I chose to write about the character of Solomon because he is God’s favorite son of David. It is interesting that Solomon is God’s favorite as Solomon was born of an affair between Bathsheba and David. Bathsheba was the wife of someone else when she conceived Solomon with David. This is important to me because it shows that no matter where you come from, you can go anywhere and do anything.
Solomon is important to Judaism because he was allowed to build the temple where God himself dwelled. This is the first temple in history to be dedicated to the Jewish God, Yahweh. Finally, the Jewish people had a place to worship their God.
The life of Solomon is both an example and a warning to Christians and Jews alike. He is an example because he was allowed to build the temple. He is a warning because he let material things tear him away from his faith. Both the Old and New Testaments warn against too much wealth because it makes one believe in one’s own abilities rather than trust in God to provide. He is a warning for another reason. He married many foreign wives and started worshipping foreign gods, which took him away from the true faith. Because he was distracted from the true God, part of his kingdom was taken away from him. The lesson to be learned is that there is always a price to pay for poor choices, no matter how much God favors you. Today we do not believe that God takes things away from people but there are natural consequences to bad decisions.
Works Cited
“1 Kings.” Needprayer.com. n.p., n.d. Web. 2 December 2011.
