Solomon Who Was David’s Son
Do you know that Solomon knew not only the nature of humans but also the nature of plants and animals?
Yes, Solomon was a person who was blessed by God with a lot of wisdom and this wisdom was not limited to humans, but Solomon also knew about the nature of plants and animals. He knew what plants and animals wanted and thought. This is very interesting because it is not common for a person to have knowledge about plants and animals.
Introduction
Solomon has a very important role in the Bible. He was a person of great wisdom. Because of his wisdom, He was very popular among the people. He is known as the third king of Israel who was the son of David. Saul became the first king of Israel. After his disobedience, God made David the king of Israel. When David died, his son Solomon became the king. Solomon was a just ruler. He always made fair decisions between people. At that period, people had a lot of wealth.
Verse
“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 3:28)
Verse
“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:” (Proverbs 1:1)
Wisdom of Solomon
Solomon was blessed by God with a lot of wisdom, he understood a lot of things and he was very famous among the people because of his intelligence. Once there was an incident where two women were fighting with each other. The two women were claiming that this son was mine, which caused great distress to the people because no one could guess whose son it was. When the news reached Solomon, he summoned them. And asked whose son is this. Both women said that it was my son. Solomon said, well, you both have a son. But the son is one, so we cut the son into two parts, you take one part and another woman takes the other part. On this, one woman became silent while the other woman became very worried and she immediately said that you should not do this, I do not want a son, give it to another woman. People thought that the other woman was his mother. But Solomon said that the woman who said that the son should be given to another woman is his real mother because a mother cannot allow her son to be killed. Therefore, she wants his life instead of keeping him with her. This shows that Solomon was very wise and the talk of his wisdom was spread far and wide.
Verse
Reference: (1 Kings 3:16-28)
Verse
“Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.” (2 Chronicles 1:10-12)
Temple in Jerusalem
David wanted to build a temple to worship God, but God said that this work will be done by Solomon. When the era of Solomon came, he said that now he will build a temple because it was my father’s desire to build a temple and he himself. wanted That a temple should be built in which there is a center and all the people can gather there and worship and offer sacrifices. It took seven years to build the temple and about 80,000 workers were called and 70,000 laborers were employed. Apart from this, very valuable wood, silver and gold were used for its construction. This temple was very magnificent. The temple had three parts, one outer, one middle and one central.
Only ordinary people could worship in the outer part, special people used to worship in the middle part, that is, the priest and a very special person could go to the central part, but once a year. In the center of the temple is the Ark of the Covenant, which was kept during the time of Prophet Moses. It contains the staff of Moses and the tablets that were revealed. The temple was very beautiful, but later a king of Jerusalem attacked the temple, which destroyed it. After that, the temple was rebuilt, but it was not the same as the temple built by Solomon. This temple is called Solomonic Temple.
Verse
Reference: (1 Kings 6:1-38)
Verse
“Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them. Solomon sent this message to Hiram, king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel. “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.” (2 Chronicles 2:1-5)
Power of Solomon
Solomon’s reign was very good because Israel was very prosperous during his reign. Gold, silver and diamonds were piled up. Solomon asked God for wisdom more than wealth because he wanted his wisdom to be used to judge the people so that none of the people of Israel would be wronged and decisions could be made among them with justice and fairness. So that the environment of Israel could be good and they could go towards goodness. God gave him wisdom and because of his wisdom many people were influenced by Solomon. People from far and wide used to come and to meet Solomon. Solomon was blessed by God with wisdom as well as wealth. During his reign there was a lot of trade and gold and silver were piled up. Solomon even built a throne of gold and sat on it to rule. Solomon built the Solomonic temple; he spent a lot of money on it. There he built a temple of fine wood, gold and precious stones. This suggests that Solomon’s period was very prosperous. Many people were impressed by his wisdom and wealth, and the kings of countries from far away came to meet Solomon.
Verse
“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.” (1 Kings 10:23-25)
Verse
“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.” (2 Chronicles 9:22-24)
The queen of Sheba was impressed by his wealth and wisdom. She also came to meet Solomon. She thought that she could test his wisdom and wealth. She came to Solomon’s palace and saw that it was very beautiful, worked with gold and silver and precious stones. From this she realized that Solomon was very rich. She tested his wisdom by asking a difficult and complex question, which Solomon answered very easily. After that, the Queen of Sheba understood that Solomon was indeed a very wise person. She gave gold, silver, jewels and precious stones as rewards.
Verse
“The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.” (Matthew 12:42)
Verse
Reference: (1 Kings 10:1-13)
Downfall of Solomon
The era of Solomon was very prosperous and this prosperity lasted as long as Solomon continued to follow the path of God, but there came a time when he turned to idolatry. In fact, some of Solomon’s wives were non-religious which caused Solomon to turn to idolatry. This action made God very angry with Solomon which led to Solomon’s downfall and Israel was divided into two parts.
Verse
“Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.” (Nehemiah 13:26)
Verse
Reference: (1 Kings 11:1-13)
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
Solomon was a very powerful, wise, and wealthy man. His personality was very inspiring and God blessed him a lot. After this blessing, a person should live according to God’s commandments and be faithful, but Solomon disobeyed God which made him angry. It shows that we should be faithful to God. Our unfaithfulness can be very harmful to us.
Verse
“Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.” (1 Kings 11:42-43)
Verse
“Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.”(2 Chronicles 9:30-31)
