Lesson 6 – Establishing the Davidic Dynasty
1When David was old and feeble, Adonijah his second born son decided that the time was ripe to take the throne. While David had promised Solomon and Bathsheba that Solomon would succeed him, he had apparently not made this plan publicly known.
Adonijah threw a coronation party and invited all the king’s sons, along with Joab and Abiathar the priest to celebrate with him. There he declared himself king and everyone cheered him and chanted, “Long live the king!”
2At first, David was unaware of this development. He was in his chambers and cut off from the happenings outside in the city. Bathsheba his wife and Nathan the prophet heard of it first then came to tell David what had transpired. Bathsheba also reminded David of his promise to put Solomon on the throne next.
David called for Solomon to be placed on David’s own mule and be paraded through the city and then anointed as king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet. Then Solomon was to be brought back to the palace and seated on the throne.
3Adonijah’s declaration was nice, but restricted to the royal family. It had limited impact among the people of Jerusalem. By contrast, Solomon’s announcement was public, before the people of the city and involved the trappings of the king – from his donkey to sitting on his throne. I think Solomon had the better proclamation.
4Adonijah realized that he had made an error of judgment and had lost his play to become king. He raced to the tabernacle and clung to the altar there , seeking sanctuary from Solomon’s wrath.
When Solomon heard what Adonijah had done and that he wanted to know what would happen to him, Solomon declared that so long as he behaved, nothing bad would happen to him. It is doubtful that Adonijah understood what good behavior looked like since the text says that David had not disciplined him even once.
5By asking to marry Abishag, the woman who had cared for David in his last days, Adonijah was making a play to symbolically replace David. Solomon immediately saw this as an effort to usurp him on the throne and ordered Adonijah to be killed as a violation of his oath to act well. Solomon also removed Adonijah’s key supporters. He deposed and exiled Abiathar the priest and executed Joan, David’s nephew and military leader.
6Solomon did not love God as much on in the same way as his father. Verse 3 says that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the laws that David had established. But he deviated from the practice of David in that he followed the way of the people of Israel who made their offerings on “high places.” He was generous in his offerings, but failed to worship God at the location of the ark of the covenant.
We also see that Solomon married foreign wives. This was the first thing Chapter 3 tells us about him. It was in direct violation of Gods commandments about marriage. Later in life his foreign wives would lead Solomon to stray from God.
7A high place was an elevated location that had prominence in the surrounding landscape. The people of Israel considered these places “sacred” because of their elevation. As the people strayed from the worship of God, they worshipped many idols in these locations. These places were special to the people, but not to God who had already declared where He was to be worshipped.
8God recognized that when He asked Solomon to make one request, it would have been tempting to respond selfishly. He could have asked for long life or military victories or fabulous wealth. All of these would have advanced his own majesty or glory but done nothing for God or the purpose why he had been chosen to rule over God’s people.
9Solomon humbly asked for wisdom to rule God’s great people. He did not follow David’s great sin of thinking the people were his possession but plainly stated that God had made His people great beyond counting. Solomon went so far as to describe himself as a child who didn’t know what to do, so he would be dependent upon the wisdom God provided. Solomon realized that he was ruling on behalf of God and wanted to have the wisdom to make the right choices.
10God granted Solomon’s request for wisdom. He became the wisest man who had ever lived, endowed with a supernatural sense of how to make decisions. But God also gave him all the things he didn’t ask for as well. He received riches and honor that placed him above any other king as long as he lived. And if he would follow God, God promised to give him long life.
11When Solomon finished building the house of the Lord, he threw a great festival and brought up the holy items from the tent of meeting, including the ark of the covenant. When it was placed in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, the glory of God filled the temple like a great cloud. It was so powerful that everyone had to leave, none could withstand God’s glory.
12Solomon celebrated the dedication of the temple with a seven day festival to God. During this great celebration he offered thousands of animals to be sacrificed to God.
13God came to Solomon a second time with a two-sided promise. It has a positive and a negative aspect. On the positive side, if Solomon followed the spiritual footsteps of David and obeyed God as his father had done, then God would bless him and install one of his descendants n the throne of Israel forever.
However if he, or any of his children, failed to follow God’s commands and chose to worship other God’s, then God would remove Israel from the land He had given them. God promised that the magnificent temple Solomon had constructed would be destroyed and become a symbol by which the people around would mock God.
14In his old age, Solomon’s foreign wives and concubines caused him to stray from God. In response to their requests he allowed them to worship the gods of their people. He even built temples for them to conduct the rites their gods required. This included such abominations as child sacrifice. In time Solomon came to worship those gods in addition to the God of his father David.
15In the face of Solomon’s idolatry, God became angry with Solomon. The punishment for his sin was that a portion of his kingdom would be ripped away from his dynasty and given to someone who at that time served him. The great and magnificent kingdoms Solomon had ruled would never be allowed to see the same level of majesty as what Solomon had known.
The only grace God offered Solomon was that the timing of this judgment would come after he had died. Solomon would know what God would do, but he would not see it in his days