Catholic Replies

• 1 year ago

Editor’s Note: This series on the Bible is from the book Catholicism & Scripture. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. See the email and postal addresses at the bottom of this column.

Special Course On Catholicism And Scripture (Chapter 12)

King Solomon, who succeeded his father David, is best known for his wisdom. For example, he was asked to resolve a dispute between two women over who was the mother of a child. One of the women had accidently rolled over on her baby while sleeping and smothered the baby. So, she substituted the dead child for the living child of the other woman. After listening to both women, Solomon proposed to cut the child in half and give half to each woman. The woman who was the true mother told the king not to kill her son, but to give him to the other woman. The other woman said to go ahead and divide the baby in two. Solomon said, “Give the first one the living child! By no means kill it, for she is the mother” (1 Kings 3:27).

Solomon’s wisdom is further illustrated by his authorship of many of the wise sayings in the Book of Proverbs. For example, he said that “ill-gotten treasures profit nothing,” that “hatred stirs up disputes,” that “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,” that “the fear of the Lord is training for wisdom,” that “pride goes before disaster,” and that “a good name is more desirable than great riches.”

Not long after Solomon became King, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him to ask for anything he wanted. “Give your servant,” said Solomon, “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong” (1 Kings 3:7-9). God was pleased with the King’s answer and said to him:

“Because you have asked for this — not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right — I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you” (3:11-12).

But God also said that He would give Solomon “what you have not asked for, such riches and glory that among kings there is not your like. And if you follow me by keeping my statutes and commandments, as your father David did, I will give you a long life” (3:13-14). Solomon quickly benefited from the wisdom and knowledge that God had given him, and his kingdom spread in wealth and fame.

On one occasion, the Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to ask Solomon questions on a variety of subjects. She said afterward that there was no question Solomon could not answer, and she was rendered “breathless” by his extraordinary wealth.

One of Solomon’s major accomplishments was to erect a magnificent temple in Jerusalem to honor the Lord and to house the Ark of the Covenant, which had never had a permanent home. “I have truly built you a princely house,” he said to the Lord, “a dwelling where you may abide forever” (8:13). He asked God to promise that someone from the line of David would always sit on the throne of Israel. God said that He would fulfill the promise, but He warned Solomon that if he and his people failed to keep the Commandments, and venerated and worshiped strange gods, “I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them and repudiate the temple I have consecrated to my honor” (9:7).

The Temple of Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B and replaced in 515. That temple stood until a new one was constructed by King Herod, beginning in 19 B.C. Jesus often visited that temple and in A.D. 30 predicted its destruction. Forty years later, in A.D. 70, the Romans destroyed not only the temple but the entire city of Jerusalem. There has been no need for another temple since that time because Jesus said that His Body, the Church on Earth, would become God’s dwelling place.

Unfortunately, Solomon committed great sins by turning his back on God, breaking the law of Moses, and getting involved with pagan wives who persuaded him to build shrines to false gods. God said that He would not deprive Solomon of his kingdom “for the sake of your father David” (11:12), but He raised up enemies against Israel that led to its eventual collapse. Only two tribes out of twelve remained faithful to God and continued the lineage of David.

After nearly a century of power and splendor under Kings David and Solomon, civil war came to Israel. A series of bad kings, men who did evil in the sight of the Lord, divided the country into the Northern Kingdom of Israel (10 tribes) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 tribes) and led eventually to exile in the sixth century B.C. The only good ruler during those years was King Josiah (640-609), who attempted to restore the kingdom of David and banish all foreign cults but died in battle. God would next send prophets to call His people back to Him.

List of Answers:

CHURCH

FEAR

HATRED

HEART

JOSIAH

JESUS

KINGS

LIPS

NAME

PRIDE

PROVERBS

SHEBA

SINS

TEMPLE

TREASURES

Quiz:

1. Solomon authored many of the sayings in the Book of ______________.
2. For example, “ill-gotten __________________ profit nothing.’
3. “_______________ stirs up disputes.”
4. “Lying _______ are an abomination to the Lord.”
5. “The _________ of the Lord is training for wisdom.”
6. “_________________ goes before disaster.”
7. “A good _____________ is more desirable than great riches.”
8. All Solomon asked of God was an understanding ______, not power or riches.
9. The Queen of _____________ was astonished by Solomon’s wealth and wisdom.
10. ___________ said years later that His wisdom was greater than Solomon’s.
11. Solomon was the first person to build a ____________ to the Lord in Jerusalem.
12. The _______________ is God’s earthly dwelling place today.
13. Solomon’s _________ began the fall of the kingdom of Israel.
14. The _______ of Israel divided the country into a northern and southern kingdom.
15. ___________ was the only good King who did what God wanted him to do.