Word of Encouragement (05/01/2024)

“For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God.” (1 Kings 8:53)

With these words, Solomon concludes his prayer of dedication. He states why he can expect God’s faithful attention to the petitions of His people. The scope of this prayer extended beyond the people of Israel: Solomon prayed that God would listen to the prayers of the foreigners who came to Jerusalem to pray to the God of Israel (vv. 41-43). This petition looked forward to the time of the gospel when Gentile Christians would have an equal standing with Jewish Christians. Even so, Solomon was keenly aware of Israel’s special status as God’s people during the Old Testament era.

Solomon praises God that God has separated Israel from all the nations of the earth. As such, Israel was a holy nation: to be holy is to be set apart. Of course, God alone is holy in the archetypal sense. For He is set apart from everything else: He alone is the self-existing, eternal Creator while everything else is created. Creatures can be holy only in a derivative sense—that is, by being set apart unto God, who is holy. While all the nations of the world belonged to God, who created them, Israel belonged to God in a special sense by this act of consecration.

This was not because Israel was better than other nations: “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you...” (Deut. 7:6-8). Israel had nothing in herself to merit this privilege; it was by God’s unconditional grace. But by this consecration, God called Israel to move beyond the status of being holy to become holy in their character and conduct in conformity to God.

Notice how Solomon refers to Israel as “Your inheritance.” The Hebrew word means “inalienable, hereditary property, in the case of conquest, hereditary division of the property between an individual or the family as their share of the booty, consisting of lands” (HALOT). There is a connotation that Israel was the possession God obtained by His conquest (particularly of Egypt). As such, Israel was God’s special possession, an object of His delight. What a wonderful privilege!

One of the blessings of being set apart as God’s people was to have their prayers heard by the almighty and all-wise God. That blessing belongs preeminently to the church, the true Israel. We have better assurance because the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ is the basis of our prayer as we are called to pray in His wonderful name. Let us not waste this wonderful gift of prayer! Instead, let us pray without ceasing and ask for His rich blessings for our life and godliness!