In this sermon, the speaker focuses on the final speech of King David to his son Solomon. David, who is old and unable to rule, prepares a motorcade to assert his authority and show that he is the next king. He advises Solomon to be obedient to the Lord in order to succeed in his reign. David emphasizes the importance of Solomon's obedience by reminding him of God's promise that there will always be a man from David's lineage on the throne of Israel if his sons walk before God in truth and with all their heart and soul. The speaker also suggests that David sensed some weakness in Solomon and encourages him to be strong and prove himself as a man.

Okay, we begin tonight in the book of 1 Kings, of course, at chapter 1. And you need to be aware, first of all, that the books of 1 and 2 Kings are really a unit together. Our division between 1 Kings and 2 Kings is an artificial division. As a matter of fact, if you will look upon some certain older translations, I've seen some older Roman Catholic translations that have only one book for 1 Kings. As a matter of fact, I've seen some, they call 1 and 2 Samuel together 1 Kings, and 1 and 2 Kings together 2 Kings. So the division between 1 Kings and 2 Kings is fairly artificial. But there is a difference between the books, because 1 Kings is mostly made up with David and Solomon and their immediate successors. 2 Kings tends to begin with the ministry of the second of the great prophets, Elisha, but we'll get to that all in due time. Together, the books of 1 and 2 Kings cover about 500 years of Israel's history. And again, we just remind ourselves, the nation of Israel, the people of Israel, started when God chose a man named Abraham and called him out of Babylon. Abraham was a Gentile idol-worshipping man when God called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, which is Babylonia, and called him to come over to the promised land, to the land of Canaan. And he told Abraham, I'm going to give you a land, I'm going to make a nation out of you, and through you, I will bring a blessing to the entire earth. Well, you have the three patriarchs, Abraham, his son Isaac, and then his son Jacob. And then Jacob had these 12 sons. The sons became a large family, and they went into Egypt, and they stayed in Egypt for 400 years. They went into Egypt as a large family. They came out of Egypt as a nation anywhere, the estimates are anywhere from 2 million to 6 million people. And then God brought them into the land of Canaan under the leadership of Moses and Joshua. 400 years were spent during this period of the judges when they had no king ruling over them, but God would just raise up leaders from time to time. And then you have perhaps, I'm going to guess, maybe 100 years covered under the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, which takes you from the point where Israel had no king to the point where Israel's second king, the king David, at the closing part of his reign concerns the end of the book of 2 Samuel. Now, when we come to first kings, David is still on the throne. His reign has not yet ended, but he's an old man. And really, that's the whole feeling of the first many verses of first Kings chapter one. The impression you're supposed to get is look at how old and weak David is. Look here, verse one. Now, King David was old, advanced in years, and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm. Therefore, his servants said to him, let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our Lord, the king, and let her stand before the king and let her care for him and let her lie in your bosom that our Lord, the king may be warm. So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel and found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The young woman was very lovely and she cared for the king and served him, but the king did not know her. And so David is old, he's very advanced in years. This is what we might consider to be the twilight, the evening of a long, glorious reign. But the impression you're supposed to get from these first four verses is that David is so old, he can't rule a nation. He can't even keep himself warm in bed. Of course he cannot rule a nation. Now, what's interesting is that David was not remarkably old at this time. Do you know how old David was about this time? About 70 years old, which is old, but it's not unbelievably old. I mean, when you consider that Moses didn't even really begin his ministry until he was 80 and how long Abraham lived and how long many of the patriarchs lived, what you have to understand about the life of David is it wasn't just the years, it was how intensely he lived. He lived, what seems to me, he lived the lives of about four or five men within the span of his one lifetime. I mean, his life was lived with a unique intensity from his young days, even to this point. And so it's not so much that it's just that he's old. He's worn out. I mean, he's done. He's about finished here. And so his aides, his advisors around him say, listen, keep the king warm. You have to admit, this sounds strange, maybe even immoral to us, doesn't this? We've been running across things like this on Sunday, talking about the book of Ruth and things that sound strange in our ears today. And then this, we read about this and, you know, well, here's the prescription for David, bring a good looking young woman into his bed and that will warm him up. And it sounds like that's a sure funny prescription there. It sounds strange, maybe even immoral to us. But I want you to know, and it's interesting when you do the research, you'll find some people say, oh, this was sin on David's part. And I have to say, I don't think so. And I think as a matter of fact, it was proper of David to allow this. And I don't think it brought a moral cloud over the last days of his reign. You know, when you do a little bit of research on this, you understand that this was actually a recognized medical treatment in the ancient world. There's a very famous ancient Greek doctor named Galen, and we have some of his writings today and he lists medicinal practices and things that you can do. He says, actually, that this is a prescription. This is actually a medical treatment that one can follow when someone is afflicted with this inability to stay warm. And when Josephus relates this story in his own history called the antiquities of the Jews, he says that this was a medical treatment that David had. As a matter of fact, when he calls the servants of verse one, there were two verse two, therefore, his servants, Josephus calls those servants doctors or physicians. This was an approved medical treatment for David to follow. But it was also proper for David to do this because he almost certainly made this young woman his concubine. Do you understand what a concubine is? There's a difference between a wife and a concubine in the law system of ancient Israel. A wife was a legal partner that you were joined to in marriage and a concubine was a legal partner that you were joined to. A concubine was not a mistress. It was not a lover on the side. You had a legal commitment to a concubine. The difference between a wife and a concubine, the concubine did not share in the inheritance and the concubine's children did not share in the inheritance. So there was a very different status, but it was a legal thing to take a concubine. Now, I think it was unwise for David to have more than one wife. And I think his life story and the life story of his descendants after that proved that, but it was not at all illegal, according to the law of Israel, or it was not also specifically prohibited by