The Person

Welcome to our women's Bible study called Solomon and the House of the Lord. Today we're going to cover 1 Kings chapters 1, 2, and 3. And last week when we started with the introduction we talked about the plan and we pointed out that it has always been God's desire to dwell among his people and that he had finally revealed now the place where he would dwell among them. Just as he had told Moses centuries ago. I want to take just a minute and read through a fairly sizable section of Deuteronomy where God had promised this. I'll put it up on the screen so you can just follow along. Deuteronomy 12 starting in verse 2. This is what the Lord had said years ago.

So see, it was always God's plan for him to select a place, put his name there, and Israel to be able to come together and worship in that way. And this reminds us of the importance of the house of the Lord because that's one of our focuses for this Bible study. So that was the plan. Now this week's lesson centers on the person. And so we get to dig in and really take a look at Solomon, who will build the house of the Lord. So let's get started. First Kings chapter one, it says,

And my husband always points out that this is a man's solution to a health problem. This is what men would come up with. So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout the territory of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. And the young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not. In other words, they did not have sexual relations. However, she was considered a concubine of the king. And so we're intended to note here from this opening passage that David is quite old and infirmed. He has health problems. We're intended to note that Abishag was brought into service. We'll hear about her again. And we are intended to consider her a concubine because of the relationship that they had. So since David is now old and probably not very good at kinging any longer, one of his sons decided to seize the opportunity to seize the throne. Here we go. Verse five,

And we wonder, why did he presume that he could make himself king? Well, two reasons. First of all, he was used to getting whatever he wanted. The next verse says his father had never at any time displeased him by asking, why have you done thus and so? In other words, he was not disciplined. Second reason, he was good looking. He was also a very handsome man. And that is just the way of the world. People tend to respond to good looking people differently, a little bit more warmly. And so there are some life lessons here. Now look, when we go through the Old Testament, it is primarily intended to tell us the history, the story, the unfolding story of God's redemption, right? But we are not necessarily supposed to draw moral lessons. That's not the primary purpose is to draw moral lessons. However, there are moral lessons. There are applications we can make. So as we go through the scripture, I'll remind you, we always want to look at it and say, what does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean to me? And that is where we can draw some life applications. So right here, we have some life applications. Displeasing our children for their maturity is a good thing. We call it discipline. The other thing that we learn is it is not easy to displease our children. It is a discipline. It's hard for us. And the other thing we learn from this, it's the cute ones that are the hardest. You know what? I see your pictures on Facebook, your cute little kids. And sometimes I'll show Paul, I'll say, look at this, isn't he adorable? You know, they're the hard ones to discipline. So just set your mind on the task right now. And it ends up reminding us that Adonijah was born next after Absalom. In other words, of all the brothers born that are now passed on, he is the oldest. And so presumably, in a lot of worlds, that would make him next for the king. And he got Joab the commander and Abiathar the priest on his side, but not Zadok, nor Benaiah, nor Nathan the prophet. And Adonijah went and set up a sacrifice at En-Rogel. He invited all of his brothers except Solomon, which is very telling. And then verse 11, it says,

Now therefore, come, let me give you advice that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon, because the next step, the next logical step for Adonijah would have been to destroy anyone who had a claim to the throne. And so Nathan gives Bathsheba a script and says, here's what you are to say, I'll come in right after you. And she does. Verse 15,

And so she told David everything that Adonijah has done that David was unaware of. And while she was telling him that, in walks Nathan, the prophet, just as they had planned. Verse 24,

And then he told David everything he knew about what Adonijah had done and who was invited and who wasn't invited, ending with, verse 27,

And so now David realized that this was a very, very serious matter. And he wanted to make sure that all the important people in his life knew that Solomon for sure would reign on the throne after him. And in fact, they would begin that process today. So beginning with Bathsheba, David said in verse 30,

And then to Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, as they came in, the king said to them in verse 33,

Verse 39,

So this wasn't done in secret. The marketing department had come and made a big splash out of all of this. Everyone knew and you can guess what effect it had on the other king, the other brother. Verse 41,

And he sounds worried, and he should be. And Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came, and Adonijah assumed he was friendly because he's the son of the priest who was with him. But Jonathan said, King David has made Solomon king, and he has Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, and he's riding on the king's mule. What's more, everyone is congratulating King David about this. Look at verse 47, the end,

