1Ki 8:30-40 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face

[Study Aired January 6, 2022]

1Ki 8:30  And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 
1Ki 8:31  If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: 
1Ki 8:32  Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 
1Ki 8:33  When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 
1Ki 8:34  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. 
1Ki 8:35  When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 
1Ki 8:36  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. 
1Ki 8:37  If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 
1Ki 8:38  What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: 
1Ki 8:39  Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) 
1Ki 8:40  That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 

If God has not given us eyes to see and ears to hear, we will be blinded by the parables in His word from Genesis to Revelation as we’re told in Mark 4:11-12. It is when our sins are forgiven that we can then see our blindness and acknowledge the total sovereignty of God in all He is working in His creation (Joh 9:41, Col 1:16-17). It is by God’s goodness which leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4) that we will continue to be brought to have eyes that see and ears that hear. This is a dying daily process Christ will work in the elect until the end of their physical lives, Christ being the one who has power over all in “heaven and in earth” where God’s will of sanctifying the church “in earth, as it is in heaven” is being fulfilled (1Co 15:31, Php 2:12-14, Mat 28:18, Mat 6:10).

Mar 4:11  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
Mar 4:12  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

God blinds the masses by creating us as marred vessels who are at first only subject to the fleshly pulls of our earthly minds which don’t allow us to see we have no free will (Rom 8:20, Ecc 1:2). Once our hope of glory has entered into our lives (Col 1:27), then we begin to destroy those giants in our land that represent the strongholds of our minds which easily had us subject to this vanity of thinking we are the masters of our own destinies (Num 14:9, Deu 7:22). God’s elect are being dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) in order to be subject to that hope of glory within us which leads us into all truth. If we are granted to abide in that truth, it will make us free day by day from the vanity of this vain life which surrounds us all (Joh 16:13, Joh 8:32-36).

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

Ecc 1:2  Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

Being subject to vanity is all we know until Christ enters into our hearts and minds (Ecc 1:2). Our vain minds are likened to a veil which is over our eyes that must be systematically ripped as we go from glory to glory through our hope of glory (2Co 3:15 all that is in the world within and without 1Jn 2:16, 1Jn 5:19, Col 1:27). The elect are the few who have been ordained by God to be putting off the flesh in this age (the veil that blinds Heb 10:20-21, Eph 5:30) in order to trust Christ by God’s power that makes this possible. We are a peculiar people who have no confidence in the veil that is being  ripped, being circumcised daily so our confidence or trust remains in the present reality of Christ who is saving us (2Co 3:18, Mat 24:13, Mat 22:14, Eph 1:12, Heb 12:2, Rom 12:1-2, Php 3:3, Heb 10:35).

2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. [this is the veil]
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for everG165 [those who God is working with in this age will be given aonion life because they are granted to come to know God and Jesus Christ (Joh 17:3)].

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God,[Rom 8:16] and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

If we are not granted to cast not away our confidence of having no confidence in our flesh, that will be of the Lord as much as if we are granted to endure until the end and be saved. The apostle Paul says plainly that he understood the battle was not to the swift or strong or anyone else as it says in Ecclesiastes 9:11, expressed with these inspired words: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press [Php 2:12-13] toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ^G5547 Jesus” (Php 3:12-13, 1Jn 2:20) because Christ is the only one who can deliver us from this body of death and leaves nothing to chance:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence,[1Jn 2:20 , Col 1:27] which hath great recompence of reward.

1Jn 2:20  But ye have an unction^{G5545 G5548} from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” [the spirit gives us the power to keep the law of God, as we abide in a veil of flesh that is subject to the law of sin, or the vanity of flesh said another way]. The word “chance” in Ecclesiastes 9:11 is the same word found in 1Kings 5:4 that speaks of the “evil occurrent”  that is in flesh and cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50). It’s not that the evil is not there within us, rather God gives us rest through Christ to rule over the sinful pulls of flesh which is at the gate of every man’s heart (Gen 4:7).

Ecc 9:11  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chanceH6294 happeneth to them all. 

