Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army
By Captain Michael Ramsay, 21 October 2012.
Today’s pericope is about an awkward family situation and an awkward political situation. Now, I don’t really follow politics like I used to once upon a time. I no longer put my faith in the idea that whoever happens to win a popularity contest every so many years will or even can do anything to better a nation. On the contrary, as a 21st Century Christian, I recognize as the Scriptures say that ‘I know from where my help comes; it comes from the maker of heaven and earth’ – not from some politician (Psalm 121).
That being said, there have been some interesting things happening in our world in politics recently. We in this city are in the throes of a municipal election and while no one is officially challenging Mayor Jared Schafer and the work he is doing, there are 11 people – I believe – vying for just six city council jobs and there are school board elections as well. In Ontario, I understand that there is quite a tempest brewing in that the relatively recently re-elected premier has just offered his resignation. In the United States, they have just finished another round of presidential debates and they are in the midst of another very close election.
The situation in the United States right now actually does have some parallels to our text today and it has even more parallels to elections south of the line where a sitting president isn’t up for re-election. Does anyone remember the election campaign highlighting Al Gore and George W. Bush? That was a very tightly contested race. In the end it was actually left up to the courts to declare who would be president of their country.
Then and there you had a sitting President, Bill Clinton, who was no longer able to wield his official power. He was on his way out. His own party put forth his Vice President as a possible successor to him and the other political party put forth the son of another past president as their choice. There are many states that always seem to support the same party and only a few swing states for the taking in any election. That country then, like their country now, was divided.
It is the same in our text today. King David is the leader of the Kingdom of Israel. In the early days of his reign he was a political force to be dealt with; he was involved in no shortage of scandals and political intrigue and he managed to hold his office as long as he possibly could: winning some really close contests for his job and sacrificing a lot of innocent lives in the process (1 & 2 Samuel). Even as a young man in all his victories, errors and sins though, he seemed to always return to God and was actually remembered as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). In our text today however, David is no longer a young man. David is old. David seems impotent.[1] The country is once again divided. David’s term is coming to an end and a new leader will be chosen to succeed him.
David is from Judah (1 Samuel 17:12). Just like there has been an historic East-West or French-English division in Canada and an historic North-South division in the United States with the Democrats and Republicans fighting for control since the time of their second civil war (1861-1865),[2] there is a similar traditional divide in Palestine between the Israelites in the North and the Jews in the South (cf. 1 Samuel 16 - 2 Samuel 5). David is from the South. The conservatives, the old guard is from the Hebron area in the south. Their stronghold is the state (tribe) of Judah. Many powerful people are there. There is Joab, David’s nephew and the leader of David’s fighting men; he is the person who was used as much as any other person to put and keep David on the throne. There is Abiathar, the last high priest in the lineage of Aaron, Moses’ brother.[3] And joining their ranks now is David’s oldest surviving son, Adonijah. This is the old guard, the conservatives. They are the Judah Party and they figure that they have all of these important electoral votes locked down for the coming contest (cf. 1 Kings 1:5-9).
Now about the other side, the Jerusalem Party: even though David himself is from Judah, for political reasons, he relocates his capital to Jerusalem, which is on the border between the states (tribes) of Benjamin and Judah (2 Samuel 5:1-16). David abandons his old guard and David becomes surrounded by the new Jerusalem Party. This faction is made up of other members of David’s family as well as the traditional opposition groups to the Judah Party (1 Kings 1:28-40). In this Jerusalem Party we have the prophet Nathan; he was the one who – without asking God first - told David that he should go ahead and build a temple for God; God then vetoed Nathan (2 Samuel 7:1-17, 1 Chronicles 17:1-15). Later, however, Nathan did speak on God’s behalf. We remember that it was Nathan who God spoke through condemning David for having an affair with Bathsheba and killing her husband in the ensuing cover-up (2 Samuel 11-12). This brings us to our next Mandarin (or at least an instrument of them) in Jerusalem of our text today: It is Bathsheba herself, the woman whose husband David murdered after he impregnated her and tried to cover it up; She is now one of David’s wives (2 Samuel 12, Matthew 1:6). Our next member of the Jerusalem Party is Bathsheba’s son Solomon. Then there is Benaiah, an Army officer, assassin, and Solomon’s personal enforcer; Zadok, a new High Priest who in all likelihood was not even an Israelite;[4] and a number of foreign mercenaries.
