18-2 Samuel 21 – 1 Kings 11
Apr. 25, 2009
We will begin our study this week in 2 Samuel 21. Last week we talked about the reign of King David. This week we will finish up the story of David with several events that happened during his reign as king. The events in these last chapters of 2 Samuel do not follow the first twenty in their chronological order. Chapter 21 talks about the people of Gibeon. These people were not from the tribes of Israel, but actually came from the Amorites. They had made a covenant through deception with Joshua four hundred years earlier. We covered this earlier when we looked into the ninth chapter of the Book of Joshua. They said they would serve Israel if they would be spared. Israel at that time was beginning to possess the Promised Land. Even though the covenant was made through deception, God wanted His people to be serious in honoring them. The Gibeonites sought revenge from Israel because King Saul went against them in his zeal to rid the land of his enemies. In doing this he disregarded Israel’s earlier covenant with them. They required seven of the remaining sons of Saul to be given to them for execution as reparation. The text says that David agreed, but spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth and turned over Saul’s son with the same name with six others. These men were hung in Saul’s old capital for all to see. The mother of two of the slain men came and spread sackcloth and mourned before the hanging men and would not let any bird or beast near them. She was there from the beginning of the barley harvest until the rains came. David heard what she had done and was moved to retrieve the bones of Saul and Jonathan, along with the bones of the slain men and bury them with honor in the grave of Saul’s father Kish. The last part of the chapter tells us about the destruction of more of the giants that remained in the land by David and his men. Chapter 22 records a psalm written by David after he had been delivered by the Lord from Saul, and his other enemies. We read in our study two weeks ago in 1 Samuel 16 that David was a skilled musician and could speak very well. Using these gifts, and because of his close personal relationship with the Lord David became the most loved writer of songs in Israel. His songs and writings that were inspired by the Lord are recorded in the Book of Psalms. The last song of David is also recorded in the first part of Chapter 23. The last part of the chapter tells about David’s mighty men. Their names and exploits are listed in the text. There were thirty seven men listed in all. They all exhibited great strength and bravery in battle. Also notable is the inclusion of Uriah the Hittite among David’s mighty men. Uriah was the man David had killed for his wife Bathsheba. Chapter 24 ends the Book of 2 Samuel. The chapter tells the story of an unauthorized census ordered by David of the men of Israel. It is believed that the reason for the census was for the Lord to punish Israel for some unspecified sin. God used Satan to cause David to number the people. After almost eleven months of census taking David became convicted for ordering the census. He realized he had sinned against the Lord and prayed for forgiveness. Gad the Seer came to David the next morning with God’s answer. He told David he had to choose between three punishments for his sin. The first was seven years of famine in the land, the second three months of fleeing from his enemies, and the third three days of pestilence. David did not know what to answer, but finally he told Gad to let God decide but he did not want to be pursued by man. The Lord chose to send the pestilence through the land. Seventy thousand men of Israel died. When the angel of death stretched out his hand to strike Jerusalem the Lord told him to stop. It was recorded in Chapter 24:7 what David told the Lord when he saw the angel “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.” David then built an altar to the Lord at the place he saw the angel. He went to the owner of the threshing floor and asked to buy the land from him. The man named Araunah wanted to give David the land along with the supplies required for sacrifice. David could not accept his gift and purchased the land for fifty shekels of silver. David told Araunah in Chapter 24:24 “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” The Lord accepted David’s offering and prayer and stopped the plague. This ends the Book of 2 Samuel. We will now begin the Book of 1 Kings. This book is the third in the historical set of 1 and 2 Samuel along with 1 and 2 Kings. Chapter 1 begins with King David in his old age. He was no longer able to keep warm even with extra clothes. Even though David had many wives and concubines, his servants decided to find him a young beautiful virgin girl to keep him warm. David did allow Abishag the Shunammite to be his nurse, but he would not sleep with her. It was nearing the time when a new king needed to be chosen to rule Israel. David was no longer able to perform his duties. Adonijah, David’s fourth born son conferred with Joab and Abiathar the priest. