The Children's Bible Part 17

The temple was built with stone which had been made ready at the quarry; neither hammer nor chisel nor any iron tool was heard while the temple was building. Against the wall of the temple on the outside Solomon built wings, both around the larger room and the inner room, and made side-chambers around the temple.

The entrance to the lower side-chambers was on the south side of the temple. Winding stairs led to the second floor, and from the second to the third. Solomon built the wings against the sides of the temple, each seven and a half feet high; and they were joined to the temple with timbers of cedar.

He covered the walls of the temple on the inside with boards of cedar from the floor of the temple to the rafters: and he covered the floor of the temple with boards of cypress.

He also made a room thirty feet square in the back part of the temple with boards of cedar reaching from the floor to the rafters. He built it as an inner room, even as the most holy place. The temple, that is the large room in front of the inner room, was sixty feet long. And there was cedar inside the temple with carving in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar, no stone was seen. Solomon prepared the inner room as a place for the ark.

In the inner room Solomon made two winged bulls of olive wood. The height of each was fifteen feet. Each of their wings measured seven and a half feet across, fifteen feet from the end of one wing to the end of the other. He set these up in the inner room of the temple; and their wings were stretched out so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the temple; and he covered them with gold.

Then Solomon gathered in Jerusalem the leaders of Israel to bring up the ark of Jehovah out of Zion, the City of David, at the time of the autumn festival in September. When all the leaders of Israel had come, the priests took up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred vessels that were in the tent. So the priests brought in the ark of Jehovah to its place in the inner room of the temple under the wings of the winged bulls. There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at h.o.r.eb. And when the priests came out from the inner room, the cloud filled the temple of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand and perform their service on account of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah filled his temple.

Then Solomon said:

"Jehovah has set the sun in the heavens, But has said that he will dwell in thick darkness.

So I have built thee a temple as a lofty dwelling, A place for thee to abide in forever."

As Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the a.s.sembly of Israel, he spread out his hands toward heaven and said, "O Jehovah, the G.o.d of Israel, there is no G.o.d like thee in heaven above or on earth beneath, who keepest thy solemn agreement and showest kindness to thy servants who serve thee whole-heartedly, who hast kept with thy servant David my father the promise that thou didst make to him.

"But will G.o.d actually dwell on earth? Indeed heaven and the highest heaven cannot hold thee; how much less this temple that I have built!"

A RULER WHO WRONGED HIS PEOPLE

Solomon was building his palace thirteen years before he finished it. He also built the throne-hall where he judged the people. This room was the Hall of Judgment; and it was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling.

His palace where he lived, in another court farther in from the Hall of Judgment, was of the same workmans.h.i.+p. He made a palace, too, similar to this hall, for Pharaoh's daughter whom he had married. All these buildings were of costly stones, hewn according to measurements, sawed with saws, both on the inside and outside.

Solomon also gathered together chariots and hors.e.m.e.n; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand hors.e.m.e.n that he placed in the chariot cities and with him at Jerusalem. And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel who provided food for him and for his household: each man had to provide food for a month in the year.

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with puzzling questions. So she came to Jerusalem with a very large number of servants, with camels that carried spices and a great amount of gold and precious stones. As soon as she came to Solomon, she told him all that was in her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions: nothing was too difficult for him to answer.

When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace that he had built, the food on his table, the housing of his officers, the way his waiters served him, their clothing, his cup-bearers, and the burnt-offering which he offered at the temple of Jehovah, she was greatly surprised. She said to Solomon, "What I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom was true. But I would not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; but as it is, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity are even greater than what was reported to me."

Now Solomon loved women; and he married many foreign wives--Moabites, Canaanites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hitt.i.tes, and Ammonites. He had seven hundred wives of princely birth, and three hundred concubines. When Solomon was old, his wives influenced him to wors.h.i.+p other G.o.ds, and he was not loyal to Jehovah his G.o.d. Solomon built a place of wors.h.i.+p for Chemosh, the G.o.d of Moab, on the hill that is opposite Jerusalem, and for Milcom, the G.o.d of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, burning incense and offering sacrifices to their G.o.ds.

Then G.o.d raised up as a foe against him Rezon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer, king of Zobah. He gathered men about him and became commander of a robber band, and he went to Damascus and lived and reigned there. He was a foe to Israel as long as Solomon lived.

Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a man of great ability. When Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he placed him over all the men of the tribe of Joseph who were working for the ruler.

Once upon a time, when Jeroboam went away from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah of s.h.i.+loh met him on the way and took him aside. Now Ahijah had put on a new garment, and while they two were alone in the field, Ahijah took hold of the new garment he had on and tore it in twelve pieces.

Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for Jehovah, the G.o.d of Israel, declares, 'I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have only one tribe.'" So Jeroboam also rebelled against Solomon.

