Whether you actually go to other nations yourself, or give to missions and help send other missionaries to those nations, the call is the same. You are saved so that the Holy Spirit can empower you to be his witness. Jesus came so that we could be saved from our sin. This is what global missions and disciple making movements are all about. Why did Jesus come? Because he wanted to send his followers, his disciples, to the remotest parts of the earth to be his witnesses. God has always wanted all nations to come to him, gain the knowledge of him, and repent and turn to him for salvation. Jesus makes similar statements on other occasions, commending the people of Nineveh for repenting, and observing that a non-Israelite woman was blessed by Elisha and sustained during a famine, even though there were many hungry and poor people within Israel at that same time. Jesus references this in Luke 11:31, declaring that the Queen of Sheba who “came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon” would judge the people who didn’t repent at the coming of Jesus. In the years after this, we see a glimpse of this desire of God to reach the nations come about when people such as the Queen of Sheba come from far away just to see and hear of Solomon’s wisdom. This temple represented God’s presence in Israel, but it was for everyone. What you see here is that Solomon – the wisest man who ever lived – knew very well that God never intended this temple to be just for Israel, but for all the peoples of the earth.
This verse appears near the end of the prayer. After Solomon completes the majestic temple that God blessed him to build, he speaks a lengthy prayer as part of its dedication.
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