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet were not asked. He went to the stone of Zoheleth, near En-rogel and had a feast for the people. David’s trusted men including his son Solomon were not invited. During the feast Adonijah proclaimed himself king. Nathan the prophet heard what Adonijah had done and went to Bathsheba with a plan to make God’s choice, Solomon king. Their scheme worked and David had Solomon anointed king in Adonijah’s place. Adonijah was terrified of what his brother would do and fled to the altar to ask for mercy. Solomon came to him and spared his brother’s life as long as no wickedness was found in him. David then spoke to Solomon and told him to obey the Lord and walk in all His ways He also told him that if he did this he would be blessed and him and his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever. David then gave his son instructions on what to do with the traitor Joab and Shimei. He told him to treat with honor the family of Barzillai the Gileadite for what he had done for David when he was fleeing his son Absalom. David then died and was buried in the city of David. Solomon and his kingdom were then firmly established in Israel in place of his father. After this Adonijah went to King Solomon’s mother Bathsheba and asked her to ask her son for David’s nurse Abishag for his wife. Bathsheba did not see anything wrong with the request and agreed. She went to Solomon with Adonijah’s request. Solomon became very angry and asked his mother if he should give Adonijah the kingdom also? Solomon knew it was another plot by his brother to gain control. He had Adonijah executed the next day. He would not kill Abiathar because he was a priest, but he had him removed from his duties. Abiathar was the last priest in Eli’s line. God had told Eli eighty years ago that his line of priesthood would die out because of his sin and the sins of his sons. Joab heard what Solomon did to Adonijah and also fled to the altar. It did not matter, Solomon had Benaiah go and execute Joab. Solomon then made Benaiah commander of his army instead of Joab, and installed Zadok as high priest replacing Abiathar. Solomon then continued to remove his enemies from his kingdom. Shimei was told not to leave the city of Jerusalem as punishment for cursing King David, and siding with Absalom. Shimei obeyed this punishment for three years until two of his servants escaped to Gath. Shimei left Jerusalem and went to Gath to retrieve the men. When he returned Solomon found out he had disobeyed his punishment and left the city. Solomon sent Benaiah again and had Shimei executed for his disobedience. In Chapter 3 it is recorded that Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He did this to form an alliance between Israel and Egypt. He brought her to the city of David until his own house, and the house of the Lord was finished. The text says that people still sacrificed in the high places because there was no temple. Solomon loved the Lord, and followed His commandments, except he also still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. The “high places” were where the pagan people of the land worshiped and sacrificed to their own gods. One evening when Solomon was sacrificing in Gibeon the Lord came to him in a dream. God told him in Chapter 3:5 “Ask what you wish Me to give you.” Solomon responded to God with this prayer in Chapter 3:6-9 “You have shown great loving-kindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great loving-kindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.“Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.“Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.“So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” The Lord was pleased with Solomon. He had not asked for riches or a long life, but unselfishly asked only for wisdom. God then granted his request and also gave him the wealth and a conditional promise for a long life he didn’t ask for. The end of the chapter gives us an example of the wisdom Solomon was given. Instead of summarizing the account I am going to read the story how it is written in the text in Chapter 3:16-28 “Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.“It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.“This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it.“So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.“When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.”Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’”The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!”Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.” The officials and leaders of Solomon’s government were listed in the beginning of Chapter 4. The last part consists of a set of examples that show Solomon’s wealth. Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived and was one of the most prolific writers of wisdom and songs in Israel. Chapter 4:32 says that during his life Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, and wrote one thousand and five songs. His writings in the Bible are in the Book of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. People from all over the known world would come to Jerusalem to listen to the words of the king. Solomon formed an alliance with Hiram the king of Tyre to acquire the timber needed to build a house for the Lord. Hiram had always been a friend of David. The cedar and cypress trees of Lebanon were world renowned for their size and quality for building. Thirty thousand men in groups of ten thousand were forced into labor to gather the timbers from King Hiram. The text also says that seventy thousand men were employed to transport the timbers, and eighty thousand cut the stone for the project. The building of the temple was a monumental task. In Chapter 6 it was recorded that work on the temple began during the four hundred and eightieth year after