1 Kings 2: “David’s Dying Charge Of Solomon / Solomon’s
Immediate Challenges After David’s Death”
By
1.INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at chapter 1 of 1 Kings.
1.1.1. We studied about David’s
last challenge as king of
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 2 of 1 Kings.
1.2.1. In our study today, David is
on his deathbed and he charges Solomon before the Lord about his responsibility
that he now has before the Lord as king.
Then, he gives Solomon some wise advice about bringing to justice some
of the trouble makers in his kingdom so that he can rid himself of those who
might cause him trouble.
1.2.2. Solomon’s reign will be one
of peace, as he was a man of peace, however we will see that there is a price
to pay for peace. This kind of reminds
me of a bumper sticker I saw recently that said, “Freedom is not free!” In following David’s advice concerning how to
handle a few individuals in the kingdom, we will see that though Solomon is
gracious and gives each of these people (with the exception of Joab) one chance
to change their ways and do good, that they instead end up showing that their
true motives are bad and Solomon gives each one of them a capital
sentence. Because of the heinous nature
of Joab’s sins he is not given a second chance.
2.VS 2:1-4 - “1 As David’s time to
die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am going the
way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. 3 “Keep
the charge of the Lord your God,
to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances,
and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you
may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He
spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before
Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a
man on the throne of Israel.’” - David
charges Solomon about his responsibilities that he will now have before the
Lord
2.1.
David first tells Solomon that he (David) is about to die saying that
he is, ‘going the way of all the earth.’
2.2.
David’s charges of Solomon :
2.2.1. ‘be strong.’
2.2.1.1. This charge of Solomon by
David is very similar to Moses’ charge to Joshua as Joshua was now taking up
the helm in leading the children of
2.2.2. ‘show yourself a man.’
2.2.2.1. Solomon was a young man and
had not fought in the battles that David had fought in. Therefore, David charges Solomon to be strong
and be a man.
2.2.2.2. Many believe that even
though many years before this time that David had said that Solomon would be
king that in the interim David had not really had much respect for Solomon
because of Solomon’s softness and because Solomon had not been a warrior and
fought in battle. In fact, some believe
that the reason why David had not tried to thwart Adonijah’s attempts to make
himself king before Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet came to persuade David
that Solomon was to be king is because Adonijah was a lot like Absalom, the son
whom David really had wanted to succeed him as king. Perhaps David in his heart had been wanting
Adonijah to take the throne before he was reminded of God’s revealed will that
Solomon was to be the next king.
2.2.2.3. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 the
apostle Paul had admonished the Corinthians to be strong and to act like men, “13
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” All of us as Christians need to take it to
heart that we too need to be courageous for the Lord and serve Him zealously,
courageously and boldly.
2.2.3. ‘Keep the charge of the
Lord.’
2.2.3.1. Solomon was to realize that
he had a calling and thus a stewardship from the Lord as king over God’s
people. This was a huge responsibility
that every king needed to come to grips with before the Lord.
2.2.3.2. Each of us as Christians
also has a calling and thus a charge before the Lord for our lives.
2.2.4. ‘Walk in His ways.’
2.2.4.1. Solomon was not to follow
the natural inclinations of his fleshly nature, what we under the new covenant
would call the “old nature” or “old sinful nature.” Solomon as God’s king was to order and
organize his life around all of the principles found in God’s word.
2.2.5. ‘Keep His statutes.’
2.2.5.1. The Hebrew word “chookaw”
translated ‘statutes’ refers to the ordinances that are created by a
people’s legal legislature.
2.2.5.2. Solomon was being charged by
David to keep God’s law to the very letter.
2.2.6. ‘Keep His commandments.’
2.2.6.1. This Hebrew word “mitzvah”
translated ‘commandments’ is very similar to the word “chookaw” above
and refers to God’s ordinances and precepts as found in the Torah, the first
five books of the Old Testament.
2.2.7. ‘Keep His ordinances.’
2.2.7.1. The Hebrew word “mishpawt” translated
‘ordinances’ here is very similar to “chookaw” and “mitzvah” and in the
KJV is translated “judgments.”
2.2.8. ‘Keep His testimonies.’
2.2.8.1. The Hebrew word “eduwith”
translated ‘testimonies’ refers to those things that the Lord has
witnessed to us about, or given testimony to.
2.2.8.2. We ‘keep’ the Lord’s
‘testimonies’ by placing our faith in what His word has told us, and
thus acting according to the things as revealed in His word.
