Solomon Takes the Throne

Two Bookend Statements

Two bookend statements help us interpret how Solomon begins His reign.

1 Chronicles 29:25 CSB

25 The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been bestowed on any king over Israel before him.

1 Chronicles 1:1 CSB

1 Adam, Seth, Enosh,

2 Chronicles 1:1 CSB

1 Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him.

1 Kings 3:3 CSB

3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

As we examine the beginning of Solomon’s reign notice:

God exalts Solomon

God makes Solomon more majestic than any other king before him

God was with Solomon. Solomon was living in the blessing of the Lord. (the picture of God turning His face to and away from people)

Solomon loved the Lord. How do we know? He obeyed the Lord’s instructions.

Our love for the Lord has never been exclusively defined as an emotion. The Bible always defines love as obedience and obedience as love.

John 14:15 CSB

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

Why all of the killing?

How can we make sense of all of the instances of killing at the beginning of Solomon’s reign.

Remember the Lord exalted Solomon, the Lord was with Solomon, and that Solomon loved the Lord.

David had instructed Solomon before he died:

1 Kings 2:1–9 CSB

1 As the time approached for David to die, he ordered his son Solomon, 2 “As for me, I am going the way of all of the earth. Be strong and be a man, 3 and keep your obligation to the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to keep his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees. This is written in the law of Moses, so that you will have success in everything you do and wherever you turn, 4 and so that the Lord will fulfill his promise that he made to me: ‘If your sons guard their way to walk faithfully before me with all their heart and all their soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 5 “You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet. 6 Act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head descend to Sheol in peace. 7 “Show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be among those who eat at your table because they supported me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8 “Keep an eye on Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim who is with you. He uttered malicious curses against me the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the Lord: ‘I will never kill you with the sword.’ 9 So don’t let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man. You know how to deal with him to bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

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Adonijah

Adonijah tried to succeed David as King:

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1 Kings 1:5–10 CSB

5 Adonijah son of Haggith kept exalting himself, saying, “I will be king!” He prepared chariots, cavalry, and fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 But his father had never once infuriated him by asking, “Why did you do that?” In addition, he was quite handsome and was born after Absalom. 7 He conspired with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar. They supported Adonijah, 8 but the priest Zadok, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the prophet Nathan, Shimei, Rei, and David’s royal guard did not side with Adonijah. 9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, goats, cattle, and fattened cattle near the stone of Zoheleth, which is next to En-rogel. He invited all his royal brothers and all the men of Judah, the servants of the king, 10 but he did not invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the royal guard, or his brother Solomon.

Adonijah get Bathsheba to ask Solomon for Abishag the Shunammite as a wife. This is the woman that attended David in his old age. 1 kings 1:1

She is described as the most beautiful woman in the land

1 Kings 1:3–4 CSB

3 They searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel; they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was of unsurpassed beauty, and she became the king’s caregiver. She attended to him, but he was not intimate with her.

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Adonijah is the Shunammite of the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs). Notice the way the Shunammite is described in these verses:

Song of Solomon 1:8 CSB

8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.

Song of

Song of Solomon 5:9 CSB

9 What makes the one you love better than another, most beautiful of women? What makes him better than another, that you would give us this charge?

Song of

Song of 6

Song of Solomon 6:1 CSB

1 Where has your love gone, most beautiful of women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.

When Bathsheba makes Adonijah’s request known to Solomon, Solomon understands that Adonijhah is attempting to take the kingdom from him. Adonijah is rebelling against the Lord’s anointed. He made himself an enemy of the Lord and an enemy of Solomon.

Abiathar

Solomon did not put him to death because he had carried the Ark of the Lord. But Abiathar and Joab had conspired with Adonijah to take the kingdom.

1 Kings 1:7 CSB

7 He conspired with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar. They supported Adonijah,

1 kings 1

1 Kings 2:26–27 CSB

26 The king said to the priest Abiathar, “Go to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death today, since you carried the ark of the Lord God in the presence of my father David and you suffered through all that my father suffered.” 27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being the Lord’s priest, and it fulfilled the Lord’s prophecy he had spoken at Shiloh against Eli’s family.

Abiathar had conspired with Adonijah.

Abiathar was a descendant of Eli (Great, great, great grandfather). God promised Eli to remove his descendants from the altar.

Joab

1 Samuel 2:31–35 CSB

31 Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s house, so that none in your family will reach old age. 32 You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age. 33 Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently. 34 This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day. 35 “ ‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.

David’s instructions to Solomon concerning Joab:

1 sam 2 35-37

1 Kings 2:5–6 CSB

5 “You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet. 6 Act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head descend to Sheol in peace.

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He killed Abner (Saul’s commander) and Amasa (Absalom’s commander) who were innocent. He shed innocent blood.

(two primary sins in )

He also conspired against David in attempting to put Adonijah on the throne.

Shimei

Shimei cursed David as he was leaving Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion:

1 Samuel 16:5–13 CSB

5 “In peace,” he replied. “I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly the Lord’s anointed one is here before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” 8 Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. “The Lord hasn’t chosen this one either,” Samuel said. 9 Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen this one either.” 10 After Jesse presented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse, “The Lord hasn’t chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” he answered, “but right now he’s tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.” 12 So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance. Then the Lord said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

1 Sam 16

David’s instructions to Solomon concerning Shimei:

1 Kings 2:8–9 CSB

8 “Keep an eye on Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim who is with you. He uttered malicious curses against me the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by the Lord: ‘I will never kill you with the sword.’ 9 So don’t let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man. You know how to deal with him to bring his gray head down to Sheol with blood.”

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Why was this important to David?

Genesis 12:3 CSB

3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Solomon gave Shimei a chance to live. He told him not to leave Jerusalem. Shimei did not listen, and Solomon had him killed.

God Uses Messy people to to highlight His Grace.

1 Kings 3:1–4 CSB

1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. Solomon brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. 2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name had not been built. 3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

Solomon sinned by making a treaty with Egypt and marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. This kind of behavior will cause tragic consequences later in his reign.

Notice though, that once again, God chooses to bless covenant breakers.

If God did not bless covenant breakers, there would be no one to bless.

We have all sinned an fallen short of the glory of God.

Scripture does not hide the brokenness in the lives of those who walk by faith.

This highlights God’s grace. God does annul his covenant because of our unfaithfulness. Instead, God works in our lives to establish our faith and bring us back to Him.

Solomon sinned in many disgusting ways, but he wrote Scripture in the midst of his brokenness.