God. Now, later on, I'm going to get a little bit ahead of ourselves in this chapter. Later on, one of David's sons, Adonai, he's going to condemn himself to death because he asks for this young woman to be taken to himself as a concubine. Now that would not be such an offense unless she was already David's concubine before. And so I want you to see that David had a legal approved relationship with this young woman. And so they chose someone who was eligible for marriage or concubinage. She was a virgin and she was also a lovely young woman. I mean, if you're going to have a young woman in the bed with David to keep them warm, she may as well be pretty. And so they did this. Now, one thing I got to say more about this that's very interesting is her name. It calls her there in Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. Now, what's very interesting about this is even from ancient times, many people have wanted to associate this beautiful young woman with another beautiful young woman. Keep your finger here. Turn to the Song of Solomon, chapter six, verse 13. Do you know what the woman of the Song of Solomon is known as? What she is? It's she's called, again, Song of Solomon, chapter six, verse 13, the Shunammite. And many people have wanted to say Shunammite, Shunammite, it's the same woman. And they say, oh, you know, this was David's concubine. He never had sexual relations with her, but he was a legal companion of her. And then Solomon took her as a wife later on, they had this beautiful love relationship. You want to know what's hard about believing that is that even though to our ears, Shunammite and Shunammite sound the same, they're just plain different words. They're different places. You know, it's like saying somebody from Geeson and somebody from Geisvide, they must be from the same place. Well, there's some similarity to how they sound, but really not much. And so Shunamm is not the same as Shulam. It's just not the same place. And it's like kind of twisting the text to try to make them the same thing. There's really no great need to identify this woman as the woman that Solomon later sang to in this book, the Song of Solomon. But what is very plain from this is what we see at the very end verse there, verse four. The young woman was very lovely and she cared for the king. Listen, David is in such a bad place here that he needs to be taken care of by a young woman. And because of this, we can see that he has to have a successor. This is the big question that we're supposed to ask at the end of verse four. David's life is almost over. Who is going to take his reign after him? And so then we come in here to verse five. Then Abunaiah, the son of Haggath, exalted himself saying, I will be king. And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. Now, right away when you read that, you get a bad feeling about that, don't you? Anytime you read in the Bible about somebody exalting themselves, it gives you a bad feeling, doesn't it? But then when you look at this, it's even worse. If you were to go back to second Samuel chapter three, and you don't need to, I'll just describe it to you. Second Samuel chapter three describes the sons of David. It lists the sons of David. It lists Abunaiah as the fourth son in the family of David. Now, what happened to the first three sons? Well, the first two sons were dead, Ammon and Absalom. Those two were dead already at this time. There's a third son named Tiliab. To be honest, we don't know what became of him. Many people think that maybe for some reason he died accidentally, or maybe there was something about him that just made him unfit to be the next king of Israel. All we know is that he's mentioned once and then never again. The fourth son is this man named Adonaiah. And so this man, Adonaiah, seems to have been the oldest living son of David at this time. Now, naturally, he would take the throne, right? Isn't that how it works in a monarchy? The king is dead. Who takes the throne? His oldest living son. But you have to remember something. Israel was a different kind of monarchy. Who was the king before David? Saul. Who became king after Saul died? It was not Jonathan, nor was it a descendant of Saul. In the monarchy of Israel, it did not follow a strict succession because God determined the next king. It wasn't just strictly all about who was next in line. You've seen these things, haven't you? You know, these charts of royalty where you have the Queen of England, let's say, and then you have her immediate successor, and then the next one in line, and the next one in line. And then they have the person who's 20th in line, and then 30th in line. They have this whole elaborate thing, and it's very set up, and it's very established. It wasn't like that in Israel. Yes, there was a natural expectation that the oldest son would take the throne, but it wasn't a law. Adonai, he broke one of the fundamental laws of God in that he refused to let God exalt him. He wanted to exalt himself. And so, notice what he did in verse 5. It says, he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. Now, you know how it is today when a president or the chancellor or somebody's going. They always have what they call a motorcade where they have the limousines and this big long line and the security vehicles and the motorcycle, you know, policemen and all of that. It's this whole big long procession. Well, this was the ancient version of the motorcade. Adonai is saying, I'm important now. I'm the guy who's in charge. I'm going to take the throne. And so, basically, he said, I'm going to take and start putting forth the image of a king. He hoped that if he put forth the image of a king, then other people would start to accept the reality that he was the next king. But look at verse 6. And his father had not rebuked him at any time, saying, why have you done so? He was also very good looking. His mother had born him after Absalom. Now, it's sad for us to say that as great of a man of God that David was. And you have to say, David is one of the great men of God in the Bible. He was the greatest king of Israel apart from the Messiah. David, as great as he was as a man of God, he was somewhat of a failure as a father. He didn't do a very good job raising his own sons. He failed to restrain his passions in his own life. But then he also showed that he could not restrain his sons or their passions. And so, we find this to be true of Adonai. I think it's kind of interesting. I don't want to get too psychological here or pretend that we can know things that we don't know about David. But I would suggest to you that David did not have a very good relationship with his own father. In 1 Samuel chapter 16, when we first are introduced to David, David's father doesn't seem to think very much of him. He just says, oh yeah, there's one more out in the field. And he doesn't even mention David by name. David isn't invited to this feast where Samuel and everybody else is. But I think that would be too little to go on except for, do you understand that in all of David's writings, in all of his Psalms, he really doesn't talk about his father much. Twice he mentions his mother. And twice he mentions his mother as the maidservant of the Lord and about her spiritual influence upon him. I don't want to build too much out of this, but if I had to guess, I would say that David's mother was the one who had the spiritual influence on his life. And that David, maybe it wasn't a bad relationship, but it doesn't seem to have been such a great relationship with his own son. But listen, even if that's the case, it does not excuse David's own failures as a father. It would be easy to say, well of course David couldn't be a good father. Perhaps he did not have a good father. But let me tell you something. Even if you never had a good earthly father, the truth of the matter is, you do have a good heavenly father. You have a great example as a father. Even if you did not have a great example of a father on earth, you have a great example of a father in heaven. And you can pattern your life and your fathering, your parenting skills after his. And so we don't know very much about Adoniah other than he was not restrained. It says that David had not rebuked him at any time. We also know from verse six that he was very good looking. It doesn't surprise us that David's children were good looking. He seems to have been somewhat good looking. He obviously married beautiful women. And his own children were good looking. Now verse seven. Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zariah and with Abathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adoniah. But Zadok the priest, Benaniah the son of Jeodiah, Nathan the prophet, Shemai, Rai, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adoniah. And Adoniah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of Zoalech, which is by En Rogel. And he also invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants. But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaniah, the mighty men, or Solomon his brothers. Okay. Adoniah is making his plans to secure the throne of Israel to himself. And so what he did was he tried to throw a party that would establish him as the king of Israel. But he did it in a way that he invited some people, but he did not invite some other people who he knew were not loyal to him. Like look, first of all, who he did invite here. Verse seven, it says, then he conferred with Joab the son of Zariah. Do you remember that name Joab from the life of David? I personally find Joab to be one of the most complicated and fascinating people in the Old Testament. He is a influential, but a strange man. Joab was David's chief general. He was his number one military guy. And Joab was fiercely loyal to David, but he was not necessarily obedient to David. It's sort of a strange mixture. Joab would die for David. But if he thought David had made a wrong decision, Joab would go against David in a minute and say, I'm going to not do what David said, because I think it's better for David that I don't do what he said. A strange man. Sometimes it seems like he's working for David. Sometimes it seems like he's working against him. A very complicated man. I have to say, it's very sad to see Joab doing this here, because this was not the will of David. It was not the will of David that Adonai replace him on the throne. But Joab is putting his support behind Adonai. And it's sad to see this once trusted associate of David turning against him late in his life. So there were many people who did not support Adonai here. It mentions specifically here in these verses, Zadok the priest, verse 8, Benaiah the son of these other people. There were many prominent people in Israel who did not support Adonai. And so they were going to have a sacrifice unto the Lord. They were going to have a dinner. Adonai wanted to honor and bless his supporters and strengthen his claim to the throne of Israel. So as we end with verse 10 right there, you kind of say, well, it looks like Adonai is going to be the next king, right? We'll look at verse 11. So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon saying, have you not heard that Adonai, the son of Haggith has become king and David, our Lord, does not know it? Come, please, let me now give you advice that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go immediately to King David and say to him, did you not my Lord, O King, swear to your maidservant saying, assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne. Why then has Adonai become king? Then while you are still talking there with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words. Now this shows us something. First of all, it shows us David already had a plan for who was going to be the king after him, right? David had already said, I want Solomon to be the next king, not Adonai. I know Adonai is my oldest living son, but we follow the will of God in the kingdom of Israel, not just a chart on who should be the next king of Israel. So David had said, I want Solomon to be the next king, but it also shows how wrong it was for Adonai to do what he did. Adonai knew that what he was doing was wrong. That's why he did it in this way. By the way, it also shows us how far out of it David was. I mean, here's David laying cold in bed. He doesn't even know what's going on. He has no clue. Something needs to be done about this situation. And so Nathan says, listen, Bathsheba, you go in and you inform David of this. If you notice, he says something very significant here. He says to Bathsheba in verse 12, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. What did Nathan know? Nathan knew that when Adonai became king, what would be the first thing that he did? The first thing he would do is he would take every other person who might have a claim to the throne of Israel, and he would execute them. That was common procedure in that day. That was expected. And so Nathan says, listen, Bathsheba, this isn't just about a promotion for your son Solomon. This is about your life. And so here it says, listen, this is how it's going to happen. David's will should not be contradicted here. As it says in verse 13, David had said, assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne. That was the promise that David made to Bathsheba. You have to say that this is a remarkable display of the grace of God. I mean, have we forgot about this already? Who Bathsheba was? I mean, Bathsheba was the woman who came to David in adultery, and then David arranged the murder of her husband. And yet it's the son of David and Bathsheba who will become the king after him. We're amazed at this. There's nothing to say about it other than this is the grace of God, because it's certainly not deserved. And so Nathan said, okay, you go in, explain this to David. David is going to have a hard time believing this, right? David tended to be too easy on his sons, didn't he? He didn't want to believe that anything they did was wrong. And so his immediate reaction, oh no, Bathsheba, this couldn't be the thing. So what was Nathan, David's trusted friend going to do? While Bathsheba was saying it, Nathan was going to come in and say, David, it's all true. And then maybe David would be convinced that there was a real problem going on. And so this is exactly what they do. We're going to read kind of a long passage here, verses 15 through 27. So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. Now the king was very old and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king and Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, what is your wish? And she said to him, my Lord, you swore by the Lord, your God, to your maidservant saying, assuredly Solomon, your son shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne. So now look, Adonai has become king. And now my Lord, the king, you do not know about it. He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But Solomon, your servant, he has not invited. And as for you, my Lord, oh king, the eyes of all Israel are on you that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my Lord, the king after him. Otherwise it will happen when my Lord, the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders. Then