Solomon, therefore, wanted to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

REHOBOAM'S GREAT MISTAKE

When Solomon died, Rehoboam his son ruled after him. As soon as Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt, heard that Solomon had died, he returned at once to his home town, Zeredah in Mount Ephraim.

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had come to Shechem to make him ruler. But they said to Rehoboam, "Your father laid a heavy yoke upon us. Now make the hard service of your father and the heavy yoke that he laid upon us lighter, and we will serve you." He said to them, "Go away for three days; then come again to me." So the people went away.

Then Rehoboam asked advice from the old men who had been in the service of Solomon his father during his lifetime and inquired, "What answer do you advise me to give this people?" They said to him, "If now you will serve this people and give them a favorable answer, then they will be your servants forever."

But he rejected the advice which the old men had given him and asked the young men who had grown up with him and had been in his service. And he said to them, "What answer do you advise that we give to this people who have said to me, 'Make the yoke that your father laid upon us lighter'?" The young men who had grown up with him said to him, "Make this answer to them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins! While my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will make your yoke heavier; my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scourges.'"

So when all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as he had directed, he answered the people harshly and did not follow the advice which the old men had given him, but spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will make your yoke still heavier; my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scourges." So Rehoboam paid no attention to the demand of the people.

When all Israel saw that he paid no attention to their demand they gave him this answer: "What interest have we in David? We have nothing in common with the son of Jesse! To your tents, O Israel! Now look out for your house, O David!"

So the Israelites went to their homes.

Then Rehoboam sent to them Adoniram, who was over the men who did forced labor. But when all the Israelites stoned him to death, Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. So Israel has refused to obey the house of David to the present day.

As soon as all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the a.s.sembly of the people and made him ruler over all Israel. None remained loyal to the house of David except the tribe of Judah.

ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW'S SON

When Asa had been ruler of Judah for thirty-one years Omri became ruler over Israel, and he ruled twelve years. He bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built a city on the hill and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.

When Omri died, Ahab his son ruled in his place. But Ahab displeased Jehovah more than all the kings who had ruled before him. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and then began to wors.h.i.+p the Phnician G.o.d Baal. He also built an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he built in Samaria.

Then Elijah from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, "As surely as Jehovah the G.o.d of Israel lives, whom I serve, there shall be no dew nor rain for years except as I announce it."

Then this message from Jehovah came to Elijah: "Go from here and hide yourself near the Brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."

So he obeyed the command of Jehovah and lived near the Brook Cherith.

The ravens brought him bread every morning and meat every evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there had been no rain in the land.

Then this message from Jehovah came to him, "Arise, go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." So he went to Zarephath.

When he came to the gate of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. Calling to her, he said, "Bring me, I beg of you, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." As she was going to get it, he called after her, "Bring also a bit of bread with you." She replied, "As surely as Jehovah your G.o.d lives, I have nothing baked, and only one handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the jug. Now I am gathering a few sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die." Elijah said to her, "Fear not; go and do as you have said, but first bake for me a little dough and bring it to me.

Afterward make some for yourself and your son. For Jehovah the G.o.d of Israel declares: 'The jar of meal shall not be empty, nor the jug of oil fail, until Jehovah sends rain upon the earth.'"

So she did as Elijah directed; and she and her child, as well as Elijah, had food to eat. From that day the jar of meal was never empty and the jug of oil did not fail, as Jehovah had said through Elijah.

Now after this the woman's son fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that he stopped breathing. So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of G.o.d? You have come to me to remind me of my sin by taking the life of my son!" He said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him up into the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. Then he prayed earnestly to Jehovah and said, "O Jehovah, my G.o.d, hast thou also brought misfortune upon this widow, with whom I am staying, by taking the life of her son?"

And he stretched himself upon the child three times and prayed to Jehovah and said, "O Jehovah, my G.o.d, I pray thee, give back this child's life to him again."

So Jehovah listened to Elijah's prayer; and the life of the child came back to him, and he sat up. Then Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and said, "See, your son lives!" The woman said to him, "Now I know that you are a man of G.o.d and that the message of Jehovah that you speak is true."

THE PROPHET OF FIRE

In the third year of the famine this command came from Jehovah to Elijah: "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.

The famine was so severe in Samaria that Ahab had called Obadiah, the overseer of the palace. Obadiah was very loyal to Jehovah; for when Jezebel tried to kill the prophets of Jehovah, he took a hundred and hid them in a cave and kept them supplied with bread and water. Ahab said to Obadiah, "Come, let us go through the land to all the springs and to all the brooks, in the hope that we may find gra.s.s, so that we can save the horses and mules and not lose all of them." So they divided the land between them, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

While Obadiah was on the way, Elijah suddenly met him. As soon as Obadiah knew him, he fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" He answered, "It is; go, tell your master: 'Elijah is here.'"