When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. The priests were unable to enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: "For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever."
Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
Significance
Leviticus 9:24 describes fire from the LORD (אֵשׁ מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה) consuming the inaugural tabernacle offering, prompting the people to shout and fall on their faces. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 narrates the identical phenomenon at Solomon's temple dedication: "fire came down from heaven (אֵשׁ יָרְדָה מֵהַשָּׁמַיִם) and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple," with the people bowing and worshiping. The Chronicler deliberately patterns Solomon's temple inauguration on the Leviticus 9 tabernacle inauguration: divine fire + consumed sacrifice + glory-manifestation + prostrate worship. This structural repetition establishes the temple as the legitimate successor to the tabernacle, validated by the same divine fire of acceptance.
