Solomon, Part 2 (1 Kings: 5: 1-11: 43)

David forged a united monarchy from a loose confederation of twelve tribes; Solomon overlays that monarchy with a brilliant administrative structure. God grants Solomon his request for “discernment in administering,” and in doing so, Solomon builds a kingdom unlike any that had ever appeared before. Too, Solomon carries out David’s wish to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem, a temple worthy of God’s name. Throughout his reign, Solomon lives in wealth and splendor, greater than any other king on earth. In the end, though, he is the greatest failure in the Bible. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes his own epitaph: “Meaningless! Meaningless!.... Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2).