That is the situation leading into Chapter One of First Kings: the country is potentially divided. We have David’s old guard in the South of Judah and we have the Jerusalem Party to the North who some even suggest are even holding David hostage in his palace in a similar way to the way that the Shoguns of old held the Emperor of Japan hostage.[5]
Now there is something else that we have to mention about David before we get to the events of our pericope today. David was known as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). David was a great warrior (1 Samuel 16 – 30). David could have been a great king. David was not a great dad. His failure to discipline, limit, instruct, guide, teach, direct, or even actually really help his children contributed to the deaths of many of his country people -including more than one of his sons (2 Samuel 12-19). We remember the murder of Amnon (2 Samuel 13), his oldest son, and we remember the rebellion and slaying of Absalom (2 Samuel 15-18), his second oldest son: both of these tragedies in all likelihood could have been avoided if David had looked to God for help instead of just letting his family run wild and these tragedies in all likelihood could have been avoided if David had learned what we know from the food bank ministry here: sometimes the most loving answer is ‘no’. There are limits to what God finds acceptable. There are guidelines that point to life. If we know them, if we know where our help comes from we will be okay. If we rebel however, trying to do things for and by ourselves, things can go terribly wrong. Today’s pericope reminds us of this.
It says that Adonijah, rather than relying on God, it says that Adonijah exalted himself: verse 5. He is testing his dad. It says that his dad, – verse 6 – David never bothered to rein him in while he was growing up. Adonijah has been given no way to figure out what are the boundaries in life. He has been given no way from his dad to figure out what are the parameters. David, it says, refuses to help. David does not name an heir to the throne and David’s health is failing. Something must be done. A new leader must be chosen. Adonijah decides that he should be the next leader of God’s people. The election campaign is underway.
Adonijah prepares well for his campaign, as recorded in the verses 5-8 of our story. He is handsome. He is the oldest surviving son. He organises first; he gathers around him prominent people from his father’s rise to power. He has a big leadership campaign kick-off. He invites almost all the high profile people of Judah who are his supporters: princes and royal officials alike (1 Kings 1:9). The Judah Party: the grand ole party of the old days of David’s reign, they have had their leadership convention and Adonijah is their man. They don’t however invite the Jerusalem Party and the election is on.
Now, in all this preparation, do you notice what it doesn’t say that any of them do in planning all of this? Even though it does mention that the last Aaronic High Priest has endorsed Adonijah’s candidacy, it doesn’t mention anywhere that anyone prays or even consults God in this matter.
The election fight is on and Nathan gets wind of this and he mobilises the Jerusalem Party in response, giving them their plan of action. Notice here too that nowhere does it say that Nathan or anyone in the Jerusalem Party is praying or seeking God anymore than those of the Judah Party. Verses 11-14: Nathan goes directly to one of David’s queens: Bathsheba, the one –we remember- who many years ago he condemned David for sleeping with and murdering her first husband. Nathan goes straight to Queen Bathsheba. Nathan, like any great political organizer, seemingly exaggerates his case as he tries to enlist her in his plot. He tells Bathsheba that Adonijah, David’s son by another wife, has ALREADY become king. Nathan apparently gets her all worked up and then he tells her to go to tell King David, who is very old and who is seemingly politically and/or physically impotent; Nathan gets her all worked up and he tells her to go to tell King David, who is very likely suffering from arteriosclerosis and is very weak;[6] Nathan gets her all worked up and he tells her to tell David that David had already promised that her son, Solomon, would be the next king.[7] Nathan says, you do this and then I will come running in while you are still speaking with the king and I will confirm everything that you have just said. These is quite a plot and again notice that nowhere in the Scriptures does it say that this plot is endorsed by the Lord anymore than were Adonijah’s plans.
This is just the beginning. There is more. Look at how and where Nathan unleashes his plot to put Solomon on the throne. David is in his bedroom when Bathsheba comes running in and David is not alone. Abishag, who it says in Verse 2, is a young woman who used to lie with him to keep him warm (cf. 1 Kings 2:22, Josephus, Antiquities vii.14.3);[8] Abishag, it says in verse 15 is attending him right at this moment when in they come running. Here is this possibly senile seventy-something year old man, who is suffering from a number of ailments, cuddling this concubine in his bedroom when in comes his wife who tells him all that Nathan told her to tell him, making sure to inaccurately state that Adonijah had already been made king and to implicate by name David’s old guard in this and to tell David all that Nathan had told her tell David including the idea that David had previously agreed to make Solomon king. This has got to be more than a little awkward –like our comics from the beginning of the talk today - and more than a little bit confusing for David – even if he is not ill (1 Kings 1:15-21).
Nathan then joins the party in the bedroom and the Jerusalem Party carries the day in the election to the throne: Solomon is named co-regent with his father (1 Kings 1:38-40). In the next few chapters, like new Presidents and Prime Minister’s in our part of the world today fire their predecessor’s chief staff, Solomon sends out his assassins to consolidate his power, killing off the key members of the Judah Party and anyone else he sees as a political threat (1 Kings 2:13-46).[9]
This is quite a way to start the book of 1 Kings and you will notice that God isn’t really mentioned in this story at all. God isn’t mentioned until Chapter 3 and by that time Solomon is already begun his undoing: Solomon is already king and Solomon is already married to Pharaoh’s daughter. If we had the time to address the rest of Solomon’s story, it ends in the same tragic way it begins, with conspiracies and death as the Lord Himself raises up adversaries to Solomon (1 Kings 11). As we read through 1 Kings over the next week we will notice that Solomon at times in his life loves God (1 Kings 3:3-15, 9:1-14, 2 Chronicles 1:1-13), Solomon at times in his life serves God but Solomon’s heart is turned away to other gods by his foreign wives and his rejection of God is so complete that God eventually tears the whole kingdom from his line… except two tribes for the sake of the promise that God made to King David (1 Kings 11-12; cf. 2 Chronicles 10). Solomon turns away from God (cf. TSA doc. 9).
But in the midst of the tragedy of the life of Solomon, who we will be reading about over the next few weeks, and after having just read today about the political intrigue of his rise to power what can we learn that applies to us today here in Swift Current, 3 millennia later? I think our lesson is this: God foreordained that David would have a descendant as a king forever (2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17). God had even planned that that descendant would not only be king of the tribe of Judah, that king would not only be king of the people of Israel. That king would be king of the whole world because that king would be the Son of God and that King would be God (cf. Genesis 12:1-3).
Even though Solomon and his friends and colleagues, like his adversaries, plotted and killed in our story today and even though before the end of Solomon’s life, his heart would turn after other gods, The LORD is still faithful and the LORD still provides a descendant of David and a descendant of Solomon to sit on the throne forever. Even though Solomon, who once was faithful, becomes faithless (Romans 3:3-4; cf. Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5),[10] God is still faithful to His promises to save the world through the lineage of David – this he does through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.[11]
The question for us today then is, ‘what are we going to do about it?’ Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Are we going to serve Him? Are we going to read our Bibles and pray on a regular basis? Are we going to love God and love our neighbours and so enjoy being a part of His Kingdom forever – or are we going to plot and scheme on our own to achieve our own goals and then ultimately be led astray to follow other gods like Solomon (cf. Matthew 25:31ff., TSA doctrines 6,10,11)? Today the choice is ours. We can look to ourselves and our own plots, schemes, plans, and agendas, that will lead us where they lead us or we can lift our eyes up to the heavens to where are help comes from. It comes from God the maker of heaven and earth. Today let us serve Him.
Let us pray.
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[1] Choon-Leong Seow. The First and Second Book of Kings, (NIB III: Abigdon Press, Nashville, 1999), 14
[2] The first civil war lasted from 1775-1783.
[3] But cf. R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Kings/Exposition of First Kings/I. The United Kingdom (1 Kings 1:1-11:43)/A. Solomon's Exaltation as King (1:1-2:11)/1. Adonijah's plot to seize the crown (1:1-10)/b. Adonijah's attempted coup d'etat (1:5-10), Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] J. A. Soggin, ‘Der Offiziell Geförderte Synkretismus in Israel während des 10 Jahrhunderts’, ZAW 78, 1966, pp. 179–204 in Donald J. Wiseman, 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1993 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 9), S. 75
[5] cf. Choon-Leong Seow. The First and Second Book of Kings, (NIB III: Abigdon Press, Nashville, 1999), 14
[6] Choon-Leong Seow. The First and Second Book of Kings, (NIB III: Abigdon Press, Nashville, 1999), 14
[7] Cf. Jonathan Burnside, ‘Flight of the Fugitives: Rethinking the Relationship between Biblical Law (Exodus 21:12-14) and the Davidic Succession Narrative (1 Kings 1-2), JBL 129, no.3 (2010): 419
[8] Donald J. Wiseman, 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1993 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 9), S. 74: The use of a youth to restore vital warmth was an ancient medical practice
[9] Cf. Tim Gorringe, “David's Big Ideas 1Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Ephesians 5:15-10, John 6:51-58”, Expository Times 120 no. 10 (July 2012): 498
[10] Cf. N.T. Wright, “Romans and theTheology of Paul,” p. 37. See also N.T. Wright, “The Law in Romans 2.
[11] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today'. Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army. Available on-line at http://www.sheepspeak.com/Ramsay%20Praise%20the%20Lord%20for%20Covenants.pdf
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