1 Kings 2 (Part 2) Bible Study (Solomon's Reign Established) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in the book of first Kings in chapter two, and we are going to begin in verse 13. But while you find your place in first Kings chapter two, I also invite you in the beginning of the study to go to first Chronicles 22 because I want to start this study from a verse that will give us some kind of, framework for how we're going to deal with this portion of scripture. So go to first Kings chapter two, but also find first Chronicles 22. And as you go there, we're gonna read just one verse from first Chronicles 22. First Chronicles 22 and verse nine.

Let's pray again. Father, help us with this study. Let there be a grace and assistance from the Holy Spirit to minister to us and to transform us, to conform us into the image of the beloved son of God. Lord, we pray that there would be an unction and a grace with this moment and that we would be transformed as a result of it. Lord, we look to you as the living God who sees and hears all things and who promised that he would be in the midst of his people.

And so we trust that you are here, and we pray that as we continue in this time together that your presence would be more recognizable, tangible, and experienced, not for the sake of experience, for the sake of enjoying you, knowing you, loving you with greater zeal and passion. This is our cry as a church this evening. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen. First Chronicles chapter 22 verse nine.

Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. This is David revealing to Solomon the revelation he had received from God himself concerning what kind of man, what kind of reputation Solomon would have. And what we are told about Solomon before he would become king, it's a prophecy really, is that Solomon would be a man of rest, that he would receive rest from his surrounding enemies, and that Israel itself would know an unusual rest and quietness. Solomon's reign would not only be characterized by astounding prosperity, but uncommon tranquility.

There would be a national peace that would be enjoyed by the nation of Israel as a direct blessing from God. And the reason why I bring that to your attention is as a reminder, we're all pretty familiar with that feature of Solomon's governance, but when we read the rest of chapter two, it seems as though we are given a different picture than that prophecy. Because right from the outset of Solomon's rule and reign, he is going to demote a priest, exile him, and then he's going to kill three other men. That's the first thing that Solomon's gonna do as a king. Fire a priest, kill two men immediately, and then because of another man's failure to obey his commands, he will murder him three years later.

Murder might not be the right word because we're gonna discover it was a appropriate terminal decision. This is a contradiction, it may seem. How does a man of rest, how does a man of peace launch his career in this way? And it wasn't until I read the last verse of chapter two that at least helped me and I communicated to you to hopefully help you reconcile this description of judicial authority and this prediction that he would be a man of peace. So look at the last phrase of verse 46 of chapter two of first Kings.

So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, telling us what? That Solomon's establishment as a king would not be fully known until he had confronted four particular individuals. It wasn't until Solomon dealt with these specific renegades and rebels that this peace would not be realized. This promised peace from the Lord would not know its full potential until what we see here in the rest of chapter two is accomplished.

Four specific individuals had to be confronted before this peace would be realized. And I thought to myself, wow. If there's any point that you take from this bible study, if there's any theme that you take with you and you meditate on and hopefully never forget, it is this, that there is a principle in regarding our pursuit of peace through this example. That in the same way Solomon had to deal with these specific individuals who really represent specific sins and attitudes, you and I will not know the promised peace of the Lord within and even in our community of faith unless we are also willing to challenge, resist, and even confront sin. It just won't happen.

And so Solomon is a man of peace, and what he's doing here is necessary for that peace to materialize. We all want peace. And what we're granted in the scripture, in the new covenant, is a peace that's supernatural, peace that is heavenly, but it's also conditional. It's conditional. There is a peace that we receive positionally with God through the blood of Jesus Christ, but there's a practical experiential peace that you can know as you walk through this life, and that is actually contingent upon how you and I respond to the wisdom of God.

And here's what we learned from Solomon. You will never know the extent of God's peace in your life if from a foundational level you don't deal with sin with force. And, yes, these four particular individuals all share a common guilt. They share the common guilt of treason. They betrayed their king.

They, more than that, betrayed the purposes of God that expressed that was expressed through David and later his son Solomon. But really these four men reflect a different shade of sin and the spectrum of sin. So we already dealt with the man Adonijah, and we're gonna deal with him again. We're gonna see the man Joab, Abiathar, and lastly, Shammai or Shemi. These four men will be confronted by Solomon.

And they really, if you think about it, reflect or represent a particular emphasis because each of them had a leaning, a tilt towards the specifics and that drove them to the same goal of trying to thwart the purposes of God. Adonijah, I believe represents pride. Here is a man who thought he deserved to be king and thought that despite what God had said about Solomon, he was supposed to occupy the throne. That's pride at its finest. That's dangerous pride actually.

The most extreme form of pride where you know the Word of God and you're still willing to stiffen your neck against it. Well, what about Joab? What about Abiathar? I believe they represent a different kind of sin. What was their reason to switch their allegiance from David over to Adonijah?

They were insecure and they thought that they would lose their position. And so they really reflect jealousy and envy. It's very likely that Abiathar was concerned about Zadok the priest, and we saw Joab throughout his life being continually intimidated by prospects that might push him to the curb. And so he always went to the most extreme solutions to try to secure his position, jealousy, envy. What about Shemi?

Shemi Ai. This is a man who cursed David. This is a man who flung stones and dust in his direction. He reflects the dishonoring and disregard for authority. And I think that's insightful because as Solomon cleans house in order to secure and guard and even start in the peace that God had assured him.

