Today's lesson is Solomon and the temple he built. I made a wheel for the students to fill in the blanks while we are discussing the lesson. This is the last lesson for this quarter, and we begin Elijah next week. Review: Last week we learned that God talked to Solomon in a dream. God asked Solomon “What can I give you?” Solomon said that there were so many people for him to rule over and he would like to have an understanding heart, to know right from wrong so he could judge God’s people. God was pleased with Solomon's choice! Solomon wanted to treat the people fairly! When two women went to Solomon, they told him that they both had a baby, but one of the babies died during the night. Both women told King Solomon the baby was their baby! Solomon said he would cut the baby in half and give them each part of the baby. But the real mom begged Solomon not to do that. Solomon knew that she was the real mom! Most of today's lesson is found in 1 Kings 5. David told his son Solomon that he had wanted to build a temple to worship God, but God had come to David and told him that David had fought too many battles, and there was too much blood on his hands. God told David that he would not be permitted to build the place of worship. (1 Chronicles 22:7-8) Solomon decided to build a temple to worship God. David told Solomon that he had prepared gold & silver, bronze and iron, timber & stone for Solomon to use to build the temple. Solomon made a treaty with Hiram to get the best cedar logs from Lebanon. He made a labor force to build it. The 30,000 men worked on a schedule. 10,000 men worked 10 months at a time, and then had 2 months at home. There were 70,000 to carry the loads and 80,000 to cut the stone in the quarry. There were 3,300 supervisors. Solomon used large, expensive stones to lay the foundation of the temple. It took Solomon 7 years to build the temple and it took 13 years to build his house! He started building the temple 4 years after he became king and 480 years after the Israelites left Egypt. God went to Solomon and told him that if he followed God's laws and kept God's commandments, then God would watch over Solomon, and He would not give up on the people of Israel. God had promised this to David and was making the same promise to Solomon. When the temple was finished, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant into the temple. It had been with Moses in the wilderness and kept through the generations. (8:6-9) Solomon said a prayer and offered sacrifices. The Queen of Sheba came and talked with him. She was so impressed with Solomon's knowledge and riches. The Queen of Sheba said that she couldn’t believe everything she had heard and had to see it with her own eyes! She gave Solomon gold, lots of spices and a lot of Almug wood. People came from all over to hear Solomon’s wisdom. Everyone that came to see Solomon brought gifts and he became richer. Chapter 10:23 states that King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. Solomon was king for 40 years like his father David. I found these wood boxes 'treasure chests' at hobby Lobby for 99 cents. I added plastic coins and the 'jewels' I found at Dollar Tree. This take-home represents Solomon's wealth and the kids just love stuff like this! For our project, I made this wheel, had them ready to use for class and they filled in the blanks as I taught the lesson. It could be used for review at the end of the lesson if you'd rather. I used a brad in the center to attach the two parts. You can print it in color or black & white. Click here to print in color. Click here to print in B/W. Click here to download the worksheet. Click here to download the updated visuals. This file contains all the available visuals for Solomon. The pictures above are a sample to show what is included. Not all are shown. Click here to download the pictures to color. (These are the same as the visuals but are black & white.) I used this model of Solomon's Temple (Kregel Pictorial Guide to Solomon's Temple Model) that I found and made years ago. I have it glued to a thin piece of wood and store it in it's own plastic container. It's a really nice visual, but did take some time to put it together if I remember right. You can see what I used here and search your favorite place to shop. Or, put Solomon's temple model in the search bar. Click here to see the worksheets for this quarter. Very good post here about Solomon and his prayer to God for the dedication of the temple. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.