This week we shall continue the
study of the book of 1 Kings in the Old Testament.
David leaves his last word to Solomon:
(1) What normally might be the last word that a godly father would leave to his children?
a. What would he say about their relationship with the Lord?
b. What would he say about their relationship with their family?
c. What other areas might he speak to?
d. In the case of a godly king like David, what would he say to his son succeeding him?
(2) What did David say in vv. 2-4 and how does what he said compare to your answers above?
(3) However, David had more to say about Joab, his commander, who had followed him for a long time and had been loyal to him (vv. 5-6):
a. In essence, what did David tell Solomon to do to Joab?
b. What reasons did he give?
- Abner left David’s enemy to join him (2 Sam. 3:12), except before that he was forced to kill Joab’s brother Asahel in battle (2 Sam. 2:18-23), only to be murdered by Joab in cold-blood (2 Sam. 3:27). Why didn’t David take action against Joab then? (2 Sam. 3:38-39)
- Amasa once betrayed David by supporting Absalom (2 Sam. 17:25), but returned to David only to be murdered by Joab (2 Sam. 20:8-10). What kind of a person was Joab? Was David right in giving Solomon such advice?
(4) What did Barzillai do to David? How kind was his action? (see 2 Sam. 17:27-29)
(5) What did David ask Solomon to do to Shimei in essence? (vv. 8-9)
a. What did Shimei do to David? (also see 2 Sam. 16:5-13)
b. Why did David tolerate him all these years?
c. What did Shimei do at the latest rebellion by Adonijah? (1 Ki. 1:8)
(6) Are you surprised by these last words of David concerning Joab, Barzillai and Shimei? Why or why not?
(7) This short passage ends with the death of David. Spend a moment to reflect on this king who was called “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22).
a. Do you think he should still be called “a man after God’s own heart” after his sins of murder and adultery? (read Ps. 51)
b. What great lessons can you learn from David’s life?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
2:13-25—The Elimination of Adonijah, the Usurper of the Throne
(1) Given the history of Adonijah gathering support to usurp the throne, what did his words in vv. 13-15 sound like to you? Did his reference to God’s will sound genuine or was it an attempt to disarm any suspicion of Bathsheba?
(2) Did he not fear for his life with this request? Why or why not?
(3) Who was Abishag, even though David did not have any sexual intimacy with her? (1:1-4)
(4) What might be the reason that Bathsheba agreed to his request?
a. Was she jealous of Abishag? (1:15)
b. Did she desire for peace between the two sons of David? or
c. Was there something else?
(5) Why did Solomon react so emotionally (and even violently) to Adonijah’s request?
(6) Why did Solomon link Adonijah’s request to his desire for his kingdom (and even to his supporters, Abiathar and Joab)?
(7) Why did Solomon decide to kill Adonijah over this request? Was he justified? Why or why not?
2:26-27—Removal of Abiathar from Priesthood
(8) Why didn’t Solomon kill Abiathar as well?
(9) What prophecy did the removal of Abiathar fulfill? (See 1 Sam. 2:30-36)
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
2:28-35—The Death of Joab
(1) Why does the Bible mention that Joab had not conspired with Absalom? What might be the difference between conspiring with Absalom and with Adonijah?
(2) Joab took hold of the horns of the altar, thinking that what worked for Adonijah must work for him:
a. Did it?
b. Why not?
(3) How heinous were the sins of Joab? (2:31 and 2:5-6)
2:36-43—The Death of Shimei
(4) What crime did Shimei commit against David? (see 2 Sam. 16:5-13)
(5) Why didn’t David kill him then?
(6) What did David tell Solomon to do with Shimei and why? (2:8-9)
(7) How did Solomon deal with Shimei? (vv. 36-37)
(8) Why didn’t he kill him right away? (1 Ki. 1:8)
(9) How did the last words by Solomon to Shimei reveal what might be in the heart of Shimei? (2:44-45)
(10) This section concludes with the words that “The kingdom was now established in Solomon’s hands”: How did the removal of these individuals — Adonijah. Abiathar, Joab and Shimei, help put the establishment firmly in the hands of Solomon?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) What did the Lord offer Solomon in v. 5 and how did it reveal how pleased the Lord was with Solomon?
(2) Why was the Lord so exceedingly pleased with Solomon? (v. 3)
a. Why was his love not tainted by his marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter? (see Note 1 below)
b. Why did the offering of sacrifices in high places serve as a qualification of his love for the Lord? (see Note 2 below)
c. However, did the Lord accept his sacrifices at Gibeon? (vv. 4-5) Why?
(3) If you were asked the same question in v. 5 by the Lord today, what might your answer be?
(4) What did God say the normal answer was? (v. 11)
(5) What did Solomon ask for? (vv. 7-9)
(6) How did it demonstrate the greatest desire of his heart and the biblical comment that he loved the Lord?
(7) Why didn’t he ask for what God might have expected from a king in v. 11?