You will never know peace if you have pride. You will never know peace if you have jealousy and envy. You will never know peace if you have no regard for authority. You will know chaos just like the garden when authority was not regarded even from the beginning. I want you to actually turn to a verse.

You have your Bibles, I hope. Right? So go to James chapter three. This will hopefully bring more light to what I'm saying. James chapter three, and go to verse 17.

In James three seventeen, the Holy Spirit gives us the quality, the essence, and even the fruit of godly wisdom. There is a worldly wisdom. There is a wisdom that's demonic. And he makes a contrast between worldly, fleshly, demonic wisdom and heavenly wisdom. And look at the quality of heavenly wisdom.

This is something that I think confirms what I'm trying to say. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. The number one thing that the Holy Spirit says about heavenly wisdom is what? What's the word? It's what?

It's pure. It's holy. It's consecrated. It's undefiled. That is the essence of heavenly wisdom.

But now from there James goes on to define the fruit of heavenly wisdom. And what's the first thing after the purity is mentioned? Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, then peaceable. Hear me very carefully. If you choose not to pay attention to the rest of this bible study, listen very carefully.

You will never know peace in any context of life unless there is purity. Unless there is purity. Purity is what produces peace. No purity, no true heavenly, godly, supernatural peace. What kind of purity are we talking about here?

Are we talking about sexual purity? Are we talking about being modest? No. We're talking about a purity of the spirit. That it can include those things where we're talking about the purity of the heart.

And if you want context, it's the opposite of what you read in verse 16, the verse right before this. What does he mention in verse 16? Where there is jealousy and selfish ambition. Right? There's disorder.

There is evil of every kind. And then he goes on to speak about a heavenly wisdom, and it is first pure, pure. It is absent of things like jealousy and envy and all these ugly vices. If you want peace in your life, you have to first strive for purity. You want peace in your marriage?

There needs to be purity in that marriage. Both parties need to be pure. Do you want peace in the church? I want peace in the church. It has to be a pure church.

Again, there's different definitions of purity. Stick with the definition that James is giving. Purity of the spirit. Clean. No questionable evil motives.

No actions that are justified though they are condemned in the scriptures. No attitudes that are directly opposed to the attitude of Jesus Christ. That's the purity that we're talking about. Do you wanna wonder why there's drama in your group of friends? I can tell you why.

The continual drama is because there's impurity in that friendship. There's pure impurity. One of the parties, if not both, are impure. There's something in there that's hidden. That's why there's no peace.

Same with the church. Same with leadership in the church. Same in your business, same in your family. If there's no peace, somewhere in there, there is no purity. And though you can't control the behavior or the attitudes of others, just ensure that you have a pure heart and ask God for a pure heart.

What is Solomon doing here? He wants to know the peace that God promised, but he first has to make the kingdom pure. And so he's going to cleanse the kingdom of dissidents and rebels who have proven to be unrepentant. Never forget that. Purity produces true peace.

So let's read now. So what we're gonna do for the rest of this bible study is really look at these four individuals and just glean from what we have to read about them. It's a lengthy chapter, isn't it? It's a very lengthy chapter, and so we're going to really just skim the surface here, and that will really take up our time. And so let's begin here with these four different individuals that Solomon deals with, the first one being Adonijah in verse 13 of chapter two.

Then Adonijah, the son of Hagath, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, and she said, do you come peacefully? Peacefully. He said, peacefully. Then he said, I I have something to say to you. She said, speak.

He said, you know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers, for it was his from the Lord. And now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me. She said to him, speak.

And he said, please ask King Solomon, he will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife. Bathsheba said, very well I will speak for you to the king. What a sad sight to see concerning Adonijah. Adonijah was spared from being put to death. He had committed treason.

Solomon gives him another chance, and he says, if you prove to yourself to be worthy, I won't put you to death. And instead of Solomon, brother Abiathar, rehearsing the goodness of God and it causing him to joyfully repent of his pride and his foolishness, that time that was given through mercy was used to conjure up yet another plan to usurp the throne. This is almost unbelievable behavior. You were supposed to be put to death. And instead of changing your ways, you're actually going to satisfy the same lust that puts you in this predicament to begin with?

Now we might be shocked. Is it that shocking? Is it that shocking that for people who have dodged life altering unfavorable consequences due to their sin, go back to that same sin once the dust settles and the smoke clears? Have we not seen it over and over again? That there's that initial shock, there might be even empty vows, but when things go back to normal and when danger seems to subside, what do they find in their bosom?

A rekindling for the very same thing that almost put them in such a dangerous position. This is the this is how evil we are. This is how foolish we are when we consider sin. And this is Adonijah here. He here's a man who tasted mercy, but instead of letting that mercy mold him into another person, it fueled him to try again.

Unfortunately, that's what people do with the mercy of God. They have been spared over and over again. They've even prospered humanly speaking though the means to that prosperity was deplorable, and still they don't repent. Very few actually repent, and Adonijah certainly didn't. And instead, he he comes up with this plot, and it is horribly conniving.

What elements here show the warpedness of his thinking in his heart? Revisit the conversation that he's having with Bathsheba. What stands out to you? What certain elements stand out to you? And while they're thinking about that, my favorite buzzing noises here, if we can deal with that, one of the guys, that'd be great.

