So we are in 1 Kings chapter 2. Get the numbers on the right sides of the name of the book. 1 Kings chapter 2 tonight. We've just two weeks ago begun this next portion, what the Greek translation of the Old Testament calls Third Kingdoms. And we said that that may be useful to remind you of periodically just so that you are aware of the fact that Samuel and Kings Two books in the Hebrew Bible, four once they're translated, these two collections of redemptive narrative, Samuel and Kings, are one story. It's a continuous story. and that it is then paralleled, at least in part, by the record of Chronicles. But we're working our way now through 1 Kings and we're moving from the Davidic reign into the Solomonic reign. So from the time when David is on the throne to now his son Solomon. We saw two weeks ago Solomon coming to power, being anointed as king and received with acclaim. And in chapter 2, we're going to mainly be looking at the transition. David's death, his final instructions to his son, and then the first responsibilities that Solomon has as he comes to the throne. Let's get right into it. I want to read the first 11 verses as we begin. When David's time came to, excuse me, let me start again. I've got another translation in my head. When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon, his son, saying, I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man and keep the charge of Yahweh, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, 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 Yahweh may establish His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before Me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel." Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jather, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. but deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom, your brother. And there is also with you Shimei, the son of Gerah, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Now, therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol. Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was 40 years. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and 33 years in Jerusalem. All right, so here is David's last word, his dying orders, instructions to his son Solomon. And what we're gonna notice is that the kingdom will be established in justice with judgment. That's gonna be kind of the key theme in this whole chapter, the importance of establishing the kingdom of God on earth in justice administered through judgment. And there are three things, basically, that David tells his son Solomon to be careful to do here. He says first, in the first four verses, obey the Lord and live in covenantal communion. Secondly, bring justice to the evildoers that remain in the land. And third, show kindness to the kingdom's friends, notably the family of Barzillai. So those are the three things David tells his son to do, right? Obey the Lord and live in covenant communion with Him. Secondly, bring justice to evildoers. Third, show covenant loyalty and kindness to those who are friends of God's kingdom. And if that sounds familiar, it follows the order, if you will, or the three major structural components of God's will for His people as found in places like Micah chapter 6 and verse 8. What does the Lord require of you but to do justly? to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Those are the three things that David tells Solomon to do. They're the same three things that the Lord through Micah tells all of his people to do. A similar frame can be seen, although this one is five points rather than three, but it's the same three ideas in Deuteronomy chapter 10, verses 12 and 13. That when you think about what God wants his people to do, he wants them to walk with him humbly in faith, He wants them to uphold justice and honor the demands of a life of integrity. And third, he wants them to show kindness and mercy. And that's the will of God. And as the Lord is saying, both through Moses in Deuteronomy 10 and through Micah in Micah chapter 6, what is so hard about God's will? Now, we realize that in our flesh, we cannot fully, faithfully, perfectly render to God the obedience that he deserves. So we're not talking about meriting God's favor, meriting salvation, but we are saying that God's will for our lives, it may be elaborated over 613 commands in the Mosaic administration, it may have many different components as it comes to us through the teaching of the apostles, But really, it's pretty simple and straightforward, right? Walk by faith, love the Lord, show mercy to your friends, and uphold justice and integrity, you know? I mean, it's not complex in the priorities that it establishes for us. And so it raises a question in my mind that I want us to think about for just a moment tonight, and that is, what are we passing to our children and our grandchildren? as priorities for each of their lives. You know, what are we instilling in them? There are certain things I'm trying to instill in my kids as they're growing. I'm sure you have with your children and with your grandchildren, you're still seeking to pass on that legacy. Are we instilling in them a commitment to God's word and promises? Is this the overriding thing that we are trying to pass on to them? Are we teaching them a covenantal approach to life that is lived quorum Deo? Before the face of God, look back at the text for just a minute. Notice what David says. He says, I'm about to go versus this is verse two. I'm about to go the way of all the earth. That's what dying is. It's natural. It's normal as a result of sin and