Study Desk

"Sometimes they will sin against you, and you will stop the rain from falling on their land. Then they will pray toward this place and praise your name. You will make them suffer, and they will be sorry for their sins.

So please listen in heaven to their prayer. Then forgive us for our sins. Teach the people to live right. Then, please send rain to the land you gave them.

In that faraway land, your people will think about what happened. They will be sorry for their sins, and they will pray to you. They will say, ‘We have sinned and done wrong.'

They will be in that faraway land of their enemies, but they will turn back to you. They will feel sorry for their sins with their whole heart and soul. They will turn toward the land you gave their ancestors. They will look toward the city you chose and toward the Temple I built, and they will pray to you.

Please listen from your home in heaven. Accept their prayers when they beg for help, and help them. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

So there at the Temple, King Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the festival. People came from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the border of Egypt in the south. This huge crowd of people enjoyed themselves for seven days.

On the eighth day, they had a holy meeting because they had celebrated for seven days. They made the altar holy and it was to be used only for worshiping the Lord. And they celebrated the festival for seven days.

On the 23rd day of the seventh month, Solomon told the people to go home. All the people thanked the king, said goodbye, and went home. They were happy because of all the good things that the Lord had done for David his servant and for his people Israel.

So Solomon finished building the Lord 's Temple and the king's palace. Solomon did everything that he had planned to do in building a house for the Lord and for himself.

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "Solomon, I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for myself to be a house for sacrifices.

and if my people who are called by my name become humble and pray, and look for me, and turn away from their evil ways, then I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land.

then I will take the Israelites out from my land that I gave them. And I will leave this Temple that I have made holy for my name. I will make this Temple something that all the nations will speak evil about.

It took 20 years for King Solomon to build the Lord 's Temple and the king's palace.

There were many people left in the land who were not Israelites. There were Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Israelites had not been able to destroy them, but Solomon forced them to work for him as slaves. They are still slaves today.

Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the house he built for her. He said, "My wife must not live in King David's palace because the places where the Lord 's Holy Box has been are holy places."

Solomon followed his father David's instructions. He chose the groups of priests for their service and the Levites for their duties. The Levites were to lead the praise and help the priests from day to day to do what needed to be done in the Temple service. And he chose the gatekeepers by their groups to serve at each gate. This is the way David, the man of God, instructed.

Solomon answered all the questions. None of her questions was too hard for him to explain.

King Solomon used this special wood to make steps for the Lord 's Temple and the king's palace. Solomon also used the algum wood to make lyres and harps for the singers. No one ever saw such beautiful things like those made from the algum wood in the country of Judah.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for. He gave her more than she brought to give him. Then the queen of Sheba and her servants left and went back to their own country.

King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold. He used about 15 pounds of gold for each shield.