I don't know where it's coming from, but tends to visit us. There. Wow. That was fast. Yes.

Go ahead. Yeah. Yes. Very good. You got it.

The first thing that we have to recognize here is that he's still convinced that he deserves to be the king. And secondly, there is this idea of Abhishek being considered his wife that's deeper than what some would consider to be romance. Good. Good observation. Any other observation?

Is, Adonijah in love? Is he in love with Abishag, and he just wants a companion for life? And he was smitten by her beauty, so he thought, oh, let me sheepishly come, to Bathsheba to convince Solomon to give me over one of my father's concubines. Is that what's happening here? Is this a cute little thing?

No. It's not. It's not cute at all. This is dangerous, and I'll get to that in a moment here. But consider this.

Does Adonijah go to Solomon to request for Abishai? Who does he go to? Isn't that interesting? He goes to Bathsheba because he knows that Bathsheba has influence over her son. Mothers do have influences over their children.

And so he's trying to go through Bathsheba, and look what he says to her. He said in verse 15, you know that the kingdom was mine. Is that true? Did Bathsheba believe that Adonijah deserved to be king? No.

The opposite. She knew that Solomon was supposed to become king. She was the one who helped Nathan to convince David to anoint Solomon before it was too late. What's Adonijah doing here? He is sowing self doubt and confusion in Beth Israel.

This is kinda like a form of gaslighting. You know that I was supposed to be the king. And then he continues. He he tries to persuade her by giving another lie, and the other lie is what? And that all Israel fully expected me to reign.

Is that true? Did all of Israel hope that Adonijah was to be king? No. Because you saw three prominent men, Nathan, Zadok, Benaiah. Right?

Who clearly didn't believe that Adonijah was supposed to be king, and that was just some of the many. Manipulation thrives on exaggeration to seem persuasive. Did you hear what I said? Manipulation thrives on exaggeration to try to seem more persuasive. And in a spiritual context, especially, which is our world that we're living in, manipulators love to use spiritual jargon as well.

Isn't that what he does? Look here in verse the verse 15 here at the end of it. For it was his from the Lord. It was his how is this guy even admitting this? How is he admitting that although he believes he's supposed to be king, Solomon became king because it was God's purpose and plan, and he's outright confessing that.

The only explanation for this craziness is that he is using this this pious kind of language, though it's pseudo piety, to try to disarm Bathsheba. Like, he's trying to sound spiritual and godly, and he's including God in the equation. But this is this is the blindness that comes from pride. By speaking in this way, he's actually condemning himself. Like, you're exposing yourself.

And I'm not sure if you remember or not, but what we see here with Adonijah, we've seen before. Not in the exact play by play, but in the concept altogether. Remember, he up to this point already imitated was trying to imitate his brother Absalom and trying to take and seize the throne, and he's still doing the same as what Absalom did. Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel according to second Samuel 15. He was a smooth talker.

He used subtle accusation, and he tried to magnify problem a problem that wasn't really even there so that he can seem and present himself as a solution, and he he convinced the masses. And and here is Adonijah trying to use that same tactic. He's trying to bring Bathsheba to his side, at least to a certain extent, to accomplish his purpose. We learn through Absalom. We use that chapter to understand how people become successful in dividing the brethren.

Satan loves to sow discord among brethren, and we use Absalom as a template to see how division occurs in all kinds of context, especially the context of the local church. Do you remember the last one? The last point concerning how the the recipe or the ingredients of division is that division, those who cause division, look for and recruit naive hearts to accomplish their purposes. Simple, gullible, undiscerning. Such people are victims of those who are much more deceitful and conniving, but they are equally dangerous when they believe something not to be true.

Adonijah is trying to do the same thing. Adonijah is trying to recruit Bathsheba to accomplish his purpose. Was Bathsheba naive? Who here believes that Bathsheba saw this as just like, you know, he just wants to get married, and poor guy's lonely. You know, he had all these hopes and dreams to become a king, and it didn't happen.

So the best we can do is get him a wife. So okay. I'll ask Solomon if you can have Abhishek. Or can she see something much more dangerous behind this request? You were saying something.

What do you think? Yeah. So she did draw. And there's division this is not a huge doctrine, by the way. Okay?

This isn't determine your salvation believing what Bathsheba, how she understood this whole situation. So some would say, yeah. She just went along with it and said, you know, let's just keep the peace here. Let me ask. It won't hurt.

And some think that she knew exactly what Adonijah was asking for, and she knew how Solomon would respond, so she was actually eager to make this note to Solomon so that Solomon can once and for all deal with Adonijah. Let me ask this again. Adonijah asking for Abishag. Simple romance or scheme to do something much more significant? Scheme.

Here's why it's a scheme. Because you and I learned that whenever there's a transfer of kingdoms or governments, the former king would give his his his his marriages and and his concubines over to the succeeding king. If that king took over, he would take those women over to himself, and it was really a claim of authority. It was an announcement. It was a declaration that now I am king.

To own the harem of a king is essentially to own the kingdom. That was a practice and a pattern in ancient culture. And that's why we remember when we saw Absalom push his father off the throne, made him a fugitive in the desert, He was he was consoled by Ahithophel to take David's concubines on the rooftop and to sleep with them. Why? Not just to be gross and inappropriate though it is, but to make a declaration to Israel, I'm the king now.

