1Ki 8:41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;
1Ki 8:42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
1Ki 8:43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
1Ki 8:44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
1Ki 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
1Ki 8:48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
1Ki 8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
1Ki 8:51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
1Ki 8:52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
1Ki 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
This section of Kings starts with instructing the church on how we are to receive (1Pe_3:15) those who are being dragged (Joh_6:44) to the body of Christ, via the old covenant type and shadow that talks about the physical nation of Israel and the strangers who come “out of a far country for thy name’s sake“. The “far country” is Babylon that we continue to be dragged out of, as we are drawn unto the truth “for thy name’s sake” that if we continue in, will set us free (Joh_8:31-32). The truth is manifested within the church (Eph_3:10), the Israel of God (Gal_6:16), via each joint that supplies that truth which is spoken in love (Eph_4:16).
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
The fidelity or singleness of mind that the body of Christ has toward the word of God (Joh_14:15 , Joh_13:35 , 1Jn_4:6-7 , 2Co_11:3) is the witness that meets the stranger at the door and convicts him that God’s holy spirit is indeed within us, within His temple that we are (1Co_14:23-24 , Rom_8:9 , Php_2:1-5).
1Co 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned [a stranger], or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
1Co 14:24 But if all prophesy [1Co_14:3 , 1Th_5:11], and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
[He is convinced because of our love toward one another and by the demonstration of obedience to the commandments of God which by definition is love Joh_14:15 , 1Jn_4:20]
The word ‘singleness’ G572 is found in (2Co_11:3) where it speaks about the fidelity that is to be accompanied with the keeping of God’s word, also used in eight other occurrences that are listed here:
G572 haplotēs Total KJV Occurrences: 8
simplicity, 3 Rom_12:8 (2), 2Co_1:12, 2Co_11:3
singleness, 2 Eph_6:5, Col_3:22
bountifulness, 1 2Co_9:11
liberal, 1 2Co_9:13
liberality, 1 2Co_8:2
First verse:
1Ki 8:41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;
We are all driven into a “far country” at first that we can only come out of by being dragged out of her my people (2Co_6:17), then we are no longer a “stranger” although that is how we all start off (Eph_2:19) and then we plainly declare that we are seeking a new “city” and “country” whose builder and maker is God (Heb_11:10-14).
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Heb 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
We are dragged out of Babylon “for thy name’s sake” which is God’s words that we are holding fast to by the grace through faith gift of God that is saving us (Eph_2:8). Now we know that these words are eternal and make us “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” which is where the foundation and pillar of truth is found (Joh_6:68 , 1Ti_3:15).
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
1Ti 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Ki 8:42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
All the sin of the world that is within us (1Jn_2:16) is going to “hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm” whether in this age or in the lake of fire, and it is only when God seeks us out with a “strong hand” and “stretched out arm” that we “shall come and pray toward this house” and “hear [Rev_1:3] of thy great name“(Joh_6:44-45 , Joh_4:23-24).
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. [Joh_6:28-29]
1Ki 8:43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
Let’s read this verse as applying inwardly to Christ’s body the church (Col_1:24). The message becomes crystal clear in regard to what is being said for God’s elect today. We are the ones asking our Father whose “dwelling place” is in our heavens (Joh_14:20) to “do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for:” and God hearing the stranger in us is equivalent to God’s goodness being extended to His people via repentance (Rom_2:4) to the end “that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel“. When the stranger within us comes to “know thy name” we are coming to know the word of God and are being obedient to his words that we acknowledge are His commandments (1Co_14:37). When the stranger or unconverted beast within me hears the truth he passes away and nourishes me so that I can now fulfill God’s will (Exo_23:29 , 1Jn_2:16-17).
1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
Exo 23:29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Having all the world within us “to fear thee, as do thy people Israel“, has both an inward application, and outward. Starting with the inward we read (Gen_9:2) that “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered” speaking of Noah who is a type of Christ and all those who have God’s holy spirit within them (1Jn_2:16). Outwardly the world in time will also fear “thy people Israel” the Israel of God who we are (Rev_11:11 , Rev_6:16 , 1Jn_4:17 , Eph_2:6).