just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan, the prophet also came in. So they told the king saying, here is Nathan, the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, my Lord, oh king, have you said Adonai shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne? For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance and has invited all the king's sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. And look, they're eating and drinking before him. And they say, long live King Adonai. But he has not invited me, oh your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaniah the son of Jodiah, nor your servant Solomon. Has this thing been done by my Lord, the king? And have you not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my Lord, the king after him? So here, verses 15 through 27, simply the plan of Nathan that we read about in the previous verses, Bathsheba does what she was going to do. Nathan does what he was going to do. They make the plan very plain to David. And here he's a very old man and he learns about this news firsthand. And he gets to know how great the danger was. I think it's very interesting how he says here, has this thing been done by my Lord, the king? And you've not told your servant. In other words, David, how could you make a decision to put Adonai on the throne? But you didn't tell me. And David's response would naturally be, listen, I didn't make such a promise. Solomon should be the next king. Look at his response here, verses 28 through 30. Then king David answered and said, call Bathsheba to me. So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. And the king took an oath and said, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, just as I swore to you by the Lord, God of Israel saying, assuredly Solomon, your son shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne in my place. So I certainly will do this day. So David takes a solemn oath and he says, Bathsheba, by the living God, I promise you David, excuse me, Solomon is going to be king. It's even more dramatic. Did you see what he says? He says, Solomon, you'll should be this king after me. And he said that he would do it this very day. In other words, David said, I'm not going to wait until I die. I'm not going to say, Hey, everybody, Solomon will be king after I die. No, he gets the throne today while I'm still around to give it to him. So verse 31, then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and paid homage to the king and said, let my Lord King David live forever. And King David said, call to me Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet, and Benaniah, the son of Jeodiah. You know, you kind of said David getting some of the fire back in him, right? There's another battle to fight, right? And David was a fighter. And so he's going to fight this last battle to put Solomon on the throne. So they came before the king. The king also said to them, take with you the servants of your Lord and have Solomon, my son ride on my own mule and take them down to Gihon. There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel and blow the horn and say, long live King Solomon. Then you shall come up after him and he shall come and sit on my throne and he should be king in my place for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah. Benaniah, the son of Jeodiah answered the king and said, amen. May the Lord God of my Lord, the king say so too, 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. And so David says, bring in all my, you know, main advisors, give Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaniah. He knew who was on his side. He knew who his supporters were bring them in and then let Zadok the priest and Nathan, the prophet anoint Solomon as king. I think we have a very interesting picture here in verses, uh, uh, 34 there, where it says there, let Zadok the priest and Nathan, the prophet anoint him king over Israel. You know what you have right there in verse 34, you have a rare verse, which mentions in the same verse, the office of prophet priest and king, right? What do you have there in verse 34? Zadok the priest, Nathan, the prophet, and they're going to anoint Solomon as king. Now what's interesting is God wanted these three offices to be separate. He didn't want the prophets to be priests. Well, sometimes prophets were priests, but he didn't want one man to hold all three. In particular, priests were not to be kings and kings were not to be priests. He wanted the three offices separate until Jesus, Jesus fulfills all three offices. He's our prophet priest and king, but, but David wanted the proclamation of Solomon as his successor to be persuasive. And so he had a plan. He said, give him my mule, give him my own mule. He said, David's mule, you know, the official kingly mule, give that one to him. And then he said, let Zadok the priest and Nathan, the prophet anoint him. And then he says, blow the horn. And then he says, everybody shout out long live King Solomon and then let him come sit on my throne. You know what I want you to see here? David was very concerned that Solomon take his rightful place and that everybody know it right now. Let me apply a little spiritual principle here, right? Wouldn't you say the same is true that Jesus is concerned that, you know, your spiritual place and that you come up. Matter of fact, in many ways, it would be the same thing. Jesus says here, I will serve you. So to speak, Jesus, you ride on my mule. Jesus says, let you be anointed just like Solomon was anointed. Blow the horn. Let it be proclaimed that you're my child, that you're my son, that you're my daughter. And then he shall come and sit on my throne. The Bible says that we will be Kings and priests with Jesus Christ, just as much as David was concerned that Solomon take his rightful place and everybody know it. So Jesus is concerned that we take our rightful place and that other people are able to see it as well. And everybody said to that. Amen. May the Lord God of my Lord, the King say so, too. And may he bless Solomon and make his throne great. Everybody is excited about this. Well, as you might expect, everybody, but Adonai, but we'll get to him in a few minutes. Look at verse 38 here. It says so that the priest Nathan, the prophet Ben and I, the center, Jehudiah, the Cherithites, the Pellethites went down and had Solomon right on King David's mule and took him to Gihon. Then Zadok, the priest, took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon and they blew the horn. And all the people said, long live King Solomon. And all the people went up after him. And all the people played flutes and rejoiced with great joy so that the earth seemed to split with their sound. Now, it's interesting. Adonai made his own little presidential motorcade, right? You know, his own little procession. David says, we're going to do the same thing for some, except we're going to give Solomon the royal mule. Now we read this. It's kind of funny to us, right? The royal mule. Wow. Isn't that fancy? You know, I used to think it was kind of stupid, but you know what? I did a little bit of research. The mule was actually a special animal in Israel. What makes something valuable? Usually that it's rare, right? If it's rare, then it's valuable. Do you understand that the mule was a rare animal in Israel because mules are a crossbreed between a horse and a donkey? Okay. That's how you get a mule. This crossbreeding was forbidden in Israel. Leviticus chapter 19, verse 19 prohibits crossbreeding a horse and a donkey to make a mule. Therefore, every mule had to be imported. It was an