I made my mark. I made my statement. I am the king. There is a new king in town. His name is Absalom.

Do you know what Adonijah is doing? He's trying to do the same thing. Very subtly, in increments, he wants to get a little bit more control, a little bit more authority. He wants to wedge himself in, and he's gonna try to do it by marrying Abishak, who was very likely David's last concubine before he passed on into glory. So this is a second attempt, very subtle, but another attempt to try to receive the the crown that was placed on the brow of Solomon.

Now before we move on, you remember in our opening study of first Kings, the conclusion that we came to concerning Abhishek even being introduced to David. Right? They wanted to warm the body of this old man who was losing natural heat, so they want to bring a young, beautiful woman to try to get his blood going. And we determined that was a bad idea. That's a bad idea because you don't need another add another woman to your life, David.

You you're just veering off further outside of God's will in this area of your life. But human wisdom took over, and they brought her, and it seemed to bring immediate relief to David. And we also concluded that the fruit of this bad decision would show up later on, and it does right here. Abhishek becomes the object of a deadly drama between two brothers. Her presence would cause a lot more problems than they had intended.

Here's a rhyme reminder for you and I. When you're facing a situation where you think your idea trumps God's wisdom, always go with God's wisdom. Trust it. No matter what kind of conflict or awkwardness or tension it might create, no matter what you might lose in obeying God, at least in the moment, at least in the temporal, as tempting as it might be to go a different direction, trust the Lord. Trust him.

Because it might bring some kind of solution in the now, but it will also bring a problem down the road. That's Abishak. She seemed to bring some kind of relief, and it didn't take too long before that relief became a problem. And so we see here that Bathsheba listens. She goes in verse 19.

Let's read this together. So Bathsheba went to king Solomon to speak to him on behalf on behalf of Adonijah, and the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. I love that. Solomon became king, but he still still knew how to honor honor his parents, especially. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.

Then she said, I have one small request to make of you. Do not refuse me. And the king said to her, make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you. It goes to show what kind of relationship Solomon and Bathsheba had. But look at this in verse 21.

She said, let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife. King Solomon answered his mother, and why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Zuriah. In other words, he saw pass through it. Whether Bathsheba did or not, that's up for debate.

One thing that is not up for debate, Solomon saw right through it. He's not asking for a wife. He's asking for my position. He's a dead man. I gave him a chance.

He failed. And so what's the next step? Then king Solomon, verse 23, swore by the Lord saying, God, do so to me and more also. If this word does not cost Adonijah his life and we read later that he sends Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died. There we go.

Abi Abi Anijah is off the scene. He's removed. He's put to death. But we read something in verse 22 again. Look at this.

For he is my older brother in the second half, and on his side are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zuriah. So it could be that Solomon even discerned that the second attempt, Abiathar and Job were behind this as well. And if not, they were they were definitely behind the first attempt of a coup. And so he says, you know what? We're not just gonna deal with no.

No. We're gonna deal with all of these guys that try to usurp the purpose of God. And so we dealt with Adonijah. Now we go to Abiathar. Look at verse 26.

And to Abiathar the priest, the king said, go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death because you carry the ark of the Lord God before David my father and because you shared in all my father's affliction. So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. Fetch for me, Abiathar. Abiathar the priest comes in.

Abiathar, you were an important person in my father's life. You carry the ark of the Lord God, and you chose to be loyal to him when it was the least favorable to do so. I've considered your past, but because of the severity of your crime, I will not kill you, but you're fired. You're fired, and you have to remain in the confines of Anathoth for the rest of your life. Anathoth, according to Joshua 21, was one location that was granted to the priest to live in.

The priests were given specific designated cities to occupy. Anathoth was one of them. Interestingly, Anathoth is where Jeremiah the prophet was from. When you read Jeremiah one one, you read that he is from Anathoth. And so this is where, Abiathar was to be expelled to.

You're there. That's it. I'm not gonna kill you, but, you have to remain that you're no longer a priest. That's it. It's done.

You know, what's interesting here is when I looked at this, I read carefully, and maybe you noticed it too. But look at the words of Solomon in the second sentence of verse 26. But I will not, what does the rest say? At this time put you to death. Interesting.

Right? I will not at this time put you to death. Now here's what I don't believe. I don't believe Solomon is saying this to create suspense in Abiathar's life that at an unannounced time, he's gonna knock at his door and says, today's the day. You're a dead man.

I don't think that's what Solomon is doing. I think what Solomon is saying here is what he initially, in a sense, told Adonijah, listen. I'm giving you mercy. But understand that if you commit an offense that's worthy of death, I will ensure that my next act of discipline is lethal. End term, I'm watching you.

I'm watching you. Not at this time, but there will be a time if you choose to disobey what I'm saying that I will put you to death. So keep that in mind. So he lets him know that this is conditional. Things can change, and it's up to you, Abiathar.

It's up to you. Do you ever hear of Abiathar after this? Is he mentioned ever again after this point? No. He's not.

He's mentioned as a reference, but never directly like this. We never hear from Abiathar ever again. Disagree with me if you'd like. I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing.

