Solomon's Kingdom

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2 Chronicles 1:1 "And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly."

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Solomon and his Kingdom for Little Kids

This map shows the Kingdom of Israel during the time of Solomon, with pictures of what his beautiful temple may have looked like.

After King David had died, Solomon became the third king of Israel. He inherited the kingdom which extended from the great Euphrates River all the way to the river of Egypt in the South. Solomon wanted to be a man of God like his father, so before he made any decisions he traveled to Gibeon to ask God what he should do as king. While he was there, he had a dream, and the Lord appeared to him and offered him whatever he wanted. Solomon chose wisdom so that he could lead God's great people well. Because Solomon gave God such a great answer, He granted his request and Solomon became the wisest man who had ever lived!

Unlike his father, David, Solomon was not a warrior. He wanted to keep peace throughout the land and develop good relationships with the surrounding kingdoms. Solomon made trade routes, so he could become friends with the other nations and they could help each other. These trade routes did more than make Solomon friends, but they also made him very wealthy! It did not take Solomon very long to become the wealthiest king in the world.

With his wealth, he was able to build a huge army with horses and chariots and a beautiful temple in Jerusalem that was made out of gold! People were amazed by Solomon's wisdom and his wealth and would travel across the world just to hear his wisdom and see his temple.

Even though Solomon did so much to help the nation of Israel, he did a lot of things that hurt it too. Because he wanted to stay friends with the surrounding nations, Solomon married many foreign kings' daughters even though the Bible says to have only one wife. Solomon allowed his wives to bring in their false gods to worship, and many of the Israelites started to worship the false gods instead of the one true God. Eventually, the mistakes that Solomon made led to the splitting of Israel into two kingdoms.

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Solomon and his Kingdom for Big Kids

Solomon. When King David was dying he anointed his son Solomon and encouraged him to "seek God with a whole heart and a willing mind." After King David had died Solomon became king, and he inherited the kingdom of his father David which extended from the great Euphrates River to the river of Egypt in the South. Solomon made plans to build his palace and his temple, and he journeyed to Gibeon to seek the Lord. While he was there he had a dream and the Lord appeared to him and offered him whatever he wanted. Solomon shows wisdom so that he could lead God's great people. Because of his answer the Lord granted his request.

Solomon's Kingdom. Solomon was not a warrior like his father David, but he was a man of peace. Instead of expanding the borders of his father David's kingdom he built new trade routes throughout land and sea, and he made successful relationships with the surrounding nations. His trade routes reached down into Egypt in the South, and Mesopotamia in the East, and even unto the lands of Ophir and Sheba whose location is a mystery.

Solomon's Wealth. Solomon soon became the wealthiest king in the world, his trade routes brought him gold and other precious metals from distant lands. He built a large fleet of ships and gathered more treasures. The nations that David had conquered also brought Solomon great tribute and wealth. He was able to build a strong army, with tens of thousands of horses and chariots. Solomon also built the Temple in Jerusalem with the magnificent treasures of gold throughout. An African Queen of Sheba traveled over 1000 miles to hear Solomon's wisdom.

Solomon's Wives. In order to build strong relationships with the kings of other nations he would marry their daughters. But this became a problem for Solomon because his wives worshipped foreign gods and they persuaded Solomon to build them shrines for their gods. Some of the gods included Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech who demanded the children be sacrificed to him. The law of Moses commanded that any Israelite who worshiped Molech was to be put to death (Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:5). The law of Moses also taught that a king was not to multiply wives (Deuteronomy 17:17), Solomon not only broke the law but he is reported to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). It was not long before idolatry spread across the nation of Israel, and the Golden age of Israel was about to end.

King Solomon... Good and Bad. Solomon truly brought in Israel's Golden age, he was the wisest man of the world and the wealthiest king in the world. He loved the Lord and was destined for greater and greater things. But his biggest downfall was by disobeying God and multiplying wives. He allowed his wives to build shrines to their gods and idolatry spread rapidly in Israel. This would eventually become an incurable problem. God appeared to Solomon again and told them that the kingdom would be torn apart, and this was to happen during the lifetime of his son (1 Kings 11:9-13).

Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Solomon's wisdom rings loud and clear in the books that are attributed to him: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. These books clearly teach that it is wise and good to follow God, to obey him, and to fear him all the days of your life. The fool does otherwise, and he says in his heart that there is no God.

Proverbs 3:5-7 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil."

The study of Solomon is very important in the study of the Bible, let's pray:

Dear Jesus, thank you for the example that we have in King Solomon. He made your name great throughout the world, and your wisdom that you imparted to him caused the whole world to wonder. he built the wonderful Temple in Jerusalem with unimaginable wealth. But like all men, he fell short and sinned, and he sinned miserably. Yet your forgiveness is greater than his sin, and we thank you that through the lineage of Solomon came the Messiah who would die for the sins of the world. Thank you for the Bible and thank you for Solomon. In Jesus name... Amen!

Map of the Kingdom of Solomon for Bible Study

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