2. Solomon the King

3. When David’s time to die approached,
1 Kings 2:1-4
When David’s time to die approached,
he charged his son Solomon, saying,
“I’m about to go the way of all the earth,
but you—be strong; show what you’re
made of! Do what God tells you.
Walk in the paths he shows you:
Follow the life-map absolutely,
keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for
life set out in the revelation to
Moses; then you’ll get on well in
whatever you do and wherever you go.
Then God will confirm what he promised
me when he said, ‘If your sons watch their step,
staying true to me heart and soul,
you’ll always have a successor on Israel’s throne.’

4. Solomon the King

5. Solomon said, “You were extravagantly
1 Kings 3:4-14
That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream: God said, “What can I give you? Ask.”
Solomon said, “You were extravagantly
generous in love with David my father, and
he lived faithfully in your presence, his
relationships were just and his heart right.
And you have persisted in this great and generous love by giving him—and this very day!—a son to sit on his throne.

6. 1 Kings 3:4-14
“And now here I am: God, my God, you have made me, your servant, ruler of the kingdom in place of David my father. I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes, hardly know the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the middle of the people you’ve chosen, a great people—far too many to ever count.

7. 1 Kings 3:4-14
“Here’s what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?”

8. 1 Kings 3:4-14
God, the Master, was delighted with Solomon’s response. And God said to him, “Because you have asked for this and haven’t grasped after a long life, or riches, or the doom of your enemies, but you have asked for the ability to lead and govern well, I’ll give you what you’ve asked for—I’m giving you a wise and mature heart. There’s never been one like you before; and there’ll be no one after. As a bonus, I’m giving you both the wealth and glory you didn’t ask for—there’s not a king anywhere who will come up to your mark. And if you stay on course, keeping your eye on the life-map and the God-signs as your father David did, I’ll also give you a long life.”

9. Solomon the King

10. Solomon arranged a marriage contract with
1 Kings 3:1-3
Solomon arranged a marriage contract with
Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s
daughter and brought her to the City of
David until he had completed building his
royal palace and God’s Temple and the
wall around Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the people
were worshiping at local shrines because
at that time no temple had yet been built
to the Name of God. Solomon loved God
and continued to live in the God-honoring
ways of David his father, except that he
also worshiped at the local shrines, offering
sacrifices and burning incense.

11. Solomon the King

12. King Solomon raised a workforce of thirty
thousand men from all over Israel. He sent
them in shifts of ten thousand each month
to the Lebanon forest; they would work a
month in Lebanon and then be at home
two months. Adoniram was in charge of the work crew.

13. Solomon the King

14. King Solomon was off to a good start ruling Israel.
These were the leaders in his government:
Azariah son of Zadok—the priest;
Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud—historian;
Benaiah son of Jehoiada—commander of the army;
Zadok and Abiathar—priests; Azariah
son of Nathan—in charge of the regional managers;
Zabud son of Nathan—priest and friend to the king;
Ahishar—manager of the palace;
Adoniram son of Abda—manager of the slave labor.

15. Solomon the King

16. King Solomon was obsessed with women.
Pharaoh’s daughter was only the first of the
many foreign women he loved—Moabite,
Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite.
He took them from the surrounding pagan
nations of which God had clearly warned
Israel, “You must not marry them; they’ll
seduce you into infatuations with their gods.”

17. Solomon fell in love with them anyway,
1 Kings 11:1-5
Solomon fell in love with them anyway,
refusing to give them up. He had seven
hundred royal wives and three hundred
concubines—a thousand women in all!
And they did seduce him away from God.
As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled
him with their alien gods and he became
unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his God as
his father David had done. Solomon took up
with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the
Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god
of the Ammonites.

18. Solomon fell in love with them anyway,
1 Kings 11:1-5
Solomon fell in love with them anyway,
refusing to give them up. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his God as his father David had done. Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites.