We've finished 2 Samuel, sort of. There's one small part of the last 2 Samuel we didn't do yet. David's actual last words. We're going to cover those, Lord willing, when we actually get to David's death, which is the very next lesson after this one. We start 1 Kings. I have there a short introduction to 1 Kings. No one knows exactly who wrote this. Ancient Hebrew tradition says it was Jeremiah, but there's no real evidence for that. The reason they say that is because there's Jeremiah records some things, almost word for word, that are found in 2 Kings about the captivity. And you think, maybe he wrote. He may have. Don't know. But whoever wrote this used many sources. Whoever wrote 1 and 2 Kings had access to the royal records. For example, on your sheet there, I have several things mentioned. 1 Chronicles 29.29 tells us that, now the acts of King David from the first to last are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer. That's a book that we don't have today, but they did. In the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, another book, we don't have what they did. And in the Chronicles of Gad the seer, those are three prophets who were around in David's time. Second Chronicles 9 tells us, now the rest of the acts of Solomon from first to last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet? In the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, in the vision of Edo the seer concerning Jeroboam. There were these records, written records back then. But in first and second Kings, it mentions the annals of Solomon. Someone recorded the works and deeds of Solomon. It also mentions 18 times the annals of the kings of Israel. And whoever wrote 1st and 2nd Kings made use of those annals. It also mentions 15 times the annals of the kings of Judah. So whoever this was had access to the court record. These annals would be kept in the palace. Some historian wrote these things down, everything that the kings of Judah did, the things of Israel did. And whoever put this all together had access to all those records, those journals. So again, it could have been Jeremiah. That's what tradition says, but we really don't know. It doesn't really matter. Like Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings were originally one book. They cover roughly 370 years from the death of David, which we find in chapter 2, all the way up to the Babylonian captivity. Now, one of the commentaries points out, you're talking about almost 370 years in less than 50,000 words. In other words, some of this is brief. This isn't actually a detailed history. The authors, some kings, they give you half a paragraph. Their reign might have lasted 50 years, but they give you half a paragraph. Some of these kings, they go several chapters, because the author isn't necessarily trying to write an exact history. He wants to show you God's dealings with the nation of Israel. And he stops and expands. For example, the story of Elijah and Elijah takes several chapters, whereas several other men are barely mentioned. So anyway, but this covered the history from the death of David to the Babylonian captivity. And what this is, this was called, did a Hebrew, but this was called the former prophets. You had basically the history from Genesis all the way to the Babylonian captivity. This is part of that writing. These are called the former prophets. 370 years. Now, this was probably, I'm sorry, probably written during the Babylonian captivity. It has to be written after that, because whoever wrote this records the Babylonian captivity, records how the king was arrested and let loose from jail. So this was probably written during the captivity by someone. Might have been Jeremiah. We don't know for sure. And what he's doing there, one of the commentators points out, imagine if on 9-11, imagine 9-12, a stranger would show up and see all this wreckage and ruin. And he'd say, what happened here? What was this all about? That's basically what 1 and 2 Kings is. They're in captivity. And someone looking back and saying, well, how did this happen? How did we get here? Why did God do this to us? That's the basic message of 1 and 2 Kings. Why did Israel end up in captivity? Why was God so angry with them? And some think it's a warning to the Israelites who are coming back from captivity eventually to remind them, don't do this again. Don't go back into idolatry. God punished us because of our horrible idolatry. As Pastor Paul pointed out Sunday, when Israel came back from captivity, one thing they never had dealt with again was idolatry. When Jesus walked around Israel, one of the sins he never had to deal with was idolatry, because there were no more idols. Israel was cured of that. But some think this was written to remind the captives coming back, here's why you went to Babylon in the first place. Don't do this again. It may be. Having said that, 1 and 2 Kings records a sad decline of Israel and Judah into idolatry They become a divided nation. And again, like all biblical history, it's written to show God's dealings with his people. This isn't really about Israel or Solomon or all these kings. It's actually about what God does when people obey and what God does when they don't. How God was faithful with Israel, how God punished Israel. In fact, the name Yahweh is mentioned over 500 times in these two books. It's about the Lord and what he does and how he deals with his people. And again, that would be a great necessary thing for those coming back from captivity to read this history. Here's what your fathers did. Don't do this again. And of course they didn't. Israel was cured of that. Mark Dever had a