When Solomon finished the temple, he had a glorious dedication ceremony in which all Israel attended.  But some have brought questions up.

Can God live in a temple made by man on the earth?

Absolutely not.  Even Solomon made sure the people understood this (2 Chr 6:18).  But His Presence can dwell there even as it can dwell in many places.  It didn’t mean that all His presence dwelled there but there was an aspect of God that filled the temple.

For me this isn’t so hard to understand as I’ve been to places before where one could sense the presence of  God in a place.  God is like that.

Does famine, pestilence and natural disaster always come from sin?

When Solomon prayed, he asked that whenever there was famine, sickness, or defeat from the enemies because of sin, that when Israel repented that He would heal, restore and forgive them.

Does this mean all natural disaster is from God?  Not at all.  Does it mean some natural disaster is from God?  Yes.  This was especially true of Israel who was in a unique covenant relationship with God.  Sometimes the Lord allowed disaster as forms of punishment and to draw them back to himself when they refused to repent.

But it’s important to note not all natural disaster is from sin.  When Joseph was in Egypt, the LORD gave Pharaoh a dream that there would be 7 years of famine.  It doesn’t say anywhere that it was because of anyone’s sin.  Just that the LORD would allow this on the earth.  BUT, he was going to provide for all the peoples if Egypt obeyed and saved up produce.  They did save their grain and because of that, Egypt and the surrounding nations survived.

What about repentance?

Solomon in his prayer placed a heavy emphasis on repentance in the turning back to God.  We live in a day and time where repentance is gone.  People have shrugged off repentance in the name of “grace.”  But nowhere in the Bible is this Biblical.  When we go to the place of sin as God himself defines sin, repentance is always the way back to Him through Christ.  Repentance is in the Original Covenant and is also found throughout the New Testament.  Nowhere does grace mean no need to repent of sin.