What is the meaning of 1 Kings 3:4? Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there • Solomon’s very first recorded act as king is a journey of worship. Before he asks for wisdom (1 Kings 3:5-9), he moves toward God, showing that leadership begins on bended knee. • Gibeon was about five miles northwest of Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar still stood (2 Chron 1:3-6). Solomon is honoring the established place of sacrifice laid down in the days of Moses (Exodus 29:42-44). • His willingness to travel underscores eagerness; like David who “longed to build a house for the Lord” (2 Samuel 7:2), Solomon prioritizes communion with God over political consolidation. for it was the great high place • High places were normally condemned (1 Kings 12:31-32; 2 Kings 17:9-11), yet Gibeon is called “the great high place” because the tabernacle resided there, making it the authorized center of national worship until the temple would rise in Jerusalem (1 Chron 21:29). • This phrase explains Solomon’s choice: he is not dabbling in syncretism but following the provision God allowed before a permanent house was built (Deuteronomy 12:5-11). • Gibeon’s unique status illustrates God’s patience and progressive revelation—He meets His people where they are while moving them toward fuller obedience, culminating in the temple (1 Kings 8:27-30). Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there • A burnt offering signified total consecration—everything placed on the altar, nothing held back (Leviticus 1:9). By multiplying that by a thousand, Solomon dramatizes wholehearted surrender. • Such lavish sacrifice foreshadows the dedication ceremonies later at the temple (1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chron 7:5) and recalls David’s own costly offerings on Araunah’s threshing floor (2 Samuel 24:24-25). • God responds to wholehearted worship; immediately afterward He appears to Solomon in a dream (1 Kings 3:5). The pattern is consistent: Abraham (Genesis 22:16-17), Elijah (1 Kings 18:38-39), and the early church (Acts 13:2-3) all encounter God in moments of sacrificial devotion. summary Solomon’s trek to Gibeon, Israel’s “great high place,” demonstrates a young king’s commitment to seek God first, using the very means God had provided. His extravagant thousand-fold burnt offering embodies total dedication, setting the stage for the divine wisdom and favor that follow. The verse calls every believer to approach God promptly, worship Him where He directs, and surrender everything on the altar, confident that wholehearted devotion still invites God’s gracious response today. |
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