God’s Word for You

2 Chronicles 1:2-3 In the wilderness

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, September 8, 2024

2 Solomon spoke to all Israel: to the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the princes in Israel; the leading fathers of the houses. 3 Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

Solomon commanded the leaders of the people to join him in a special worship ceremony at the tabernacle of Moses. This was years before the Temple was even begun, and the Holy Spirit shows us that Solomon did not despise the ancient tent of meeting (now more than four hundred seventy-five years old). He went there to worship, to offer sacrifices to the Lord, to praise the Lord, and to pray. David prayed often, but the emphasis of his worship was praise and song. Solomon praised and sang to the Lord, but the emphasis of his worship was mainly prayer.

The leaders included the sarey elephim, “commanders of thousands,” and the sarey meoth, “commanders of hundreds.” We might call them generals and colonels. The shophetim are still in attendance; these were the judges. The last time we heard about them was in the past tense, in 1 Chronicles 17:10, when God gave David a little history lesson and reminded him that before there were kings, there were judges. Solomon continued the practice of using judges to help him with legal cases, just as Jethro had originally recommended to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 18:17-24). The “leading fathers” (roshey ha-avoth) is a term also used in Exodus 6:25, for the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

These men, representing all of the tribes and families of Israel, were summoned by Solomon to worship with him at Gibeon. It was an opportunity for several things all at once.

1. Unified national worship. We have no reason to think that worship was lax during David’s reign, but Solomon was wise to begin right away with worship in the presence of the whole nation (or its leaders).
2. A reminder that there must be only one place of sacrifice, according to the Law of Moses. Until the temple was completed, that one place was where the tabernacle was—at Gibeon.
3. A public meeting of all Israel’s leaders with their new king. Although Solomon surely knew some or most of these men, now was a moment for ceremony and leadership, for them to see him, not as a prince and son of David, but as their king. This might have the effect of putting an end to any over-familiarity any of them might have, remembering his youth (“For I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties,” 1 Kings 3:7). They must look on him as king, and not as a pupil in training.
4. A demonstration of the condition of the tabernacle in its present state. Perhaps it was generally agreed that David’s plan to build a permanent structure, approved by God through divine revelation, was a good idea. Not that the priests would have let it fall into disrepair, but any tent kept outdoors for decades that had turned to centuries was bound to present considerable wear and tear. It’s probable that none of the original fabric still existed by the time Solomon’s reign.
5. There was motivation for participation in the building project by all of the tribes. They would bring their offerings and their workmen for the project without questioning Solomon.

The final word of verse 3 is the term “in the wilderness.” There are a number of reasons why our author might want to remind us of the fact that Moses made the tent there.

First, there were the circumstances of the building of the tabernacle. There had never before been a single place of worship to the Lord God, but this had been the role of the tabernacle for the past 476 years, ever since the Lord gave the command at Mount Sinai.

Also, this draws emphasis to the command that God gave Moses to build the tabernacle, which also draws attention to the command of God given to Solomon to build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:9, 28:6).

The mention of the wilderness might possibly also draw attention to the men living at that time, especially the craftsmen Bezalel and Oholiab who did most of the design, construction and detailed work (Exodus 35:30-35), and there would soon be craftsmen selected (especially Huram-Abi, “a man of great skill,” 2 Chronicles 2:7).

More than this, the mention of the wilderness was a reminder of where they came from. They did not always occupy this land of Canaan, and some of the younger leaders especially might not remember the wars of Saul or even of David’s early years to secure the land of Canaan.

Finally, it is also possible that our author means to recollect the use of the tabernacle and how it accompanied God’s people as they moved from place to place with them, which is recorded especially in the book of Numbers—which in Hebrew became known as Be-Midbar, or “In the Wilderness,” the very word we find here, based on Numbers 1:1, when Moses says the Lord spoke to him “in the wilderness (of Sinai).”

King Solomon wanted to begin his reign with worship, according to the word of God, according to the will of God, and according to the law of God. His desire was to pray with the other leaders of Israel for God’s blessing on their work. This is an excellent way for us to begin anything and everything in our lives, whether a new week of work, a new school year, a marriage, a new baby, or simply the dawn of a new day. “God, our God, will bless us” (Psalm 67:6).

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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