neat saying, here's the basic outline of the first and second kings. First kings, Israel's decline. Second kings, Israel's fall. That pretty much sums it up. It's downhill pretty much from here. Now 1 Kings picks up the story where 2 Samuel ends. 1 and 2 Samuel were written first, probably much earlier. So whoever wrote 1 and 2 Kings decided to pick up the story where Samuel left off. You recall the end of 2 Samuel, David is established on the throne. All of Israel's behind him. They love him. David sinned, but God worked him through that. He had repentance, and God blessed him again. He had his throne. taken from him and given back to him. At the end of 2 Samuel, David is firmly the king of Israel, the first in the line of all the Davidic kings. In 1 and 2 Kings, 1 Kings starts at the very end of David's reign. He's about to die. He's an old man. David's reign is coming to an end. Remember, David began his reign when he was 30 years old. Does that sound familiar? So did Jesus. He reigned for 40 years, which means when 1 Kings starts, David's probably in his late 60s. And he's an old, worn-out man. We'll see that here in a minute. He's in his late 60s. What happens now, all through 1 and 2 Kings, they're going to mention all these other kings. Solomon and all the kings will follow after him. And almost every one of them is compared to David. When they sum up his life, they'll say, and he was like his father, David, or unlike his father, David. David is a standard that was set for all these following kings. And it says it like 90, 95 times, David is mentioned in 1st, 2nd, even though he's long dead. They compare all these other kings. He did like his father, David, and, or unlike his father, David, he allowed idols, that kind of thing. Understand, right after Solomon, the kingdom's gonna split, Judah in the south, Israel in the north. Judah's the one that stays sort of faithful. Israel was never faithful from that point on. The Davidic covenant, remember what that is. God promised David, one of your sons will sit on your throne, he says, and he uses the word forever. If you read through the prophets, they pick up on that, they understand that's a messianic promise. If one of David's sons is gonna reign forever, that means that one is the Messiah. And you can imagine, every time a son of David like Solomon rose to the throne, people were probably wondering, Is this the one God promised? Is this him? Of course, they're all disappointed. But the Davidic covenant is mentioned 25 times, because that's what this whole thing is all about. God fulfilling his promise to David. David's the standard that they're all compared with. And of course, there's a lot more you could say about this. But remember Romans 15, 4, what Paul said. For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. All of these histories are recorded by the Holy Spirit, so we might learn from them. There's a lot to be seen here, a lot that we're gonna see again tonight, right away in chapter one, there's several foreshadowing that the Messiah of Christ, this is all about Christ, it all leads up to him, and there's so much you can learn from this. I'm loving this study. Let's just pick it out now in 1 Kings 1, read the first four verses. Here's a weird little story. 1 Kings 1, 1. Now King David was old, advanced in age, and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm. So a servant said to him, let them seek a young virgin for my lord the king. Let her intend to the king become his nurse. Let her lie in your bosom that my lord the king may keep warm. So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel and found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful. She became the king's nurse and served him But the king did not cohabit with her. He didn't have sex with her. This is a weird little story. And I've often wondered, what does this even mean? What's this all about? The point of this is telling you that David is old. He's old and cold. He's that old, he can't keep warm anymore. So you know what I'm talking about, right? They actually had a nationwide beauty contest to find some beautiful young girl, probably because he's the king. Let's take this apart. David's in his late 60s. He can't keep warm. He's old and cold. That means his strength is failing. He's near death. In chapter 2, he dies. Shortly after this, he dies. He's old. Remember, David's been through a hard life. He was a soldier. He was on the run. He knew some hard times. When he was young, he was a very powerful guy. But now he's old. So they have this beauty contest to find one of the most beautiful young virgins in the land, and they find this Abishag. It says that she becomes his nurse. Remember, she would feed him and care for him and whatever he needs, and his bedmate. Now, in chapter 2, verse 22, we didn't get there yet, it appears she's a concubine, because later David's son wants to take her for himself, and Solomon gets real mad. He sees it as a threat to the throne. She's probably a concubine. Remember, David had 10 concubines earlier. who Absalom defiled on the rooftop, and David kind of put them in permanent retirement. Well, now he's very old, very feeble. Don't know where his wives are. They're not mentioned. He has several wives. Bathsheba's mentioned here. But don't think this is something sick. It isn't. Josephus and several other ancient historians, this was a very common medical procedure in the old days for the elderly. Especially for the rich, people who could afford something like this. This was a very common thing back then. Ecclesiastes 4.11, Solomon wrote, furthermore, if two lie down together, they keep warm. But