* King Solomon and His Wisdom * About King Solomon * The anointed son of David * One who built the temple, referred as “the house of God” (1Kings 6:1). * God gifted him with wisdom for justice, prosperity, and longevity (1Kings 3:12-13). * To take control of the trading routes, he held several intermarriages with foreign women worshipping false gods, which led him to idolatry. * He made his Israel kingdom reach its highest status and best condition. * King Solomon’s Wisdom * God Gifted King Solomon Wisdom * Solomon had a dream that God asked, “Ask what I should give you” (1Kings 3:5). * Then, Solomon answered, “Give me your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil” (1Kings 3:9). * Because Solomon asked justice to distinguish between good and bad for his people, God was “pleased” (1Kings 3:10). * God says, “Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life” (1Kings 3:12-13) * Two Women and a Baby * After King Solomon was granted wisdom, “two prostitutes brought a dispute before the king”. * They were living in one house, and had children of their own. However, one woman “accidentally” killed the baby, and “she surreptitiously removed the other woman’s child from her arms and replaced it with the dead one”.ii * King Solomon’s judgment was to “divide” the baby in half and give each women half of the body (1Kings 3:24). * This revealed the “deceiver”; the actual mother of the baby was “willing to give up her child in order to save him,” while “the deceiver” let him cut the baby.ii * His wisdom in speech is shown directly in the judgment, and “truth exposed and uncovered the lie”.ii * His wisdom is “reflected” and granted for us, too.ii This “divine wisdom” is from God, that regardless of our identity, it can “guide and govern the decisions of judges”.ii * The Queen of Sheba and Solomon * Makeda is the Queen of Sheba, who hears about the honor and wisdom of King Solomon from her brother, Tamrin. * She was curious that “she came to test him with hard questions” (1Kings 10:1). * In the ancient time, Africa was “a land of great kingdoms to which Europeans came for a first-class university education”.iii * This shows that Makeda was a wise woman and probably even well-educated queen of Sheba. * questions * She made five boys and girls look the same, and she asked him to find out which ones are boys and girls. * She had one real flower and one artificial flower that had same appearance.iv * She brought a “large emerald with a curved hole in the middle”, he needed to put and pass a thread through the hole.iv * Answers * He gave them water to wash their hands, and only girls “rolled up their sleeves”.iv * He answered by observing the bees, tending to go to the real flowers.iv * He used a silkworm that was small enough to pass through the hole with a thread.iv * Being Faithful to God and Consequences to Disobedience * The construction of temple * Solomon used the “timber of ceder and cypress” from Hiram, the king of Lebanon (1Kings 5:10).