imported mule. And that's what made it special. It was not the usual kind of animal that you would say, wow, look at that important mule that this guy's driving. You know, it was something special. And so this is what was significant about saying, hey, put him on my mule. I used to read that thing. Well, that's kind of stupid. What's so special about a mule? Well, they were special in Israel because you had to import them from other lands because you were not allowed to breed them within Israel. And so they went through the whole procedure. They took him to Gihon. They took the horn of oil from the tabernacle. Everybody's rejoicing. It said that the earth seemed to split with their sound. And then finally, it's good news for everybody except for Adonai. Look at it here, starting at verse 41. We read there now Adonai, and all the guests were with him, heard it as they were finishing eating. You can imagine how that puts, you know, sort of a sort of makes this grill party dead there, doesn't it there when everybody's, and then they hear the shouts, long live King Solomon across the valley echoing. Anyway, verse 41, Adonai and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, why is the city in such a noisy uproar? While he was still speaking, there came Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, and Adonai said to him, come in for you're a prominent man and bring good news. Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonai, no, our Lord, the King David has made Solomon king. The King has sent with him Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet, Benaniah, the son of Jehodiah, the Cherithites, the Pelethites, and they have made him ride on the King's mule. So Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and anointed him king at Gihon, and they'd gone up from there rejoicing so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. Also Solomon sits on the throne of his kingdom. And moreover, the King's servants have gone over to bless our Lord King David saying, may God make the name of Solomon better than your name. And may he make his throne greater than your throne. Then the King bowed himself on the bed. Also the King said thus, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has given me one to sit on my throne this day while my eyes see it. So all the guests who were at Adonai were afraid and arose and each one went his way. You can just imagine. They all came for a nice dinner. They all came to support Adonai. But while they're still at the dinner, the news comes, listen, Solomon's king, David is behind him. Many of the leaders in Israel are behind him. And they just go, well, it's time for me to go. Time for me to get my coat. I don't want to be associated with this Adonai guy for one minute more. And so you can just imagine how terrifying this was for Adonai. Verse 50. Now, Adonai was afraid of Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Do you know what that means? Okay. In the tabernacle, there was the altar and the altar had horns at the corner of it. There was a custom in the ancient world. Now, this custom was not restricted to Israel. Matter of fact, this custom was common all over the ancient world that a criminal could find protection by going into a temple, by going into a holy place and grabbing onto the altar. There, the priests of that temple would protect him. Okay. So Adonai says, I am a dead man. You know, I've tried to exalt myself and I've been caught. He runs to the tabernacle. He grabs onto the horns of the altar and he says, I'm not leaving here. This is my protection. Now there's something you should know that even though this was a common practice in the ancient world, it was not according to the law of Israel. God did not say that a criminal who was a guilty criminal could find refuge in the temple or in the tabernacle. God said, you put justice on that man. It doesn't matter if he's holding onto the altar or not. But this is the thinking that Adonai has when he goes and he takes hold of the horns of the altar. Now verse 51, and it was told Solomon saying, indeed, Adonai is afraid of King Solomon for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar saying, let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. Then Solomon said, if he proves himself a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth. But if wickedness is found in him, he shall die. So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, go to your Solomon gave Adonai what we might call probation. He said, I know you're guilty. I know you tried to take the kingdom. And if you would have taken the kingdom, you would have executed me and my whole family without a second thought. But listen, I'm going to be merciful. You go your way. And if you conduct yourself right, you have nothing to worry about. But if you begin to plot against me, I will have you killed. Solomon not only let this potential rival live, but this man openly tried to take the kingdom away from Solomon. I want you to see something. The reign of Solomon is starting very good. On the first day that he proclaimed King, instead of saying off with their heads to potential enemies, he's saying, I extend to you a hand of grace and mercy. At the same time, Solomon's not stupid. He says, Adonai, if you try any kind of rebellion against me, you're a dead man. So Adonai knew that he had received such great mercy from he came and he fell down before King Solomon. And he was obviously very happy about that. Now, let's just go right into chapter two here, and we'll, we'll finish that up here. It says now the days of David drew near that he should die. And he charged Solomon, his son saying, I go the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man and keep the charge of the Lord, your God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do. And wherever you turn that the Lord may fulfill his word, which he spoke concerning me saying, if your sons take heed to their way to walk before me in truth, with all their heart and with all their soul, he said, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. David here in the beginning of first Kings chapter two, he's giving his final words to Solomon. And really, it's wonderful. I mean, you notice it right there in verse two, where he says, I go the way of all the earth. I mean, this man, David, the son of Jesse, who was Israel's greatest King apart from the Messiah, he recognized that he was just a man. He said, I'm going to die just like every man who's ever walked this earth. And he says, I better give a final encouragement to Solomon. Now, if you want an expanded account of this last speech that David gives to Solomon, when you get home, read first Chronicles 28 and 29 first Kings gives us the abbreviated version right here. But David says to him very plainly, if you notice here, he says, verse two, be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. I have to say that it seems to me that David sensed some kind of weakness in Solomon. He says, you know, Solomon, I, you're a good man. I know you'll be a good King, but there's a weakness there. Be strong, prove yourself a man. You're going to need strength. You're going to need courage. Solomon, you're going to face challenges, maybe challenges you don't even know about and be obedient to the Lord. If you stay obedient to the Lord, then you will succeed in your reign. And I have to say, look at it in verse four, read that again, because it's very impressive. If you think about it, it says that the Lord may fulfill his word, which he spoke concerning me saying, if your sons take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, he said, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. And do you understand what that means? David's saying to Solomon, Solomon, listen, obey God and he'll bless you. But David could say that to anybody, right? I mean, I could say that to you. You could say it to me. That's universal. Obey God and he'll bless you. But David gave Solomon a more specific reason. He said, now, Solomon, God made me a promise that if my sons walk in obedience after me of my descendants, then we will always sit on the throne of Israel. Do you understand what an amazing promise that was? No matter what the Babylonians do, no matter what the Assyrians do, no matter what the Egyptians do, as long as David's sons are obedient, as long as they follow the Lord with all their heart and with all their soul, God's going to establish their kingdom. I'll tell you something. If the sons of David would have been obedient, there would be a descendant of David ruling over Israel right now. Absolutely. Because God said, listen, you obey and I will make sure it happens. Oh, well, sometimes we try to make it so complicated. We think, well, you know, all these geopolitical pressures, you know, and there's this rising empire in Babylon. And then there's the force down here in Egypt. And then there's the counter fulcrum of a Syrian empire and all these different things and the power politics. No, listen, God told David and his sons, you obey me and you're going to be secure in your kingdom. That's all there is to it. It doesn't matter what empires rise and fall. It doesn't matter about any enemy you might have. If you obey me, you and your descendants will sit on the throne. Now, listen, I read a promise like that and I have to admit, I get a little bit envious. I go, man, that's a pretty special promise, isn't it? Now I wish I had a promise like that from God. Then I realized I do. Do you remember what Jesus said? Matthew chapter six, verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things shall be added to you. You put God first and he'll take care of the rest. You do it. Man, that's hard for us to believe sometimes. It's so easy for us to believe that the problems in our life are outside of ourselves. The real problem is the Egyptians. The real problem is the Babylonians. No, no, no, Solomon. The real problem is you have to stay right with God. If you do that, there's nothing else you have to worry about. We have a very similar promise to us in our own walk with God. Well, he's going to go on here. Verse five, David speaks to Solomon as a father speaks to his son and he says, moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zariah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel to Abner the son of Ner and Amasor the son of Jether whom he killed and he shed the blood of war in peacetime and he put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist and on his sandals that were on his feet. Therefore, do according to your wisdom and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace. But show kindness to the sons of Barzilli the Gileadite and let them be from and let them be among those who eat at your table. For so they came to me when I fled from Absalom, your brother and see you have with you shimmy. I, the son of Gara, a Benjamite from Bahram, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day that I went from Manaheim, but he came down to meet me at the Jordan and I swore to him by the Lord saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Now, therefore, do not hold him guiltless. For you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him, but bring down his gray hair to the grave with the blood. This is very interesting. David, I have to say to me, it almost seems like a Godfather movie or something, you know, a gangster movie saying that, listen, my son, come, let me tell you how to deal with these people after I'm gone. And he talks about how to deal with some of the enemies and how to deal with some of the friends. So who's the first one? Joab. Remember that guy, Joab? Joab, who had just made himself a supporter of Adoniah. What does David say to Joab about Joab? He says, you execute him. Don't let his head go down to the grave in peace. You execute him. You give justice to Joab. He's guilty of the murder of Abner. He's guilty of the murder of Amasa, who was one of David's military commandments, commanders, I should say. Again, I have to say, I find this guy, Joab, one of the most complex characters of the Old Testament. As I said before, fiercely loyal to David, but not particularly obedient to him. He would disobey David when he thought that it was in David's best interest. David didn't even mention some of the other crimes that Joab did, but he could have. Many people have a theory about Joab. It's kind of an interesting theory. They think that David did not kill Joab during David's own life because Joab knew about the murder of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. If you go back to the story in 2 Samuel 11, it points out how David sent the message to Joab to put Uriah into a place where he would be killed. Many people think that Joab blackmailed David and said, listen, you can't get rid of me because I'll reveal these secrets about you and this can't happen. I want to say that might be true, but I think other people knew about this sin that David committed against Uriah also, like Nathan the prophet, for example, like other people. It only would seem to me that Joab would have this power of blackmail over David if no one else knew that this would happen. It seems to me like some other people knew it. But at the very least, David knew the complexity of Joab's character. He knew the loyalty and the sacrifice that Joab made, but he also knew that Joab was a ruthless and a violent man. So it's a strange man in the Old Testament. And so he says, listen, execute Joab, but show kindness to the sons of Barzili the Gileadite. Listen, this man helped me when I was down. You show kindness to his sons. But Shimei, Shimei was an obnoxious rebel who cursed David when he fled from Absalom. And at the time that he was cursing David, David said, don't kill him. What he's saying might be from the Lord. We won't kill him. Now, David thinks back now and goes, I can't break my vow to Shimei. I can't kill him after I have promised not to kill him. Solomon, you are not under this vow. You take care of this man and give him what he deserves. So verse 10, so David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. The period that David reigned over Israel was 40 years. Seven years he reigned in Hebron. And in Jerusalem, he reigned 33 years. Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father, David, and his kingdom was firmly established. Now this phrase, David rested with his fathers, you're going to see that phrase a lot through the book of First Kings. When one of the kings dies, it'll talk about them resting with their fathers. And here I have to say it's a little bit touching when you come to these verses. Here ends the earthly life of one of the greatest men to ever walk this earth. First Chronicles 29 verse 28 says, David died in a good old age full of days and riches and honor. I want you to notice something. Here at the end of his life, nothing is said about his scandals or his sins. It's as if he made peace with God over those things in his lifetime. I like what Alan Redpath, a favorite writer of mine about David says, he says he was a shepherd, a soldier, an outlaw, a king, a fugitive, a sinner, a saint, a poet. His experiences were the writing of God on his life, making him into a man after God's own heart. I say it without reservation. This man's whose deaths is recorded here in verses 10, 11 and 12. This man was one of the greatest men to ever walk this earth. He was buried in the city of David. We don't know where the tomb of David is today. If you go and take a tour of Jerusalem, they'll take you to a place and they'll call it the tomb of David. Nobody knows if that's the right one. But in the days of Jesus, they knew where the tomb of David was. Acts chapter two, verse 29 mentions the tomb of David. And a later Christian writer named Jerome says that they knew where the tomb of David was in their day. But since that time, it's been lost. And so now Solomon, verse 12, sat on the throne of his father, David, and his kingdom was fully established, firmly established. I can say here it is. It's completed here. He is the king, and there's no doubt about it. There's not going to be any pressure for this throne or any contention for it. So what's he going to do? Well, he's going to make sure his throne is secure. Look at verse 13. Now, Adonai, the son of Haggad, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. So she said, you come peaceably. And he said, peaceably. Moreover, he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, say it. They said, you know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel had set their expectations on me that I should reign. However, this kingdom has been turned over and has become my brothers, for it was his from the Lord. Now I ask one petition of you. Do not deny me. And she said to him, say it. And he said, please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife. So Bathsheba said, very well, I'll speak for you to the king. Do you understand this scene here? First of all, you see the bitterness in Adonai, right? I was this close. I almost had the throne. It was almost mine. But Solomon's the king now. And OK, I can deal with it. It's from the Lord. But here he says as well, I just want one favor from Solomon. And what was the one favor he wanted? He wanted this beautiful young woman who kept David warm in his last days. By the way, it tells us very specifically in chapter one, verse four, that David did not have sex with this young woman. It said he did not know her. So she was fully marriable. He says, I want this young woman to be a concubine, excuse me, I want her to be a wife unto me. Now Bathsheba knew exactly what Adonai wanted in this. You see, Adonai wanted more than Abishag's beauty. Back in 2 Samuel chapter 16, when Absalom tried to take over David's kingdom, one of the first things he did was he took all of the concubines of David and he had sex with them. Do you know what he was saying? What did belong to him now belongs to me. I stand in his place. So do you understand what Adonai is trying to say? I want you to see this was not a romantic act. This was not primarily a sexual act. This was a claim to power. That's what Adonai is doing now. I think it's very interesting what Bathsheba says. She says, okay, I'll go tell Solomon. She knows exactly what's going to happen here. And she's more than happy to do it. So she goes and tell Solomon verse 19, Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonai. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her and sat down on his throne and had a throne set up for the king's mother. He's a very good son. So she sat at his right hand. And then he said, I desire one small petition of you do not refuse me. And the king said, well, ask for my mother for I will not refuse you. So she said, let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonai your brother as wife. Bathsheba knew that this was an outrageous request. Then why did she agree to go take it to Solomon? Because she knew what it would mean. She knew that this would mean off with Adonai's head. He said, Adonai, if you want to cut your own throat, I won't get in your way. So it's very interesting. You have to, I don't know. Maybe the ladies could comment on this better than I could. But it seems like Bathsheba is being just a little bit conniving, just a little bit manipulative here. Well, some one small petition. Well, this was not a small petition that you say, Solomon, would you please give Adonai a reason to claim that the throne of Israel really belongs to him? Would you please do that? You can just imagine what Solomon's going to do. Look at verse 22. And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, now why do you ask Abishan the Shunammite for Adonai? Ask him for the kingdom also. For he is my older brother. For him and for Abathar the priest and for joy of the son of Zariah. Then King Solomon swore by the Lord saying, may God do so to me and more also if Adonai have spoken this word against his own life. Now, therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David, my father, and who has established a house for me, as he promised, Adonai shall be put to death today. So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaniah, the son of Jeodiah, and he struck him down and he died. Solomon understood the situation perfectly. This wasn't, you know, one of those dating services where Adonai was just looking for a date, you know, for a nice young woman to share his household. He was looking for a connection to the throne. Solomon saw it. Of course, Bathsheba knew it also. And when Solomon said, he goes, listen, take care of this guy. And Adonai was dead. Yeah, you have to say it's sad. It's sad on Adonai's part, because Adonai had been shown so much grace, so much mercy from Solomon, hadn't he? And yet he seemed to despise it. You have to ask yourself the question, why? After Solomon gave Adonai this warning, right? Listen, don't you mess up. If you do anything to try to, you know, take over this throne, I'm going to have you executed. But Adonai couldn't wait to do this. Why? I think he maybe felt that Solomon was just too young, too inexperienced, that he found out Solomon was a wise leader. He knew exactly what to do with this threat against him. All right, verse 26. And to Abiathar the priest, the king said, go to Anoth, you to your own fields, for you're deserving of death. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted. So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest of the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh. Now, this man Abiathar deserved death, because he supported Adonai against Solomon. He deserved death. But Solomon wasn't going to kill him. He just said, listen, you were too good to my father David, you just go. You're fired from your job, go to your fields, enjoy your farm, but you go your way, and I will not put you to death at this time. By the way, did you notice what he said? I will not put you to death at this time. Watch yourself. You go the wrong way, and you could still end up dead. But I'm not going to kill you now. And then verse 28, the execution here of Joab. Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonai, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horns of the altar. There was a lot of this going on back then. Verse 29, and King Solomon was told, Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, there he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaniah, the son of Jehoiading, saying, go strike him down. So Benaniah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, thus says the king, come out. And he said, no, but I will die here. And Benaniah brought back word to the king, saying, thus says Joab, and thus he's answered me. Then the king said to him, do as he has said, and strike him down, and bury him, that you may take away from me, and from the house of my father, the innocent blood which Joab has shed. So the Lord will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and he killed him with his own sword, Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amas, the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah, though my father David did not know it. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord. So Benaniah the son of Jehodiah went up and struck and killed him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. Then the king put Benaniah the son of Jehodiah in his place over the army, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. So Joab knew that his days were numbered. He ran, took hold of the altar. It's interesting. One of the things you notice about Joab, Joab was never a man who showed any kind of relationship with God, nothing. Professional military man, loyal to David, but he doesn't seem to have any of the spiritual motivation that David had. But yet when he was in trouble, he knew where to go, right? He went to the temple. Suddenly he became religious, right? Suddenly he had a reason to go to the altar. And he went there to try to save his own life, but it would not save his life because there was no power in the altar to save him from his crimes. And again, let me repeat this to you from Exodus chapter 21, verse 14. It says, if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die. God made it very clear if a man is guilty and deserving of death under the law of Israel, he could not find refuge just because he went to the temple. And Solomon carried out this principle in regard to Joab. And so there goes Joab. Now I want you to notice something here. You see what Solomon's doing with Adoniah. He showed wisdom. Adoniah, you're fine until you mess up. Adoniah messed up and he was executed. Abiathar, the priest, okay, I'm not going to kill you. Go your own way. Joab, I'm going to fulfill what my father did. In other words, he's not applying the same solution to every man. He's showing wisdom, knowing that each circumstance is different and he's following wisdom in each circumstance. Here we see the last example here, verse 36. Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there and do not go out from there anywhere. For it shall be on the day that you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head. So you see what Solomon's saying? Okay, Shimei, no problem. You can live. I'm not going to kill you. You're probably nervous. David's died and I'm the new king. Don't worry about it. But come make yourself a nice house in Jerusalem. You just have to stay in Jerusalem. The brook Kidron was one of the boundaries of Jerusalem. And Solomon says to Shimei, fine. You just don't cross that brook Kidron and you're fine. You just stay within the city limits. Now I have to say Solomon knew what he was doing. He knew that Shimei wouldn't keep to this, but he was going to let him condemn himself. So verse 38, Shimei said to the king, the saying is good. And as my Lord, the king has said, your servant will do. So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. Everybody's happy until verse 39. Now it happened at the end of three years, the two slaves of Shimei ran away to Achish, the son of Macha, king of Gath. And they told Shimei saying, look, your slaves are in Gath. So Shimei rose, saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you saying no for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die. And you said to me, the word I have heard is good. Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you? The king said, moreover to Shimei, you know, as your heart acknowledges all the wickedness you did to my father, David, therefore the Lord will return your wickedness on your own head. But King Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. So the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jodiah, and he went out and struck him down and he died. Thus, the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. Well, here at the end of the chapter, it demonstrates at the beginning of first Kings, when we started an hour and 15 minutes ago, we didn't know who was going to take over for David, right? We saw a sick king near to the point of death and the succession of the throne was in question. Now at the end of chapter two, there's no doubt Solomon holds the throne securely, just as it was ordained by God. I want you to notice something. It tells us something about Solomon. It tells us that he had a passion for justice. This was not vengeance. This was justice. Why did he strike out against Joab? Because Joab was unpopular with his father? No, because Joab was a murderer and deserved to be punished. Why did he strike out against Shimei? Because Shimei voluntarily violated a commandment that he agreed to keep before Solomon. Solomon handled these things with wisdom and with justice. I think we have to say this is a very, very good start to the reign of Solomon, right? I wish I could stand before you right now and say that Solomon's reign ended as well as it started, but it did not. But let us be thankful for a good beginning. And let us say this too. I want you to see the energy, the passion with which Solomon said, I am going to secure my throne. Now, I think God wants us to have that kind of passion in our life. Can I read to you a difficult verse from the New Testament? Matthew chapter 11, verse 12. This is one of the difficult verses of the New Testament. Matthew 11, 12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Now, what's Jesus talking about? That's a difficult verse, isn't it? I mean, is Jesus telling us to be violent and to go around punching people and, you know, I don't know, being violent? No, no, no, no, no. Listen, he's talking about the kind of attitude you have to have spiritually, where you are willing to be, might I say, spiritually violent. Do you see how Solomon said, I am not going to permit, for example, Adoniah, this rival, this guy who could take his throne? He said, I am not going to let him exist as a threat to me. Now, what if you have the same passion about the things that threaten your spiritual life? Do you see what I'm talking about? The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. I'm not talking about a physical violence. I don't think Jesus was either. But he was talking about the single-minded devotion that says, you know what? If something gets in the way between me and God, I'm going to violently remove it. It is not going to stay in the way. I'm going to remove it with an energy and a passion that says, no, this throne in my heart, it belongs to Jesus Christ and none other. No Adoniah is going to take it. No Joab is going to undermine it. No Shimei is going to mock it. It's going to belong to Jesus Christ and to no one else. That's a great lesson we learned from the pattern of Solomon in this verse. Let's pray and then we'll take a few minutes out if there's any questions from father. We pray that you'd give us that kind of heart, Lord. Wow. To be able to look at the spiritual enemies that we have Lord here. Solomon was surrounded by enemies and you gave him wisdom how to deal with each one. Some of them he dealt with very sharply. Others of him, he showed great mercy to them. Lord, show us how to deal wisely with things that threaten us in our relationship with you and Lord, give us some of that attitude of spiritual violence towards anything that gets in the way of our walk with you. We love you, Jesus. We thank you for all of your goodness to us. Bless your word to us and teach us through these amazing ways that you worked in these Old Testament times in Jesus name. Amen.