2.2.9. ‘Do all according to what
is written in the Law of Moses.’
2.2.9.1. David during his lifetime
had become painfully aware of the consequences of both obeying and disobeying
the Law of Moses. David suffered huge
consequences for his sins of disobedience regarding adultery with Bathsheba, murder
of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah the Hittite, not bringing up and disciplining his
sons to walk according to the ways of the Lord, etc., etc.
2.2.9.2. David knew that no man would
ever be in the place of God’s blessing unless he walked in obedience to the
Lord’s revealed will, that which he knew existed in the Law of Moses.
2.2.9.3. David tells Solomon that if
he keeps the Law of Moses that he shall succeed in “all” that he did.
2.2.9.4. We as God’s people need to
be walking according to God’s commandments and it is only as we are doing so
that we honor and bless the Lord with our lives, and in which we will be used
greatly by the Lord.
2.3.
David tells Solomon that if his sons after him walk according to the
ways of the Lord that he (Solomon) will never lack a son upon the throne in
3.VS 2:5-6 - “5 “Now you also know
what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of
the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether,
whom he killed; he also shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of
war on his belt about his waist, and on his sandals on his feet. 6 “So
act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in
peace.” David gives Solomon the advice to hold Joab
accountable for murdering Abner and Amasa, and not let Joab’s ‘gray hair go
down to Sheol in peace’
3.1.
During our study of 1 & 2 Samuel we observed that though Joab had
originally been faithful in serving King David that over time he had begun to
serve his own selfish and self-serving ends instead of those of his king, plus
Joab had become a ruthless and violent man.
Observe the ruthless acts of Joab which caused him to be deserving of
death:
3.1.1. Joab had murdered Abner who
was a captain of the army.
3.1.1.1. Abner had murdered Asahel (2
Sam. 2:12-32) who was Joab’s brother, yet this gave Joab no good reason to
murder Abner.
3.1.2. Joab had murdered Amasa who
was another captain of the army.
3.1.2.1. Amasa had followed Absalom
in his rebellion to take over the throne of his father David, however Amasa had
repented and then been made general over David’s army (2 Sam. 20). Joab used deceit to murder Amasa. He had feigned coming over and giving Amasa a
kiss on the beard only to take out his knife and murder Amasa.
3.1.2.2. The way that Joab murdered
Amasa by feigning that he was going to kiss Amasa on the cheek and then pulling
out his dagger and stabbing him, Joab had, ‘put the blood of war on his belt
about his waist, and on his sandals on his feet.’
3.1.3. Joab had murdered David’s
son Absalom in battle.
3.1.3.1. King David had given Joab
and the rest of David’s men the charge to be gentle with Absalom, as David had
hopes that Absalom might come to his senses and repent of his wickedness of
rebelling against his father’s kingship, however Joab blatantly disregarded
that charge and murdered Absalom when Absalom’s hair had gotten caught up in
the branches of a tree leaving him hanging in mid-air.
3.1.4. Joab had followed Adonijah
in his attempt to make himself king over
3.1.4.1. Though Joab’s following of
Adonijah was a treasonous act (found in 1 Kings chapter 1), one which was
calculated to thwart the revealed will of God concerning who would be the next
king of Israel, it was not for this act that Joab would now face justice under
Solomon and be put to death.
3.2.
Speaking of Joab and these horrible acts of murder he carried out,
David says here, ‘he also shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the
blood of war on his belt about his waist, and on his sandals on his feet.’
4.VS 2:7 - “7 “But show kindness
to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at
your table; for they assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother.” - David charges Solomon to show kindness to the
sons of Barzillai the Gileadite
4.1.
In 2 Sam. 19:31-ff we read the story of how when David was fleeing from
his son Absalom who had created an insurrection against him that Barzillai the
Gileadite had come and sustained David and his men with food, and in exchange
for the kindness shown to David in that day David wanted to bring Barzillai
back with him to Jerusalem so that he could sustain Barzillai the rest of his
life. However, since Barzillai was an
old man and couldn’t really enjoy many pleasures of life anymore he chose to
just go back to his home. Barzillai
asked David that he would instead take a man named Chimham and do this for him
in Barzillai’s place. David then took
Chimham with him and fulfilled this for Chimham.
4.2.
David charges Solomon here to show kindness to more than Chimham but
also to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them also eat at his table
with the king.
4.3.