You know why? Because his silence in the scriptures proved that he obeyed what Solomon had asked of him. We don't know if he had become contract we don't know if he become broken before God and repented and and and changed his ways, his attitude, his thoughts for his active treason. We don't know the extent of that. But one thing we do know based on this silence, he did not make the same mistake that Adonijah made.

Adonijah heard the command of his brother, and he chose to disobey it. This man here, we don't see him ever mentioned again. And I get the impression that he tasted mercy, but he allowed that mercy to change him. There are some people who taste God's mercy like Adonijah, and they don't change. And there are some people who taste mercy, and they change.

They change. I believe that Abiathar was a man who did change, but the Holy Spirit doesn't want us to just look at the immediate. He wants to zoom out and have us consider that what just happened in this moment here actually fulfilled something that you and I studied years ago. You wanna know how far back? First Samuel chapter two.

In first Samuel chapter two, Eli was high priest, and because of his unwillingness to discipline his sons, an unnamed prophet comes to him. He says, because of your unwillingness to chastise your children, because of rebellion of your own children, and you participated in the rebellion, your house will be cut off forever. In other words, you're not gonna have a priesthood from your line anymore. God's gonna give it to somebody else. And this is the fulfillment of it.

People believe that this was around a hundred years after that prophecy was made. God doesn't forget his word. You might have forgotten, I might have forgotten from first Samuel chapter two and three up to this point, but we are reminded through this, God didn't forget. God didn't forget. Man forgets, God doesn't.

But I moved by this more than just how the how the Lord doesn't forget what he had said. It says here that there was a fulfillment of the word of the Lord when Abiathar was expelled to Anathoth. You know why that's so significant? Do you think Solomon made this decision because he knew of first Samuel chapter two? He says, you know what?

I think I wanna fulfill prophecy. Hey. You're no longer a priest. I'm fulfilling the word of the Lord who said that there would be no longer a house of priesthood through the line of Eli. Is that what he's doing here?

No. He's dealing with a different situation, a different predicament, one that dealt with him directly. But even through that, God's purposes were fulfilled. Providence is always at work. God's will is advancing, becoming more and more clear and and accomplished whether you realize it or not.

This moved me to the core when I thought this because you and I are still waiting for prophecies to be filled. You re you realize that. Right? We're still waiting for certain promises that God made hundreds and thousands of years ago to come to pass. And when I looked at this, when I saw Solomon firing Abiathar, putting him into another place, telling him to remain there, I'm thinking to myself, what kind of actions, what kind of things are taking place in the world right now that we would deem merely political, economical, scientific, technological, but are in fact God's providential ways of putting things into place so that prophecy would be fulfilled.

That's a deep thought. That thought shouldn't encourage us to do what many people do, and that's to take every news highlight and to say, this is what a prophecy is fulfilled. You don't have to do that. Just stick to the word of God. But it doesn't negate the fact that in real time right now, things are happening because God is at work while you're doing your little thing.

While we're doing our thing here, obeying God to the best of our ability, there are bigger purposes being put into place and coming to pass. I wonder if at the end of it all we will look back. I mean we're gonna have all eternity to look back and see all the things that God did on the undercurrent of world history. Now that's certainly here. There's a hint of that right here, that there are agents in this moment dealing with issues concerning their lives, and while they are doing this, they are unaware that God is actually doing something much grander and significant.

That excited me. I don't know if that excited you. Adiathar is expelled. He's no longer a priest. The priest that would go to Zadok who was also descendant of Levi, but a different line, and so prophecy is fulfilled.

Now we come to Joab. And what do we read about Joab here? Verse 28. When the news came to Joab, for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom, Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. That's a far picture of what we've seen Joab throughout his life, a strong, rigorous, cold blooded warrior, and now he is bolting it to the tabernacle and flying to the altar and grabbing a hold of the horns of the altar.

This altar is the brazen altar in the tabernacle that was used to place the animals on, and that they would be burned for sacrifices. And on this brazen altar, there were horns on the corners. These horns would be used to attach the animals to securely put them in place as they were being sacrificed. But these horns were also an instrument for those who would want to appeal to God's mercy for something that they have done. In other words they would fling themselves over and they would cling to these horns, and they would say in a sense, if this is where God covers sin then may he cover my sin also.

And that's exactly what Joab is doing. Joab is throwing himself at the mercy of God where God essentially covers sin through the sacrificial system, and he is hoping that Solomon would extend mercy because he saw him saw mercy. He saw him give mercy rather to Adonijah when Adonijah did this. Adonijah did this. Right?

He went to the same altar, clung to it, and Solomon says, just prove yourself to be a worthy man, and you'll live. So Job's following that pattern. But Job committed specific crimes that exempt him from the refuge that the altar would give him, and so he could not find refuge here. In fact, he's going to be put to death here as we're about to read. But Joab's attitude here, as desperate as it looks, as almost sad as it may seem, is really heartbreaking for different reasons.

Because we've studied Joab's life. Joab proved to be a very unspiritual man. Right? He was not like David. He was not a worshiper.

He was not walking in the fear of God. But suddenly, he is now interested in the house of the Lord. Suddenly now, he wants to claim the benefits and the pleasures and the promises of God. Suddenly now, he wants to seek the Lord and hide in him. You know, that's how people treat God today.