1Ki 5:4  But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil^H7451 occurrent.^H6294

H6294 Occurrent
pega‛
peh’-gah
From H6293; impact (casual): – chance, occurrent.
Total KJV occurrences: 2

H7451 Evil ra‛  râ‛âh rah, raw-aw’
From H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (naturally or morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun: – adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease (-ure), distress, evil ([-favouredness], man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief (-vous), harm, heavy, hurt (-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief, (-vous), misery, naught (-ty), noisome, + not please, sad (-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked (-ly, -ness, one), worse (-st) wretchedness [Rom_7:24], wrong. [Including feminine ra’ah; as adjective or noun.]
Total KJV occurrences: 664

[This evil is all the sins of the world within me that are being conquered and overcome through Christ  (1Jn 2:16) there is nothing left to chance as God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will to build the temple of God we are (Eph 1:11, Php 2:12-13)]

1Ki 5:5  And, behold, I purpose to build an house [Php_2:12-13] unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name. 

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? [Eph 1:6] and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Many times the word “if” is used in this chapter of Chronicles (2Ch 7:1-22), along with the many times that it is used in 1Kings 8:30-45, and the discussion in both of these chapters has to do with the prayers and sacrifices being made to God as the temple is dedicated to Him through those actions. God answers Solomon by saying, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2Ch 7:14) Being given to know the truth of God’s sovereignty through repentance is at the heart and core of the parables being shown us in these sections of scripture (1Ki 8:30-54, 2Ch 7:1-22) which nobody can accomplish if God’s spirit is not within them. Therefore these things were written for our sakes (1Pe 1:12) to show us how blessed we are to have this lively hope of Christ within us as our saviour who is cleansing us from all sin (1Pe 1:3, 1Jn 1:7). If God is working with us in this life, we will be more than conquerors “through him that loved us”, a love demonstrated by perfectly measured chastening and scourging that unfolds in the life of God’s elect so that we learn to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age that blind us (Rom 8:36-37, Rom 8:9, Heb 12:6).

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

In order to be those who “first trusted in Christ”, we must be the first to die to self and put off our flesh through the manifold trials and temptations (1Pe 1:3-7) that God manifests in our lives for that express purpose (2Co 1:9, Rom 8:36, 1Co 15:31). The word “if” when balanced against the sum of God’s word reveals that God has called a few in this life to come to be persuaded of His power that tells us that “if” we are His, then nothing will separate us from His love including the “evil occurrent” that is within all flesh (Rom 8:38-39). That victory is all to the glory of God and unfolds from glory to glory, little and by little, as the beasts of the field are overcome by His might and power which will witness to all the world that God can make His strength perfect through the weak of the world giving all the world hope in time of God’s plan of salvation (1Co 15:22, 1Co 15:28).

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

For context we’ll read the two verses prior to the ones we are looking at in this study to take notice that the subject has to do with prayer and how God hearkens unto the prayer of His servant which is a shadow of the fervent continual prayer of the righteous that avails much and is heard of God (Jas 5:16, Php 1:19):

1Ki 8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 
1Ki 8:29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 

1Ki 8:30  And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 
1Ki 8:31  If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: 
1Ki 8:32  Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 

This inspired prayer of Solomon is filled with a type and shadow hope that we know will one day be given to all the world, symbolized by “thy people Israel” who will also “obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” when the day comes that God drags humanity to Christ and His Christ to be judged (2Pe 2:4). Those who endure until the end will be the kings and priests God uses (1Co 6:2) to “hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.“

The “if any man trespass against his neighbour” is speaking of all of humanity as all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).  The oath that has been “laid upon him to cause him to swear” represents how we are bound to the law in our flesh thinking we have free will and so we must give an accounting so that the “oath come before thine altar in this house“. What God hears from His heavens (“hear thou in heaven“) is the need to judge the first man Adam, and so it is written “then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness“.

That judgment is to be executed by the elect who are enabled to discern good and evil within those who are being judged (Mal 3:18) because the evil has been purged from our heavens. The Lord has prepared the bride (Rev 19:7) to be ready as God’s saints who have been preserved of God to judge all of humanity who have been reserved for that purpose of judgment (Luk 5:38, 1Th 5:23, Jud 1:1, 2Pe 2:4, Jud 1:6, 2Ti 2:21).