how can one be warm alone? Think of it. They really can't get a young man to do this. That would certainly look bad. So they find, because it's King David, I guess they go out and find this beautiful young girl. And she would just lie next to him in bed and keep him warm. There's no sex involved in this. There's nothing really immoral about this. It was a very common practice in the ancient world. It just was. Kings could do this, and this is how it was. And this is all just to tell us that David is old, feeble, and frail. This is towards the end of his life. Now, what we're going to see, let's pick it up now in verse 5. Now, Adonijah, the son of Haggath, exalted himself, saying, I will be king. So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, 50 men to run before him. His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, why have you done so? He was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom. He had conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar, the priest, and following Adonijah, they helped him. But Zadok, the priest, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, Nathan, the prophet, Shimei-rei, and a mighty man who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, and oxen, and fatlings by the stone of Zohelah, which is beside in Rogel. And he invited all his brothers, the king's son, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants. But he did not invite Nathan, the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty man, and Solomon, his brother." Remember when David sinned, and Nathan comes and confronts him. Remember what he told him? It's on your sheet there from 2 Samuel. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household. Well, here we go again. Remember what David did. He betrayed the nation. He had Uriah killed. He took a woman that wasn't his right wife. He lied about it, covered it up. And God was very angry over that. And God said, from now on, this sword will not depart from your house. And I will raise up out of your own household evil against you. Now, Adonijah is David's fourth born. But right now he's the oldest. Remember Absalom, who was the oldest, was killed in battle. Remember Absalom tried to overthrow David. He was killed in battle. Remember his hair got caught in a tree and Joab stabbed him through. The second born was a guy named Chiliad. Don't know a thing about him. He probably died young. He's not mentioned ever again. That was David's second born son, Chiliad. He's gone for some reason. Remember Amnon, who was third born. Remember Absalom killed Amnon because Amnon raped his half sister Tamar. So now this, too many names in my head. This son, he's now the oldest of David's sons. Solomon is much younger than this, though he is a man by this point. This guy's probably about 35, the commentators say. Solomon's probably in his 20s. He decides, I'm gonna be king. He's the oldest son. David is old and cold and weak and probably this thing with this girl coming in, they realize David's on his way out. I'm next in line, I'm gonna be king. Now this guy probably knows, he knows what it says there. He didn't invite Solomon. He knows that Solomon was chosen to be king next. David had sworn to that end. But this guy decides, I will be king. And notice how he says it. He exalted himself. Verse five and six. He made himself big. I will be king. This is the same thing Absalom. Maybe he learned this from Absalom. He gets these chariots with horses, and he gets 50 strong, virile men to run ahead of him every place he goes. He looks like a king. In fact, he looks like everything his father is not. His father is old and weak and cold and not very on top of things. And here's this young, handsome man, very handsome, it says, like Absalom was, riding around in this chariot with these men. He looked like a king. As David's eldest son, he should have been there in a palace taking care of his father. But he decides to take advantage of his father, who's weak and old, and goes out and proclaims himself king. Remember Saul. They're all impressed with Saul because he was handsome. He was taller than the rest of them. Remember God said about Saul, I don't go by outward look. Remember Absalom, same thing. He was this handsome man with his long, heavy hair. I'm sure the girl just went, oh, and he went by, and he was just an amazing guy. He looked handsome and regal and riding around in his chariot. So this Adonijah is the same thing. He goes riding around Israel in his chariot with all these men proclaiming, behold, Adonijah. And he goes out there and has his sacrifice. He proclaims himself king. One of the commentaries points out in the right, it does say that he exalted himself in the kingdom. He exalted himself over his father. That attitude of exalting yourself, I will be king. I want everybody to look to me. In 3 John, John deals with this. That's a dangerous attitude that's sometimes found in the church. It's too much of a stress. John says in 3 John 9, the apostle John writes, I have written something to the church, but the atrophies who likes to put himself first. Get that. This guy was in the churches that John was writing to. He probably accepted as a Christian or a teacher of some kind, don't know much about him. But John says this guy likes to be first. He likes to be seen. He likes to have everybody admire him. A lot of that going on in the churches. He does not acknowledge our authority, so if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us, and not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. This guy is like a little tyrant in the churches. We've seen that. That happens all too often