David serving as a type of Christ here is remembering to do good to
those who have done good to him. We
Christians must remember that Jesus never forgets to reward our labors which we
have performed for Him.
5.VS 2:8-9 - “ 8 “Behold, there is with you
Shimei the son of
5.1.
In 2 Sam. 16:5-ff there is the story told of when David was fleeing Jerusalem
from his son Absalom during Absalom’s insurrection to take over the throne and
there was this man named Simei who was walking alongside of David throwing
rocks and dust upon him and calling him a “bloody man” for killing King Saul
(David didn’t call Saul however).
5.2.
Shimei was from the tribe of Saul (Benjamin) and had wanted a
descendant of Saul to remain upon the throne in
5.3.
Later, after Absalom’s demise in battle, Shimei had come repentant
before David asking for his forgiveness, and David vowed that he would not kill
Shimei (2 Sam. 19:18-ff). However, even
though David had shown mercy to Shimei at that time, he realized that Shimei
was really a rebel at heart and being a sympathizer with the house of Saul
Shimei could easily cause yet more trouble for the kingdom and heartache for
Solomon. In short, David knew that
Shimei needed to be dealt with.
6.VS 2:10-12 - “10 Then David slept
with his fathers and was buried in the city of
6.1.
David was buried in the city of Jerusalem, the city he loved more than
any place on the earth. Today I am told
that there is a site in
6.2.
We see here that David’s reign as king consisted of 40 years, 7 of
which were in
6.3.
Now, we see that Solomon is seated and reigning upon the throne of
David, no longer a co-regent king with David, he is the sole monarch over the
Lord’s united nation of
6.4.
Further, we see here that Solomon’s kingdom is ‘firmly established.’
7.VS 2:13-25 - “13 Now Adonijah the
son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you
come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” 14 Then he said, “I
have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” 15 So
he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine and that all
7.1.
Adonijah’s life had been spared by Solomon after David had appointed
Solomon to be king. Adonijah at that
time was ordered by Solomon to house arrest, and had he stayed at his house and
minded his own business he would have fared well the rest of his life.
7.2.
Adonijah however couldn’t help himself.
Having tasted what it might be like to be king over
7.3.
Adonijah asks Bathsheba to request Abishag the Shunammite as a wife for
himself. Adonijah knew that King David
in his old age had taken Abishag to be a concubine for himself. Now that David was dead only a king could
marry Abishag for to marry one who had been a queen would be to make yourself a
king. Absalom during his rebellion
remember had as a show of his kingship in
7.4.
Adonijah is not so foolish as to approach Solomon directly about
obtaining Abishag as his wife, however he decides that if he requested that
Bathseba, Solomon’s mother, were to request this woman for a wife for himself
that Solomon would grant this request.
7.5.
Notice here in Adonijah’s petition to Bathsheba how he paints himself
as being sort of cheated out of his rightful kingdom and then says in essence
that in respect of this that Bathsheba should grant him his request to ask
Solomon if Abishag could be given to him as a wife: ‘“You know that the kingdom was mine and
that all Israel expected me to be king; however, the kingdom has turned about
and become my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord. 16 “Now I am making one request of you; do
not refuse me.”.’
7.6.
Scholars are divided as to whether or not Bathsheba knew what Adonijah
was up to in requesting Abishag the Shunammite to be his wife.
7.6.1. Some say that Bathsheba was
totally naďve of the consequences for Adonijah if Abishag were given to him as
a wife.
7.6.2. Others say that Adonijah
tried to convince Bathsheba that he truly loved Abishag and that therefore
Bathsheba was moved with compassion in requesting that Solomon give Abishag to
Adonijah as his wife.
7.6.3. Still, others say that Bathsheba knew exactly
what Adonijah was up to and that she tells Solomon of Adonijah’s request
knowing full well that in doing so that Adonijah would be brought to swift
justice.
7.7.
Well, when Bathsheba presents Adonijah’s request to Solomon, Solomon
immediately is discerning of Adonijah’s true intentions. Adonijah still has his heart set upon
reigning as king over
7.8.
Benaiah is the henchman here who goes and takes Adonijah’s life, the
justice Adonijah deserved for insurrection.
8.VS 2:26-27 - “26 Then to Abiathar
the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth to your own field, for you deserve to
die; 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 in everything with which my father was
afflicted.” 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to
the Lord, in order to fulfill the
word of the Lord, which He had
spoken concerning the house of Eli in
8.1.