Rev 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
1Ki 8:44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
What hope God gives us through these old covenant stories that reveal that God already knows where the sins lie in our heavens and nothing is hidden from Him (Heb_4:13) and so at the appointed time he sends us out to battle against our enemy within “whithersoever thou shalt send them“. It is when we are inspired to come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain help in time of need (Heb_4:16) that we “pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name“. The house of God is being built by Christ (Psa_127:1) and it’s primary function is to be a ministry of reconciliation (2Co_5:18) that God is going to use to save all of humanity in time (1Co_15:22 , Oba_1:21).
God will hear “in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause” if Christ is the one who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure which good pleasure is to see the sanctification process that we have been called unto through Christ come to a conclusion in the first resurrection (Joh_6:37 , Joh_16:23 , Rom_2:4 , Joh_17:17). God will maintain our cause of being shown mercy, which is not just for our sakes but also for all the world who will come to learn of His mercy (Rom_11:32-33).
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
1Ki 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
1Ki 8:48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
This section of Kings reminds us of (2Ch_7:14) which states “If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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”, and as we looked at in our previous study the humbling, the praying, the seeking and the turning from our wicked ways is all of the Lord and done to show the world that God will “maintain their cause” which is His cause, His desire to show mercy to us in this life so that we can show it to others in the next, and toward those who God drags to Christ today.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom_3:23) so this verse “If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near” is telling us how God is going to deal with our sinful nature, the law in our members that He created to be taken and destroyed (Rom_7:23 , Jas_4:12). Being carried “away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near” is what our sins do to us, our own iniquities that chasten us in this life (Jer_2:19).
If we bethink ourselves “in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness“, it will be because God has brought us to our wits’ end through the storms in our lives that He raises (Psa_107:9-20) to the end that we will cry out and find our spiritual safe haven with Christ, which is what we do when we “return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name“. It is only through suffering that we learn obedience, and consequently cease from sinning (Heb_5:8 , 1Pe_4:1-7) as God leads us unto repentance and brings us to a point where He will hear “thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause“.
Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Psa 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psa 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
Psa 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psa 107:18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1Pe 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1Pe 4:4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1Pe 4:5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
1Pe 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
1Pe 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1Ki 8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
“When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Pro_16:7), and ultimately that compassion that God shows to us is given so we in turn will be able to show it to others as these verses reveal: “and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them“.
If we will only confess our faults (1Jn_1:9 , Jer_3:13) then God will “forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee“.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
1Ki 8:51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
God’s elect are Christ’s inheritance (Col_3:24 , Col_1:12 , Eph_1:11 , Eph_1:14 , Eph_1:18 , Rom_8:17) who were ‘strangers’ first, and are being “broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron” (Act_26:18). God uses the light and the darkness to forge the new man within His children (Isa_45:7) and Egypt within us is likened unto a “furnace of iron” because when our sins our revealed to us, we are ashamed and will repent as God’s elect (1Jn_1:6-10) and in time receive the inheritance that we now have in earnest (Eph_1:14).
Cain, on the other hand, who once dominated our carnal hearts was slaying his brother because his own works were evil and there was no inheritance for him that could be seen. Cain is at the gate of our hearts and being overcome by Abel who represents Christ in us whose voice within us, his blood, his word, “the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground”, our lives being represented by that ground where God’s word is sanctifying us, making a way for Cain, his banished, to be redeemed in time (Gen_4:6-10 , 2Sa_14:14).
Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Gen 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
1Ki 8:52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
1Ki 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
God’s elect have been separated “from among all the people of the earth” for the very express purpose of being Christ’s inheritance, his wife and bride, and royal priesthood (1Pe_2:9). Moses is a type of Christ who God “spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD” just as we are now to hear Christ (Heb_12:25) who is bringing us out of the world as we hear Him and are led by God’s holy spirit (Rom_8:14-16) having our eyes open and being now able to make supplication unto the Lord of which prayers we are told in (Joh_14:13) “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” foreshadowed in this verse “hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee“.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
It is God who separated “them from among all the people of the earth” just as Joseph was, and just as God’s elect are separated from the world today (Mat_22:14). He will cause his people who are called by His name to “humble themselves” (Isa_66:2) and “pray” and “seek my face” and “turn from their wicked ways”, and as such He will “hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” which is what will cause the righteousness of Christ to grow and mature within us (Joh_8:36 , Php_2:12-13)
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
"His Branch" 