You've probably seen it. If you're in the church long enough, especially if you serve in ministry, people come in and out the same way Joab does here. They live their own way, and when crisis hits, specifically crisis that deals with their own lives, now they're interested in God. Now they want the promise of God. Now they want the power of God.

Now they're all ears to hear what God has to offer them. And Joab does this, and he's hoping that something would be granted to him. But it's all about self preservation. He's not coming to this altar for worship. He's not coming to this altar for devotion.

He's not coming to something that he's familiar with. He's coming to something because he realizes now that his life is at risk, and there's no other option now. All their options ran out. So let me try this God thing. And if it can't help, then at least I tried.

And I've seen it. I'm telling you. I've met with people that I've never seen again because now their bodies are sick. Now their kids are not just not going to church. They're, like, plunging into darkness, The darkness that is perverting our generation.

They need help. They tried everything. They've done the counseling. They paid money. They've bribed nothing.

You know, God. Let me try the God thing. I mean, I have nothing else to lose here, so let me go to the pastor and see what he has to offer. And it's as though, like, ministers have a hat here. Okay.

What do you need here? Let me just pull some magic stunt for you. It's not how it works. Can you come to God with genuine repentance and brokenness? Absolutely.

But that's not what Joab's doing here. He's not coming to God with a genuine desire to be his. He's coming to God for a handout. And what's so fascinating is people who who do come to God and and even with tears and brokenness and please help me. The moment that there's some sense of relief, you never hear hear of them again.

God is not interested in that kind of relationship with mankind. You know what came to mind when I was looking at Joab? The time that we talked about Jairus' daughter, when Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus' daughter, that woman with the issue of blood. She saw Jesus moving along with the crowd, and she thought to herself because of her unclean condition, there's no way I can interfere with this parade and say, would you heal me? Because she's unclean, and everybody there knows that she's unclean.

She doesn't wanna cause a problem here. So she says to herself, I will come from behind and touch his garment, and I will be made well. Act of faith. True. But she was hoping to just get something from the Lord and whisk away.

Yeah. She was unashamed, but that kind of attitude is reflected in so many people today. In what sense? Let me just get something from the Lord, my healing, some provision, some solution to this predicament, and I'll go my merry way because he's like a genie. That's what he does.

Just rub his garment, get something, let me go. You know what the lord does? She touches his garment. She receives her healing. The lord sends virtue coming out of him.

He stops walking, and he says out loud, who touched me? Who touched me? Do you think the Lord knew who touched them? The Lord knew very well who touched. But what was he doing?

He was presenting her an opportunity to present herself and to confess publicly what the Lord has done. When the Lord touches you in a specific way, he expects you at some point to testify about it. And so this woman now is presented the opportunity, and the Lord's not trying to embarrass her. The Lord's not trying to teach her a lesson. The Lord's trying to show his heart.

He doesn't wanna just dispense his power to us as much as we are needy of his power, or his provision, or his wisdom, or his protection. He wants you. He wants you. He wants me. And the power, and the deliverance, and the guidance, those are means to bring us to himself.

Because you know what he does? He calls her at the end of the story? Daughter. Daughter? She doesn't know who he is.

Just heard things about him. Though he's omniscient, he doesn't have that kind of relationship with her, historically speaking, but he wants to let her know. He wants to let the whole crowd know. Hey. We're on our way to heal Jairus's daughter.

Right? Jairus's daughter, he loves his daughter so much that he wants me to come. Despite his position and the reputation he'll have for inviting me, I love this woman like a daughter. And he wants to let her know. He wants to let the crowd know.

The Lord doesn't want you to just pray when you need something. He doesn't want you to just come when you need something. Yes. You can come to him for your needs, but he wants your heart. He wants you to stay.

He wants your face. He wants intimacy with you and I, not just to grab something from him and walk away. I wanna challenge your Christian walk. Don't get desperate when things get desperate. Get desperate just because there's so much to know about him, and there's so much more intimacy you can experience with him.

If your desperation from God or for God is determined by crises and obstacles and roadblocks, you're missing out. Joab comes to the altar, clings to the horn of the altar. Too late Joab. If you were really really penitent and broken you would have repented a long time ago about your murder. There is a time when God's mercy will be cut off.

There is a time where people will beg God for mercy. They will pull their hair. They will gnash their teeth. Just give me another drop of mercy, and it's too late. It's too late.

You can appeal to the cross. You can appeal to the blood, But when you're cut off, you're cut off. Hell is hell. There's no second chance. And so if you have not received the mercy of God, run to the foot of the cross now because there is a cutoff point.

We don't hear that kind of preaching anymore, but it's still preaching if it's true. Joab here comes, and Benaiah is sent. Benaiah is told to kill him. Joab says, I'm dying right here. He comes back to Solomon, and Solomon says, well, give him what he wants.

Kill him right there. And we read here what happens. Verse 35. The king put Benaiah, the son of Joanna, over the army in the place of Joab, and the king put Zadok, the priest, in the place of Abiathar. Three out of the four.

Adonijah, Adiathar, Joab. We have one more. Verse 36. Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. You know what he's saying there?

You have no excuse to leave house arrest. Why does he why is he saying build your yourself a house in Jerusalem? Where is Shimei from? Which tribe is he from? Yeah.