Israel was delivered from Egypt. This was also the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. The temple was an impressive structure that was made with the finest materials and workmanship. The interior wood paneling and cherubim were overlaid with pure gold. The temple was similar in design to the tabernacle, but was larger and more ornate. The tabernacle was designed to be carried through the wilderness. The temple was built in the place God chose to dwell with His people forever. The temple built by Solomon took seven full years to be completed. Chapter 7 describes the palace that Solomon had built for himself, and also the home he built for his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh. Both were built out of the timbers from Lebanon and costly stones. Solomon also sent for Hiram of Tyre. This was not the king, but an Israelite widow’s son from the family of Naphtali who was skilled in working with bronze. His father was from Tyre. He was filled with wisdom and understanding to work the metal and was able to make all the furnishings and objects used in the temple. The text says that the utensils were so numerous that their weight could not be calculated. Solomon also brought in the things that were dedicated by his father David and placed them into the treasury. It was recorded in Chapter 8 what was done to complete and dedicate the finished temple. Solomon gathered the people together to bring the Ark of the Covenant and the remains of the tabernacle into the temple. The ark was in the city of David where it had been placed by David in a tent since he brought it back from Kiriath-jearim. The Ark was the place where the Lord rested on earth and had to be brought to the Holy of Holies inside the veil of the new temple. The Ark and the old tabernacle were brought into Jerusalem with much sacrificing and celebration. The Ark was placed in the temple, and when the priests left the Glory of the Lord filed the place. The Ark, at this time only contained the stone tablets of the law from Moses. Aaron’s rod and the pot of manna had been lost. Solomon then addressed the people. His words were recorded in Chapter 8:12-13 “The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. “I have surely built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever.” The rest of his words are in the text along with his prayer of dedication he spoke aloud to the people to mark the event. The celebration lasted seven days. The number of animals sacrificed during this time was unbelievable. It is recorded that twenty two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep were killed and offered to the Lord. The Lord then appeared to Solomon again and told him that He had consecrated the temple by His presence and would dwell there forever. This promise was conditional. God promised He would be with His people as long as they obeyed Him and walked in His ways. The second half of Chapter 9 covers additional things done by Solomon. The text says that Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre twenty cities of Galilee as a gift for his help with the materials for the temple. When Hiram went out to look over the gift he was not pleased. He called the cities the land of Cabul. The literal interpretation of cabul is “as good as nothing”. Hiram did end up giving Solomon one hundred twenty talents of gold for the cities. The text also talks about when Solomon gathered the slaves to build his projects, and that he had filled in a depression in the land between the city of David and the temple complex. Also the end of the chapter mentions King Solomon’s Mines in Ophir where he had found sixteen tons of gold. The gold mines of Solomon and their location have become legendary today. In Chapter 10 the queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon’s fame and wisdom and wanted to see for herself. Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived in the first century AD said that the queen of Sheba was actually the queen of Ethiopia in Africa. She traveled a great distance in a large group with many spices and other gifts. She spoke to Solomon all that was on her heart and was extremely impressed with his wisdom. She blessed Solomon and gave him the large amount of gifts she had brought. Solomon also gave her all she desired and she returned to her home. Solomon’s power and fame grew until he was the most sought after in all of civilization. We will end our study this week in Chapter 11. Even though God had blessed Solomon with wisdom and great wealth he still did not completely follow the Lord. The text says that Solomon loved many foreign women and took them for wives. These women were in direct disobedience to what the Lord wanted from Solomon. The Lord told the people to have no dealings with the people of the land to keep themselves pure. Solomon did not listen and was turned away from God by his foreign wives and served their gods. The Lord was angry and came and told Solomon in Chapter 11:11-13 “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.“Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.“However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.” The Lord then raised up adversaries to go against Solomon until after forty years on the throne he was dead. He was buried in the city of David. His son Rehoboam then reigned in his place. This ends this week’s study. Next week we will continue in the Book of 1 Kings and learn about the divided kingdom and meet Elijah and Elisha the prophets.