The Professor was excited! Today they were going to use the time machine to bring King Solomon to the Professor’s lab. King Solomon was the wisest person who had ever lived, except for Jesus, and the Professor was hoping to learn a lot from King Solomon. Maybe the king could even teach the Professor not to be clumsy! The Professor could not sit still while he was impatiently waiting for Precious and MJ to arrive, so he got up and walked around the lab. The Professor promptly tripped over his own feet and knocked over a bookshelf! The books fell into a sink full of water, and the water splashed onto the window, which was partly open. A flock of thirsty birds flew through the open window so that they could get a drink, and they began drinking all the water out of the sink. While the birds were flying around, one of them hit the light switch with his wing, and all the lights in the lab went out. It was dark in the lab and the Professor lit a match so that he could see what was happening. The super-sensitive automatic sprinkler system promptly sprayed the match and the Professor with gallons of water! The Professor said, “Ooops!”
Just at that moment Precious and MJ opened the door of the lab. All the birds flew out the open door, and Precious turned on the lights. They saw that the lab was a mess, and that the Professor was soaking wet. MJ said, “Professor, this is not the time to try to invent a new kind of bird bath!” Precious just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
The Professor was so anxious to see King Solomon that he did not take time to dry off and change clothes. He turned the dial on the time machine to Solomon and pushed the button! Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and the air was filled with pieces of silver jewelry!
Precious wanted that jewelry, so she scrambled around on the floor and picked up all the jewelry and stuffed it into her pockets! Meanwhile MJ and the Professor were looking at the booth and wondering where King Solomon was. Then they heard a voice from the booth yelling, “Play some royal music so that I can come out of this stinking booth! It smells like birds in here!”
The Professor did not know what to do, but MJ pulled out his phone and googled royal music and began to play it at full volume! A majestic king came proudly out of the booth, it was King Solomon!
The kings looked at the dripping Professor and said, “I am a very wise person, and I make many proverbs to help others to become wise. I will now make a proverb about this wet man!”
- “When a person plays with birds, they will become wet if it rains from the ceiling!”
The king laughed and said, “People will be studying this proverb for hundreds of years in the future, trying to figure out what it means!”
King Solomon then told them his story. When he became king, God told him that he would let Solomon make a wish, and God would grant the wish no matter what it was. Solomon asked God to make him wise so that he could be a good king. God was very happy that Solomon had asked for wisdom, and God made Solomon the wisest man who had ever lived. No one had been wiser in the past, and in the future only Jesus, the Son of God, would ever be wiser. Solomon became very rich because many people came to hear his wisdom, and they brought him many gifts. Silver became so common that people did not consider it worth much. Solomon told Precious that she could keep the silver jewelry because he had lots of it.
Not everything was good though, King Solomon got a sad look on his face. He told them that he had become so famous that many women wanted to become his wife, so he married a lot of women. Many of these women did not believe in the one true God, they worshipped false gods. Solomon told them that he had tried to keep all his wives happy, and he drifted away from God. Solomon still believed in God, but he was no longer close to God like he used to be.
All the silver, gold, riches, and wisdom in the world could not take the place of being a friend of God. Solomon felt very sad and lonely.
Professor Ooops was very sad when he heard King Solomon’s story. The Professor told Solomon that God still loved him just as much, and God wanted Solomon to turn back to God with his whole heart. The Professor opened his Bible and read part of Psalms 63 that Solomon’s father, King David, had written. It says:
O God, You are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in Your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You! I will praise You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to You in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise You with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of You meditating on You through the night. Because You are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. I cling to You; Your strong right hand holds me securely. (Psalms 63:1-8).
The Professor reminded King Solomon that even though it is so easy to drift away from God, God wants us to come back to Him. God Himself longs for a close friendship with each of us. In the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible, there is a letter to a Church that had left their first love for God. In Revelation 3: 15-20 Jesus says:
“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich, I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me – gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
The Professor also reminded King Solomon that God was not done working in Solomon’s life. Even though King Solomon had made many mistakes, he was still going to be one of the human ancestors of God’s Son, Jesus Christ!
King Solomon was encouraged by the Professor’s words. He now wanted to turn back to God with his whole heart.
The Professor now asked King Solomon if he could use his great wisdom and figure out how to make the Professor not be clumsy. King Solomon just laughed, shook his head and said, “Only God can fix that!”
It was time for King Solomon to leave. The Professor got up to give the King a hug, but the Professor tripped on his shoestrings and fell against the King. The King’s crown flew off his head and landed on Precious’s head! Everyone looked at Precious in surprise, and Solomon said, “Everyone bow down to Queen Precious!” Solomon bowed down to Precious, MJ also bowed, but he looked like he really did not want to bow to her. The Professor tried to bow very low with a lot of dignity and promptly fell flat on his face! Everyone started to laugh! Solomon told Precious that he needed to have his crown back, but she could keep all the jewelry. Precious thanked King Solomon and said that she would share the jewelry with MJ. MJ said that he did not want any of it!
King Solomon walked into the booth. The Professor shut the door, and Precious pushed the button. Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and King Solomon was gone.