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Bible

Understanding

Made Easy

Solomon

Solomon was one of the most famous men in the Bible.  He was also the wisest man who ever lived.  However, despite his incredible intelligence and wisdom, he fell into a sinful lifestyle due to the influence of ungodly wives in his life.  Here are some highlights from his Biblical story:

 

  1.  In 2 Samuel 12, we see the birth of Solomon to King David and his wife, Bathsheba.

    1. He was the second son of this couple as their first child died.

    2. The Bible shows us that Solomon was loved by the Lord immediately.

      1. It says, “24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah” (2 Samuel 12:24-25).

      2. Jedidiah means “loved by God!”

    3. The Lord loves all children; including you!

      1. So, always feel good about yourself, because no matter if good or bad things happen in your life, God loves you!

      2. Just like Solomon, He loved you from the moment you were born!

  2. In 1 Kings 1, we see mercy in the heart of Solomon.

    1. The Bible says that Solomon’s brother, Adonijah, made himself king but did not have the authorization to do so.

    2. He did this while David, their father, was sick and near death (1 Kings 1:1-6).

    3. Unfortunately, David’s military general, Joab, joined forces with Adonijah (1 Kings 1:7).

      1. Adonijah held a feast in celebration, but did not invite those loyal to David such as Nathan the prophet or his brother, Solomon (1 Kings 1:7-10).

    4. Nathan broke the news of Adonijah making himself king to David’s wife, Bathsheba.

      1. He advised her to tell David in order to save her life and the life of Solomon.

      2. This warning was most likely true.

      3. Normally, when a royal son took power, he killed his brothers.

      4. Most likely, Adonijah would have attempted to assassinate Solomon to make sure power was his alone (1 Kings 1:11-14).

    5. The Bible says that Bathsheba went to King David and reminded him that he promised to put Solomon on the throne as his successor (1 Kings 1:11-40).

      1. As he promised Bathsheba, Nathan also told David of what was done by Adonijah.

      2. David ruled that Solomon would be the rightful king.

    6. Upon hearing that Solomon was made king, Adonijah’s friends fled and he ran into the Tabernacle area.

      1. In order to keep Solomon from killing him, he held on to the altar.

        1. The altar at the Tabernacle was a place of refuge for some children of Israel (Coffman, n.d.)

        2. The altar was a holy place as it was used to offer animal sacrifices to God.

        3. Normally, people would not murder each other if one had taken hold of the altar as it was a holy place.

      2. Out of mercy for his brother, Solomon said that he would not kill Adonijah if he would change his ways.

        1. Adonijah did promise to change and bowed down to Solomon’s authority.

        2. True to his word, Solomon did not kill Adonijah (1 Kings 11:41-52).

    7. What do we learn from Bathsheba in 1 Kings 1?

      1. We learn the concept of urgency!

      2. We learn that when problems arise in our lives, we are to act upon them immediately.

      3. Procrastination may sometimes cause situations to become worse or irreparable!

      4. So, do not sit on problems.

      5. Work on them immediately.

      6. For example, you often do not do well on tests in school if you wait until the night before to prepare.

      7. Most of the time, you will do better in your studies if you start studying earlier in the week so that you are not rushing to learn information.

      8. You often forget what you studied the night before a test, because you waited too long to study and the rushing caused you not to remember at test time!

      9. This applies to spiritual things as well.

      10. When two Christians are not getting along, God wants them to work out their differences immediately and come to a peaceful relationship again even before they try to worship Him (Matthew 5:23-24; 18:15-17).

      11. When it comes to salvation, all mankind needs to come to saving relationship with Jesus Christ before it is everlastingly too late.

        1. This is the most urgent thing in one’s life.

        2. This is because our lifespan on earth is so short and unpredictable that we do not know if tomorrow is coming for us or not (James 4:13-15).

        3. Only God knows how long we will live (Job 14:5).

        4. Even the most knowledgeable doctors and medical equipment cannot really pinpoint the exact time when someone is going to die!

        5. Thus, it is best to get one’s spiritual life in order immediately.

        6. Otherwise, procrastination is like playing Russian roulette with one’s soul.

        7. Eternal salvation can be missed due to procrastination in one’s life!

    8. What do we learn from Solomon?

      1. We learn forgiveness.

      2. Of course, Solomon could have eliminated Adonijah due to him being a traitor.

      3. Remember, forgiveness must be within us all to please God.

      4. Without forgiveness, God will not forgive us either (Matthew 6:14-15)!

  3. 1 Kings 2 speaks about David’s final commandments to his son, Solomon, before he died.

    1. David said the following words to Solomon, “2 I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

      1. As you can see, David was preparing Solomon to be a man, a godly person, and good king!

      2. This is what a good parent always does and all children should be appreciative of.

      3. Parents are not going to be with us forever.

      4. This is why they take the time to teach us how to survive in this world and live a life pleasing to God.

      5. David was showing Solomon that he was to live right in the sight of God.

        1. The result of Solomon living right would be God pouring down blessings upon him.

      6. The blessing David emphasized is that if Solomon would live in obedience to God’s Word, the Lord would make sure that Solomon and his descendants would always be in power as kings over Israel. 

