Filed under: 1 kings, abiathar, abishag, adonijah, barzillai, bathsheba, benaiah, david, god, joab, shimei, solomon, zadok
[Stuff we're skipping:
* David encourges Solomon to follow God's ways all of his life. Also, he says to "deal with" Joab for all that he had done. He also reminds him to take care of Barzillai's people. And he says that he should pay Shimei back for cursing David. Then David dies.
* Adonijah asks Bathsheba if she can convice Solomon to give him Abishag to take as a wife. Solomon refused and had Benaiah kill Adonijah that day. Solomon also expelled Abiathar from being a priest. Joab tried to run and hide, but Solomon had Benaiah kill him too. Solomon made Benaiah his general and Zadok his priest. Solomon ordered Shimei to be placed on house arrest for the rest of his life. Shimei didn't end up obeying those orders, so Solomon had Benaiah kill Shimei. Talk about cleaning house! This is like an episode of The Sopranos.]
1. First things first, we find out that Solomon took a wife for himself (along with an alliance) from Egypt! Oh geez. We’ve come full circle. Need I remind anyone that Egypt has a whole different religion. Uh oh…
2. Also, we find out that the people were worshipping on high places. This is not good. That means that there was no (woops…I left the “no” out originally) centralized order to worship “I AM.” As a result, religion was getting muddy in Israel.
3. Imagine how long it would take to make 1,000 burnt offerings. That would be like owning a butcher shop.
4. God comes and offers anything to Solomon. Solomon asks for wisdom to lead God’s people well. Good answer. Too often we desire the wrong things from God. But, in this case, Solomon knew the heart of what his purpose was…to lead the nation of Israel.
5. And…BONUS! God hooked him up with riches, victory over enemies, and long life. In the words of Otis Nixon of the Atlanta Braves…”I got three words for you: it just don’t get no better than this!”
6. Imagine waking up and realizing that it was all a dream. Then imagine going home and realize that you knew the answers to all the questions that had you scratching your head ever since you were a kid. Oh, this was real alright. But, now, what is Solomon going to do with all this wisdom?
