When Solomon had finished his benediction, the people of Israel together with him, celebrated the peace celebration meal joyfully. This was to be the largest peace fellowship offering, where 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep were offered. Traditionally the blood and the entrails of the sacrificial animals would be devoted to the Lord and the flesh eaten by the community. This was a thanksgiving feast celebrated to demonstrate the unity between the people, the leader, and their God. So the temple was dedicated to the Lord.
The
bronze altar was not big enough for the huge numbers of animals used for the
burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. So
verses 64 indicated that “…the middle of the court that was before
the house of the Lord” was also used. Hence on that same day, Solomon had
that portion of the temple consecrated to the Lord as well. The celebration
which lasted 14 days was a historic event. When it ended, the people left for
home praising the Lord, full of gladness in their hearts. They rejoiced because
God had shown goodness to David and to them, His people.
At
the heart of this celebration was the desire to express gratitude to God for
all that He had done for them. Solomon and the people did what they did because
they knew that they owed a great debt of gratitude to God for all that He had
done for them. To be honest, no amount of sacrifices they offered could
adequately repay the debt that they owed to God. Similarly, for all that Christ
had done for us, nothing we give to God would be an adequate offering. So let’s
heed Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:1 which he calls on us to offer our bodies
wholeheartedly to God as a living sacrifice. The best way we can reciprocate
God’s generosity towards us is through a grateful and obedient heart. We offer
our lives as a living sacrifice to serve Him alone. For this is the only
appropriate thing to do in the light of all that He had done for
us.
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