the curse and the fall, right? This this is we are born at this point to die. And so David, David acknowledges that this is this is the way of all men. This can only be postponed so long. I'm about to go the way of all the earth. What does he want Solomon to remember? Be strong and show yourself a man. Well, that's politically incorrect, right? Remember a few weeks ago when we dealt with the text in 2 Samuel regarding David's mighty men, we noted that that theme is developed through the rest of Scripture, even in the New Testament writings, where our ladies even are told to play the man. And our men are told to be as gentle as nursing mothers. So there are these different qualities that are exemplified either by men or women, and yet it ought to be characteristic and appropriate ways of all of God's people. Here he's saying, I want you to be a man. I want you to be strong. I want you to be courageous. I want you to be willing to stand up and step forward, not step back. Verse three, and keep the charge of Yahweh your guide. That's fundamentally what this manly strength and courage looks like. Obedience to God. I know, I'm blessed to know, I'm privileged to know some really tough, brave, dangerous guys who don't walk in the way of the Lord. And you can admire their strength, their courage, but it's misdirected. It's being squandered. They're wasting their lives because they're not keeping the charge of the Lord. Walk in his ways, David says. Keep his statutes, his commandments, his rules, 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. This is the same instruction, by the way, that Moses passes to Joshua. You remember Joshua chapter 1? This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth. But you shall meditate upon it day and night you're gonna keep this word and this is your this is your way to having a you know a good life Successful life not in the not in the superficial material ways that word of faith prosperity preachers use it But this is the good life. This is the life you and I are made for. We are made for fellowship with God. We are made for covenantal communion with the Lord. To say whatever else I'm doing, whether I'm a king, or a commander, or a mechanic, or a housewife, or whatever, whatever I am, whatever I do, I'm made for union with God. He says that the Lord, verse four, may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, if your sons pay close attention to their way to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. And this is why we talk about living life with a covenantal perspective. Or, to use our big term, we could say an eschatological perspective. In other words, I'm looking at the end. I'm looking at the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises. Now here, it's not the return of Christ and the judgment of the world. It is the promise of the Messiah. It's the promise of the kingdom. It's the promise of continuity. It's the promise of an everlasting kingdom that's going to be spoken about even in this chapter as we work through it tonight. We're looking at the long term work of God, the long-term promises of God, and I'm estimating my life and living my life today in view of that day. Those are the only two days I have to worry about. I don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about its own things. I focus on living faithfully today in view of that day, whenever that day is. And that's what David is urging Solomon to do. Now, as it turns out, Solomon's not going to perhaps do this well. But the instruction is very valuable. Now, a question here that I want us to think about for just a moment, David and I were talking about this, not this David, right? Our David, Henry, talking about this at the hospital this afternoon. But if the Davidic kingdom is secured by unconditional promises, and I think we've established 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, that God makes certain promises to David about his sons, about the throne, about the kingdom, that has a strongly unconditional aspect to it from the standpoint of man's participation, and we'll talk about that in a second. But if that's the case, and we'll take it for granted for a moment that it is, then how can David say what he says here to Solomon about his obedience? Be careful to walk in the way of the Lord, to keep his commandments, his statutes, his rules, so that God's promise will come to pass. You say, well, how can that be? Well, one of the things that we have said about each of the covenant administrations, God's gracious relations with his people, whether it's the Abrahamic or the Mosaic, or in this case, the Davidic, each of these are an administration of that covenant of grace. that God makes with Christ and with those who are united to Christ. In other words, these are covenants in time that are working out God's ultimate salvific promises. And therefore, its ultimate fulfillment is unconditional for man because it is secured by the work of Christ. Remember us talking about this? So the covenant of grace for us is gracious. For Christ, He fulfills the covenant of works. In other words, I'm saved by works, not my works, but Christ's work. And it's because of Christ's work that I can be justified by grace through faith apart from works, right? I am justified on the basis of merit, not my merit, of course, but Christ's merit, the merit of His blood and His obedience. And so it is Christ fulfilling those conditions. We're not suggesting that there are no conditions at all in any sense whatsoever, but we're saying that in terms of the salvific promises of God, in terms of the ultimate