1 Kings 1-2 "May the LORD Make His Throne Greater than Your Throne" Introduction: The Gospel of Kings In the Hebrew Bible, the book of Kings is classified as one of the former prophets. We usually think of it as a "history," but before it is a history it is a sermon. Kings is a prophetic book not in the sense that it foretells the future (though it does that typologically), but in the sense that it reports the prophetic message regarding Israel. We often think of the prophets as coming with a message of judgment: "straighten out, or else you are going to get it!" But as Peter Leithart points out, the message of the prophets in Kings is quite different. The message of Kings is that Israel has sinned and is under God's covenant curse which means that Israel is going to die. Israel's only hope "is that Yahweh will raise the dead." We saw in Samuel that the very need for a king indicated that Israel had failed. And now the king is called to be all that Israel had been called to be the faithful Son of God who will rule the nations as God's vicegerent. Who is the Savior of Israel? In Kings there are lots of heroes. There is Solomon, the wise king but his sin is what sets Israel on its course of destruction. There are the prophets but no one listens to them. There are the reformers (especially Hezekiah and Josiah)-- but even Josiah at the end of the book the only king who was faithful to the Law cannot save Israel. What about the temple? The place where God's name dwells? Surely that will save Israel! Wisdom cannot save you. Prophets cannot save you. Reforming kings cannot save you. The law cannot save you. The temple cannot save you. Only God can save. Again, as Leithart puts it, "When Israel breaks covenant, Israel dies. And when Israel dies, neither king nor temple nor Torah can bring her back to life." It is only when God himself acts to save his people that Israel will be save. The only way to life is the way of the cross. God will be faithful to his promises and when he is faithful, Israel will be raised from death into glory. A note on the structure of Kings. There are three basic parts to the book of Kings. 1) the narrative of the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 1-11) 2) the narrative of the divided kingdom (1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17) with a heavy focus on the Omride Dynasty named after Omri, the father of that line (Ahab being its most famous member). To give you a sense of how important the Omrides are, there are 5 chapters prior to the Omrides (1 K 12-16) 19 chapters detail the story of the Omrides (1 K 16-2 K 13) leaving only 4 chapters in the narrative of the divided kingdom (2 K 14-17). The 93 years of Omride influence in Israel and Judah receive 2/3 of the attention from the book of Kings. The other 100 years or so of the divided kingdom only get a third. 3) The final section of Kings (2 Kings 18-25) tells the story of the last kings of Judah, leading up to the destruction of the temple and the exile of the people of God. 1. Adonijah's Rebellion (1:1-53) Throughout Kings, the health of the king is a sign of the health of the kingdom. David is old and advanced in years. This in itself is not a problem. When Moses was 120 his eye was not dimmed. He hadn't lost a step. But David is not only old, he is also decrepit. Although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. And so they found Abishag, the beautiful young Shunammite, and brought her to the king. She was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not. In other words, David (and in David, all Israel) is sick and weak and physically and politically impotent. Adonijah, the son of Haggith, sought to take advantage of this. Verse 6 explicitly connects Adonijah to Absalom. He was next in line after Absalom and might have a legitimate claim to the throne. This legitimacy is perhaps sufficient to explain why Abiathar and Joab follow Adonijah. Everyone knew that David had chosen Solomon to succeed him, but Solomon was the son of Bathsheba, and not everyone had forgiven David for taking the wife of one of his mighty men. Adonijah is more successful than Absalom at gaining support. He has Abiathar, the high priest, and Joab, the leader of the army on his side. But verse 8 points out that Zadok the priest, Benaiah the leader of David's bodyguard, Nathan the prophet, and the mighty men were not with Adonijah. But Adonijah follows the pattern of Absalom by holding a feast in En-rogel, at the serpent's stone. There is a certain irony here Adonijah seeks to supplant the Son of God at the Serpent's stone! Bathsheba's Prayer and the End of Adonijah's Rebellion (1:11-53) Nathan, the prophet, recognizes that this is a problem. He was the one who had spoken the Word of the LORD to David regarding his seed. He had also condemned David's adultery with Bathsheba, and murder of Uriah. But 2 Samuel 12:24 says that the LORD loved Solomon, and sent word of this through Nathan the prophet to David. Nathan was convinced that Solomon was the LORD's choice for king not Adonijah! (And 1 Chronicles 23:1 suggests that David made Solomon co-regent in his old age) So Adonijah's attempt to claim the throne is a challenge to David's expressed wishes. So Nathan sent Bathsheba to David, and she reminded him of his words, You swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, 