1Ki 8:33  When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 
1Ki 8:34  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. 
1Ki 8:35  When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:  

“The land which thou gavest unto their fathers” represents the kingdom of God, and before anyone can inherit this kingdom we must be “smitten down before the enemy“ who has “sinned against thee” (Rom 3:23). It takes that chastening and scourging (Heb 12:6) of the Lord to “turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house” if God will grant us that repentance in this life (Rom 2:4, 1Co 11:31).

It is when we are brought to our wits’ end that we cry out to God acknowledging there is no good thing in us and we are so sinful by nature that we must have God’s wrath poured out upon our old man. This is a blessing because it leads to the promise that He will “Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.“

God is the one who withholds the rain and then gives the rain as typified in the life of Elias. All this is a parable for us to understand the withholding and the freeing from sin we experience as the man of perdition is destroyed by the brightness of His coming, typified by the rain that Elias prays for (Jas 5:17-20, Rev 11:3, 2Th 2:2-8).

Jas 5:17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth [withholding God’s word that would free the world] by the space of three years and six months [Christ’s ministry that could not receive the rain, meaning no conversion was had for 3.5 years].
Jas 5:18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit [The ministry of reconciliation typified by the two witnesses (3.5 years Rev 11:3) made possible through God’s holy spirit that causes the elects earth to bring forth “her fruit”].
Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

[We know the whole world lies in wickedness now (1Jn 5:19) and is erring from the truth and so dispensationally the “multitude of sins” that the elect are going to hide is the enumerable multitude who will be washed by the blood of the Lamb whose flesh and bones we are (Rev 7:14, Eph 5:30)]

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth^G2722 [no rain] that he might be revealed in his time. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth^G2722 will let, until he be taken out of the way [rain].
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

1Ki 8:36  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. 
1Ki 8:37  If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 
1Ki 8:38  What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: 

This section of Kings reminds us that the elect’s inheritance manifests as a result of being given “rain upon thy land” which God has “given to thy people for an inheritance“. This rain comes as result of our being given to acknowledge that there is “famine” and “pestilence” and “blasting” and “mildew” and “locust” and “caterpiller” within us, which are all means by which the harvests can be destroyed. So when we acknowledge our iniquities (Jer 3:13), by the grace of God our fervent inspired prayers circumvent this destruction of that which God is reserving “what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house.” This is a great encouragement for us today seeing it shows us in type and shadow that nothing shall separate us from the love of God as we go through this process of giving an accounting of our sinful nature and need for deliverance from it through Christ (Rev 15:8).

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Eze 5:12  A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. 

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. 

What is required is that the Lord “hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk” and in doing this we are being given “rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance“. The rain is symbolic of the word of God that washes God’s kind of first fruits first (Eph 5:26, Joh 17:17).

Psa 20:6  Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

1Ki 8:39  Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men; ) 
1Ki 8:40  That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 

God knows our hearts and the hearts of all men (1Co 4:5, Heb 4:13, Job 1:21, Rev 22:13) as this verse demonstrates: “give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men” (Jer 17:9). God’s elect are being given to understand the need to learn obedience by what we suffer (Heb 5:8, 1Jn 4:17), as well as experience God’s goodness which leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4, Tit 2:11-12) “that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.” That Godly fear frees us from the bondage that comes with sin and unbelief and from the self-righteous sin of not knowing we are guilty of all and continually in need of a saviour (Luk 23:34). It is when we are abased and humbled under His mighty hand that God will “hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest” (Mat 23:12, Luk 18:10-14).

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 

Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 

Luk 18:10  Two men [old man and new man within me] went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The bible was written for God’s elect in this life to give us hope in the “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2Pe 1:4, 1Jn 2:16). Those precious promises include His faithfulness to chasten and scourge His children whom He receives and to give us power through Christ to endure that process to His glory (Rom 5:10, Eph 2:8, Tit 2:11-13).

2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world [is of the world within us that we are escaping by grace through faith].

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

He will cause His people who are called by His name to “humble themselves” (Isa 66:2) and “pray” and “seek my face” and “turn from their wicked ways”, and as such He will “hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (Joh 8:36, Php 2:12-13).

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 

2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.