Men’s Bible Study 6/19

Scripture: 1 Kings 2:1-4

Background: David, the great man of God, is passing away and is charging his son Solomon to

follow in his footsteps. David had received a promise from the Lord that one of his offspring

would inherit his throne forever, this is seen in 2 Samuel 7:12-13.

What should we learn from this passage?

1. A godly man follows the commandments of God.

Many men in the Old Testament were known for their works of faith. Abraham for his attempted

sacrifice of his son Isaac, Moses for his leadership of Israel in the Exodus and for 40 years in the

wilderness, Joshua for his conquest of Canaan for God’s people, etc. David was certainly one of

these men. David as a child would do incredible things men today would wish they could

achieve like killing lions and bears with only his hands or killing a giant with only a sling. These

acts of might were only possible through David’s life of obedience of God’s Word; these works

of valor were ultimately to honor the God of Israel.

2. A godly man should instruct his children to obey the Lord.

In this passage, David is instructing his son Solomon to follow the commandments of God in His

law. The importance of teaching your children to follow God can be seen in multiple places both

in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, passages like Deut. 6:6-7

and Prov. 22:6 show how parents should teach their children to follow God so that when they

grow older they can cling to the teaching that they learned as a child. The New Testament also

has passages where the teaching of children is shown, like Ephesians 6:4 where it says, “Fathers,
do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the

Lord.” I know that it may be heard (Since I have no experience with children of my own I have

no experience of this in my life)

3. A godly man looks to the absolute picture of manliness, that being the god-man

Jesus Christ.

David was promised that the Messiah would come from one of his line; that one of his sons

would be the eternal king of Israel. David believed that Solomon could have been this Messiah,

but as we see in Scripture this is not so. As much as Solomon was a great man and a great king,

he had many moral shortcomings. To list a few, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines

(which was not only morally wrong because of the number but also because many were

foreigners not from Israel which was also wrong), Solomon traded with one of Israel’s enemies

which God commanded him not to trade with (Egypt), and ultimately the worship of foreign &

pagan gods in the latter end of his reign of Israel. These events resulted in the kingdom being

split in half. Although there are many takeaways from the failure of Solomon that we can learn

from, as men of God we have no further contrast then the man who had no shortcomings, Jesus

Christ.

QUESTIONS

1. What are some ways that we can apply the story of Solomon to our lives?

2. In what ways are manhood seen in this text?

3. Have you had any recent progress within your Manhood Plan?