'Solomon your son shall reign after me' (1:17) Bathsheba's name means "daughter of the oath" and here she appeals to David's oath and she suggests that she and her son will be treated as offenders if David does nothing (after all, because of David's oath, Solomon is the only son of David who is a threat to Adonijah) Then Nathan came in (v22-27) informing David of Adonijah's actions and telling David who (and who was not) involved in the conspiracy. But Bathsheba is the one who saves the day. She is the one to whom David had sworn. She is the one who faithfully reminds David of his oath. And she is the one to whom David now swears. And David makes it clear who is in charge in Israel. When Absalom rebelled, David fled. But now David stands firm and orders the quick and speedy overthrow of the rebellion. He calls Bathsheba back and swears to her by Yahweh that he will deal with this speedily this day. David calls for Zadok (the priest) Nathan (the prophet) and Benaiah (the leader of his bodyguard) and sends them with Solomon. Further, he sends Solomon on his own mule. We may not think of a mule as a very kingly way to travel, but in those days this was a sign of royalty. And the king's own mule was reserved for king himself, or someone the king wished to honor with royal honor. In the case of his son, this is a sign that Solomon is the one who will sit in the same saddle (the same throne) as David. And finally, the coming of Solomon, the LORD's anointed, is heralded by the blowing of trumpets. When Zadok and Nathan anoint Solomon at Gihon, trumpets are to sound just as the trumpets sounded at Sinai when Yahweh himself was seated on his throne (And just as the trumpets will sound at the dedication of the temple, when Yahweh will descend in glory upon his dwelling place). And when David says these things, Benaiah responds: Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, say so. As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David. Benaiah has been pretty quiet throughout Samuel. But now he displaces Joab as the one who responds to the voice of the king. And so they do as David had said: Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah with all the Cherethites and Pelethites brought Solomon to Gihon, riding on David's mule, and anointed him as king. And the people rejoiced at the anointing of Solomon rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise. As at Sinai, the earth splits at the rejoicing of the coming of the King. The anointing of the son of David is an earth-shaking event. If the people do not respond with joy, then the very rocks themselves would cry out! Meanwhile, in En-rogel, at the Serpent's Stone, Adonijah, whose name means my lord is Yahweh, hears the sound of the trumpet. En-rogel is very much within earshot (though not eyesight) of Gihon. Both are springs outside of Jerusalem. If we understand the locations correctly, they are only about a hundred yards away from each other. So Adonijah hears the ruckus and asks what is going on. Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, comes and says, Our lord King David has made Solomon king. Jonathan says our lord is not Adonijah, but adoni melech David! And then Jonathan gives the really bad news: not only is Solomon 100 yards away, riding on the king's mule, but also Zadok is there, and Nathan the prophet, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites in other words, David's bodyguard is only 100 yards away. And Jonathan reports that Solomon is now sitting on David's throne, and the king's servants are congratulating David, saying May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne. And David's response to this? Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it. This is an implicit rebuke to Adonijah, and he and his followers recognize it immediately. Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way. And Adonijah feared Solomon! So Adonijah fled to the horns of the altar at Gibeon. This was a sign of fear and a plea for mercy. When Solomon is told of Adonijah's fears, he responds with a conditional amnesty. If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die. And so Adonijah comes before Solomon and pays homage. Solomon is king, but his kingdom is not yet firmly established. There are lots of unresolved issues! 2. Solomon's Kingdom Established (2:1-46) Chapter 2 consists of two basic parts: verses 1-11 deal with the death of David, and his final instructions to Solomon (The framing word is "days" or "time" in verses 1 and 11.) Verses 12-46 then recount the establishment of the kingdom in the hands of Solomon ("Establish" being the keyword in verses 12 and 46). The Death of David (2:1-11) David's instruction reminds us of Moses' words to Joshua: Be strong and courageous follow the law of the LORD. Moses was the one who led Israel out of Egypt, but he could not enter the Promised Land. David was the one who delivered Israel from the Philistines, but he could not build the temple. Joshua was the one who brought Israel into the promised land the place where God would dwell with his people. (Indeed, since he was the one who divided the land, you could speak of him as the architect of the holy place). Solomon is the one who will now build the temple the architect of the holy place. He starts with a general exhortation: Obey the