benefit of the covenant of grace, that is all secured, not by your faithfulness, not by my faithfulness, not by David's faithfulness or Solomon's faithfulness, but by Christ's faithfulness. And thank God that it is, because if it were not, How many unbelievers does Abraham have as great-grandchildren, right? I mean, you remember Jesus in John chapter 8 saying to the Jews of his day, and particularly to the religious leaders, you are not sons of God, you are sons of the devil, right? John the Baptist saying, don't begin to tell me that you're children of Abraham. God can make a child of Abraham out of that rock, you know? It is not biology that brings this blessing. It's not just a mere fact that I am genetically descended from David. It is the work of Christ. It's the work of Christ that secures the fulfillment of these promises, that fulfills the conditions of the covenant, so that no matter how badly David and his sons fail, Yahweh is still going to enthrone his king on Mount Zion. There is no point in redemptive history where Yahweh is looking down and saying, well, you know, if Solomon doesn't get his act together, I'm going to have to change my mind about bringing Christ. That's never happening, right? But, and on my notes, this but is all in capital letters because it's an important point. It's an important qualifier. The personal appropriation and benefits of this covenant are received through faith. They are received through faith and repentance. Now here's the point. God is going to bring the son of David, the Davidic king, Christ, into the world, whether Solomon is a believer or not. Whether Solomon obeys the Lord or not. Whether he follows the way of the Lord or not. But Solomon is not going to enjoy the benefits and blessings of that work of Yahweh apart from faith. Does that make sense? It's not that Solomon's faith and repentance and the outworking of it in obedience, it's not that Solomon's faithfulness is going to bring to pass what Yahweh himself is going to do, but there is definitely a sense in which Solomon and Solomon's sons' beneficiary relationship to that work is going to be received through this condition of faith. We see this in the life of Solomon. In the end, Solomon disobeys God and participates in and promotes idolatry. God does not terminate the covenant because of Solomon's covenant breaking, but he does bring judgment on Solomon's house and kingdom. So there are ditches on both sides of the road here. You can easily fall into the ditch of Pelagianism and a works-based salvation and say, well, if Solomon doesn't obey God, then the plan that God has to save the world is not going to come to pass because it all depends on me, right? This is teamwork. God does his part, and I do my part, and together, everyone accomplishes more, right? No, no. That's a ditch that is like a sinkhole and a pit with hell at the bottom. On the other side of the road, there's this other ditch that says, because God is sovereign, because Christ is the one who fulfills the covenant of works that brings to us the blessings of the covenant of grace, because of all of that, I don't have to obey the Lord. I just rest. Well, yes, of course I rest. What does resting look like? Resting in Christ does not look like this absolute passivity toward and indifference to the revealed will of God. God is going to fulfill the promises, but when we disregard his will, then like Solomon, we will experience the penalties of our covenant faithlessness and the division of the kingdom after Solomon's life is in part a judgment of Solomon's unfaithfulness. So we rest in the unconditional election of God and in the irresistible and sustaining grace of our God, but we do not take it for granted. We cannot reject God's word and still claim his promises. And that's really the key here, is to say God has made these promises, and if you want to enjoy the blessings and benefits of that promised work, Believe in Him. Trust in Him. Yield yourself unto Him. Submit to Him as Lord. The benefits are appropriated and received through faith. And faith always submits to God's Word. And that's what David is calling Solomon to. Does that make sense? Questions about that? I know I'm compressing weeks of covenant theology into 10 minutes. It's something that's very, very basic to our faith. Yeah. Jesus Christ establishes, the Lord establishes those promises and those relationships. Yes. Our ability to be a part of those promises is based on our faith. He invites us in through faith. It's this instrument. And again, remember that faith is not something that I'm bringing to the table, okay? God is giving to his people faith. Faith itself is one of the blessings of redemption purchased by the blood of Christ, right? So it is all of grace. But it is not apart from this instrument where I am recognizing that he is God, that Jesus is Lord, right? Where I am resting in that, where I am receiving that, where I am living my life in view of that. And that grace is working itself out. And it is. It is basic to our relationship with God. And it's an important point. One other thing from these verses real quickly, and then we'll get into a clumsy beniah who keeps falling on people. David dies, verse 10, he slept with his fathers, was buried in the city of David. And then there was a kind of a summary of the years that he reigned. I want you to remember Paul's description, and I refer to this passage or quote it pretty often, so hopefully it's one of the ones you're getting acquainted with, but Acts 13, verse 36, when Paul is in Antioch of Pisidia preaching in the synagogue there, he says, for