VERSES: 1 Kings 5:1-18; 2 Chronicles 2:1-18
MEMORY VERSE: 1 Kings 5:9 "My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: 2 Chronicles. Write "2 Chronicles" on small slips of paper and hand out to the students at the end of class.
PRAYER: Thank God for the friends we have to love and with whom we share life. By making sure our friends are good friends and ones that will keep us close to God, we can make life better for ourselves.
SPECIAL SONG: Be Patient And Kind (see April - Lesson - Joseph Meets His Brothers Who Hated Him on this blog)
VISUAL AID: Cedar chips, Bible Map, showing Tyre and Jerusalem
LESSON POINTS:
- Solomon was determined to build a house or a temple for the LORD. It was a place where the ark of the covenant would be kept and where the LORD could dwell instead of the thick darkness (1 Chronicles 6:1, 2). Solomon was going to build a temple to the LORD and dedicate it to Him where sweet incense could be burned, where the showbread would be kept, and where sacrifices would be offered. Solomon wanted to build a great house for the LORD, but he needed something. He needed help.
- King David had a friend who lived by the sea in Tyre and his name was Hiram. King Solomon sent Hiram a message that said that David, his father, was not able to build the LORD a house because there had been many wars all around David and he had to fight. But now Solomon said that there was rest and peace all around him and he was going to build a house for the LORD, but he needed Hiram's help to do it. Solomon said that he needed men who knew how to work with wood, brass, gold, silver, stone, fine linen, purple, crimson, and blue cloth. He needed people who knew how to carve and engrave. Solomon said he knew that Hiram would be able to send men who could help him. Solomon's men and Hiram's men would work together. In return, Solomon would pay Hiram in food: 20,000 measures of wheat and 20 measures of pure oil. We learned last time that a 'measure' was about 6 bushels or 220 liters. That was a lot of food!
- Hiram was extremely happy when he heard Solomon's words and said that the LORD was blessed to have David's wise son rule over His people. He sent word to Solomon that Solomon could count on him to help. He would send the cedar trees that Lebanon were known for and also fir trees by way of the sea. He would float the trees down the coast to wherever Solomon wanted.
- So, Solomon gave Hiram food as payment, Hiram gave Solomon trees and knowledge to build the temple, and God gave Solomon wisdom. Hiram and Solomon made an agreement--an agreement between friends.
- Where were they going to get all the working men? Remember way back when we were studying about Samuel and the judges? Remember the people wanted a king instead of a judge and God said through Samuel that a king would take their sons and make them work for him? (1 Samuel 8:10-19) God tells it true. That is what King Solomon did! He used their sons for his workers. He arranged for 30,000 men to work one month for the king and then stay at home for two months in order to get everything ready for building the temple. There was a lot of work to be done!
- What a smart way to move all those cedar and fir trees from Tyre to Solomon! They floated right down the coast and they ended up right where they needed to be! Hiram really did know how to help, didn't he?
- King Solomon needed a lot of manpower, too. Read 2 Chronicles 2:17, 18 to see where he found his laborers.
- Many times, First and Second Kings and First and Second Chronicles tell the same stories as we have found out in this lesson.
Materials needed: 8" x 10" blue construction paper, 8" x 10" gold construction paper, 2" x 4" yellow scrap pf construction paper, scraps of light blue paper and brown paper, glue, scissors, marker, crayons.
- Hand out blue large blue paper. This is the sea.
- Hand out gold paper.
- Looking at the map in the Visual Aid area above, cut a wiggly line down the middle of the paper. This is the land.
- Glue the land on the right side of the sea.
- Glue 2" x 4" yellow rectangle to top of blue sea.
- Write "How Solomon Got Cedar Trees for The Temple" and "1 Kings 5:8-10" in the yellow rectangle.
- Looking at map, draw a black dot where Tyre should be. Write "Tyre" beside the dot.
- Looking at map, draw a black dot where Jerusalem should be. Write "Jerusalem" beside the dot.
- Cut a small, long oval out of the scrap of blue paper. This is the Dead Sea.
- Glue to the middle bottom of the gold paper.
- Cut an even smaller blue circle out of the blue scrap.
- Glue smaller circle a little ways above the Dead Sea. This is the Sea of Galilee.
- Connect the two seas with a tiny black line. This is the Jordan River.
- Cut small, slender snips of brown scrap. These are the cedar logs.
- Glue the logs in the blue water, but close to shore.
- Write "The Great Sea" in the middle of the blue paper.
- Finish the map by writing "Egypt" on the gold paper on the bottom left.