So in this moment, it seems as though all Israel is happy that Solomon is on the throne. And so you can guess how Adonijah feels and how frightened he is. So in verse 50, it says he arose and he took hold of the horns of the altar. We're not told which altar, but hey, do you guys remember playing tag when you were kids, right? There was always like home base, like it was a tree or a door or something, and if you could run and touch that thing, you were safe. That's what he's doing, that the horns of the altar are home base. This wasn't a Hebrew thing, this was a pagan thing, but that's what he did. So this sets up Solomon's first real drama in his reign. He just got crowned king, and now he's got a thing to deal with, right? This brother, what to do about him. And what Solomon does here with Adonijah, we can drop into our important life skills bucket, okay? Because what do we do when people oppose us or when people cause us grief? Well, one thing we can do is strive to deescalate the situation. Let's all just calm down here. And then Solomon basically took a wait and see attitude. I'll give you a second chance. What his actual words were, if he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die. So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar, and he came and paid homage to the king. And Solomon said to him, just go home, go to your house. So far, so good. So let's start chapter two. When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon, his son, saying,

And then David went on to remind Solomon that he would be inheriting some complicated situations to deal with, and that Solomon, as he took the reign, he wasn't gonna be able to just coast. There would be things he would have to deal with, and David told him about Joab and Shimei, and how he was gonna have to deal with them, and then David also reminded him about the sons of Barzillai, because Barzillai, the Gileadite, had really shown David a lot of favor in that whole situation when he fled from Absalom, and so he gave instructions of how to deal with them, too, and we'll talk a little bit more about those in a minute, but first, we arrive at David's death in verse 10.

for about one day, and then he had some hard work to do, okay? Any kingdom that is firmly established, any business, any career, but what I wanna focus on is any spiritual life that is firmly established does not stay that way, sailing along on quiet seas. That's just not the way the world works. In this moment, Solomon had become established in the purpose for which God had created him, to be king, and he was established in the work that God had given him to do, but he would need courage, wisdom, and action in order to be successful in that purpose, okay? In our lives, it is the same. We get saved, God gives us something to do, we are established in the work that he's given us to do, but we don't sail along on smooth seas. We need courage, we need wisdom, and we need action sometimes in order to be successful in the work that God has given us to do, in the purpose that he has given us, and so we'll talk a little bit more about this at the end of the chapter. Solomon faced challenges to his purpose, and the first one comes in the form of Adonijah sneaking around to the back door to see if that might be open. Look at verse 13.

and perhaps he thought that this was gonna be an easy place to find sympathy. You know, it's something like, you know I would have been a great pianist, but I was older, and I always had to watch the little kids, and so my sister became better than me because she got to practice while I was babysitting. You know, wanting sympathy from someone as to why your life didn't turn out the way you thought it should have. So he says to her, I have one small request to make of you. Do not refuse me. Please ask King Solomon to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife. Bathsheba said, very well, I will speak to you to the king, and she did. She went to Solomon and said, I have one, this is verse 20, I have one small request to make of you. Do not refuse me. And the king said to her, make your request, my mother. It is Mother's Day week after all. I'll give you anything that you want. And she said, let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah, your brother, as his wife. And the way the video in my mind goes that Solomon just stares at her. He's incredulous. He can't even believe what he just heard. And he finally says, and why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Just ask the whole kingdom, for he's my older brother, and he has Abiathar, and he has Joab, the son of Zeruiah. Remember, your husband's nephew. He has all this going for him. You want me to give him Abishag? And so, obviously, possessing the former king's concubine is another sign of achievement, another sign that they do not want him. So it floors us that Bathsheba would ask. It confirms our suspicions about Adonijah. And in this moment, it convinces Solomon that now is the time, that he has to act with courage and with wisdom and with action to deal with these preexisting conditions, preexisting complications. So verse 23,