LORD your God. Keep his law and his statutes that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. But David's instructions focus on three people, each of whom is judged because of how they have treated the LORD's anointed. Those who bless David are blessed, but those who curse David are cursed. He starts with Joab. Joab was David's cousin. He had always been loyal to David through thick and thin, but he had murdered Abner and Amasa, staining himself with innocent blood. While David had never punished him, Solomon needs to execute Joab if he is to establish his kingdom. Joab represents the unfinished business of the house of David. But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. Those who bless the LORD's anointed the seed of Abraham will be blessed. And those who curse him will be cursed! That is why David warns Solomon against Shimei. Shimei had cursed David when David had been chased from Jerusalem by Absalom. David had pardoned Shimei, but Shimei had cursed the LORD's anointed. This is not a matter of personal vengeance. Shimei has remained faithful to David (1:8 says that Shimei did not go with Adonijah). But he has cursed the LORD's anointed. Bathsheba's Prayer and the Death of Solomon's Enemies (2:12-46) How Solomon puts his father's advice into practice reveals what sort of king he will be. He starts with Adonijah or more precisely, Adonijah calls attention to himself! Adonijah comes to Bathhseba and reminds her that all Israel expected him to reign. Since he has been thwarted in this, he asks one little perk: Abishag. While Abishag had never slept with David, she was his concubine. Adonijah is asking for a royal prerogative the privilege of sleeping with the king's concubine! Is Bathsheba an idiot? Why would she go to Solomon and ask him for Abishag? I would suggest that it is because she wants Adonijah dead! If she had any thought for Adonijah's safety, she would say, "uh, that's a bad idea!" But instead she comes to her son the king. Notice that Bathsheba plays a crucial role in both chapters. She is the one who acts to ensure that Solomon is crowned king. She is the one who acts to ensure that Solomon's enemies are revealed to the king. (She reminds us of Rebekah, who ensured that God's covenant promises came to pass regarding her son Jacob!) You have a beautiful typological scene here, as Bathsheba is seated at the right hand of the king. Because Jesus is the LORD's anointed, the Son of God who raises us up and seats us with him at his right hand. But Bathsheba's prayer to the LORD's anointed is a prayer to which she does not want a "yes." Note that Bathsheba prays for the good of her enemies, knowing full well that the answer of the King will be "no." We may not be as wise as Bathsheba we may not know what answer the King will give but we should pray for the good of our enemies, and rely upon the king to respond appropriately! You may pray for your enemies with confidence, knowing that King Jesus is wise enough to do what is right! He may say to you, And why do you ask for him?!... Now therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father... Since Adonijah had made a move toward the throne, Solomon responds by dealing with all three conspirators. Adonijah is executed by Benaiah. Abiathar is exiled to Anathoth (He deserves death, but because he had served David faithfully, Solomon has mercy) The text notes that this fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken concerning Eli. The last priest of the house of Eli has been banished from the altar. And Joab? Well, Joab hears what is going on and so he flees to the tent of the LORD. When Benaiah comes for him, Joab refuses to leave, so Solomon orders him to be killed, and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds upon his own head, because without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed two men more righteous than himself. Solomon recognizes that if David's house doesn't do something about Joab, then the blood of Abner and Amasa will stain David's house. And so Joab is taken and buried in his own house in the wilderness. Why is the location of Joab's house mentioned? Think about the Moses/Joshua typology throughout the passage. Joab is buried in the wilderness outside the land. He is like the wilderness generation who does not enter the land. Finally, Solomon deals with Shimei, ordering him to stay in Jerusalem. Shimei had been pardoned for his cursing David. Solomon could not execute him for that crime. But when Shimei leaves Jerusalem in order to chase his servants who had fled to Gath, Solomon has him executed. Shimei was a Benjaminite (like Saul). And like Saul his servants ran off to Achish of Gath (remember where David fled?). And like Saul, Shimei chased his servants. Shimei's curses fall back on his own head. And so the kingdom is firmly established in the hands of Solomon, as Solomon blesses those who blessed the seed of Abraham, and cursed those who had cursed the seed of Abraham (namely, David). In this we see that the Son of David is indeed the Son of God who brings justice when his throne is established. We've been seeing this in our morning service that is the reason why you must bow the knee to Jesus, and why you must bless the Seed of Abraham, our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are all who trust in him!