David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep and was buried with his fathers. That is how the New Testament summarizes the life of one of the Bible's greatest characters. He served the will of God in his generation. Or I think the New American Standard says, he served the purpose of God in his generation. And that is how a great life is defined. It is not by slaying giants, by winning military victories, by acquiring great power and wealth, or exerting tremendous influence. It is by serving the purpose of God wherever and however he calls you. And there are great men. by this world's measure, whose lives are largely meaningless. And there are men and women of faith whom the world will never recognize or know, at least prior to judgment, and yet who have lived great lives, great lives, by the standard of the kingdom of heaven. And that is because they serve the will of God where they were. Now, God called David to be a giant killer. and a mighty man and a king. And so his life shines brightly on the sacred page. But the point is, what makes David's life great in the eyes of God is the same thing that makes the most obscure saint great in the eyes of God, right? It's not the accomplishments, but it is rather the commitment to God's purpose. Be faithful where you are. The Lord will use you how he wishes to say it over and over and over and over again. Be faithful where you are. God will get you where he wants you to be. Okay, questions about that. That's all preliminary to the to the chapter. Let me go ahead and yeah, art. Yeah, where it says, if your son's paid close attention to my way, correct? Yes. Correct. Today, No, absolutely not, which is why at one point in their history they have a woman on the throne. Athaliah's rise to power is absolutely a judgment from God upon unfaithfulness in David's family. And then there is a gap where after the destruction of Jerusalem, the fall of the kingdom in 586 BC, there is an almost 600 year gap. before Christ is born. Again, this is a language that speaks not about the ultimate fulfillment, the everlasting King that's gonna be placed upon the throne, but the family's particular appropriation and benefit from this promise, and they will squander. The same way that Israel does. Israel comes into the land of Canaan, they receive it all of grace, but they are given a law. They are given commands. And one of the consequences of disobedience to those commands is God says, I'm going to take away the rain, I'm going to take away the fruitfulness of the earth, I'm going to bring your enemies in, and if you still don't get your act together, I'm going to cast you out of the land. And indeed, he did. And that's what happens here. But what we want to make sure that we do is we distinguish the personal appropriation of these benefits and the curses that fall upon those who do not appropriate them through faith versus the ultimate promise that God has made to say, I'm going to bring a savior into the world, and I'm going to bless all families of the earth through him. And that does not depend upon David's faithfulness or his sons or anyone. Okay, Wes. Yes. Yes, correct. Okay, so the argument that Paul is making and is similar to the argument that Peter makes in Acts 2 with regard to on the day of Pentecost, rather, is that David is not raised. At that time, when they're preaching, and at this time, when I'm teaching, David is still in the tomb. His soul is with the Lord. But the whole point is that they are both looking at Davidic Psalms that are speaking of resurrection. And they're saying, yeah, David is writing this, but this can't ultimately be about him. You know, you could say, is there a resurrection hope that David has as he pens Psalm 16? Yeah, I think so, absolutely. But is the ultimate eschatological fulfillment of that Psalm David's resurrection? No, no. And they're saying, David's in the tomb. He saw corruption. His body is still in the grave. You can dig up his bones. But Christ, the son of David, the one of whom he's speaking, did not see corruption. Let me go ahead and read the rest of the chapter, picking back up in verse 12 now. You're going to see four evildoers that Solomon deals with in succession. Verse 12, so Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. Then Adonijah, the son of Haggath, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, and she said, do you come peacefully? He said, peacefully. Then he said, I have something to say to you. She said, speak. He said, you know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from Yahweh. And now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me. She said to him, speak. And he said, please ask King Solomon, he will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife. Bathsheba said, very well, I will speak for you to the king. So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah, and the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, I have one small request to make of you. Do not refuse me. And the king said to her, make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you. She said, let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah, your brother, as his wife. King Solomon answered his mother, and why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah. And King Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if this word does not cost Adonijah his life. Now therefore, as Yahweh lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today. So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died. and to Abiathar the priest, the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you