So King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died. And since Solomon was getting the knack of acting with courage and action here, it seemed like the right time to deal with all the situations, Abiathar, Joab, and Shimei. And so I'm gonna summarize all the things that David had left for him to deal with. First, there was Abiathar, who was also a priest, who had been loyal to David, but then switched his loyalty to Adonijah. And out of reverence for him, because he had carried the ark of the Lord, Solomon says, I'm not gonna put you to death. I'm merely going to banish you. Just go to Anathoth and get out of here. That's kind of intriguing, because way back when we started 1 Samuel, remember little boy Samuel, the Lord speaks to him at Shiloh? This is what God said. Because Eli's sons were evil and Eli did nothing, his line will be cut off. This is it. It took all this time, but this is the end. And then there's Joab. Oh, Joab. Joab, Joab. We've had so much interest watching him jump from the good bucket to the bad. Bucket and back and forth and he had been very loyal to David until he wasn't. And in this moment, he wasn't loyal to David. And so David had said he needed to be dealt with and he had told Solomon, look, Joab killed two of my commanders. He killed Abner and Amasa and on his deathbed, David did not mention he also killed Absalom, but he did. And so then Joab tried this free zone, home base kind of thing and he ran to get a hold of the horns of the altar. But Solomon said, I don't care if it's here or there, wherever, just he's got to go. And he told Benaiah, strike him down. And so Joab was finally killed and Benaiah became the new commander of the army. And then there's Shimei, who had injured David severely. Now if you didn't study through Second Samuel with us, these are all interesting stories that you'll want to go and understand why these people are pointed out. But Shimei had injured David with his cursing when he fled Jerusalem. And in the moment when David came back into Jerusalem, he had dealt with Shimei with a lot of grace. And he had even told him, I'm not going to put you to death today. And on they went. But he had told Solomon in verse nine that we didn't read and here it is now, David told Solomon, now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and you will know what you ought to do with him. And you shall bring his gray head down to blood to Sheol. So Solomon now sort of lets Shimei choose the day of his own judgment. You know, when all my kids were at home, we always had rest time. Our house was like after lunch, it was one hour rest time. And when the little kids stopped napping in the afternoon, then I would train them, it's one hour in your room. Like anything in your room you can play with, the doors open, you can hear us out there, but everybody in the house just has one hour of quiet time. And I would tell them, the moment you step foot outside that door, that is when the discipline will happen. So just stay in, you will choose the day, you will choose the time of your discipline. So stay in, there will be no discipline. I didn't know how wise I was. Because that is exactly what Solomon does here. He tells Shimei, he says, you stay in Jerusalem, you know, keep your enemies close thing. And verse 37,

He was his own choice. And so about three years go by, and he leaves and he goes to Gath, Solomon hears about it. Sure enough, verse 44,

And then the king commanded Benaiah to strike him down. And so just like that, the chapter ends with almost the same words that David's last words to David ended, David's last words to Solomon ended with. Look at the last words of the chapter.

So let's talk about how Solomon's kingdom was established. He had these pre-existing complications that proved a threat to his overall success. A threat to the purpose that God had given him, a threat to the work that God had given him to do. Solomon acted with courage, with wisdom, and with action, and he dealt with the threat. And sometimes we face threats for the purpose for which God has created us. The work that God has given us to do. There are threats that cause us to not be successful in that. Some of those threats are pre-existing complications. Some of those threats are challenges that are just thrust upon us. But we can see from this, I can see a life application from this, that if I am going to be successful in what God has given me to do, the work of my hands, the work that God has entrusted to me, I need wisdom from the Lord. I need courage. And sometimes I got to do some hard work and deal with these things. Now look, I'm not going to put anybody to death or banish them, but we all get it. There's some things in our life that got to go or we won't be successful. Will we be saved? Absolutely. Will God love us? Absolutely. Will we be as successful as we could be? Uh-uh. And so this chapter really speaks to me about being courageous with the roadblocks in my life. So then we go to chapter three, and after we see Solomon show such courage and wisdom in dealing with these complications, then we read,

Now stop. There are two big problems in that. The two words alliance and Egypt, they should not be in the same sentence, okay? Now in the Bible, we know that Egypt is always a type or a symbol, if you will, of the world or of sin. Now it's not that way in our life. If you go on a visit, if you go on a trip to Cairo, I'm not going to look at you sideways. It's okay. You can go to Egypt, but in the Bible, it has become a symbol of things that should be avoided. Why? Because God reached out to the children of Abraham that were in slavery in Egypt, and he miraculously, divinely delivered them, brought them out of there. So any alliance now with Egypt is a reversal of what God had intended. So it says, he took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. We're just going to take this marriage and set it up on the shelf for future chapters and come back to it. Verse two tells us about Israel's worship habits.

Okay? So in all fairness to Israel, even though I explained to you in the study guide, the high places, and how this is a theme throughout Kings, get rid of the high places, we opened with that message. In all fairness to Israel in this moment, they do not have a place really to worship God. Verse three,

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Okay, now this is kind of important that we understand this. And here's where we have a little bit of a difference between a Bible study and just reading through a book of the Bible. In a Bible study, you use other aspects of the Bible to help give you more understanding. And it is important for us to understand what's going on. So second Chronicles one, verse three through six. It says, Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place that was at Gibeon. Look, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses, the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness was there. That's where the tabernacle was. But it wasn't complete because look, verse four, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Zerim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out. And Solomon went there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. Okay, so the elements of worship that were part of the tabernacle that God had told Moses to make at Mount Sinai, and he did, are not together and they haven't been together for a long time. The tent itself, the tent of meeting seems to be in Gibeon and so is the altar, the bronze altar. That's in Gibeon. But the ark of the covenant is in Jerusalem. They're not together anymore, so they're not telling the story. See the tabernacle was intended to tell a story as the people would come and worship, they would understand God's plan. It's been dismantled and it's been that way for a long time. So this helps us right here understand the importance of this building the house of the Lord. It's going to bring it all back together again. Everything is going to be brought back together. So now they're at Gibeon and we read about the first of three times that God gave a message to Solomon, verse five.

