First Kings 2-4

God’s message to me: Learn from your mistakes and don’t repeat them. Don’t pass on your problems to the next generation so that you can live the life of the politically correct.

Promises: God can give you everything you ever imagined and a great deal more. Solomon asked God only for the wisdom to judge Israel with justice. God made him the wisest man who ever lived in history. In all of time before and after Solomon there has never been one who was wiser. He was the richest and most powerful king despite a rule marked by peace. The military he commanded was more than sufficient to overcome any enemy. Solomon asked for wisdom and was granted wisdom, wealth, health, long life, power and strength beyond what any king of that time could have hoped.

Commands: Follow God’s commands and live within his statutes.

Timeless principles: An old dog can learn new tricks. David made a lot of promises and showed a lot of kindnesses he shouldn’t have. He saw and survived the aftermath of those bad decisions and so he reminded Solomon not to repeat the folly and to eliminate the problems he had protected. David’s oaths kept him from dealing with the trouble but his son could do so without breaking any promises.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Borrowing trouble for the next generation in order to make your own lifetime work the way that makes you comfortable is not a mark of wisdom.

more to learn for in-depth study: Adonijah never seemed to learn from his mistakes. He gained safety from his brother Solomon by showing he would respect him as king. Then he spoke to Bathsheba as if her son had stolen the throne. He also demanded, in marriage, the young woman who had tended David in his last days. Solomon could see trouble coming. The arrogance of his brother in the manner he claimed he had lost the throne and his desire to marry a woman who might help strengthen his claim to the throne because of her previous duties were enough to show he would be a problem. Having already attempted a coup once, Solomon didn’t wait for him to do so again. He ordered Adonijah killed.

Joab and Adonijah each went to the tabernacle and took hold of the alter expecting to be spared from execution. Aside from the fact that this action violated the law in regard to who could go where or touch what in the temple, this is also an early attempt to claim sanctuary. No one ever claimed sanctuary effectively in the tabernacle of meeting or the temple. Each person mentioned, hid there knowing their own guilt and expecting others to spare them for the temples sake. Every one of them was executed before the alter. This isn’t the first case nor will it be the last to be mentioned in the bible.

tomorrow: First Kings 5-7

wow, I caught up, who knew?