Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1924-03-20
Lesson for March %
THE REIGN OF SOLOMON

1T.
PRIMARY ToPIc-A Young. Kings
Dream.
JUNIOR ToPIC-Solomon, Choice.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
H1Solomon's wisdom and Folly
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
H-Lessons From Solomon's Reign,
Here again we must go outside Of
ne particular text assigned and make
a survey of Solomons reign.
!. Solomon Amounted King Il Kings
1870:
David had heretofore failed to show
ne people who should be king after
9tm ". 20). Through the combined
appeals of Bathsheba and Nathan, he
te now stirred to action. He immedi
ately sent fon the faithful three, Ia
aOk, Nathan and Benaiah, and babe
them to anoint Solomon king. They
speedily executed their commission,
And soon the people shouted, God
save King Solomon"
II. Soiomon's Wise Choice qI Chron
1:7-12).
l. Gods Gracious Offer ". ~ This
offer followed Solomons lavish sacri-
zee to the Lord. God said, Ask what
1 shall give thee" thus placing very
wide possibilities before the king. God,
rs it were, signed blank checks and
turned them over to Solomon to fill in
any amount that his heart desired.
This offer to Solomon was no excep-
EnpoI ono Por oprC,.4,s,,i4foa oora1l,,
Hmitless are placed before us, God
rs saying to every one of His children,
ASK, and it shall be given you.
fJohn 15:7).
2. Solomon's Wise Choice Wv. s-19)
The LORDS gracious offer brought the
king face to face with the responsible
My Of making his choice. solomon
aid not ask for wisdom for vain dis
play, but for the good Of others. He
desired inward worth, not outward
SHOW. In this choice, he asked for
swo particular things;
(1) That Gods promise to his ia
Aher, David, might be established.
(2) That wisdom would be given to
Him to perform his duties.
8. Gods Unstinted Gift to Solomon
~. III. Solomon's petition pleased the
Lord. Because ne put wisdom first
God saw that he could be trusted with
material goods also.
! III. Tire Glory Of solomon's Reign.
/. His Extensive Kingdom Il Kings
4:21-25). He ruled over the kingdoms
from the Euphrates river to the Medi-
terranean sea. except the Phoenicians,
and they were in alliance with him.
2. His Great Wisdom Il Kings
A4:29-34). 1T excelled that of the Chai-
deans, Persians and Egyptians. He
had singularly comprehensive mind.
He was:
(1) A moral philosopher He spake
Bhree thousand proverbs.
81 (2) A poet. His songs were one
thousand Eve.
t3) A botanist He spake of trees
from the cedar tree, which was in Leb-
anon, even unto the hyssop.
az A zoologist. He spake Of beasts
and Of fowl, and Of creeping things,
and Of fishes
3. The Temple q Kings 5-8). This
was an exact reproduction Of the tab
ernacle, double In size, executed in
marble and gold. The amount of la
Dor, skill and money expended on the
building was exceedingly great Il
ohron. % :14-16).
4. His Royal Palaces Adjoining the
Temple U Kings D. He was nearly
twice as long in building these as in
building the Lords house
5. His Commerce Il Kings 8 :26-2S.
Compare II Chron. o and 10:21). His
trading ships went east as far as the
Indian ocean, perhaps even to India
and west as far as Spain.
g. His Army and Navy q Kings
10 :26-29). This was for more than
display. He put his nation into a
state of preparedness.
This greatness was associated with
the name of the Lord. 1t was known
that his fame was due to his relation
with the living God.
W. SoIomon's Failure Ct Kings
II :6-12).
Because Solomon did evil in the
sight Of the Lord, the Lord was angry
with him and assured him that the
kingdom would be rent from him and
given to his servant However for the
sake of David. he would not bring this
humiliation upon Solomon while he
lived Solomon's chief offenses We're
alliances with foreign powers through
marrying kings daughters. This com
promise weakened his moral nature
and he soon followed his wives In the
worship of false gods.
The Real Source.
A great part of human suffering has