Session 5: from Solomon to Elijah Bible Study in Plain English By Bill Huebsch Session Five: From Solomon to Elijah Solomon, the Temple, the Kingdom and Elijah King Solomon. We turn now to The Books of 1 & 2 Kings. Before King David died he named his son, Solomon, king. David also gave Solomon some fatherly advice. W hat advice did King David give Solomon? Read 1 Kings 2:3-4 to find out. W rite his advice in the space below. How does this advice apply to you today? Solomon s Dream. One day, God said to Solomon in a dream, Ask something of me and I will give it to you. Solomon replied, Give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. How did God respond to Solomon s request? Read 1 Kings 3:10-14 to find out. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 1
Solomon s Test. Solomon s chance to test his wisdom came quickly. Two women came before him with a dispute. What Solomon did established his reputation as a person of wisdom. What was the dispute? How did Solomon resolve it? Read 1 Kings 3:16-28 to find out. Tell this story aloud to each other and, if you re alone in the room right now, say it aloud to yourself. W hen have you been called upon to use your wisdom in a dispute or a tricky situation? A Temple for God. Long before David s death, God told him that the task of building the Temple was not for him but for his son. Solomon was that son. And the Temple was Solomon s most important project. The Temple would be a sign of God dwelling in the midst of his Chosen People. Even the work was considered holy. Workers cut all the stone blocks at the quarry and quietly put them together at the Temple site. Not a sound could be heard from any hammer, axe, or iron-cutting tool! Where did the wood and stone used in building the temple come from? Read 1 Kings 5:20 to find out. Find these places on your map. The Holy of Holies. The most sacred part of the Temple was a room 30 feet by 30 feet, the Holy of Holies. Everything inside this area was covered with gold. Here were two cherubim angel-like creatures whose wings stretched from wall to wall. What was placed inside the Holy of Holies? Read 1 Kings 8:6 to find out. What was contained within the Ark of the Covenant? Read 1 Kings 8:9 to find out. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 2
Zion. The Temple was built on the easternmost hill in the City of David which is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is considered a holy city by three world religions. What is another name for Jerusalem, a name that identifies it as a holy place? Read 1 Kings 8:1 to find that name. A fine dedication. Solomon called together all the leaders of the nation for the dedication of the Temple. During the ceremonies, Solomon prayed a somewhat long prayer, one that contained all the hopes of the people. W hat was that prayer? Find it in 1 Kings 8:23-53 and read it aloud to each other. If you re the only one in the room right now, read it aloud anyway. Notice the elements of this prayer? Make a little list in the space below of the hopes of the people as reflected in this prayer. Note this It can be difficult to follow the history of the Temple in Jerusalem. There have been three versions of it, and the site of the Temple is sacred to three great worldwide religions. Here s a thumb nail sketch to help. Temple The first temple (about which we just read) was built by Solomon History Built on Mount Zion, the easternmost hill of Jerusalem, about 961 BCE. It stood for about 400 years. It was destroyed by invading Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Ark of the Covenant was lost during that invasion and never found again. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 3
The second temple was built at the urging of the prophet Haggai The third temple was built by Herod the Great Built and dedicated in 519 BCE after the return from the Babylonian exile. It was desecrated in about 167 BC and the Maccabean war followed. Reconstruction began in 19 BCE. It was completed in 64 CE but it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE when Jerusalem was destroyed. Part of the Western Wall from this temple still stands today and is revered by Jews; it is sometimes known as the Wailing Wall. Why is Jerusalem considered a holy city by Jews, Muslims, and Christians? How can all three faiths share one city? The Queen of Sheba. Solomon s reputation as a wise and wealthy king spread throughout the world. One day, the Queen of Sheba came to test him. She arrived in Jerusalem with a large retinue of camels, servants, and royal court. She brought spices with her, as well as gold and precious stones. She quizzed King Solomon on many things, trying to see if his wisdom was real. And it was! What was the reaction of the Queen of Sheba to all that she saw and heard in Jerusalem? Read 1 Kings 10:4-10 to find out! A Crumbling Kingdom. But alas, Solomon fell into a sinful lifestyle. You can t say that Solomon hadn t been warned more than once, in fact. Prophet after prophet tried to tell him that he was not obeying God. But did Solomon listen? No! He may have been given the gift of wisdom, but he didn t use it very well. He married women who worshipped other gods and allowed them to turn his heart. What was Solomon s sin? Read 1 Kings 11:4-6 to find out. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 4
