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In Christ, Mark
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When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm."
Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him but the king had no intimate relations with her.
Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready with fifty men to run ahead of him. (His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave as you do?" He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)
Adonijah conferred with Joab, son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, and Rei, and David's special guard did not join Adonijah.
Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah who were royal officials but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother, Solomon.
Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, "Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David's knowing it? Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go in to King David and say to him, 'My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: "Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become king?' While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and confirm what you have said."
So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him. Bathsheba bowed low and knelt before the king.
"What is it you want?" the king asked.
She said to him, "My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God: 'Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.' But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon, your servant. My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals."
While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. And they told the king, "Nathan the prophet is here." So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground.
Nathan said, "Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you and that he will sit on your throne? Today, he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!' But me your servant and Zadok the priest and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite. Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"
Then King David said, "Call in Bathsheba." So she came into the king's presence and stood before him.
The king then took an oath: "As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon, your son, shall be king after me and he will sit on my throne in my place."
Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, "May my lord King David live forever!"
King David said, "Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada."
When they came before the king, he said to them: "Take your lord's servants with you and set Solomon my son on my own mule and take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, 'Long live King Solomon!' Then you are to go up with him and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah."
Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, answered the king, "Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!"
So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!"
And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.
1 Kings 1:1-40
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we look at the nations of our world today, we see many different forms of government, all with different processes for appointing those who would lead their nation. Typically, those nations will rise and fall depending on the decisions and actions of those leaders so it was critically important to make sure the right person was in charge.
Stable leadership with effective policies that equally and justly benefit the nation and the people seem to thrive and do well. Conversely, we find that corrupt or ineffective leadership can lead a nation and its people into ruin.
Thus far in our study of the Old Testament, we have found this true with Israel. You’ll recall that for the longest time following the advent of mankind, God had been the King over His nation Israel, putting rulers in place to guide His people as needed. This lasted through the period of the judges but then something happened that drastically altered the way the Israelites would be governed. For the people decided that they wanted a king to rule over them like other surrounding nations.
And so God, seemingly always ready to allow His people to have their way just to show them how much His ways are better, allowed Israel to have what they wanted. This led to the anointing and appointing of Saul as Israel’s first king. Through the scriptures, we know Saul started well but then things went off the rails. Just as God had warned, the people of Israel would soon regret wanting a king to reign over them. And as for God, you’ll remember that He literally grieved over even selecting Saul in the first place, highlighting just how much of a disappointment Israel’s first king was.
To try and remedy this, we know God went with a second choice for king, sending Samuel, a prophet and Israel’s last Judge, to anoint a young shepherd boy named David. He would rule well for the most part and eventually end up in the family lineage of Jesus, the Messiah.
Well, as we start our study of the Old Testament book of 1st Kings, it seems only fitting that we would begin with David, now up in years and on the decline health-wise. Chapter 1 opens with him “old and well advanced in years”. In fact, he “could not keep warm even when they put covers over him” and so his servants looked for a “young virgin to attend the king and take care of him”. We read where they selected Abishag who the scriptures described as “very beautiful”. We should note that her role here wasn’t sexual in nature. In fact, we read where David had “no intimate relations with her” as she was only there to “lie beside” him and keep him warm.
Given all this, we can see where David’s reign as king is coming to a close and this leads us into what follows for we see where one of his (David’s) sons, Adonijah, decided to “put himself forward” and show his desire to become the new king of Israel, despite neither being endorsed by his father nor rightfully next in line to the throne. We read where he “got chariots and horses ready with fifty men to run ahead of him” and also gained the support of Joab, the commander of the army…who we know had recently had a dispute with David…as well as Abiathar, the priest. Both chose to turn on David.
Well, there was one very big problem with Adonijah’s plan for David had already selected his successor and it would be his son, Solomon.
We go onto see that not everyone decided to traitorously betray David and side with Adonijah for Zadok the priest, Benaiah, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's special guard stayed loyal and remained on his side. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop Adonijah from beginning to take steps to the throne. For he “sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel”, inviting “all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah who were royal officials” to the feast. Obviously, this invitation wasn’t extended to anyone who chose to remain faithful to David and this included “Nathan the prophet…Benaiah…the special guard or…Solomon”.
It seemed like things were building to a point similar to when David’s son, Absalom, tried to overthrow his father before but the big difference now was that David was in no condition to be able to flee Jerusalem.
So would anything stop Adonijah’s plan from succeeding?
Well, we find the answer in our scripture passage as the prophet Nathan wasn’t ready to concede anything and began to take steps to derail Adonijah’s attempted power grab.
First, we went to David’s wife and Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, and asked:
“Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David's knowing it? Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go in to King David and say to him, 'My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: "Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become king?' While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and confirm what you have said."
The plan was simple.
Bathsheba was to tell David about what Adonijah was up to and protest his actions given that Israel’s king had already vowed Solomon would be his successor. After this, Nathan would then enter and reinforce everything Bathsheba said with the hope David would take immediate action to appoint Solomon as king.
Fortunately, the plan worked out just as they had planned. For after Bathsheba shared the news of Adonijah’s betrayal and Nathan confirmed it, we read where David reaffirmed his prior oath saying:
“As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon, your son, shall be king after me and he will sit on my throne in my place."
With this, David called on Zadok the priest and Benaiah, giving them the following orders:
"Take your lord's servants with you and set Solomon my son on my own mule and take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, 'Long live King Solomon!' Then you are to go up with him and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah."
So that’s what happened. Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah were joined by the “Kerethites and the Pelethites” as they “went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon”. Once there, Zadok “took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon” as king after which a trumpet sounded and the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!" The scriptures tell us that the celebration was so great with “all the people…playing flutes and rejoicing” that “the ground shook with the sound”. The nation of Israel had a new king and it was Solomon…the man God wanted to lead them into the future.
In this first message from 1 Kings, we see the Lord underscoring the importance of making sure the right leader is appointed over any group of His people but ultimately, we need to come away from this understanding that we have a supreme Leader that all others are accountable to and that is King Jesus…the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…the eternal Ruler and Savior over all…the only One through which anyone can find themselves to God, His Father and ours (John 14:6).
And so as we face worldly elections…and they are happening all the time…let us take comfort as believers that no matter the outcome…no matter if someone ends up being put into some office of leadership who runs counter to the scriptures, such as many of the kings who we will see rule Israel or Judah…Jesus is and will always be our King (capital “K”). He has, is, and will always rule over all created things as He sits at God’s right hand until that day still to come when He will return to earth and reign supreme.
Indeed, now and forever more, all hail King Jesus, giving Him all honor, glory, and praise.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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