The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 7

2 Chronicles 7: fire from heaven and the Lord's answer by night

General context

When Solomon ends his prayer, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord fills the house so that the priests cannot enter. All the children of Israel see it, bow with their faces to the pavement, worship and say, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. King and people offer sacrifices, Solomon twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep, and so dedicate the house. The priests keep their offices, the Levites play the instruments David made, and all Israel stands. Solomon hallows the middle of the court because the brasen altar cannot hold all the offerings. He keeps the feast seven days with a congregation from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, the eighth day is a solemn assembly, and on the twenty third day of the seventh month he sends the people home glad. Solomon finishes the house of the Lord and the king's house. The Lord then appears to him by night: he has heard the prayer and chosen this place for a house of sacrifice. If he shuts heaven, commands locusts or sends pestilence, and his people humble themselves, pray, seek his face and turn, he will hear, forgive and heal their land. If Solomon walks as David walked, his throne will be established; but if they turn to other gods, he will pluck them from the land, cast the house from his sight and make it a byword, and passers-by will be told it happened because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 7:1, 2 Chronicles 7:2, 2 Chronicles 7:3, 2 Chronicles 7:5, 2 Chronicles 7:6, 2 Chronicles 7:7, 2 Chronicles 7:8, 2 Chronicles 7:9, 2 Chronicles 7:10, 2 Chronicles 7:11, 2 Chronicles 7:12, 2 Chronicles 7:13, 2 Chronicles 7:14, 2 Chronicles 7:16, 2 Chronicles 7:18, 2 Chronicles 7:20, 2 Chronicles 7:22

2 Chronicles 7 (KJV)

¹Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.

²And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.

³And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.

⁵And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

⁶And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of musick of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

⁷Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

⁸Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.

⁹And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

¹⁰And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the Lord had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

¹¹Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

¹²And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

¹³If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

¹⁴If 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.

¹⁵Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

¹⁶For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

¹⁷And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

¹⁸Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

¹⁹But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

²⁰Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

²¹And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

²²And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

This is the second recorded appearance of God to Solomon by night; the first was at Gibeon. The chapter places the night appearance after the statement that Solomon finished both the house of the Lord and the king's house, not on the night of the dedication, and it does not say how long passed between the two. The dedication itself is dated to the seventh month, ending on the twenty third day. The congregation's extent is given as from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, without further description. The sacrifice numbers are stated as twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. God's speech answers the prayer's own cases, naming no rain, locusts and pestilence, and it addresses two parties: Solomon alone as thee, with the condition of walking as David walked, and the people as ye, with the warning about other gods. The plucking up, the casting out of the house and the byword are stated as conditions, not as events that have happened; the passers-by's question and its answer are part of God's speech, not narration. The phrase that David's instruments were used when David praised by their ministry refers back to David's practice without narrating it here.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 7:12, 2 Chronicles 1:7, 2 Chronicles 7:11, 2 Chronicles 7:10, 2 Chronicles 7:8, 2 Chronicles 7:5, 2 Chronicles 7:13, 2 Chronicles 6:26, 2 Chronicles 7:17, 2 Chronicles 7:19, 2 Chronicles 7:21, 2 Chronicles 7:6

Literary context

The chapter is written as the answer to the one before it. The prayer ends and fire falls; Solomon asked that God's eyes be open and ears attent to prayer in this place, and God replies with the same words in the first person; Solomon asked God to hear from heaven and forgive, and God says then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive. The praise line first sung by the Levites is now said by all the people with their faces to the pavement. The structure runs fire and worship, sacrifices and feast, a one verse summary of the finished houses, then the night oracle. The oracle balances two conditions for the people, one leading to healing and one to uprooting, around a single condition for the king. It ends with an imagined exchange between passers-by, giving the last word to the warning, so that the chapter that opens with fire from heaven closes with the house as a proverb and a byword. The words for ever and perpetually stand a few verses from cast out of my sight, and the narrator lets both remain.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 7:1, 2 Chronicles 6:40, 2 Chronicles 7:15, 2 Chronicles 6:21, 2 Chronicles 7:14, 2 Chronicles 5:13, 2 Chronicles 7:3, 2 Chronicles 7:11, 2 Chronicles 7:17, 2 Chronicles 7:19, 2 Chronicles 7:22, 2 Chronicles 7:16, 2 Chronicles 7:20

Key moments

Fire from heaven (2 Chronicles 7:1). Fire consumes the offerings and the glory of the Lord fills the house as Solomon finishes praying.
The people's refrain (2 Chronicles 7:3). All Israel bows on the pavement and says, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Sacrifices of dedication (2 Chronicles 7:5). Solomon offers twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep.
The seven day feast (2 Chronicles 7:8). Solomon keeps the feast with a congregation from Hamath to the river of Egypt.
The Lord appears by night (2 Chronicles 7:12). The Lord tells Solomon he has heard the prayer and chosen the place for sacrifice.
If my people humble themselves (2 Chronicles 7:14). The Lord promises to hear, forgive and heal the land if his people turn.
The house as a byword (2 Chronicles 7:20). The Lord warns that turning to other gods will bring uprooting and the house cast from his sight.

For reflection

The Lord says his name will be in the house for ever and his eyes and heart there perpetually, then a few verses later says he will cast the house out of his sight if the people turn away. How does a reader hold for ever and if together within one speech?