Solomon

[Tom Tighe]

Solomon has officially taken over as king. His older brother and rival for power, Adonijah, asks to have as wife the young lady brought in to snuggle with David to keep him warm in his old age. Solomon instead has him executed, along with Joab, as David recommended. This insulates Solomon from any immediate political threat. Then in a dream, Solomon asks God for wisdom. This wisdom is proven out in the case of the 2 women fighting over the live baby and this really satisfies the people of Israel that they are in good hands. Solomon is probably the most successful king of Israel and writes down a lot of his thoughts along the way. He does rule faithfully for a quite a while, but eventually succumbs to the ways of the world. It seems power, wealth, and success leads people away from trusting or depending on God.

[Tom Tighe]

The Temple is finished and is wonderful. God is pleased. I think. 2 Chronicles 7 describes fire coming from heaven to consume the burnt sacrifice and "the Glory of the Lord" filling the Temple so that the priests could not enter. I'm not sure what this looked like, but I envision something like a fog that emits a bright light. Maybe I've seen too many movies.
The thing I know for sure is that this is a written record of a supernatural event that was witnessed by thousands of people.
Then Solomon threw a party. 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep are sacrificed and Bar-B-Qued and they stayed for 8 days. Just think of the logistics involved.
God again speaks to Solomon in a dream and repeats His promise to David, and really the promise from Deuteronomy: follow His simple rules and don't try to find other gods or make up idols and you will be successful.