shared in all my father's affliction. So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, thus fulfilling the word of Yahweh that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. When the news came to Joab, for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom, Joab fled to the tent of Yahweh and caught hold of the horns of the altar. And when it was told King Solomon, Joab has fled to the tent of Yahweh, and behold, he is beside the altar, Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, go, strike him down. So Benaiah came to the tent of Yahweh and said to him, the king commands, come out. But he said, No, I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. The king replied to him, Do as he has said, strike him down, and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. Yahweh will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head because without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with a sword two men more righteous and better than himself. Abner, the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne, there shall be peace from Yahweh forever. Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. For on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head. And Shimei said to the king, What you say is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish, son of Maika, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, behold your servants are in Gath, Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, did I not make you swear by Yahweh and solemnly warn you, saying, know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die? And you said to me, what you say is good, I will obey. Why then have you not kept your oath to Yahweh and the commandment with which I commanded you? The king also said to Shimei, you know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David, my father. So Yahweh will bring back your harm on your own head. But King Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh forever. Then the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. Now you'll notice the repetition of the phrase there at the end of verse 46, the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and the same phrase at the end of verse 12, his kingdom was firmly established. There's your theme. There's the key idea in the chapter. So what does it take for the kingdom of God, albeit in this typological form, right, of Solomon's reign, what does it take for that kingdom on earth to be established? Well, it takes instruction in the Word of God and commitment to His way, and it takes justice, the practice of justice, upholding justice through judgment. And that's what you see in these verses that we've just read. You've got four characters, Adonijah, Abiathar Joab and Shimei one thing we need to say at the outset because there are many commentators who absolutely Slander David and Solomon in this chapter, right? David is David saying Solomon I want you to take care of business because I didn't do it and I made promises so I can't lift a finger against him So you're gonna have to do the dirty work. Listen, that is a that's a poor way of reading this right? We'll talk a little bit about what's going on here, but it's not a charitable way of reading it at all. And actually, one of the overriding themes that we want to draw out is how wise and merciful Solomon is in actually executing the judgment that he has been commanded by his father to bring. The thing that you need to know about all four of these men, Adonijah, Abiathar, Joab, and Shimei, is that they are all dead men at the beginning of this chapter. They're dead men at the end of 2 Samuel. One of them is a dead man while we're still in 1 Samuel, right? I mean, they are all men who have committed capital crimes. Three of these men are guilty of treason. One of them is guilty of multiple murders. These men have forfeited their right to life a long time ago. And no matter what Solomon does with them at this point, it is better than what they deserve. Now, let's talk for just a second about why Solomon is the one who has to do this. David should have executed judgment on some, if not all, of these men. That's my position. I think David should have exercised the sword and the power that he possessed as the king of the kingdom against these men at an earlier point, at the time of their crimes. If so, Joab would have been out of the picture a long time ago. But he does not, perhaps for a number of reasons. We can't know all of them. We suggested that one of David's, his primary blind spot in life is not women, it's family. And remember, Joab is his nephew. David cannot say no to his sons. He cannot bring judgment upon them, even when they commit an incestuous act of rape. And he will not judge Joab, but he should. Now, to put a more charitable reading on why David doesn't do it before he completely loses his strength and dies, it does appear that after Absalom's rebellion, David's grasp upon the kingdom is somewhat tenuous. In other words, he's come back. But remember, the northern tribes nearly secede from the southern tribes just over the event of David's return and the disagreements about how that was carried out. Sheba tries to lead a succession movement and nearly succeeds. It is not a time where David is in a strong political position that he could use as leverage in the administration of justice. He may have thought, if I kill Adonijah, which would certainly be a first in David's life to execute his own son, But if I kill Adonijah for this act of treason, for this coup in defiance of Yahweh's revealed will, maybe