Preschool Teacher Guide Session Title: Solomon Built the Temple Bible Passage: 1 Kings 6:1-8:66 Big Picture Question: What did King Solomon build? King Solomon built a temple for God. Key Passage: 1 Kings 8:61 Unit Christ Connection: Solomon s grand earthly reign is a picture of the eternal reign of Christ. Solomon s sin divided his kingdom but Christ s perfect Kingdom is forever. TEACHER BIBLE STUDY Prep Time When David was king, he wanted to build a temple for God, but God did not allow him to. When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Sam. 7:12-13). God said King David s son would build the temple. King Solomon began to gather materials to build the temple. He ordered cedar and cypress timbers from Lebanon. He gathered 30,000 men from all of Israel as laborers to excavate stone and prepare the timbers for the temple s construction. The temple was impressive. The entire interior was cedar. King Solomon had everything covered with gold. In all, it took seven years for the temple to be completed. Inside the temple were furniture and accessories. (See 1 Kings 7:48-50.) It came time to dedicate the temple. All of the Israelites gathered in Jerusalem. The priests brought the ark of the Lord to the most holy place, and a cloud filled the house of the Lord. God s glory filled the temple. Solomon prayed to God. He praised God for keeping His covenant with David. Solomon recognized that God is not confined to a temple. Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built (1 Kings 8:27). Solomon s prayer and speech to the Israelites were followed by a great offering to God. The temple was where God met with His people, and it gave God s people a more permanent place to worship Him. The priests followed specific instructions to approach God on behalf of His people. Jesus changed everything when He died for our sins on the cross. By taking our sin upon Himself, Jesus made the way for sinners to come to God. 1 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
Welcome/Transition Time (15 minutes) Lesson Snack/Video Activities WELCOME/TRANSITION TIME (15 minutes) Greet boys and girls as they arrive. Direct them to work on the color/activity page. After that, they may choose to play with a favorite toy or do another activity that you have provided. Color Page/Activity Sheet: Color the Cattle - provided Crayons or colored pencils color/activity sheet, 1 per child Say When the temple was completely built, the priests moved the ark of the covenant into the temple. King Solomon and the people sacrificed many cattle and sheep. Find what color is missing in the pattern below and color each one correctly. Hint for teachers: The patterns are in groups of three. When the animals and colors change, a new pattern is beginning. Colors in brackets are the missing colors. Beginning with the first animal, the patterns are sheep: [red] - blue - purple - red - blue - purple cows: orange - orange - [purple] - orange - orange - purple sheep: [green] - yellow - yellow - green - yellow - yellow cows: blue - [red] - blue - red - blue - red Build with Blocks Build with whatever construction toys you have available. Challenge kids to build quietly. Say When the temple was being built, there was no noise of tools cutting stones. (1 Kings 6:7) Transition to Lesson Use your usual transition cue to signal that it is time for Bible study. Ring the bell, show the countdown video, flip the lights, or clap a simple rhythm for children to copy to gain attention. 2 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
LESSON Worship Music Classroom DVD contains worship songs for each unit that the children will enjoy learning. Unit 12 DVD Story Time Point in your Bible to 1 Kings 6. Explain that the Bible story you are about to watch or hear is from this passage in the Bible. Ask whether it is true and why or why not. (True; it s in the Bible.) Watch the Bible story video, or tell the story with your Bible open. THE BIBLE STORY Solomon Built the Temple 1 Kings 6:1 8:66 David had been king over Israel for many years. Now it was Solomon s turn to be king. God made Solomon a very wise king. Solomon had been king for four years when he began to build a temple for God. Ever since God had saved the Israelites from Egypt, God had been with them in a tent. The tent had been where God met with His people for hundreds of years! King David wanted to build a temple for God, but God did not allow him to. God said Solomon would build him a temple. Building a temple wasn t easy. It was a very big job! King Solomon had many, many men helping build the temple for God. The workers cut cedar logs and big stone blocks. They worked hard and laid the bottom of the temple. They built the outside of the temple. God was happy with the temple. He made a promise to Solomon. If you obey Me and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father, David. I will live among the Israelites, and I will not leave My people. The builders kept working very hard to build the temple. They worked for seven more years, and they did a very good job! There were many rooms, and inside the temple were wood panels with flowers carved on them. King Solomon covered everything on the inside of the temple with pure gold. He hired some men to make bronze furniture for the temple, like bronze bowls for holding water. Finally, the temple was ready! It was time for Solomon to move the ark of God into the new temple. King Solomon gathered the leaders of Israel. As the priests moved the ark and the tent of meeting, King Solomon and everyone who was there sacrificed sheep and cattle to God. There were so many sheep and cattle! No one could count them! 3 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
