THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Kings: The Kings Of Israel And Judah From Solomon To The Babylonian Captivity

I. The United Kingdom, 1 Kings 1:1-11:43

B. Solomon's Purge: A Lesson In Wisely Discerning Harmful Evil

(1 Kings 2:1-46)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

We often face deceptive, harmful evil, and need to know how to discern it wisely to take wise steps to avoid it:

(1) We face it internationally: Veronique De Rugy's op-ed, "Energy cronyism in politics" (Republican-American, August 19, 2017, p. 6A) told of a "recent report published by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity called, 'Russia's Ties to U. S. Environmental Groups'" that "lays out how Putin cronies bundled millions for radical left-wing environmental groups determined to stop oil and natural gas development in the United States."

(2) We face it nationally: the same op-ed added that though "federal subsidies for solar energy alone increased by about 500 percent" between "2010 and 2013," such "companies can't compete despite all of the taxpayer dollars they've received, and have petitioned the United States International Trade Commission to further punish consumers on their behalf by banning them from buying cheaper and higher-quality panels abroad," Ibid.

(3) We face it locally: one of our members last Monday went to a grocery store to buy some meat that was on sale, and when he located the meat by the appropriate sale sign, he picked up two packages and purchased them.

Yet, after he took them home, his wife noticed that though both packages had the same special label, one was marked with the regular price, not the sale price! She told her husband, "They're sneaky! You have to watch them!"

Need: So, we ask, "How can we wisely discern harmful evil and wisely handle it so we do not get hurt?!"

I. David's last words to Solomon urged him to obey God for blessing, to do good to an old ally's sons but also wisely to punish evil men David had for various reasons not punished, 1 Kings 2:1-9:

A. In his last words to Solomon, David urged him to act as a courageous man in heeding the Word of God that the Lord might bless his reign in accord with the 2 Samuel 7:4-17 Davidic Covenant, 1 Kings 2:1-4.

B. Then, David charged Solomon to complete unfinished business he had with various people, 1 Kings 2:5-9:

1. Positively, he urged Solomon to host at his table the heirs of his now-deceased ally Barzillai of Gilead because Barzillai had greatly aided David when he fled from Absalom, 1 Kings 2:7; 2 Samuel 19:31-33.

2. Negatively, David told Solomon in wisdom to execute his army general Joab for murdering two generals in times of peace (1 Kings 2:5-6) and in wisdom also to execute Shimei for cursing him, 1 Kings 2:8-9.

C. These directives that Solomon execute Joab and Shimei were very hard to heed, what required great wisdom:

1. Solomon could not promptly execute Joab without risking a destructive crisis to his reign: (a) Joab was Solomon's cousin (Z. P. E. B., v. Three, p. 593), hard to execute due to pressure from his extended family, and (b) Joab was also head of the army, hard to get some soldier willing to execute such a superior officer!

2. Solomon could not promptly execute Shimei without risking a destructive insurrection in his reign: Shimei was part of former king Saul's clan (2 Sam. 16:5 NIV), so Solomon as the son of David whom Saul had long pursued as his foe risked causing Saul's people to rebel against him if he abruptly executed Shimei!

II. After David died (1 Kings 2:10-11), Solomon WISELY exposed and WISELY punished the evil men he faced in his reign so that the kingdom was firmly established under him, 1 Kings 2:12-46:

A. Solomon wisely exposed Adonijah's evil before wisely punishing him and his followers, Abiathar and Joab:

1. When Adonijah and his followers were exposed by David's rapid coronation of Solomon, the new king announced that if Adonijah proved himself worthy, he would live, but if not, he would die, 1 Kings 1:52.

2. Adonijah had then bowed in submission to Solomon, so he told Adonijah to go to his house, what would have been a prince's dwelling in Jerusalem near where Solomon could watch him, 1 Kings 1:53. Solomon knew Adonijah had bowed to him under pressure, so time would have to reveal if he was truly submissive!

3. Solomon also knew that Adonijah's former co-conspirators Abiathar the high priest, who was acquired to anoint him, and Joab, the army general who was acquired to enforce his rule, would be tested along with Adonijah, for only with their help could Adonijah make a repeat, politically viable push for the throne!

4. Sure enough, Adonijah later asked his mother to ask Solomon for Abishag the Shunammite, the girl who had ministered to David without being intimate with him, that Adonijah might marry her, 1 Kings 2:13-17.

5. Bathsheba likely knew that Abishag had not been intimate with her husband David (1 Kings 1:3-4), the likely reason why she agreed to bring what seemed to her a harmless request to Solomon, 1 Kings 2:18.