his supporters will engage in civil war, right? We've just gotten over one recently after Absalom's military coup. Adonijah's is a bloodless coup. Maybe it's easier for David to say we just can't afford that right now. Maybe if I arrest Joab, Joab has a lot of support, even among the military. Maybe Joab tries to take the army and set himself up as king. That's going to happen, by the way, during the divided kingdom. It's going to happen. You're going to see a couple of changes in regimes brought about by commanders in the military, two of whom put themselves upon the throne. Maybe David doesn't feel that he is in a strong enough position to be able to do what he ought to do. But that's just the point. Doing what Solomon does to these men is what David ought to have done. And at the end of his life, David finds himself recognizing these men need to be dealt with. These issues have to be addressed. We've already learned late in 2 Samuel about the failure to do justice and the long-term consequences associated with that. Remember when Saul kills the Gibeonites? and the wrath that God brings upon the nation as a result of that. God brings judgment upon the nation because of Saul's failure to uphold justice. David doesn't want to put Solomon in that kind of position. And so he tells Solomon, you're a wise man. You're going to know how best to do this. But make sure that these guys don't go to the grave in peace. And they don't. And yet, the way that Solomon handles this is, I think, outstanding. It's an early sign of his wisdom. So in the first case, Adonijah, we see, and each of these men have kind of themes associated with them, I think. In the case of Adonijah, you see a man who is committed to unrepentant scheming and plotting. And so he comes to Bathsheba, and he says, verse 15, you know that the kingdom was mine, really. I mean, his brother Absalom could say that. Absalom actually entered Jerusalem, sat on the throne, had the nation for all intents and purposes. Adonijah, he has a party that is fairly premature, right? He's celebrating before he actually has the crown. But he says, you know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from Yahweh. Oh yeah, it was God's revealed will, which means the kingdom was never yours, but anyway. He is playing upon what he thinks is a strong position to say, you know, this could have been me sitting on this throne. It might not have been your son. I could be the one taking power right now. That's OK. That's OK. I'm happy for him to have the kingdom. You know, all I want, Abishag. Abishag, you'll remember. a young woman, a beautiful woman who is an attendant to David and his needs. We said that they never have sexual relations. Chapter one's very explicit about that, but she is given status as a wife or concubine because of the intimacy with regard to her ministrations to him, right? She's keeping him warm. He can't stay warm in bed. So even though they do not have sexual relations, she is afforded the status of a wife or concubine. Adonijah says, you know what? Let Solomon have the kingdom. I just want Abishag as a wife. Now, there is a question. Is Bathsheba this naive to say, well, seems like a reasonable request, and goes and proffers this to Solomon as a possibility? Or is Bathsheba cunning? which her prior history might suggest that she is, does she see Adonijah has got to be taken down and this is the opportunity? I don't know, I don't know. But either way, she comes to Solomon and she says, one request, do not deny it. And Solomon says, of course, mom, what do you want? Let Abishag be given to Adonijah's wife. Now you say, what's the big deal? David's dead, right? No, it's a big deal. It's a big deal for two reasons. One, the law of Moses explicitly forbade this, right? I mean, Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, it's actually reported that a man of you has his father's wife. And even the Corinthians know that that's wrong, right? This is an incestuous request. This is a direct defiance of the instructions David just gave to Solomon before he died. Follow the way of the Lord, Adonijah says, right after you let me enter into an incestuous marriage, then you can follow the way of the Lord. So it's wrong for that reason. Secondly, this is a political play. Now, maybe Adonijah is just this stupid. But I think there is every reason to believe that he is plotting. He's saying, I had the kingdom. I had the power. Everybody's looking to me as the successor. Give me Abishag. What is the significance of a successor having the wife of the prior king? We already know the answer to that question. Because you saw in Absalom's coup, he takes the 10 concubines that David had left at the house to take care of the palace, takes them up on the roof, under a canopy. He does what he does, and he is showing, I'm burning my bridges, right? There's no going back. I cannot be reconciled to my father, and I am showing my strength. I have taken his women, right? And that's what Adonijah's doing. Now maybe he thinks that Solomon is not that smart. Maybe Solomon won't notice. But this is why Solomon replies the way that he does. Now I want you to remember, Solomon could take Adonijah's life at any point that he wanted to. He doesn't do anything until Adonijah gives decisive evidence of the fact that he is not in submission to Yahweh's will. He is making a request that is a defiance of Yahweh's law, and that implicitly challenges Yahweh's appointed king. And Solomon says, why don't you ask the whole kingdom for him? You want him to have Abishag? Why don't you ask for the whole nation? Why don't