“Blessed be Adonai, who has given rest to his people Israel, in accordance with everything he promised. Not one word has failed of his good promise, which he made through Moshe his servant.“ – 1 Kings 8:56
In verse 56, Solomon utters a declaration that every believer on planet earth, whether Jew or Gentile, should take to heart.
He reminds the people that there is only one reason why this Temple dedication is taking place.
It is because of the covenant that Adonai established with Moses 500 years earlier.
Solomon then goes on to say:
“May Adonai our God be with us,
as he was with our ancestors.
May he never leave us or abandon us.”
Solomon doesn’t go into specific detail about how exactly the Lord was with their ancestors.
That would’ve been too much detail to jam into this prayer.
Nevertheless, the main point was clear.
The God of Israel was with His People because He promised He would be.
Israel’s triumphs over their enemies and the very fact that they were dwelling in Canaan was proof positive that the Lord had been with them.
The rabbis point out another key point in Solomon’s statement about the Lord’s presence.
The fact that the Lord had fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by settling them in the land was also proof that He would never abandon them.
If God didn’t abandon the Patriarchs, He wouldn’t abandon them.
This leads to our takeaway.
If you want proof that the Lord has and will never abandon His People, just look at Israel today.
The people are dwelling in the Promised Land.
And every day, more and more Hebrews from around the world are making Aliyah.
The point is, when Solomon declared to the people that…
Not one word has failed of his good promise,
which he made through Moshe his servant.“
He could very well have been saying those same words to the Jewish people today.
I’m gonna close with a quote that I’ve shared before that I think is appropriate for today.
It’s from that famous observational piece from Mark Twain on the Jews:
“If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.”
“He has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.”
“The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
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