in the church. Same thing Adonijah's doing here. I will be king. But remember how this worked in those days. Remember, Adonai did not bring in Nathan the prophet. He did not invite Solomon, which means there's no coexistence here. When I become king, I'm going to march back to the palace and most likely take them out. I'll kill David. I'll kill Solomon. I'll become king and there'll be no rivals to my throne. That's what's going on here. But that's what it says there also in verse six. Look at it again. This is so sad. His father never crossed him at any time by asking, why have you done so? David's not a good father. His family ends up messed up, just messed up. And there's another example. He never crossed, literally the word there means he never pained him. He never said to him, you shouldn't be doing that, stop it. He let him do what he wanted. Here's a spoiled rich kid, king's kid. You know, if you're the king's kid, you have all the pleasures and the money and the finances and food you could ask for. And David never literally pained him. Here's another one of David's spoiled, pampered, wicked children. They rise up against him. David here is repeating the sins of Eli. Remember Eli back in 1 Samuel? He had those two wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas. And then the prophet came to Eli and said, you are going to be judged because you refuse to restrain your kids. Well, David here, here's another one, rising up against him, going to cause all kinds of trouble. This isn't going to be long-lived, but it's still the same kind of thing. Some quotes in your sheet, Genesis 18, one of the things God said about Abraham. One of the reasons God loved Abraham is this, for I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring upon Abraham when he has spoken. One thing that stands out, always stood out to me in the book of Kings and Chronicles, is you have like a righteous king and his son's an absolute pagan. How does that happen? Well, here you see it with David. He's a righteous man, he loves the Lord, but his kids are just reprobates and evil. He will kill his own father. If he becomes king and this stands, he'll go to the palace and kill David and Solomon. That's an awful thing. Yeah, most likely. That's how you did it in those days. That's what Absalom was gonna do. In our culture today, it's almost accepted dogma that you don't hit your kids, you don't punish your kids, You know, it's sad, and you see our generation, these kids out there with no discipline at all. Dean? Wasn't it saying in the Bible, God disciplines those he loves? Yes, exactly right. So is the Father. Next verse, Proverbs 13, 24. Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. In other words, if you don't punish your child, you're actually hating him. You're turning him into a monster. I saved a quote at home. It was in my file somewhere. The FBI, many years ago, said, if you want to raise a criminal, Let him have everything he wants. And he said, the biggest problem they face is parents who won't raise their children. And Dave is guilty of this. It says right out, he did not discipline. He did not bring, literally pain his son. I think that would mean just say no. He didn't do that. Let him run wild. Let him do what he wants. So, but notice verse seven. This guy actually could almost pull this off. He had conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and followed Adonijah, and they helped him. Now get that. Remember who Joab is? He's a captain of the army. He's the commander in chief of the armies of Israel. He talked to Joab, and Joab joined with this kid in this rebellion. Joab. That means he would bring the military with him, at least those who were willing. That's very important about that. In fact, if you would ask, if you heard about this, hey, guess what? David's son wants to be king, you'd say, What did Joab say? Well, Joab throws in his lot with this guy. I'm supporting it. And Abiathar, he's one of the priests. He's the Levite. He's one of the priests in David's palace. That's where the tabernacle is. He throws in with Joab, with Adonijah. I've got too many A names in my head. Adonijah, Abiathar, all these guys. Adonijah. So at this point, these are very powerful and high profile allies. It sounds bad. We'll see later in this chapter how they say to David, all Israel is wondering what you're going to do, because they hear this. All the nation would hear this. David's son proclaimed himself king, and Joab's on his side, and so is Abiathar the priest. We have a new king, I guess. They're wondering, what's David going to do? They know David's old and cold and kind of feeble. It's interesting, when they come to David, David doesn't know about this. David was pretty sharp when he was younger, but now he doesn't even know this is going on until they come and tell him. But look at verse eight through 10. He deliberately excludes his brother Solomon. That's probably because he knows very well Solomon has been chosen to be king. He doesn't bring him along. He doesn't ask him to join in with him. That also tells you Solomon would be targeted for death. There'll be no peaceful coexistence. And there's a strange wording here that the author wants us to see. Let's look at verse nine again. Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheile. Zoheile means the serpent, the slithering serpent. That may just be a rock where snakes live underneath it. But it's interesting how the author points this out. This is an unknown place, not even a mile from the palace, apparently, the stone of the serpent. which kind of shows what's going on. I think, I think the author wants to see that Satan is behind this. Now it's just a stone that has a name, the serpent, but it's an interesting coincidence that you could call it that. Now let's pick up verse 11. We'll read a little bit. In typical Old Testament, the same story gets repeated sometimes over and over and over again. Verse 11. Then Nathan, remember, Nathan's the prophet. Nathan's the one who's been with David's side for a long time now. Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king? And David, our Lord, does not know it. So now come, please, let me give you counsel and save your life, and go to your son Solomon. Go at once to King David and say to him, have you not, my Lord, O King, sworn to your maidservant, saying, Surely Solomon, your son, shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne. Why then is Adonijah become king? Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come after you and confirm your words. So Bathsheba went into the king in the bedroom. Now the king was very old, and Abishag Yishunamite was ministering to the king. Then Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself before the king. And he said, what do you wish? She said to him, my lord, you swore to your maidservant by the Lord your God, saying, surely your son Solomon shall be king after me. He shall sit on my throne. But now behold, Adonijah is king. And now, my lord, the king, you do not know it. He sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, has invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army. But he has not invited Solomon, your servant, As for you now, my Lord the King, notice this, the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my Lord the King. Imagine that. They're hearing this. David's in the palace of Jerusalem, but now his son's proclaiming himself king. The whole nation's wondering, well, who's king? Is this, did David okay this? What's going on? She says, all the eyes of Israel are wondering what you're gonna do. Verse 21, otherwise it will come about As soon as my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered offenders, meaning will be killed. Behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. They told the king, saying, here is Nathan the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, my lord the king, have you said Adonijah shall be king after me? He shall sit on my throne. For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance and invited all the king's sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him. And they say, long live King Adonijah. But me, even me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he has not invited. Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not shown to your servants who should sit at the throne of my lord and the king after him? Nathan here is being a little bit disingenuous. He's saying, David, did you say this? He knows he didn't. It is. He's bringing it to the eyes of the king. King David, what's going on here? We know you swore to your wife that Solomon's gonna be son. You swore to the Lord Solomon would be king. But now Adonijah's king. Is this you're doing? Did you know about this? Yeah. Again, notice verse 20. All the eyes of Israel are on you. Now, 29 and 30, we're told here twice that David had sworn by the Lord, he vowed an oath, what the Hebrew says, that Solomon would be king. Now, remember back in 2 Samuel, it's on your sheet there, when right after David, remember Bathsheba, slow down, David and Bathsheba had this son, unnamed son, who dies after six days, remember that? That tragic scene. Then it says this, 2 Samuel 12, 24, then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, went into her and lay with her and she bore his son and he called his name Solomon. And note this, and the Lord loved him. The Lord loved, the Lord took out the little baby boy before who was born of adultery and murder and everything else. But Solomon, the Lord loves, we know that because, and he sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, which means beloved of the Lord because of the Lord. David got word through Nathan the prophet. This first little boy died. Remember how David grieved until the child died? He has a second son. I'm sure David's probably wondering, is God going to take this one too? The prophet shows up and says, God loves this. God has called him beloved of the Lord. Solomon is the one God has chosen to sit on the throne next. And David swore an oath. He vowed a vow. This will be my heir. Solomon will sit on the throne after me. So David hears all this. The old man gets up out of bed and he's sitting, in fact, he's still sitting in bed here and says, excuse me, my nose runs. And he hears all this. And they're all like, David, what are you gonna do? What about this? So David does the right thing. Look at verse 28. That's what they're saying. David, didn't you swear Solomon would be after you? That's what they're saying. But that's not recorded in 2 Samuel, though it did happen. Pick it up in verse 28. Then King David said, call Bathsheba to me. And she came into the king's presence, stood before the king. The king vowed and said, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, surely, as I vowed to you by the Lord God of Israel, saying, your son Solomon shall be king after me, he shall sit on my throne in my place. I will indeed do so this day. Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, prostrated herself before the king and said, may my lord, the King David, live forever. Then King David said, call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came into the king's presence. And the king said to them, take with you the servants of your lord and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gihon. Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel and blow the trumpet and say, long live King Solomon. Then you shall come up after him. He shall come and sit on my throne and be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah. Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king and said, Amen. Thus may the God of my lord the king say. As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David. That actually comes to pass. So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the Karathites and the Pelothites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. Zadok the priest then took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, long live Solomon. Note verse 40. And all the people went up after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, except the earth shook at their noise. David does the right thing. He immediately says, anoint my son King. Now probably David, we don't know because he's old and probably feeble. He should have done this sooner. Maybe he's waiting until he dies. He has already made his wishes known. He didn't know that Adonijah is going to rise up and try to take over his throne. But notice what he does in verse 38. He orders the priest to get down there, anoint him king. And notice here, Solomon rides on a mule back into Jerusalem as all the people celebrate their new king. Does that sound familiar? Here's a Davidic king returning to Jerusalem As the anointed king and all the people are shouting praises so loud the ground is shaking. That's exactly what Jesus will do a thousand years after this as he rides into Jerusalem. That's a picture, ain't it, a priest shattering. The mule is always a symbol of royalty. Zechariah says how the beholder king comes to you riding on a mule. Solomon did that. Zechariah prophesied that and Jesus made it happen. Now it says he went down to Gihon. Gihon is less than a mile from the city. It's just outside the walls, actually. And where Solomon is over here at this place of the snake is less than a mile from Gihon. They're very close together. Now, where Solomon is, there's a huge crowd of people, and they're all singing and dancing and eating and having a good time. This is happening less than a mile from where Solomon is, just outside the city walls. But notice it says there, they're rejoicing with great joys that the earth shook. Literally in Hebrew, the earth split open. Now, that's not literal, just a way of saying, The ground was shaking. The people are behind David. They love David. And they're with him. And they love his son Solomon. And when he gets, Nosa said to take the oil from the tent, meaning out of the tabernacle. There was oil kept in the tabernacle. They take some of that holy oil and anoint Solomon. And when he do, all the people just start singing and playing and making music and dancing. But the ground shakes. And then Solomon, riding on David's mule, goes back to Jerusalem to take his seat upon the throne. I also mentioned in verse 38 the Kerathites and the Pelathites. We've seen them before. These are Philistines. Remember when David was running from Saul for almost a year and a half, he lived among the Philistines. He actually fought with the Philistines, though he was actually deceiving them by fighting Philistine enemies. But these are Philistines who are loyal to David. Remember when David ran and had a fleece with the city from Absalom? They went with him. Here, 40 years into this, David's at the end of his reign now. He's reigned for 40 years. They're still with him, loyal. These are not Jews. These are Philistines, who are some of his personal guards. They just love David. And now they're with Solomon, protecting him as well. Now, this all demonstrates, and the first Kings is starting out, making sure that we realize that the people are with David. They still love him. That's what Bathsheba said, all the eyes of Israel are on you. What are you going to do, David? They're all wondering what's going to happen. And as soon as David makes his right and anoints Solomon, the land just erupts with joy and laughter and praise because of King David's son. And note here, Pastor Paul preached last Sunday how God can just turn the heart of the king any way he will. Here's David. Old and cold, feeble, lying in bed, probably sitting there shaking all blankets. He has no idea this is going on. He has no idea. He should have anointed his son Solomon before this. But then in comes, Nathan sends in Bathsheba, then Nathan comes in and they turn the heart of the king to do the right thing. And you gotta see in all of that, God is working out his purposes through Bathsheba and Nathan, to turn the heart of the king. God has many ways to do that. It's pretty cool stuff. First and second kings are all about how God works for or against these kings. But all the time he's working through all of this. Look at verse 41. Continue the story. Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. They hear this massive sound, the ground shaking, like not even a mile away. Remember back then you didn't have cell phones or satellite technology or anything. You don't know what's going on. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, why is the city making such an uproar? By the way, that word trumpet is the word shofar, the ram's horn. Why is the city making such an uproar? Verse 22, while he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came. Then Adonijah said, come in, for you are a valiant man and bring good news. This guy's not real bright. But Jonathan replied, Adonijah, no. Our Lord, King David, has made Solomon king. The king has also sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Carithites, and the Pelathites, and they've made him ride on the king's mule. