NOVEMBER 15, 2025 – BLESSING AND CURSE

READ: 1 Kin. 9:1-9: … I have heard your prayer and your supplication … when you walk before Me … in integrity of heart and in uprightness … I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever … But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me … then I will cut off Israel from the land … this house … I will cast out of My sight …

About thirteen years after the temple’s dedication, once Solomon’s palace is also completed, the Lord appears to Solomon for the second time.

The Lord confirms that He has heard Solomon’s prayer of dedication and assures him that He will answer it. The Lord declares that He has consecrated the temple by dwelling in it and setting His eyes and heart upon it forever and always.

This is an astonishing promise for Solomon and the people. Yet the Lord makes clear that His promise is bound to the requirement of faithful obedience.

He recalls the life of David, a man after God’s heart. Though David sinned gravely, he always confessed his sins and strengthened himself in the Lord when in difficulty. His sincerity is to be Solomon’s example.

The Lord now adds both covenant promise and covenant warning. If Solomon and his descendants turn away from Him, the God who dwells with them and blesses them, then His curse will fall upon them: Israel will be uprooted from the land He gave them, and the temple He consecrated will be cast away and reduced to ruins. Passersby will be appalled and say this disaster happened because Israel forsook the Lord through idolatry. 

This solemn warning is directed first and foremost at Solomon and his descendants (v.6). As leaders of the people, they carry great responsibility. Their obedience or disobedience brings either God’s blessing or His curse.

Does this warning apply to us as well? How?
Sing: Ps. 33:2