Scripture Daily

Context No. 2918 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 1:9-14: in context

9Adonijah killed sheep, cattle, and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants; 10but he didn’t call Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother. 11Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Haven’t you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord doesn’t know it? 12Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel, that you may save your own life and your son Solomon’s life. 13Go in to King David, and tell him, ‘Didn’t you, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then does Adonijah reign?’ 14Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm your words.”

While David lies old and dying, his son Adonijah throws a lavish feast and has himself proclaimed king, carefully inviting his supporters but pointedly leaving out Nathan the prophet, Solomon, and the men loyal to David's word. Nathan goes to Bathsheba with a plan: remind the king of his oath that Solomon would reign, and I will come in behind you and confirm your words.

Adonijah exalts himself, seizing the throne before it is given, gathering allies and shutting out anyone who might object, a portrait of grasping ambition. Nathan and Bathsheba respond not with a counter-plot of their own making but by appealing to the word David had already sworn. The contrast is between seizing a place by maneuver and receiving it by God's appointment through the rightful promise. The one who grabs the crown at his own self-made feast is not the one God had chosen.

Am I tempted to grab a place by maneuver and momentum, rather than wait to receive what God appoints in his own way and time?

Sources