    2. Moving ahead in the chapter, the Bible shows us that David died after being king in Israel for forty years.

      1. Then Solomon sat on the throne of Israel as its undisputed leader (1 Kings 2:10).

  4.  In 1 Kings 3, we see Solomon asking God for wisdom.

    1. The Bible says, “4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:4-9 New International Version).

      1. As you can see, Solomon was a new king and needed to know how to rule over the children of Israel.

      2. As a result, he went to the right place for wisdom-God!

      3. God always wants us to come to Him for wisdom.

      4. Just like Solomon, God tells us to pray to the Lord so that He can guide our footsteps.

        1. In fact, the Bible says, “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do” (James 1:5-8 New International Version).

        2. God invites us to ask Him for wisdom to make the right decisions in this life.

        3. Thus, never stop praying for God’s help in your life.

        4. God never gets tired of hearing from us.

        5. He always has time available for us as well.

        6. However, we have a personal responsibility when we pray though.

        7. That is, we must believe that God will grant our requests or we will not receive them at all.

        8. So, even if a lot of time goes by, does not mean God will not answer your request(s).

        9. He will move in His time and not ours.

        10. He can grant an instant request or He can take a while to get things done for us.

        11. But that is His decision to make and not ours.

        12. Be patient, faithful, and prayerful and you will see a difference in your life!

    2. Returning to our story, we find some very encouraging things said to Solomon by God.

      1. The Bible says, “10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream” (1 Kings 3:10-15 New International Version).

        1. As you can see, in Solomon’s dream, God revealed how pleased He was with Solomon’s prayer.

        2. Solomon asked for wisdom to know how to be a good king toward the children of Israel.

        3. Since Solomon was not selfish with his prayer, God gave him some extra blessings.

        4. Not only did God give him the blessing of wisdom to lead as king, but He also gave Solomon riches and honor!

        5. What do we learn from the prayer of Solomon?

          1. Well, when God is pleased with our sincerity, He may very well give us some things to enjoy in life that we did not ask for.

          2. This is the kindness of God and the love of God in our lives.

          3. Sometimes, when we ask for the right things, God gives us extra blessings to make us happy.

          4. Isn’t He a good God?

          5. Surely, He is!

    3. One of the most interesting stories in the Bible is Solomon judging between two prostitutes over a custody battle!

      1. The Bible says, “16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us. 19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.” 22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king. 23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’” 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” 27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice” (1 Kings 3:16-28 New International Version).

      2. It is debatable as to whether these women were actually prostitutes or women who had children out of wedlock without being prostitutes.

        1. Different versions of the Bible present the women in different ways.

        2. However, just for simplicity’s sake, we will use the New International Version’s translation of them being prostitutes.

      3. As you can see from Solomon’s verdict to give the first woman the living child, God honored his promise to give Solomon wisdom.

        1. God blessed Solomon to understand that whatever someone cherishes, he or she will make sacrifices to protect it.

        2. You own parents make many sacrifices for you to give you a good life because they cherish you!

        3. They work hard every day so you have a place to stay, food, clothing, and shelter.

        4. This is why the Bible says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” (Ephesians 6:1 New International Version).

        5. Show your parents, honor and respect by obeying them in all they tell you to do.

        6. Their sacrifices of time, love, money, and all they do for you should motivate you to be a good child in their sight!

        7. In fact, when you are old enough, the Bible says you are to do your best to pay back your parents when they are in need (Mark 7:9-13; 1 Timothy 5:3-16).

  5. 1 Kings 5, we see Solomon start to prepare for the building of the Jewish Temple. 

    1. We commonly call this temple “Solomon’s Temple” in the history books.

    2. The Bible details Solomon gathering the building supplies and labor needed to build this gigantic structure!

  6.  In 1 Kings 6, we see the building of Solomon’s Temple.

    1. The Bible says that this building process began 480 years after the children of Israel were led out of Egyptian captivity by Moses and in only the fourth year of Solomon’s reign as king of Israel (1 Kings 6:1).

    2. The Bible also says that the Temple was six cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high (1 Kings 6:2).

      1. From a footnote in the New International Version, this would be about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high.

      2. There are roughly 11 feet in a story (“Convert feet,” 2013).

      3. So, this would mean that Solomon’s Temple stood over 4 stories high!

      4. That is a really big building!

      5. So, this was a lot of work to get done!

      6. The Bible says that it took seven years to build Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 6:38).

  7. In 1 Kings 8, we see the Ark of the Covenant being brought into the Temple.

    1. The Ark contained the 2 tablets of stone with the writing of the Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel during the days of Moses.

    2. It also contained the staff of Aaron; who was Moses’ spokesperson in those days.

    3. Lastly, it contained a golden bowl of manna, which was the miraculous food God provided for the children of Israel when they were wandering in the desert to the land of Israel.

    4. It was also the presence of God, because in Moses’ day, God would speak to Moses from the Ark (Exodus 25:22).

    5. It was a large box covered in gold with two Cherubim on top.

      1. A Cherubim was a winged creature that God created (Hebrews 9:1-8).

    6. The Ark was put in the Holiest of Holies room, which was the room most sacred to God and was off-limits to everyone but the high priest (Exodus 26:34; Leviticus 16:2).

      1. The high priest could only go in this room once per year to sprinkle a bull’s blood on the mercy seat of the Ark for the sins of the people (Hebrews 9:25; Leviticus 16).

  8. In 1 Kings 9, we see God speaking to Solomon, making promises to him, and calling for the king to obey Him for blessings to come in his life.

    1. The Bible says, “3…I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 6 “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them” (New International Version).

      1. Notice, God promised that Solomon’s rule as king personally and through his descendants who would become king after him would never end if he obeyed God’s commandments.

      2. Specifically, God did not want Solomon or his descendants to become idol worshippers.

      3. If so, then God would rip the kingdom from Solomon and his descendants.

      4. Also, if Solomon and his descendants became idol worshippers, God would destroy Solomon’s Temple was well.

      5. Unfortunately, Solomon did not listen to God.

      6. He married many wives who were idol worshippers and they persuaded him to worship idols as well.

      7. Solomon started a long chain of many of his descendants worshipping idols.

      8. Hundreds of years later, this long chain of idol worshipping kings brought down the wrath of God upon the children of Israel causing the descendants of Solomon to be conquered by the Babylonians, taken off into slavery in Babylon, and the Temple torn down to the ground.

      9. What do we learn from Solomon’s disobedience?

        1. This goes back to our dating lesson from long ago.

        2. God wants us to date god-fearing, Christian people so that sinfully, rebellious people do not influence us to become sinful.

        3. So, always date other good, Christian people so your heart is not turned away from God as Solomon’s was.

  9. Moving on to 1 Kings 10, we see the Queen of Sheba traveling to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

    1. She was very impressed more than she anticipated by Solomon’s responses to her questions (1 Kings 10:1-13).

    2. Remember, God put His wisdom within Solomon (1 Kings 10:23-24).

    3. We gain God’s wisdom today by studying God’s Bible.

    4. Thus, even though you are young, learn to study your Bible every day.

    5. That way, you will accumulate wisdom so you are able to answer the questions of others as Solomon did with Sheba.

    6. As Christians, it is our responsibility to share the Word of God with others so they can be saved (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:1-3). 

    7. You can’t share what you don’t know for yourself.

    8. So, never become too lazy, busy, or selfish to study God’s Word.

    9. It will help you make wiser decisions, stay out of trouble in life, and be knowledgeable enough to teach others!

  10. In 1 Kings 11, we start to see the imperfection and fall of Solomon.

    1. Solomon made the mistake of marrying foreign wives.

      1. God had strictly forbidden the kings of Israel from marrying wives from foreign countries, because they would persuade the kings to become idol worshippers.

      2. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

      3. God was angry with Solomon for doing this.

      4. So much so, God would take power from Solomon’s descendants as a punishment upon him.

      5. Later, after the death of Solomon, God took and ripped away 10 tribes of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel.

      6. However, God did not rip away the 10 tribes until Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became king later in Bible history (1 Kings 11:1-13).

        1. The 10 tribes would be led by a king named “Jeroboam” later in Bible history.

      7. When you hear someone teach about the divided kingdom, they are talking about the time when the children of Israel were divided into these two separate countries due to Solomon’s disobedience.

        1. Again, the northern kingdom was called “Israel” and was led by Jeroboam.

        2. The southern kingdom was called “Judah” and Rehoboam became its king.

          1. The only tribes left that were apart of Judah were Benjamin and Judah.

      8. Lord Willing, we will study more about these two kingdoms in a future Bible study lesson if the Lord Wills.

    2. Lastly, the Bible shows the death of Solomon.

      1. He was the king of Israel for 40 years (1 Kings 11:41-43).

 

In conclusion, as you know, Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.  However, selfishness within him caused him to disobey God by marrying numerous foreign wives.  As a result, he was led astray from God.  This should tell us to only marry godly, Christian folks.  That way, we can have the love of our lives and please God at the same time.  Remember, everyone who we think is a good pick is not good for us!  So, choose who you will marry wisely, because your relationship with God means more than your relationship with anyone else in this world!

 

REFERENCES

 

Coffman, J. (n.d.). Coffman commentaries on the Old and New Testaments. Retrieved August 8, 2013 from http://classic.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=1ki&chapter=001.

 

Convert feet to story – conversion of measurement units. (2013). Retrieved August 23, 2013, from http://www.convertunits.com/from/feet/to/story.

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