And Solomon said,

and now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father. Although, but a little child. I don't know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people who have you chosen, a great people. Too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. So Solomon is just coming to the Lord with humility, understanding how small he is in this moment. But how great the covenant was that God had made with David and that he has a part in that covenant. So he says to the Lord,

And those are two things that are wonderful to ask God for, for Solomon and for us. Lord, I need understanding, I need discernment. Great things to ask of the Lord. Verse 10,

And Solomon awoke and behold, it was a dream. And now look how his actions responded to what the Lord had said. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings and made a feast for all of his servants. I see the wisdom and I see the understanding flourish immediately. He was at Gibeon where the tent was and the altar was. And immediately, what does he do? He goes to Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was and now he worships there as if he says, I get it. I get it why my job is so important. This all has to be brought together. And so then he worships there. Now you might be kind of thinking, I'm a little bit lost right now, like Ark and altar and tent and ugh, this is like kind of too much. I just wanna say that next week's Bible study is gonna go back and review that. We're gonna go back and look at the tabernacle because it was very, very important. It is important for us to understand the picture, the story that God intended to make with this. So the first three days, you're gonna walk back to Exodus and take a look at that so that we can move forward in this narrative then and look at the house of the Lord, Solomon's temple, which is going to have all of those same elements. So you're gonna be fine. It's gonna be good. And then finally, this chapter in our lesson ends with an example of Solomon's wisdom. And we'll find this through the Book of Kings. We'll find that occasionally, there's these like really vibrant stories that are going to highlight someone's character quality for better or for worse. But in this case, it will highlight Solomon's wisdom. And so the story starts a very famous story. There's two prostitutes that live together. They both give birth within a short amount of time. One of the child dies. Both of them claims that the living child belongs to them. And they come to Solomon for a ruling. And he listens carefully. And then he retells the story back to them, verse 23.

And the king said,

And then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, oh, my Lord, give her the living child. By no means put him to death. And the other said, well, he shall neither be mine nor yours, divide him. And we believe this to be exactly the outcome that Solomon had hoped for, that the genuine love of the genuine mother would surface and he would immediately be able to tell who the mother is. In verse 27,

And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered. And they stood in awe of the king because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. So to sort of recap these three chapters, we've been given a really good perspective on the person that God has chosen to build the house of the Lord. And now we're left to wonder, will he get the job done? We're left to wonder, will he keep the charge of the Lord as King David told him to? And we're left to consider our own lives in these same matters. Will I get the job done that God gives me to do? Will I fulfill the purpose for which he has created me? Will I tackle the work that he has given me to do? Will I look at those challenges that I face in the same way that Solomon did and cross them out of my life, take the drastic measures that are necessary? But I don't wanna leave you with a wait because that's not what our spiritual life is all about. Like, I need to do better. That's not what I wanna leave you with. So what I wanna leave you with is a verse from a chapter that we had last week. In our opening message, we went to a Psalm of Moses. It's Psalm 90. And we used the first verse last week, and I'm gonna use the last verse this week. The verse is 17, and it reads like this.

And so I wanna leave us with the reminder that yes, there is hard work that we need to do. Yes, there is discernment, there's courage, there's action that needs to be done. But we can always lean in like Moses did and say, Lord, establish the work of our hands. There's two things at work here. Father, thank you for these chapters. Wow, what a whirlwind of information and history. But Lord, really useful for our lives. So I just pray for that matter right there, that Lord, you would establish the work of our hands. Lord, maybe we haven't thought about that recently, and we haven't even come to you and said, Lord, what is the work that you've given me to do? What is the purpose for which you have created me? And so Lord, I pray that you would help us to do that, to receive, to hear from you. And then Lord, as you bring to mind those challenges, those complicated situations, you would give us the wisdom to know when and how to deal with them, and that you would give us the courage to do just as Solomon did and to boldly deal with the complications that are the roadblocks in our life so that we can please you, Lord, and so that we can move forward in what you've given us. We thank you, Jesus, and we pray all this in your name. Amen.