NOTES for Ch2 7:1-22
The Lord confirmed that He accepted the temple given to Him, and one visible sign of that acceptance was heavenly fire descending upon the altar. As in the days of the prophet Elijah, heavenly fire confirmed the authenticity of the faith of those who remained faithful to the Lord.
From that time on, sacrifices would be offered regularly to the Lord through the generations. Yet in themselves they could still be rejected by Him. The Lord reveals to Solomon, and through him to the whole people, that He does not need a formal, ritual religiosity: because of the people's sins, the temple too may be rejected. Not only the temple, but also those whom the Lord chose to walk before Him may not merely be rejected but swept from the face of the earth by the consequences of their iniquities.
How we would like such warnings to apply only to the distant Old Testament past! But they are addressed to us as well. Our churches too may be rejected by the Most High, and more than once He has allowed them to be closed and destroyed. We should not see the cause of this solely in the evil designs of persecutors.