The kingdom collapses. Pretty soon, Solomon was confused. He was following strange gods and not following in the footsteps of his father, David. Solomon s kingdom was about to fall because he did not obey God. But God did not take away the kingdom during Solomon s lifetime. God told Solomon that it would be his successor who would be punished. Who succeeded Solomon as king? Read 1 Kings 11:43 to find out. Write his name in the margin of your Bible. Forced Labor. There was another problem. Both Solomon and his successor, Rehoboam, were mean to their own people. To keep up his lavish lifestyle, Solomon forced the Hebrew people to work for him. For instance, Solomon drafted thirty thousand men to help cut trees in Lebanon for his building projects. He also used seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the quarry. There s more. Solomon divided up the country into twelve parts. Those who lived in each part were responsible for providing all the supplies for Solomon s palace. Every day the requirement was thirty donkey loads of flour, sixty donkey loads of meal, ten fatted oxen, twenty pasture fed oxen, a hundred sheep, and a certain quota of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other animals. Solomon, by the way, had 12,000 chariot horses. What did the people ask Rehoboam for in place of the forced labor and heavy taxes? Read 1 Kings 12:4 for a hint. A divided kingdom. Rehoboam s mean spirit and refusal to lighten the burdens of the people only served to cause a split in the kingdom. The ten northern tribes seceded from the king and set up their own nation in the district of Samaria. It was called the Kingdom of Israel (often also called Ephraim after it s leading tribe) and was ruled by Jeroboam I. The two tribes in the south, meanwhile, where Jerusalem is located, formed the Kingdom of Judah. It was ruled by the descendants of King David. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 5
Two kingdoms: the northern and the southern. From which Kingdom was Jesus to come? Read Micah 5:1-3 to find out. W rite this name below. Dateline The kingdom divided in about 922 BCE. Note this During this period, the leaders and the people declined in their morality and their close relationship with God. Time after time, God tried to warn them through prophets. A prophet in the biblical sense is one who speaks for God. Meet Elijah. He was a great prophet of the northern kingdom (called Israel or Ephraim) in about 865 BCE. He preached against the worship of the pagan god, Baal. The evil Queen Jezebel frightened him into exile where Elijah heard God s voice in a strange and wonderful way. Elijah s fidelity to God s covenant and his solidarity with the poor set him at odds with the rulers of his day. He spoke against kings and queens and railed against false prophets. Elijah did all this because he had heard God s voice speak to him. What was the strange way God spoke to Elijah? Read 1 Kings 19:9-14 to find out! Sacred pause Elijah recognized the presence of God in a tiny sound rather than in nature s powerful forces. First there was a great wind, then an earthquake, and then fire but the Lord was not to be found in any of them. Only in a tiny whispering sound could God s voice be heard. Pause now to think about how you hear the voice of God resounding in your own life. Look for the small, tiny moments of your day in which the voice of the Lord is waiting to be heard. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 6
Next? Elijah had the privilege of calling his successor, whose name is similar to his own: Elisha. Elisha proved to be a powerful, saving prophet. He performed miracles and gained great political influence. He continued the struggled against Baal, the false god whom many of the people now worshipped. How did Elijah hand over this mantle to Elisha? And how did Elijah depart from this world? It s an interesting and important story. Read 2 Kings 1-14 to find out! Many loaves! Elisha was indeed a great and powerful prophet. Through his miracles he showed the power of God. He saved widows, cured leprosy, demonstrated great clairvoyant powers, and was considered a savior! On one occasion, Elisha performed a miracle that would later be reflected in the works of Jesus. What was it? Read 2 Kings 4:42-44 for the answer. Why is this such an important story in the Christian faith? Conclude your study. Take a moment to tell each other what new insights into faith you gained in this study. Then conclude with a brief prayer of thanksgiving. The Bible Study in Plain English Version 2.0 2014 The Pastoral Center Page 7