Benjamin. And so Solomon is being very careful here. He wants to put him in a place where he can survey him and keep an eye on him, and he wants to cut off any potential, ability for Shimei to round up Benjaminites to try to usurp the authority that God has placed. Right? Remember when David came back to to Jerusalem, Shimei came with a thousand of his men from Benjamin.

So this guy had influence. This guy had a position. This guy had some kind of sway on on his own tribe. And so they, psalmist says, I'm not dealing with this. You're building yourself a house right here.

I'm gonna keep an eye on you, and you're not allowed to leave this house. You can't go anywhere. And here's the warning, verse 37. For on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head.

David commended him when he was still alive, would you take care of Shimei? Make sure his gray head doesn't go down in peace to Sheol. Make sure that there's blood. Solomon doesn't directly obey that. Right?

And he's giving Shimei a chance because he was told by David that he would not die. And so he's gonna give him the benefit of doubt. He's gonna give him a test. I should kill you. You committed treason.

I'm not going to kill you. Let's see if you are a man who has truly repented. Here's a house. You stay there. Don't leave.

The moment you leave, you'll be put to death. What does he respond with? Verse 38, Shemias said to the king, what you say is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do. I mean, how could you reject that?

Are you gonna protest? That's wonderful, king. Thank you for sparing my life. I'm your servant. I'll do what you say.

So Shemaiah lived in Jerusalem many days. Oh, you had wished that the chapter ended there, but it doesn't. What do we read next? But it happened at the end of three years. It's very easy to obey in the beginning, very easy to be passionate about the word of God and his commands when you just have experienced his mercy.

Right? Do you still have the same appreciation? Has your love grown more? Has your commitment become stronger after three years, five years, ten years, or has it become weaker and weaker and weaker? But it happened at the end of three years, the two the two of Shemiye's servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath.

It shows what kind of master he was, and it shows what kind of house he rest he was actually experiencing. He had servants. So he's not there suffering and shivering in a corner. He has servants, probably has a nice place. Like, this is also an expression of the mercy that Solomon gave him.

Two of them run. Maybe that's indication of the kind of guy he was, the kind of boss he was. Like, hey. You know, this guy can't leave his house. Solomon says if he leaves, he's dead.

Let's get on out of here. He's like, that's awesome. Genius. And it they leave. What's expected of Shimei?

Is this excusable? Is this a reason to leave? No. There was no conditions. And when it was told, Shemai, behold, your servants are in Gath, Shemai arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants.

Shemai went and brought his servants from Gath. Come on, man. Come on. Like, there were so many other ways of doing this. But this man was confident enough maybe thinking that he wouldn't be noticed, maybe thinking that Solomon was just blowing smoke, and maybe after three years, he's not as concerned about what Shimei had done.

You know, time has gone on. The coals have calmed down. No. He goes in verse 20 41, and when Solomon was told that Shemi had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, the king sent and summoned Shemi and said to him, did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you saying, know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place, whatever, you shall die? And you said to me, what you say is good, I will obey.

Think about what this Shemai is thinking. He thinks that retrieving his servants is worth it at the cost of his oath to the king, and ultimately at the price tag of his own life. Two servants run, and you think to yourself, it's worth disobeying and putting my life at risk. And guess what? When he went to get him, was he successful?

Yeah. He brought him back. Did it matter though in light of what the king said? How successful he became in his little mission? No.

You know what Jesus says? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? You look at this and you say, silly Shemai? Well think about how many silly Shemaiis are in our generation today. Disobeying the clear command of the King of kings at the expense of eternity for temporary benefit and success.

This is an illustration of that. So if you want another illustration on top of Esau selling his inheritance for a bowl of porridge, Here's another one. A guy willing to chase after two servants, and him being killed for it. All these Old Testament pictures are to signify and to point to symbolically the foolishness of people, and how they handle their souls. You can win the world.

Yes. I know you wanna be so successful and financially free, and you want this experience at at the snap of a finger. Who cares if at that pursuit you deny your Lord in light of eternity. Eternity. Let me remind you of the way of all the earth on this Friday night.

I know people are living it up because they think that they're immortal. Let me remind you, you and I are gonna stand before Jesus Christ. And there is a world that Paul said is not even worth comparing to the suffering you know now. It's not even worth comparing. Like when you get there the suffering won't even be a consideration of what you went through in light of the awesome splendor that you will soak in forever and ever and ever.

You have little Shemi eyes. The will of the king was made known, and today it's known too in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and people turn their back on that for little purposes and missions to have their little empire and their little castles put together, furnished. Right? Who cares if it means your soul is forfeited? So what happens?

Verse 43. Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you? The king also said to Shimei, you know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will bring back your harm on your own head. But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.

Then the king came in Abeniah, the son of Joiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. And this is where we started. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. Solomon here is a picture of, yes, King Jesus, but not in his first coming and his second coming. When Jesus Christ comes to rule and reign on the earth, he also is going to purge the world.

He's going to cleanse the lands. He is going to do what Solomon does here on a miniature level on a universal level. Do you realize that one of the first things that Jesus Christ is going to do when he sets up his kingdom and establishes it is cleanse the world of certain kinds of people? Did you know that? If you if you didn't know that, here's the prophecy and this is where we're ending.

It's in the book of Zephaniah. Go to Zephaniah. Zephaniah chapter three. It's only three chapters. And let's look at verse eight.

