Of all of David’s sons, his choice to reign alongside of him during the final years of his life was Solomon. David made preparations for the construction of the temple and it would become Solomon’s task to complete. Solomon was the Lord’s choice to reign after David and Solomon was also embraced by the people of Israel to be their king. Solomon will reign as King of Israel for a total of 40 years and he will expand the borders of the kingdom to their largest ever for any King who ruled over Israel. During Solomon’s reign he will build the Temple and will live at peace with his neighbors unlike his father David. Solomon will be blessed by the Lord with wisdom, wealth, honor, and a long life. Solomon will speak or write over 3000 proverbs (several hundred of which are preserved in the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes), he also wrote 1005 songs (one of which was recorded as The Song of Songs) and he was an expert in botany and zoology. Solomon was considered to be one of the wisest men to ever walk this planet and yet in spite of that wisdom, he failed to guard himself against complacency and the temptations of evil. In this portion of our study we will see Solomon at his best and in our next lesson we will see him at his worst, but the Lord will direct him toward repentance. Solomon will eventually write the Book of Ecclesiastes which will serve as an acknowledgement of his failures, an admittance of his errors and an assent toward repentance as he openly declares that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments.
Lesson 4 – King Solomon (Student Copy)
Good News Bible Studies - Mike Southwick 