Day #150

Sermon - Audio
1 Kings 1-2, Psalm 37, 71, 94 - Audio
1 Kings 1-2, Psalm 37, 71, 94- Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

1 Kings 1-2, Psalm 37, 71, & 94

Intro to the Book of 1 Kings: While our English Bibles places Kings among the historical books, Jewish tradition (and our hebrew sources) considers them among the prophets. As we read, we will see that they have a prophetic quality. I should pause a moment to define “prophetic.” While many of us think of prophesy only as predictive (telling the future), a truer biblical definition includes speaking God's truth into the present. Or in other words, prophets take God's law (Torah) and apply it to contemporary circumstances. In a sense, this is what Pastor Larry does every week when he preaches from the Bible and applies it to our lives. John Calvin writes, “a prophet is the interpreter of the divine will.” He turns to 1 Corinthians 14.3 for support of his position: Those who prophesy speak to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. For each king listed, there will be an evaluation of the Kings actions. But this evaluation will not be on whether or not the kingdom had good economic times or had great military achievements. The evaluation will be based on whether or not the king lived by a standard of Torah.

1 Kings falls into two halves. The first half is about the rise and fall of Solomon. The last half tells the story of the divided kingdom with special attention given to Ahab and Elijah the prophet. Both the northern and southern kingdom fall into spiritual decline in this book. By the end of 2 Kings, both will have been taken into captivity. The main message of 1 Kings: Turning away from the one true God is always a disaster, whether personally or nationally (or both). [The literary study Bible: ESV]

1 Kings 1

1.1-3 Kings opens with an end-of-life sketch of David. It is clear, though, that this book will not be about him. A long time has passed since he was a young shepherd boy. He is now an old, feeble man unable to keep warm and unable to perform sexually (it is unlikely the statement at the end of verse 4 had any moral connotations for the King. In fact, it appears that she was chosen for the very purpose the king could not perform).

1.5-6 Adonijah is David's oldest surviving son (David has already tragically lost at least 2), and now he also tries to take the throne for himself. We are reminded of a similar incident when Absalom is named at the end of verse 6 (there is also a virgin who plays a part in this story too—lots of parallels)....we are reminded too of David's failures as a father at the beginning of verse 6.

1.7-10 Adonijah goes through a strikingly similar process as Absalom to seize the throne. However, while Adonijah is able to gather some troops, we see that Adonijah neither has David's, prophetic, or priestly support. (notice an emerging theme of prophet, priest, and king; three roles which Jesus will fill on his own)

1.11-27 Nathan does an intervention here. Acting as prophet, he brings no “Word of the Lord” here, but rather acts to ensure that Solomon will be the next king. Up to this point, we really know almost nothing about Solomon except for 2 things: 1) he was David's son 2) a short blurb from 2 Sam 12.24 “So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. She gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that he should be named Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.” Jedidiah means “loved by the LORD” This passage is the only one up to this point that we have that indicates that Solomon is to be the next king of Israel. It seems that Nathan is acting on the “word of the Lord” sent to him in the passage from 2 Samuel.

1.28-53 FINALLY David acts in deciding who will be the next king. Now that he does act, there is no bloodshed (as with his previous son's rise to power). This section is simply a coronation ceremony. The thing that makes the difference between this and all the previous coronations is that Zadok the high priest and Nathan (the prophet) are present to reflect that this annointing is sanctioned by God. Notice how passive Solomon is in the whole process (especially compared to his brothers). He does not even speak in the text until verse 52 (after he has been solidified as King). And his first words are words of mercy and wisdom. Contrast him to his brothers (and even his father); Solomon has no blood on his hands.

Think about how Solomon's “rise to power” contrasts with how we think about how leadership is bestowed today. Whether it be church or work, do we think authority as something to be bestowed on us by God (the one with the real authority) or as something to be “grabbed?” Do you find yourself trying to climb ladders or seeking out God's will for the place you serve?

1 Kings 2

2.1-10 David's last words. His advice breaks down into 2 basic parts. 1) Spiritual Matters 2) Unfinished business.

David tells Solomon to “be strong” and “act like a man.” What immediately comes to you mind? How do we define masculinity? How is this different than the next words David says? “Observe what the Lord requires: walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands” We usually equate masculinity with teenagers who get away with doing whatever they want or with sex-hungry men, and yet David (one of Israel's greatest warriors) defines masculinity with obedience. Make sense? For a more complete list of what it means to be a true man (or a human being for that matter) check out Galatians 5.22-24. And if you've read Wild at Heart I highly suggest reading this article by Calvin College professor James KA Smith: http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=3382

2.11-12 David's death. Notice the highly symbolic numbers used to describe his reign. The FORTY years are broken into SEVEN and THIRTY-THREE (numbers that represent wholeness and completion. Forty years represents the span of a generation in the Old Testament [40 years in the wilderness])

2.13-46 Adonijah now asks Bathsheba to ask Solomon that the virgin that was sent to David to keep him warm be his wife. Interesting that this is prominent as one of Solomon's first acts as King. It seems that this is another example of the wisdom he possesses. While Solomon had promised not to harm Adonijah as long as he remains faithful to him, Solomon sniffs insurrection. When the request for Abishag is relayed to Solomon the implication is not lost on him; he interprets it as the opening gambit in a new move to seize the throne (22). Unlike his father, he is not slow to take action: Adonijah is killed the same day (NBC). The rest of the chapter is about Solomon tying up loose ends of the planned coo...reaching this summary statement in verse 46 “The kingdom was now established in Solomon's hands.”

Psalms 37, 71, 94

Really, you had a lot of reading today. I'm going to cut off the notes here. Only give you a list of verses to pause on. These psalms point out the challenges of old age and a time of reflection on

37.21

71.9, 14

71.20 (couldn't resist). Here is a clear example of RESSURRECTION in the old testament. A resurrection we hope for because Christ was raised from the dead. His resurrection points to our own.

94.12, 18, 19