I assure you this is where we're ending in case you're nervous. Zephaniah three eight. I love the word of God. Therefore, wait for me, declares the Lord, for the day when I rise up to seize the prey, for my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation all my burning anger, for in the fire of my jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed. That hasn't happened.

We're waiting for that to happen. When he first came, he flooded the world with his mercy. When he comes again, he's gonna flood the world in his judgment. And when he does come, he's gonna gather nations, assemble the kingdoms, and he's going to purge them. He's going to unleash his wrath upon them.

And through that purging, through that cleansing, something is gonna happen. Here's one of the things that are gonna happen. Look at verse nine. For at that time, I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech. Peoples, plural.

We're talking about the nations. So what we see here is that there is going to be a common language. There's gonna be a cleansing of the mouth that's gonna unify the people in worship and adoration towards the king. It's almost as though it's a reversal of what happened at Babel. At Babel, God divided the peoples into nations and groups of people through language.

And when he comes back, he's gonna unite them in a sense with one pure speech that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. Now another thing that's gonna happen is the Lord is going to restrengthen, reestablish in a more fortified way the ethnic people of Israel. And among the people of Israel, something's gonna happen. This is the point that I wanna drive.

Verse 11. On that day, you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me. For then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. So when the Lord judges the world and he reinforces the nation of Israel in order to fulfill his promises that he made to Abraham and to David, one of the first things he's gonna do is remove the proud from their midst. What did Solomon do when he established his kingdom?

He removed Adonijah. Pride. Those who thought they can stand against the purposes of God. When king Jesus comes, he's gonna sweep the land of the arrogant, of the haughty. But not just that.

Verse 12, but I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. Who's humble and lowly? Yeah. Imagine a whole world where people will be humble and lowly. Do we live in a time where people are humble and lowly, or do people boast and walk in arrogance and justify it as confidence?

It sells tickets. It creates drama. It gives people some kind of persona and strength. That's not gonna happen when King Jesus rules and reigns the world. He's gonna rid the earth of that kind of scum.

And what will remain? A people humble and lowly reflecting the shepherd, reflecting their savior. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord. Now look at this. Those who are left in Israel, they shall do no injustice and speak no lies nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue.

Can you imagine a world with no lies? Can you imagine a world where there's no injustice? Here's my is there justice even today? It's not like half half. Where is the justice?

We're living in a time now in America where the corruption is right in front of you, and we're helpless. We can't do anything about it. Right? We can't. It's right there.

It's not even it's not even hidden. It's right there, and here we are, and all we have and all we need is trust in the Lord. But there's gonna be coming a time where there's gonna be no injustice on every level, every sphere of society. No corruption. No lying.

No deceitful tongue. You never have to have a conversation with somebody and wonder what their heart is towards you. Imagine that. What a relief. And here's what's gonna happen as a result.

For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. Peace. Solomon established his kingdom. The first thing he did, cleanse the land of certain individuals who symbolize certain sins and attitudes. And what would happen?

We're gonna see a lot of peace. That peace increase. King Jesus is coming. He's gonna rid the earth of proud and exalted ones, the haughty in spirit. And what's gonna happen?

Peace. Peace. But I'm excited about this, not only because it's a prophecy, but I see an application. I see something here that you and I can take home now. Do you struggle with pride?

I think all of us do to some extent. Do you struggle with, certain sins, maybe the sins that are reflected in the individuals that were dealt with by Solomon? Do you struggle with that? Do churches struggle with this? People within their midst that emulate this, unfortunately.

Do you know what the solution is? The same solution that we find here. Jesus, when he rules and reigns in the world, he'll deal with that. If you wanna dealt with in your life, if we wanna dealt with in this church, he needs to become king in our own hearts. He needs to rule and reign.

We need to fear him. We need to remove ourselves from the throne of our own will and have him sit on it. We need to day by day surrender to him, look to him, seek him, and he is faithful to purge our own hearts, purge our community, purge our family, our marriages from these ugly things that don't produce peace, but chaos, hurt, and pain. The solution then is the solution. Now he must be king, lord.

So unlike Adonijah, you you don't challenge a purpose of God with your will. You surrender that. Unlike Joab and his friend Abiathar, you're not jealous and envious of others who might threaten your little ministry and your little identity, but you trust the Lord with his providence and how he uses you and where he uses you. You and I are not gonna be like Shemai where we don't consider authority in our lives whether that be in marriage, whether that be in our churches, whether that be in society. We don't walk as rebels and we do not submit to one another as Ephesians tells us to do, but we allow the attitude of the Lord Jesus and his wisdom and humility to dominate us instead.

And and we will know peace. We will know something of grazing and lying down and not being afraid. Come, Lord Jesus. Lord, we thank you for this bible study, and we pray that what we heard would truly get into our our hearts, into the system of our understanding, and rewire us, renew us, renew our minds with the truth that we enjoyed today. Let there be peace in our lives.

Let there be peace in this church. And we know that, Lord, the striving for peace comes with the establishment of purity. So, Lord, even now, if there's anything in our hearts that we know is not in line with your will as believers, would you help us put it to death ruthlessly? Urgently, may these things be put to death so that true peace can rule and reign in our lives, in our ministries, in our relationships with one another. Help us never forget what we heard.

For the sake of your glory, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen, church. Let's stand as we we close in song.