Emails to God

One day Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, came to see Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. “Have you come with peaceful intentions?” she asked him. “Yes,” he said, “I come in peace. In fact, I have a favor to ask of you.” “What is it?” she asked. He replied, “As you know, the kingdom was rightfully mine; all Israel wanted me to be the next king. But the tables were turned, and the kingdom went to my brother instead; for that is the way the Lord wanted it. So now I have just one favor to ask of you. Please don’t turn me down.” “What is it?” she asked. He replied, “Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know he will do anything you request. Ask him to let me marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem.” “All right,” Bathsheba replied. “I will speak to the king for you.” So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah’s behalf. The king rose from his throne to meet her, and he bowed down before her. When he sat down on his throne again, the king ordered that a throne be brought for his mother, and she sat at his right hand. “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “I hope you won’t turn me down.” “What is it, my mother?” he asked. “You know I won’t refuse you.” “Then let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem,” she replied. “How can you possibly ask me to give Abishag to Adonijah?” King Solomon demanded. “You might as well ask me to give him the kingdom! You know that he is my older brother, and that he has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side.” Then King Solomon made a vow before the Lord: “May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request. The Lord has confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father, David; he has established my dynasty as he promised. So as surely as the Lord lives, Adonijah will die this very day!” So King Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him, and Adonijah was put to death. Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign Lord for David my father and you shared all his hardships.” So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, thereby fulfilling the prophecy the Lord had given at Shiloh concerning the descendants of Eli. Joab had not joined Absalom’s earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah’s rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah’s death, he ran to the sacred tent of the Lord and grabbed on to the horns of the altar. When this was reported to King Solomon, he sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him. Benaiah went to the sacred tent of the Lord and said to Joab, “The king orders you to come out!” But Joab answered, “No, I will die here.” So Benaiah returned to the king and told him what Joab had said. “Do as he said,” the king replied. “Kill him there beside the altar and bury him. This will remove the guilt of Joab’s senseless murders from me and from my father’s family. The Lord will repay him for the murders of two men who were more righteous and better than he. For my father knew nothing about the deaths of Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and of Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. May their blood be on Joab and his descendants forever, and may the Lord grant peace forever to David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne.” So Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned to the sacred tent and killed Joab, and he was buried at his home in the wilderness. Then the king appointed Benaiah to command the army in place of Joab, and he installed Zadok the priest to take the place of Abiathar. The king then sent for Shimei and told him, “Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don’t step outside the city to go anywhere else. On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; and your blood will be on your own head.” Shimei replied, “Your sentence is fair; I will do whatever my lord the king commands.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. But three years later two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When Shimei learned where they were, he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them. When he found them, he brought them back to Jerusalem. Solomon heard that Shimei had left Jerusalem and had gone to Gath and returned. So the king sent for Shimei and demanded, “Didn’t I make you swear by the Lord and warn you not to go anywhere else or you would surely die? And you replied, ‘The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.’ Then why haven’t you kept your oath to the Lord and obeyed my command?” The king also said to Shimei, “You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the Lord now bring that evil on your own head. But may I, King Solomon, receive the Lord’s blessings, and may one of David’s descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the Lord .” Then, at the king’s command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon’s grip.
1 Kings 2:13-46

Dear God, wow, when Solomon got on a roll he really got on a roll. He was keen to let Adonijah live, but the way this story is told it appears that Solomon took David’s last commands to him to heart. There was apparently some housecleaning that needed to be done. It’s interesting, however that Bathsheba didn’t interpret Adonijah’s request the way Solomon did. I wonder if she was feeling guilty about orchestrating Solomon’s rise over Adonijah, or if Solomon was oversensitive. It was probably guilt.

After I read this passage this morning I started to consider what Solomon might have thought of Jesus and his message:

• Gain the whole world but lose your soul
• Turn the other cheek
• Love you enemies
• Consider the lilies…

And what did Jesus think of Solomon? Well, I just searched and there are two mentions of Jesus referencing Solomon. Matthew and Luke both tell the same two stories. The first is the “Consider the lilies…” passage (Matthew 6 and Luke 12) and the second is talking about Solomon’s wisdom, but how Jesus is wiser (Matthew 12 and Luke 11). I get the impression that he knew what he was dealing with when it came to Solomon and he wasn’t as impressed as others might have been. I would imagine that Jesus’s audience would have loved to have the glory and splendor of Solomon’s kingdom back and have Jesus play that role, but that’s not what Jesus was selling.