Abiathar is one who also deserved the arm of justice for having
followed Adonijah in his attempt to make himself king over
8.2.
Solomon determines that Abiathar shall not be put to death for this
crime for though this might normally be what was due him. In Abiathar’s case, since he had once served
King David faithfully as a high priest (a position in the kingdom of highest
esteem), and he had at one time ‘carried the ark of the Lord God,’ his
sentence shall be to be go to his own field and be stripped of any further
priestly or political activity in all of Israel.
8.3.
The extinguishing of the priesthood of Abiathar was a fulfillment of
prophesy. In 1 Sam. 2:30-ff we read the
story of the judgment pronounced against Eli the high priest who had two wicked
sons whom he allowed to function as priests although he knew that they were
committing horrible wickedness. The Lord
promised that the priestly line of Eli would be cut off because of the sins he
allowed his sons to commit. Abiathar was
the last of the descendants of Ithamar who was a descendant of Eli and thus the
priestly lined ended with him and resumed with Zadok and his descendants.
9.VS 2:28-34 - “28 Now the news came
to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom.
And Joab fled to the tent of the Lord
and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 It was told King Solomon
that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord,
and behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, saying, “Go, fall upon him.” 30 So Benaiah came to the
tent of the Lord and said to him,
“Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’ ” But he said, “No, for I will die here.”
And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, and thus he
answered me.” 31 The king said to him, “Do as he has spoken and fall
upon him and bury him, that you may remove from me and from my father’s house
the blood which Joab shed without cause. 32 “The Lord will return his blood on his own
head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed
them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: Abner the
son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether,
commander of the army of Judah. 33 “So shall their blood return on
the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever; but to David and
his descendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” 34 Then
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and
he was buried at his own house in the wilderness.” - Joab flees to the horns of the altar so that
Solomon might not have him put to death, yet this does not save him
9.1.
We have already considered the heinous sins of murder committed by
Joab, the worst being the murder of Abner and Amasa. David should have brought Joab to account for
these murders much before this time however David had held off doing this
because when these murders occurred David had become an old man and Joab was
heavily entrenched into his power base as general over David’s army.
9.2.
When Joab heard of the justice that had been meted out to Adonijah and
Abiathar, in fear he fled to the tabernacle and held onto the horns of the
altar begging for his life from King Solomon.
9.3.
However, the horns of the altar would never save anyone who had committed
willful murder, only those who had committed manslaughter and who could plea
for a fair trial in their matter (see Exod. 21:14 and 2 Kings 11:15). The law specifically taught that those guilty
of willful murder (we call it in our justice system “murder in the first
degree”), that they could be pulled from the horns of the altar and executed
elsewhere, which is what Solomon orders to occur in Joab’s case.
9.4.
Since Benaiah, though a warrior, was of priestly descent he as the
executioner could not violate the law by entering the tabernacle to carry out
the capital punishment of Joab.
10.VS 2:35 - “35 The king appointed
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed
Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.” -
Solomon makes political appointments for Benaiah and Zadok
10.1.
Now that Joab had been put to death, Solomon needed a new general to
lead his army, and Benaiah was the natural and logical choice for such a
position, especially because of his faithfulness over many years in serving
David and being part of David’s mighty men.
10.2.
Zadok the priest had been a faithful high priest serving under King
David for many years. Though Zadok had
served as co-high priest along with Abiathar for a long time, now he alone will
hold the position in Solomon’s kingdom as high priest.
11.VS 2:36-46 - “36 Now the king sent
and called for Shimei and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem
and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. 37 “For
on the day you go out and cross over the brook Kidron, you will know for
certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.” 38
Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. As my lord the king has
said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei lived in
11.1.
Solomon had allowed Shimei to not perish because of the sin he
committed against King David when David had been fleeing from Absalom. All Shimei had to do was to build himself a
house within the city of
11.2.
Shimei could not help himself though for three years later when two of
his slaves fled from him he left
11.3.
When Solomon hears about the fact that Shimei had left the city of
11.4.
Now with Adonijah, Joab, Abiathar, and Shimei out of the picture
Solomon could establish his kingdom of peace under which he would be able to
build the temple of the Lord.
12.CONCLUSIONS:
12.1.
Keep your charge and calling before the Lord.
12.2.
Be strong and courageous, be a man.
12.3.
Walk in all of the ways of the Lord and thus you shall be successful in
all that you do.