SOLOMON Reigning 971931 BC

1
SOLOMON (Reigning 971-931 BC)

• Early Years of Devoted Commitment
• Middle Years of Moral Compromise
• Late Years of Moral Decline

2
Early Years

• Project Gods Temple
• Prayer for Wisdom
• Wise Statesmanship
• Song of Solomon
• Initial challenge
• Second plot of Adonijah, Abiathar, Joab

3
Middle Years

• Palace and Harem
• Foreign alliances, imported cults
• Military fortifications
• Navy and commerce
• Proverbs
• Visit from Sheba

4
Later Years

• Extreme Wealth (1 Kgs 1023)
• Taxation System
• Royal Throne
• Many wives
• Many Pagan Shrines
• Ecclesiastes

5
Golden Age of Hebrew Poetry

• Solomons poetry
• Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes
• Rhythm of thought, not metrical beat
• Parallelisms
• Topics Romance, Worship, Didactic, National,
  Messianic

6
The Temple

• Location Moriah
• Chief Engineer Huram of Tyre (of tribe of
  Naphtali
• Materials White limestone, cedar, Gold
• Dimensions twice those of the Tabernacle with
  additional courts around it.
• National symbol and religious center
• for nation and for Judaism

7
Sins of Solomon Deu. 1714-20

• Multiplying horses
• Amassing gold and silver
• Numerous wives
• False gods I Kgs. 115-8