When the priests came out of the temple, the temple was filled by a cloud. God s glory was in the cloud. Solomon said to the Israelites, Praise God! He also said, God promised David that his son would build a temple. We did it! God kept His promises! Solomon prayed with his hands spread out toward heaven. There is no God like You! Solomon prayed. When Solomon was finished praying, he turned toward the Israelites and encouraged them to love God and to do what He says. When the people went home, they were happy because God was good to them. Christ Connection: God is holy. Only the priests could go into God s special place in the temple, and they had to follow special rules because they were sinful. Jesus took away our sin when He died on the cross. When we know and love Jesus, we talk to God on our own. * Use only the words in bold to review the Bible story or tell it to younger preschoolers. Review/Key Passage Key Passage Poster Big Picture Question Poster Ask questions about the Bible story. The answers are very simple, so the kids might want to answer aloud as a group. Who wanted to build the temple but God said no? (King David) Whom did God choose to build the temple? (King Solomon) Did Solomon build the temple by himself? (No!) Talk about different skills required to build the temple: cutting and shaping big stone blocks, cutting and trimming logs into planks, carving beautiful flowers for the walls, covering the walls with gold, making bronze furniture for the temple, and more. What was the very important thing that had to be moved into the temple? (the ark of God) When the priests placed the ark in the temple and then left the building, what filled the temple? (a cloud) Say God s glory was in the cloud. God is holy. Only the priests could go into God s special place in the temple, and they had to follow special rules because they were sinful. Jesus took away our sin when He died on the cross. When we know and love Jesus, we can talk to God on our own. What did King Solomon build? King Solomon built a temple for God. Solomon praised God. At the temple dedication, Solomon said these words to the people. [Read the key passage poster or read 1 Kings 8:61 from your Bible.] Sing Devoted. 4 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources
SNACK/VIDEO Snack Signal for cleanup time using the countdown video or whatever method you prefer. Take a bathroom break and wash hands before the snack. Ask for volunteers to help set up and serve the snack. Remind kids to wait until everyone has been served before eating. Thank God for your snack. Watch Video Show the video Solomon Built the Temple (from Classroom DVD) ACTIVITIES Play Sticks game - provided Begin with kids standing straight and still like a stick, facing the leader. Kids must return to the stick position when the leader calls Sticks! Call out commands such as touch your nose, reach to the ceiling, hop in place, touch your knees. Distribute craft sticks. Call out more instructions involving the sticks, such as balancing sticks on their heads, walking with sticks on their feet, or swapping sticks with a friend. Say The sticks used in building the temple were of fine wood. Solomon used cedar wood, olive wood, and cypress wood. The cedar wood was cut from trees in Lebanon. The logs were made into rafts and floated in the sea to Israel. Then they were carried over the land to Jerusalem. What did King Solomon build? King Solomon built a temple for God. Pass the Block- provided Sit in a circle. Give a different small wooden or interlocking block to every child. Play a song and invite kids to pass the blocks around the circle to the beat of the music. Pause the song periodically and invite the kids to inspect the size and shape of their block. Say Solomon covered everything on the inside of the temple with gold. He made the temple very beautiful. What did King Solomon build? King Solomon built a temple for God. Pick up Preschool children need to be picked up by a parent/grandparent and the adult must show the parent receipt with matching I.D. number. If the tag is missing, the adult can go to the Welcome Center and have a receipt reprinted. Welcome the second session teachers and tell them what they need to know about the children who are present. 5 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources