2 chronicles 7 and 8

Read 2 Chronicles 7 and 8 at Bible Gateway.
2 Chronicles 7:14 and the roadmap to national restoration.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

2 Chr 7:1-4 {s} Fire from heaven consumed the sacrifice + His glory filled the temple
2 Chr 7:5-6 {s} King Solomon’s sacrifices + the house dedicated + the priests served + Levites ministered in music
2 Chr 7:7-11 {p} They dedicated the house + kept the feast 7 days/ Solomon sent the people home full of gladness
2 Chr 7:12-22 {p} The LORD appeared to Solomon: acceptance of His house + warning to continue in His ways
2 Chr 8:1-9 {p} Solomon built fortified cities, storage cities, and chariot cities
2 Chr 8:10-11 {p} Solomon’s officials/ his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh
2 Chr 8:12-16 {s} Solomon established the temple service set in order by David
2 Chr 8:17-18 {p} The Phoenicians went with Solomon’s ships to Ophir, and brought 450 talents of gold

2 Chr 2:17-7:11 chiastic structure:

1a) 2 Chr 2:17-5:1 {sx13+p} Design + construction of the house of the Lord/ its furnishings + dedicated things;

1b) 2 Chr 5:2, Solomon assembled the elders + heads of tribes of Israel to bring the ark of the covenant up;

1c) 2 Chr 5:3, They assembled with the king at the feast, which was in the 7th month;

1d) 2 Chr 5:4-14 {p+p} The ark containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments, was brought into the Lord’s house;

central axis) 2 Chr 6:1-42 {p+p+s+p+sx3+p} Solomon’s prayer of blessing + dedication;

2d) 2 Chr 7:1-7 {s+s} Fire came down from heaven, accepted the sacrifices + the glory of the Lord filled His house;

1a) 2 Chr 7:1-2, Fire came down from heaven, consumed the sacrifices/ the glory of the LORD filled the temple;
1b) 2 Chr 7:3a, When all Israel saw the fire + the glory, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement;
1c) 2 Chr 7:3b, Israel worshiped + praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever;”
1d) 2 Chr 7:4 {s} Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord;
central axis) 2 Chr 7:5a, King Solomon offered 22,000 bulls + 120,000 sheep;
2d) 2 Chr 7:5b, So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God;
2c) 2 Chr 7:6a, Priests served + Levites praised the Lord in music, saying, “For His mercy endures forever;”
2b) 2 Chr 7:6b {s} While all Israel stood;
2a) 2 Chr 7:7, Solomon consecrated the court to offer offerings, for the bronze altar could not receive it all;

2c) 2 Chr 7:8-9, Solomon + all Israel kept the feast 7 days/ sacred assembly on the 8th day;

2b) 2 Chr 7:10, On the 23rd day of the 7th month he sent the people away glad of heart for the Lord’s goodness;

2a) 2 Chr 7:11 {p} Solomon finished the house of the Lord + the king’s house/ accomplished all he desired to make.

This structure is so instructive, because this is history that is prophesying. Solomon is a type of Messiah Yeshua in His second coming: both are the son of David’s house, sitting on the throne of his kingdom in glory, wealth, and wisdom. It is the son of David, not David, who builds the LORD’s house. For Yeshua said:

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Joh 2:18-21

And Paul said:

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Cor 3:16

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Cor 12:27

Yeshua is building the third temple, for the temple which will follow the second temple, according to Yeshua’s prophecy in John, is the temple which He will build in three days – the temple of His body. And the temple of His body is us, the Church, collectively, and we as believers are members individually.

There are some out of place verses in the chiastic structure of the 2d pair, which helped me to see that it was in fact to be a matching element to the 1d pair, when I was working out the structure:

The glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 2 Chr 7:1b-2

This matches with:

That the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. 2 Chr 5:13b-14

And:

The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, 2 Chr 7:6 partial

Matches with:

And with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— 2 Chr 5:13 partial

Both in the context of the Levites ministering in music, saying, ““For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.”

So then, how does the D pair, pair? When the ark of the Lord, in which were the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, is brought into the house of the Lord, His fire descends from heaven and His glory descends from heaven, to signal that the sacrifices and offerings have been accepted. And what does it mean that the sacrifices have been accepted? That man and God are in right relationship with each other, and there is nothing between them, separating them. God is dwelling with man, in other words – and this on the Feast of Tabernacles!