Tuesday, September 20, 2022

The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 3, An Alarming Message

David's oldest living son, Adonijah, is attempting to take the throne so that Solomon, who is David's intended successor, cannot ascend to the throne upon David's death. David is near the end of his life and Adonijah feels he can get away with having himself declared king during the final days of his father's life. As we discussed yesterday, Adonijah is fully aware that Solomon has been named as David's successor. All of the members of the royal family and the top officials of the government and many of the people of the nation are fully aware that Solomon has been named as David's successor. In 1 Chronicles 28:5 we find David addressing a great assembly with these words: "Of all my sons---and the Lord has given me many---He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel." 

David's speech was given at some point before he became as feeble as we find him in 1 Kings 1 because at that time he was drawing up building plans for the temple, amassing materials to be used in its construction, and writing down an orderly description of how the priests would be assigned their work. These ideas were given to David by the Lord, for David said, "All this I have in writing as a result of the Lord's hand on me, and He enabled me to understand all the details of the plan." (1 Chronicles 28:19) So we see that before David became too ill to maintain his body heat (as we were told earlier in our chapter) he was making it plain to everyone that he was working to make Solomon's ascension to the throne go as smoothly as possible.

In yesterday's text the prophet Nathan told Bathsheba to remind David of the promise he made to her regarding her son Solomon. She obeys Nathan's instructions. "So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him. Bathsheba bowed down, prostrating herself before the king. 'What is it you want?' the king asked. She said to him, 'My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God: 'Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.' But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.'" (1 Kings 1:17-21) 

She asks David, "Are you going to let Adonijah get away with this or are you going to appoint Solomon as your successor as you have promised? The whole nation is waiting to see whether you allow Adonijah's wicked deeds to prosper or whether you fulfill your word regarding Solomon my son. Keep in mind that if you allow Adonijah to ascend to the throne, he will have Solomon and me put to death."

As Nathan said he would do, he shows up in a moment to back up the information Bathsheba is providing to the king. Why does David need the word of more than one person? I can only give my opinion. I feel that if Nathan had come alone to advise David of Adonijah's treachery, his words would not have had the power of Bathsheba's for it was to her and not to Nathan that David swore an oath that Solomon would be king. But since there was always great rivalry in the households of ancient kings due to them having so many wives and so many children, there's a risk of David thinking she's imagining conspiracies that don't exist. He might doubt that Adonijah's feast and his exclusion of Solomon means he's announcing himself as king. David could have dismissed her fears by convincing himself that Adonijah failed to invite Solomon by mistake, not because he wanted to lay claim to the kingship without Solomon present. Another reason I think it was necessary for two people to testify to Adonijah's rebellion is because David has always been too lenient with his sons and would be loathe to believe only one person's word against Adonijah. As the law in Israel stated, the testimony of two or more witnesses was needed to establish anyone's guilt, and David can hardly ignore the testimony of Solomon's own mother and the testimony of his spiritual advisor combined.

"While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. And the king was told, 'Nathan the prophet is here.' So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground. Nathan said, 'Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne? Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!' But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite. Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?'" (1 Kings 1:22-27) 

Nathan doesn't let on that he's already spoken with Bathsheba. He sets the scene up so that it appears the two of them arrived independently to inform the king of this sad and shocking news. Although this might come across as deceptive to us, I think it may have been done this way to underscore the urgency of doing something immediately. It sets a more dramatic scene for two separate people to come in at two separate times with the same story. It creates a sense of alarm in David that is necessary to move the elderly, sick, parentally permissive king to take action against the plans of his rebellious son.

Adonijah is rebelling not only against his father's wishes but, more importantly, against the Lord's wishes. It was the Lord who told David who should be his successor. David didn't make his mind up on this matter by himself. David's natural inclination probably would have been to appoint his oldest surviving son as his heir. That's how it was done in all the ancient nations of his day except in cases where the oldest son had displeased his father to the point of being disowned. In proclaiming himself king of Israel, Adonijah is openly rebelling against God Himself, and that is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. In tomorrow's study we will find David moving quickly to secure Solomon's future.


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