11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 "As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.'
19 "But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' 22 People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' "
The Israeli people had wandered the desert for forty years to get to the promised land...They worshipped God in a tent, called the tabernacle...The tabernacle was a traveling tent, that went with the people...Now the people after many years and many kings have built a permanent temple for the LORD...The people had turned away from God, before and would do it again...
King Solomon had completed the temple of the LORD...Solomon had just prayed that the LORD God come to His resting place and remember the great love promised to his father, King David...Solomon dedicates the new temple to the LORD...
God hears King Solomon's prayer and appeared to him at night...God tells Solomon that He has chosen the temple for Myself for sacrifices... God tells the Solomon that a time will come when He closes the heavens and there will be no rain...Locusts will come and one day a plague will be on the people...We will have some suffering, in our lives and some hard times will come...But the LORD reminds him, that if they call Him by His name, and the people humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, then He will hear the prayers from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land...He has chosen the temple and His eyes and heart will always be there...
The LORD also tells Solomon that if He told David if he was obedient that the David would always have a man to rule over Israel...He tells Solomon, if he turns his head and worships other gods, then He will reject the temple and uproot the Israeli people...And though the temple is an imposing structure, people will pass and be appalled, if the Israeli people turn away from Him, if they are gone and He, the LORD is not there...The remaining people will say the Israeli's have forsaken the LORD, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and that is why the LORD has brought all this disaster on His people...
Our history shows we follow the LORD for awhile, and then we drift away for one reason or another or we just turn away (from Him)...We need God's discipline, we need Him to impress on our consciousness the guilt of the sin(s) we do...We need His morality and His moral laws...We need Him...God tells the king after many years we have drifting away and turning away and we need to be aware and repent and confess...But, if His presence is there and His eyes and heart is upon us, we have all we need...