old Testament.

Today, our Bibles arrange the Old Testament in a 5-12-5-5-12 format. This means that there are, in order, 5 books of law, 12 books of history, 5 books of wisdom literature, 5 books by “major” prophets, and 12 books by “minor” prophets. But that is not the arrangement of Jesus’ day, although the text then and now is the same. The first-century Jews use the simpler arrangement of law, prophets, and psalms. The designation psalms is used rather loosely to signify all the inspired Old Testament books that are not properly classified as books of law or prophets.

Other New Testament passages refer to what the law and the prophets say about Christ (see John 1:45; Acts 28:23; Romans 3:21). Jesus uses the Psalms extensively to refer to himself during His ministry (examples: compare Matthew 21:16 with Psalm 8:2; Matthew 21:42 with Psalm 118:22, 23; Mark 15:34 with Psalm 22:1; and Luke 20:42, 43; 22:69 with Psalm 110:1).

46, 47. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

The disciples had had great trouble with Jesus’ teaching about His going to Jerusalem to suffer and die (see Matthew 16:21–23; Mark 8:31, 32; Luke 18:31–34). But surely Jesus had spoken to them of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53! (Compare Luke 22:37, which quotes Isaiah 53:12.) Jesus’ teaching had included the other servant songs of Isaiah (compare Matthew 12:18–20 with Isaiah 42:1–4; Acts 13:47 with Isaiah 49:1–6; etc.). Such texts include Jesus’ teaching about repentance and remission of sins and Messiah’s mission to the Gentiles (all nations). And Jesus is unlikely to have left out Isaiah 25 and 26 when discussing His own resurrection (compare John 2:22)!

We see the fact of Jesus’ resurrection confirmed again in Acts 2:25–28, where the apostle Peter uses Psalm 16:8–11 as an argument for the resurrection of Jesus. Peter was a witness to this fact of history. Peter acknowledges his own status as witness by saying this of David: “Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:30–32).

In an early cleansing of the temple, Jesus had encountered the authorities (John 2:13–18). They had demanded a miraculous sign from Him to establish His authority for doing what He did. The sign Jesus offered was unexpected: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

The Jews were astonished by this, for the only temple they were familiar with was still being built after 46 years (John 2:20)! Yet Jesus had been talking about himself (John 2:21)—the place of God’s dwelling, “the Word … made flesh” (John 1:14). From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, His resurrection was uppermost in His mind. The disciples had been witnesses of all this, although full comprehension was delayed.

Susanne Kaplan has studied landscape architecture. So it’s no wonder that she finds intriguing what a former owner of her house did to the front yard. Buried there is what Kaplan calls her “little history museum.” It is actually a bomb shelter, built in 1961.

A 30-foot spiral stairway leads down to a room that holds 8 bunk beds, a generator, bathroom, and kitchen. The shelter is typical of thousands that were built during the nuclear war scares of the 1960s—the Cold War era.

Kaplan, like many other homeowners with similar shelters in their yards, is unsure what to do with it. She finds it claustrophobic, and the spiral staircase makes it difficult to use as storage space. Many owners say theirs are havens for vermin and are nothing more than useless curiosities.

Jesus also spent time in an underground space. The fact that Jesus’ tomb is empty is a vital fact of Christianity. But the fact God has not chosen to preserve it for us demonstrates that it too is a useless curiosity (wherever it is). Why look for Jesus in a place where He is not to be found?

The gospel message of Jesus’ resurrection brings with it the important fact that all graves eventually shall lose their usefulness! The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms had all pointed toward this truth, but the gospel message finally made it clear. —C. R. B.

49. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

With Christ’s resurrection comes the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. However, a more recent promise remains to be fulfilled at the time Jesus speaks the words of verse 49. It is the promise of the Spirit (see John 14:15–31).

Just a short time later, on the Day of Pentecost, the apostles indeed will be endued with power from on high (Acts 2). After Pentecost, each Christian becomes a witness to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as well as a witness to the God who keeps promises (Acts 2:38, 39). [See question #5, page 264.]

The concept of temple is one of the most important images for the church’s mission in the world today. The Old Testament temple was a symbol of covenant made, kept, and broken. God was pleased to put His glory in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chronicles 5:14). Because of the sins of God’s people and their kings, God withdrew His glory (Ezekiel 10). The temple was destroyed in 586 bc. Ezekiel envisioned a perfect temple for the future (Ezekiel 40–48).

Jesus visited the temple that Herod was building and called it “my father’s house” (John 2:16). But He also identified himself as the temple, the place of God’s dwelling (John 2:19–21). With the arrival of Jesus on earth and His subsequent resurrection, the promise of God’s new covenant became reality (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 8:8–12; 10:16, 17). The question now is, will we keep that covenant or will we break it? Will we learn lessons from Old Testament history about the faithfulness of God and the tendencies of sinful human nature?

Our Father, thank You for fulfilling all Your promises to us in Jesus our Lord. We anticipate our own resurrection because You have raised Him from the dead. Teach us to live the resurrected life each and every day. In Christ’s powerful name, amen.