you ask for the throne? That's essentially what he's asking. And he says, as Yahweh lives, he's dead. He's dead. Because he has given proof that he is impenitent and he is still in a state of rebellion. He is seeking his own glory, not God's will, not the stability of his brother's reign or the greater good of the kingdom. The second character is Abiathar, and this man, we could say perhaps, is humbled by exile. He is deposed. That means he's stripped of his priestly office. He's banished from Jerusalem. Now, Solomon says in his discussion with Bathsheba that Abiathar and Joab are with Adonijah. And there's a question in my mind here. Does Solomon know that Adonijah is still plotting to take the throne, maybe this time using the military, which he did not do while David was alive? In that case, Abiathar is removed because of active and ongoing treason. Or is he simply making a historical observation that when Adonijah tried to take the throne, Abiathar was supporting him? Either way, Solomon tells Abiathar, you cannot be priest any longer. And he banishes him from Jerusalem And Abiathar, at least in terms of the scriptural record, accepts that. So when I say he is humbled by it, I don't know the condition of his heart, I don't know the posture that he adopts before Yahweh, but I know that he disappears into obscurity. He accepts his fate. The third character is Joab, and we might say he is a man who is running from consequences. So Joab hears that Solomon has just executed Adonijah and just exiled Abihar, and Joab knows, I'm the next one on that list, right? This is the triad of men who participated in the attempt to take the throne before David died. And so Joab does not wait. He does not wait to see how Solomon will deal with him. I actually would love to know how Solomon would deal with him. I think, I think, Given Solomon's choice to deal with Abiathar and Shimei in the ways that he does, I think Solomon would have probably offered Joab some opportunity like this to say, you want to live? You can live under these conditions. But Joab preempts any of that. Whether Solomon would have been merciful or not, Joab runs, grabs hold of the altar. You remember us talking about this a couple of weeks ago with regard to the superstitious use of God's consecrated furniture? This is a running theme through the Samuel King's history, right? Children of Israel say, hey, we're getting our lunch money taken by the Philistines. Let's go get God's magic box. And he will have to give us victory on the field of battle. God says, you're going to treat it that way. I will take it away from you. You cannot treat in a superstitious way the worship of God, the things of God. You dare not come to the Lord's table that way. You dare not look at baptism that way. You dare not look at the visible church that way. This is not, I'm gonna do my daily quiet time and I'm gonna say my little prayers and then I'm gonna live my life as I please because God is obligated now to bless me. Don't go there. Joab goes, he grabs hold of the altar. Benaiah says, Joab, I need you to come out of there. Joab says, nope. Dying right here, Benaiah comes back to Solomon, what am I supposed to do? He says, do what he said. If he wants to die there, kill him. Does that seem impious to you? No, that's not impious. It's actually impious what Joab is doing, not what Benaiah does. What Benaiah does is actually carry out the sentence of God upon the evildoer. Here's the point, the only refuge is found in the blood of atonement received through faith and repentance. It is not by running to the place of God's presence and treating it as a superstitious charm. I know it's top of the hour, if you'll just bear with me for just a minute. Shimei. Here is a man who shows irreverent disregard for wrongdoing and wrath. In fact, Shimei's entire life in scripture is defined by foolish irreverence. Cursing David, disregarding both the kindness of David and Solomon for showing mercy to him, and then defying the conditions of his probation. And in every case, Shimei lives and dies like a fool. If we consider Solomon's execution of this man to be extreme, we fail, I think, to understand the nature of sin and grace. His life was already forfeit, as we said, and he continued to disregard the conditions of his survival. Solomon does not owe Shimei anything except judgment. He does not owe him Opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, right? What Solomon does with Shimei is actually incredibly gracious. He says, I'm going to put you under house arrest. You are going to stay in Jerusalem the way that you would stay in a city of refuge. This is your place of refuge. You leave the city, you're a dead man. Shimei says, well, but it's not like I went on vacation. I had to go to Gath to get my servants. I came right back. Do you see how little regard he has? for the word of the Lord. By the way, if I were addressing a class full of young people, which I'm not tonight overall, I'd say there's some important lessons about raising kids here, right? You want to raise a rebel, keep moving the goalposts, right? Keep saying, well, you know, I'll give you another opportunity. Well, I'll give you another opportunity, right? You know, you go to Walmart and the parent is counting. I don't know why they're counting. I mean, I guess they're just embarrassed and they don't know what else to do, you know? Okay, I'm leaving, you know? No, Solomon says, you had your opportunity, and now, and now judgment's gonna fall. Let me suggest four applications really super quickly. Really, this is supposed to be a third of the class