Father, as I continue on with this look at Solomon, help me to keep in mind the differences between the kind of king he was and the kind of king you are. He had earthly wisdom, but I believe he was heavenly foolish. Help me to be more like Jesus and less like Solomon, even though what Solomon did in these verses was probably the right thing to do to solidify his reign at the time.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ “And there is something else. You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me when he murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt and sandals with innocent blood. Do with him what you think best, but don’t let him grow old and go to his grave in peace. “Be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Make them permanent guests at your table, for they took care of me when I fled from your brother Absalom. “And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore by the Lord that I would not kill him. But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him.”
1 Kings 2:1-9

Dear God, I get the feeling from Solomon’s encounter with Adonijah at the end of chapter one that he wasn’t keen on killing people. Otherwise, he might have just killed Adonijah on the spot. But at this point, the only words we’ve heard from Solomon’s mouth are, “If he proves himself to be loyal, not a hair on his head will be touched. But if he makes trouble, he will die,” and, “Go on home.”

Now in chapter two, his father’s last words to him are that he should worship you and take out some revenge on some people. I wonder what this was like for Solomon. It must have all been so new to him. Is this how kings established their thrones back then? By killing a few enemies within the kingdom to create a sense of power? Is that what David was trying to do for Solomon here–give him some street cred with the people? Is this what happens in some kingdoms of the world now in the Middle East and elsewhere? Maybe the practice isn’t as obsolete as I might want to think.

David’s admonishes Solomon that you are a God to be served and obeyed, but he seems to leave out the part about being known by you and transformed into someone of your character. The motivation David gives him is totally self-serving–so that David’s and Solomon’s thrones will be established forever. Solomon has a long road in front of him and his entire life will end up being a paradox. Is there anything he could have done here at the beginning that would have helped protect him from the corruption that the wealth and power would put into his heart?

Father, again, I’m not comparing myself to Solomon in terms of wealth and power. Far from it. But I don’t want to miss the part of knowing you that transforms me into your loving child. I don’t want to use you as a means to my glory. David told Solomon that the secret sauce to keeping the throne was to keep you happy. Help me to not care about thrones, but to only care about doing what Jesus taught me to do, and what the Holy Spirit still teaches me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Word soon reached Solomon that Adonijah had seized the horns of the altar in fear, and that he was pleading, “Let King Solomon swear today that he will not kill me!” Solomon replied, “If he proves himself to be loyal, not a hair on his head will be touched. But if he makes trouble, he will die.” So King Solomon summoned Adonijah, and they brought him down from the altar. He came and bowed respectfully before King Solomon, who dismissed him, saying, “Go on home.”
1 Kings 1:51-53

Dear God, yeah, you just know this isn’t going to end well. I wonder if Solomon would have had a different response to Adonijah if he, Solomon, had already asked you for wisdom. This conversation and the executions that are to follow feel like they are being made by human wisdom and not your wisdom.

Remembering back to the description of Adonijah at the beginning of this book as being spoiled and undisciplined, I also wonder what the relationships between David’s children were like. We know the oldest four died. I think it was Daniel’s death that is unexplained, but Absolom killed Amnon (for raping Tamar, David’s daughter), Joab killed Absolom for trying to overthrow David, and Solomon will ultimately kill Adonijah. So much for being born as a son (or daughter) of the king.

The pursuit of power and money can be so fruitless. A friend of my dad’s died recently. His whole life was about the pursuit of money and power, and he hurt so many people along the way that he died completely alone, abandoned by his family and friends. What did it get him to gain the whole world but lose his soul?

Father, in the ways that I interact with those with money and power, make me an instrument of your peace. Help me to carry your message to them. And in the ways that my heart and mind try to accumulate wealth and power, even on my small level, help me to recognize it and bring it under your authority. If you want me to give everything away, so be it. I only want to be able to look back and be at peace with the decisions I made, and I know that peace can only be found in you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen