Lesson - King Solomon's Judgments

VERSES:   1 Kings 2:12-46

MEMORY VERSE:   1 Kings 2:12.   "Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father, David, and his kingdom was established greatly."

BOOK TO REMEMBER:  1 Kings.  "Write "1 Kings" on small slips of paper and hand out to the students at the end of class. 

PRAYER:   Pray for our friends and our loved ones that they may be given good health. May we, too, learn to love and obey God and remember the things we learn in the Bible.

SPECIAL SONG:  Books Of The Old Testament (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog)

VISUAL AID:   A large Activity (see below)

LESSON POINTS:

• King Solomon was now the third king of Israel, and he set out to do those things which his father had told him to do or to finish what David could not. There were many potential threats to Solomon's kingdom, and he realized that he must take care of these threats if he was to live in peace,
• Remember that Solomon had spared his brother, Adonijah's, life after he had been bold enough to assume that Adonijah was to be the king of Israel. We also remember that Adonijah had been a spoiled child and grew up to be a spoiled man. 
• One day, Adonijah went to Solomon's mother, which was not his mother, and made a request that she should go to King Solomon and ask for him. This was something that was not usually done. Adonijah knew that King Solomon would never refuse anything his mother wanted, so he had come to her to get what he wanted! Bathsheba said she would ask Solomon for him. Solomon loved his mother and, where usually a king's court was formal and forbidding, it was different when his mother, Bathsheba, came into Solomon's court. King Solomon got up off his throne to meet his mother. He bowed himself to her, sat back down on his throne, and arranged for a chair to be brought in for Bathsheba. She sat on Solomon's right side which was a place of honor. All the things that Solomon did showed that King Solomon was honoring his mother.
• When they sat down, she told Solomon that she had a request of him. King Solomon asked her what it was; he would not tell her no. But as Bathsheba spoke, making Adonijah's request and not for herself, King Solomon knew that Adonijah was behind this visit. King Solomon took the request through his mother as an insult and a great character flaw in Adonijah. Solomon told his mother that he remembered that Adonijah, Joab, and Abiathar had tried to take the kingdom of Israel away from him. King Solomon's answer must have surprised Adonijah because the king's answer was, "No!" Then King Solomon told Benaiah to take care of Adonijah and Adonijah died that day.
• Next, King Solomon remembered Abiathar and how he had sided with Adonijah, so he told Abiathar that he was was worthy of death, but he would not kill him because Abiathar had bore the ark of the covenant under David's reign. Abiathar was told to go back to his fields to live and he could not be a priest anymore. Zadok was the priest. 
• Also, King Solomon remembered Joab and how he had been against King Solomon reigning as king and had helped Adonijah try to be king, so Solomon told Benaiah to go and get Joab and bring him to King Solomon. Joab must have known bad news was coming because he ran into the tabernacle of the LORD and held the horns of the altar. When Benaiah reported to Solomon that Joab would not come, Solomon told him to kill Joab and Benaiah killed him and then buried him at Joab's own house.
• There was also a man who King David had promised not to kill even though the man was disrespectful to King David when Absalom had tried to take over the kingdom of Israel. His name was Shimei and, at the time, was a very rude and crude person to David. Now, King Solomon remember Shimei and told him to build a house in Jerusalem, but to never leave the house. It was kind of like house arrest. Shimei did what Solomon said, but, one day, Shimei's servants had left him and Shimei went after them. Someone told King Solomon and he called for Shimei. When Shimei came before Solomon, Solomon reminded him of their agreement and how Shimei had broken this oath. Solomon also told him that he knew about about how wicked Shimei had been to his father, David, and now Shimei had to pay. Benaiah was commanded to kill Shimei as well. King Solomon had fulfilled all of his father's wishes.

"Older Student" Tips:

• Even at a young age, Solomon showed signs of wisdom because he worshiped God and obeyed him. He did not act out of revenge or hatred, but a calm sense of uprightness and honor. He fulfilled his father's last wishes, and he did it in a way that was one of honor.
  

ACTIVITY: King Solomon's Judgments Card Game
Materials needed:   12" x 18" yellow construction paper, 12" x 18" blue construction paper. marker, scissors.

1. Hand out yellow paper to students.
2. Fold top edge of yellow paper down two inches.
3. Fold the rest of the paper into fourths.
4. Draw on lines to divide areas.
5. At top of paper, write "King Solomon's Judgments" and "1 Kings 2:12-46"
6. In each section, write one name:  Adonijah, Abiathar, Joab, Shimei.
7. Hand out blue paper.
8. Fold blue paper into eight sections.
9. Cut blue paper on folded lines, making eight cards.
10. On Adonijah's two cards, write "He asked Solomon's mother to make a request" on one card, and "NO!" on the other card.
11. On Abiathar's two cards, write "He could not be a priest anymore" one one of Abiathar's cards and "Go back to his fields" on the other card.
12. On Joab's two cards, write "He held the horns of the altar" on one card and "Killed and buried at his own house" on the other card.
13. On Shimei's two cards, write "He was disrespectful to Solomon's father, David" on one card and "Broken oath = death" on the other card.
14. To play this learning game, Place yellow paper on table. Mix the eight cards up very well. Turn cards upside down on table. One person draws a card and reads it out loud, then places the card on the correct name that is written on the yellow paper. If the person makes the incorrect answer, then they must place the card on the bottom of the deck. Then, it is the next person's turn. Rotate in this manner until all card are placed on the correct names. Important: Everyone cheers for everyone else.