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. They've come up from there rejoicing that the city's in an uproar. This is annoying, but you heard besides. Solomon has even taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom." In other words, you better get out of here quick. Moreover, the king's servants came to bless our Lord the king, saying, may your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself on the bed." David's still sitting on his, laying in his bed. Notice that he's saying it all, he's basically telling it the whole nation's behind Solomon. David made him king, this rejoicing you hear that in a whole nation's behind him, and Solomon is right now sitting on the throne of David, he's king. 48, the king has also said thus, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted me to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it, who has granted one to sit on my own. He gets this news. Guess what? You're not king. Solomon is. David anointed him. Nathan anointed him. He's back in the city. He's on the throne, and the whole nation's behind him. So, verse 49, then all the guests of Adonijah were terrified, and they arose each and went on his way. They all just quietly. Well, I wasn't really there. I just made the whole crowd go home and hope no one realizes they were part of this uprising. Walk away clean. Yeah, walk away. Just walk away clean. Hope nobody knows you're there. Because really, what would normally happen here, legally, Solomon has a right now to send his soldiers out and take them all out. You rose up against me. You all deserve to die. They do. That's not what he's going to do. 50. And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and he arose went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Now it was told Solomon saying, behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, 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 his sword." And just stop there. I guess it sounds a little strange. Adonijah finds out, we're told here in verse 49, that his guests were terrified and slink away, hoping no one realizes that they were there. He quickly loses all of his supporters. He's basically there alone now. He says, Adonijah, he goes to, there must be a tabernacle by this time, because it mentions the altar. Before, in Samuel, all we saw was the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the city. But this time, this is 40 years later, some of this. The tabernacle must be there now, because it mentions the tent, and it mentions here the altar. Now what he does, I deny it because he knows I'm in big trouble. I've risen up against my father. I've risen up against the Lord's anointed. The people are no longer on my side. All I hear is crickets now. Nobody's with me. He runs into the city, runs into the tabernacle, and grabs hold of the horns of the altar. Now picture what a tabernacle was. When you went in through the front entrance, right inside there was this huge brazen altar, a brass altar, several feet high up on a ramp, apparently. It was square. This is where the fire was put when you burned the sacrifices. But on each corner of this square object was a horn, like a ram's horn or a bull's horn, in gold, a brass, sticking out. They would take the animals, when they'd slaughter them, they'd cut their throat, they would take the animal and basically stick it in one of these horns and cut it up and put the meat on the fire. That was its purpose. Now, we don't know when this started, but scripture tells us that you could run in there, apparently, if you killed someone or you were about to be executed, you could run into the tabernacle and take a hold of one of those horns and demand justice, demand to be heard, demand not to be killed. He does this. In fact, there's a verse there in your sheet. Exodus 21, 14 says, if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, meaning that that's where he would go. This has to be a refuge, but this is one of the quick places you could go. You would run into the altar. It basically was considered a place you could go and get, they wouldn't kill you right away. You know, like you could run into a place of asylum. You wouldn't kill somebody inside the tabernacle. A safe place you could hide that I can be heard before you just kill me right now. Because normally, Solomon would send his soldiers out and they would just kill this guy. Or at least arrest him. He is Solomon's half-brother, but from what he did, he deserves death. He goes into the altar. and grabs ahold of that horn. I'm not leaving here until Solomon talks to me, is basically what he's saying. He goes to the tabernacle and takes hold of the altar. It's a place of sanctuary. And again, the big question is, Solomon has just become king maybe an hour before this. He's brand new king. What's he going to do? Well, read on. 52. Solomon said, if he is a worthy man, Not one of his hairs will fall to the ground. But if wickedness is found in him, he will die. So Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and prostrated himself before King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, go to your house. Now, I guess I'll debate, what do you mean by a worthy man? We already know he tried to overthrow the king. He tried to do it behind his back. He tried to usurp, and this is the whole thing. But Solomon, instead of choosing what the law demanded, what he had every right to do, kill this guy, he says, If he's a worthy man, I'll let him live. So apparently, they