(8) In the end, what did God grant him?
(9) How did God’s grant to him echo that of Matthew 6:33?
(10) Upon his return to where the ark of the Lord was, why did he offer sacrifices again?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note 1:
Marriage with an Egyptian woman technically was not a transgression of the Law, only marriages with Canaanites (Exod. 34:16; Deut. 7:3). Given how God was pleased with Solomon, it was obvious that Solomon did not, at least at the time, tolerate the idolatry of his wives and they would have confessed their faith in Yahweh.
Note 2:
High places were places of sacrifice and prayer, and were built upon eminences of hills, because men thought they were nearer the Deity there. But Solomon’s high places were consecrated to the worship of YHWH, and essentially different from the high places of the Canaanites which were consecrated to Baal. Nevertheless, sacrificing upon these high places was still opposed to the law, according to which the place which the Lord Himself had chosen for the revelation of His name was the only place where sacrifices were to be offered (Lev. 17:3ff). However, it was excused here on the ground that no house (temple) had yet been built to the name of the Lord. Note also that the Mosaic Tabernacle was in Gibeon at the time (1 Chr. 16:39; 21:29), but the ark, brought back by David to the City of David, was resting in the tent he built for it (2 Sam. 6:16-17).
3:16-28—Validation of Solomon’s Dream
(1) Of course, there was no DNA technology available in Solomon’s days, so how then would this case be determined?
(2) What was the most difficult part in discerning whose baby this was?
(3) What was the crux of Solomon’s approach?
(4) How did it demonstrate Solomon’s wisdom was from God?
(5) The granting of wisdom to Solomon was given through a dream (3:15). How did this incident prove that it was not just a dream but God’s revelation to Solomon?
4:1-19—Solomon’s Officials—While this passage is placed at the beginning of Solomon’s reign, it appears that it contains a recap of the major officials during the entire reign of Solomon:
(6) The first list of Solomon’s “chief officials’ (vv. 1-6) resembles today’s cabinet posts of a government which includes secretaries, recorder, command-in-chief, district officers, personal adviser, the one in charge of the palace (chief of staff?) and the head of the forced labor, with Azariah topping the list (not as a priest, but likely the top official among them). No such list was provided for David (though he must have had such officials). What might this speak to Solomon’s approach to his government and his wisdom?
(7) Solomon had twelve district governors:
a. Why twelve? (see Note below)
b. What were their responsibilities?
c. How might this speak to his wisdom in government?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
While some of the names of cities are hard to identify today, they roughly covered the territories occupied by all twelve tribes, including those east of Jordan.
4:20-28—The Prosperity Under Solomon’s Reign
(1) This is not just a passage of the might, glory and prosperity of Solomon’s reign. From the wording of vv. 20-21, one detects a special meaning. See Genesis 15:18 and 22:17. What is the biblical message conveyed by these verses here?
(2) What further depictions of Solomon’s kingdom are made by vv. 22-26?
(3) What kind of a picture is painted by the words in v. 25: “everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree”? (See Mic. 4:4; Isa. 65:21)
4:29-34—Solomon’s Fame
(4) Vv. 29-31 indicates that Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of the Eastern sages, the wise men of Egypt and of the local Israelites (see 1 Chronicles 2:6 for the names cited). Accompanying his wisdom is his “very great insight” and “a breath of understanding”. What do they mean?
(5) Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs: The collection in the Book of Proverbs represents a small collection, perhaps of the best of his sayings. Based on some of the Proverbs you have read in the past, what do you think of Solomon’s wisdom and insight?
(6) Solomon composed 1,005 songs — only the Song of Songs and two Psalms of his are included in the Bible (Ps. 72 and 127). Perhaps, you will want to read the shortest of them, Psalm 127. See what you think of his spiritual insight.
(7) How would you categorize Solomon’s scientific knowledge described in v. 33 in today’s terms?
(8) As “science”, what process would have been involved by Solomon in order that he could master such insight, understanding and knowledge?
(9) Given the description of this passage, what word or words would you use to describe Solomon?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) God did not only appoint Solomon to build His temple, but what other preparation had the Lord done in advance for him?
(2) What reason did Solomon give for David not building the temple for the Lord? Why did Solomon appear to have twisted the facts a little? (1 Chr. 22:8)
(3) What was Solomon’s express purpose for building the temple? (v. 4)
(4) By comparison, what might be some of the wrong reasons for “church planting” today?
(5) What was Solomon’s proposal to King Hiram? (v. 6)
(6) How did King Hiram modify his proposal and why? (vv. 8-9)
(7) Who was wiser in your opinion?
(8) In the end, Solomon’s men would work in Lebanon for one month (likely in assisting in logging and receiving training in woodworking) and return to be involved in the temple building directly for two months: With all the natural and human resources and time put into building such a massive and extravagantly beautiful temple, do you think it was necessary or worth it? Why or why not?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?