tonight. Number one, the priority of purity in the pursuit of peace. We should all desire, pray for, and do what is necessary to pursue peace, but scripture is clear that there must be purity before there can be true peace. Your jotting notes, James chapter three, verses 13 to 18, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14. We cannot choose between purity and peace. Both are very important. But there is a logical relationship and priority between them. You cannot make peace with evil and then try to purify it. Purity must come first. This would be like saying, I'm gonna get healthy and then I'm going to deal with the underlying infection. No, if you have an underlying infection, you're not healthy. You have to deal with the infection to be healthy. We must speak the truth in love, but you know it is impossible to speak untruth in love, because speaking untruth is not loving. So we're not saying tell the truth and it doesn't matter if you're saying it like an obnoxious jerk, that's love. No, not necessarily. But you cannot speak in love without truth. You can't. We're not saying that purity is all that's important and if you have purity, then you have peace. No, no, not necessarily. But let me tell you, you'll never have peace without purity. Never, you can't. There's a logical order. This principle applies personally, In terms of our struggle with sin, it applies in our families, it applies in our churches, it applies in the nation. Secondly, I'm following my notes closely here just for the sake of time. The exercise of discretion and mercy in righteous judgment. All four men who were judged in this chapter had committed capital crimes and deserved execution, but none of them were immediately sentenced to death. Isn't that remarkable? Solomon acted with discretion and showed mercy to each of them, but he dealt swiftly and decisively with those who showed impenitence after his mercy. Here's the point. Judgment does not have to be severe to be just. The previous application that we were talking about, the importance of purity in the pursuit of peace, does not mean that we should simply drop the hammer on anyone and anything that we identify as wrong. We should seek justice with wisdom and with patience. And I think it's appropriate that Solomon comes in and says, I'm going to deal with these men in various ways. When they are impenitent, they're going to die. Abiathar is the only one that survives. But all four of them could have survived, at least potentially, had they shown humility and repentance. The crimes were committed during David's reign. That's correct. Absolutely. So was he just carrying over? Yes. No statute of limitations on a capital crime, right? The blood cries out for vengeance. His mercy on him, was he just carrying that over for David? Oh, I think so. Absolutely. I think so. And I think there is wisdom in that, by the way, that Solomon does not come to power, not trying to read his mind, but he doesn't come to power as a guy who says, all right, the first thing we're going to do is just clean house, just shed everybody's blood. That's the way the pagan kings would do, right? But that's not how he administers justice. Again, judgment does not have to be severe to be just. There's wisdom. There's discretion. There has to be a point at which that judgment is Number three, the proper response to chastisement after sin. I'll just summarize it this way. How do we respond when we have sinned and the Lord brings some purifying chastisement into our lives? adopt any one of these four postures, right? These men are kind of models of these different approaches, right? Adonijah remains impenitent and continues to scheme to get ahead. I can work my way around this, right? I've had a setback, but I can still get where I want to go. He is an idolater. He is a committed idolater. He idolizes himself, right? Like Joab, you can try and flee and try and run away. So maybe if I get far enough and I grab hold of the altar, You can be like Shimei, you can just not take it seriously. You just not learn your lesson. You can just continue to regard God with your reference. Or you can be like Abiathar and humble yourself and say, I accept where I am. And by the way, let me just say this real quickly. Whether Abiathar's heart was humbled or not, this is the right way to receive merciful judgment from sins. after sin. I've said this before about prominent pastors and religious leaders that fall into sin and then, you know, six months later are ready to write a book and tell you everything that they've learned about grace. That is not the time. That is not the person. That is not the place. Go be faithful as a janitor. Keep your mouth shut. Fourth, the picture of Christ. David's son will bring justice, strength, and eternal glory. And this is the last point. The kingdom, the everlasting kingdom, the kingdom will be established forever, verse 45. King Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh forever. Solomon's not gonna be there forever. And that's a good thing. Solomon is not Christ, but he is a type of Christ. The establishment of the kingdom here looks far beyond Solomon's reign, but it would be established by David's eschatological son. And like Solomon, Jesus would come in flaming fire and administer judgment, which had long been delayed. He will establish the everlasting kingdom by means of justice. And in this case, judgment delayed is not justice denied. Our hope is in submission to his lordship, not in disregarding, fleeing from, or resisting his reign. Christ will purify his kingdom, and in so doing, he will bring peace.