drag him out of there. He lays before Solomon. I guess he promises Solomon, I'll be faithful. You're king. He prostrates before him. And Solomon, OK, you can live. But go to your house. Yeah. Solomon's first official act as king is to show mercy. Mercy, actually undeserved mercy. It's interesting to tell you something about Solomon. Solomon could have killed this guy. and every reason to. He decides his brother's fate based on his character. Probably because he fell before Solomon and prostrated before him as king, Solomon lets him live now. In chapter two, this guy's gonna do something stupid again, and then Solomon says, that's it, take him out, and he's taken out. But for now, Solomon lets him live. Basically, if you behave yourself, and he promises, I'll obey my king, and I'm loyal to my king, and he says, go to your house, but that doesn't last long. But you see here Solomon, his first act as king, is one of kindness, one of mercy. Now in chapter two after David's death, this guy's gonna insult Solomon, and actually gonna say something that sounds like he wants to be king again, and Solomon just takes him out. Proverbs 14.35, a proverb of Solomon. A servant who deals wisely has the king's favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully. Solomon had experience with this. And again, get this picture. Here's this conquered enemy bowing on the ground before the Davidic king. That also foreshadows that day when all are going to bow before the Davidic king. It's just a prefiguring of all these things. Solomon is kind. Solomon is good. And here's this foe who would have risen up against him now bowing at his feet and begging for mercy. That's exactly what the Davidic king will do. And think about this, as each Davidic king would arise, Solomon now is the first Davidic king after David. There'll be many others going on here. But I imagine as every one of these came to the throne, people are probably wondering about Solomon. Remember, it was told David, your son shall sit on your throne after you, and he will reign forever. God didn't say which son, but he said, your son. And they're probably wondering, is Solomon it? And for a while there, I would think, as we'll see here as this story goes on, Solomon takes the kingdom way higher than David did. In Solomon's day, Israel rose the highest it's ever been, had the most prestige, and it was rich and peaceful. All the nations around admired Israel and would come to see them, and Solomon was amazing for a while. And I'm sure they're wondering, but each king that comes along in the Davidic line, they'd be wondering, is this him? Is this him? But this starts the long road to the Messiah. This is the first descendant of David. There'll be many others. But eventually, this road leads to Christ about 1,000 years later. But right now, it ends with Solomon, the son of David, sitting on the throne. That's where it ends. Chapter 2 starts with David. David, as he's dying, gives Solomon some instructions. And then Solomon takes over. So we'll get to that next time, Lord willing. Any more thoughts or comments? It's amazing how David, even up to almost the day of his death, has still been struggling under the wickedness of his sons. As Nathan the prophet said, this is God's judgment against what David did. Now here, not a whole lot of Israel suffers for it. But still, it's a sad thing. David's family is a mess. Certainly Solomon was spared from a lot. I don't know if that's even a lot to do with that or what. He didn't turn out quite as wicked as the rest of David's sons did, but he will go bad. We'll see later on, God tells Solomon, when Solomon's praying, he doesn't ask for riches or victory over them, he asks for wisdom. And God said, because you ask for wisdom, I'll give you wisdom. I'm also gonna give you victory over your enemies and wealth and everything else. Solomon was a wise man at the very beginning. He was an amazing guy. He was a great king, like David was a great king until, you know the story. Let's close in prayer. Oh, dear Father, we thank you for these stories, Lord. They are more than just histories, Lord. They are the stories of our Messiah, our King. And Lord, we know that as we see in the lives of David and Solomon and how they deal and how you work in and through them, Lord, we see foreshadowings of our Messiah, and we are grateful for that. We thank you, Lord, that you are a God of justice. You are a God who rules over the King's heart. And we see here, Lord, even in this attempt to overthrow the one you had chosen to be King, Lord, you so superintend the politics of this, the inner workings of this, that the one you plan to be on the throne got there because you are sovereign. And we thank you, Lord, for these things. Help us, Lord, to learn these truths and to learn instruction from these things. And remember that you are the God of Scripture, and all these things are just teaching us who you are. Lord, teach us to be submissive to you. Teach us, Lord, to love our King, our Messiah, the Son of David, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Thank you, Lord, for all of this leading up to the one who would come and provide our salvation for us and be our Messiah. And Lord, we long for the day when all of his enemies will fall before his feet and pronounce him Lord. And Lord, we'll be there as well, gladfully and gratefully acknowledging him as King, as we do right now. And we thank you for these histories, Lord, help them to mean something to us, to understand who you are better and to be better equipped to serve our Lord. We thank you for the word. We thank you for him who is the word. In his name we pray.