“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

So many different skills were needed to construct the temple! Try making a list of all the ones you read about in the Bible passages. Imagine those that might not be listed there. What about people who made food for the workers? What about people who made a record of the materials? And who cleaned up the sawdust? God uses all kinds of people to do great things in service to His kingdom.

The temple wasn’t only made with excellence and built to be strong and impressive. It was also designed to be beautiful. When you read about the temple through the chapters from 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, what stands out to you from the description of artistic details about the temple? Use clay, paint, or colored pencils to create something like one of the details you find. Check out these images of ancient temple sculptures and artwork from a Jewish synagogue in a city called Capernaum, built more than a thousand years after Solomon’s temple. What designs do you see that might have been similar to those found in Solomon’s temple?