6. Yet, when Bathsheba brought the request to Solomon, though he honored her (1 Kings 2:19-20), Solomon refused the request, for the people held Abishag to be part of David's harem, so giving her to older brother Adonijah in marriage would grant him more cultural right to rule than Solomon! The king saw Adonijah's request as a new push for the throne, 1 Kings 2:21-22a; Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 1 K. 2:13-25.

7. As we before noted, Solomon also realized that Abiathar and Joab had to be co-conspirators in the plot for Adonijah to push for the throne, so he publicly announced their guilt along with Adonijah's, 1 Kings 2:22b.

8. Solomon also recalled how God had promised that he, Solomon, and not Adonijah, would rule (Ibid., ftn. to 2 Sam. 12:25), and God had set him on the throne, so Adonijah had sinned against God, 1 Kings 2:24.

9. The king then quickly had Adonijah executed (1 Kings 2:23-25) and banished the high priest Abiathar to Anathoth instead of executing him out of respect for his past devotion to God and David, 1 Kings 2:26-27.

10. By saying Joab was guilty but first punishing only his co-conspirators, Solomon wisely avoided a backlash by not first pursuing the influential Joab, but let news of the punishments of his co-conspirators prompt Joab to flee, thereby exposing himself as guilty. Sure enough, Joab fled, so he was executed, 1 K. 2:28-34.

B. Solomon wisely exposed Shimei's harmful evil before wisely punishing him:

1. Similar to how he had directed Adonijah, Solomon had Shimei move from his tribal territory of Benjamin, Saul's tribe, to the city of Jerusalem where Solomon could closely watch him, 1 Kings 2:36a.

2. Solomon used an expressive idiom in v. 36b, telling Shimei not to leave Jerusalem to go "where and where" ('aneh wa'anah), that is, "anywhere" (B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 33), that the day he crossed the brook Kidron into the territory of Saul's tribe (The MacMillan Bible Atlas, 1968, map 73) would be viewed as a threat to the throne as Shimei would be seen as stirring up Saul's men against the throne so that Solomon would have to execute him! Shimei agreed to this, calling it good, 1 K. 2:36b-38.

3. Yet, later, Shimei went southwest to retrieve some runaway slaves from Philistine territory (1 Kings 2:39-40), likely presuming that since he hadn't crossed the brook Kidron to the east, Solomon wouldn't mind.

4. However, Solomon summoned Shimei to charge him with violating his past order that Shimei not leave the city to go "anywhere," repeating the original expressive idiom 'aneh wa'anah Solomon had used in his initial charge, and since Shimei had no answer to this, Solomon had him executed, 1 Kings 2:39-46a; Ibid.

5. Shimei's evident disrespect for Solomon surfaced in this test, and with his past sins, he had to be slain.

C. Thus, by wisely waiting to punish Adonijah, Abiathar, Joab and Shimei until new crimes they committed under his watch as king were exposed, and then wisely punishing them, Solomon avoided political backlash, for all could see that these men were paying for breaches of trust they committed against Solomon himself!

Lesson: Solomon WISELY gave the evil men his father told him to punish time and room to expose their evil hearts and then he WISELY punished them, avoiding political backlashes so the kingdom to be firmly established.

Application: In facing harmful evil, may we (1) trust in Christ for salvation and be equipped with the Holy Spirit of wisdom, John 3:16; Romans 8:9; Isaiah 11:1-2. (2) May we then (a) rely on the Holy Spirit to (b) give room for harmful evil to expose itself (c) before taking the action God directs (c) to preserve our credibility and welfare.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

In line with this sermon, God's leading that we include in our Sunday morning introductions our reliance on Jesus' Matthew 19:4-6 literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2, what we explained in our last message in this series, guards us from deceptive, harmful evil, for God has exposed such evil we need to avoid in the following article:

Mark A. Snoeberger, "Time for a New Reformation," Answers, Sept.-Oct., 2017, p. 67-68, noted how the 1925 Scope's "monkey" trial was a key event in religious history since in it, the A. C. L. U. lawyer, Clarence Darrow, promoted evolution by discrediting a Christian, William Jennings Brian, and with him, creationism and the Bible.

The way the lawyer did this shows how believers have often been harmed by falling for evil deception on the subject of evolution: the lawyer got Mr. Brian to admit that "'creation might have been going on for a very long time'" via evolution before man existed, but when Mr. Brian then did not also concede that man had evolved because he sought to defend basic Christian doctrines, the A. C. L. U. lawyer charged him with inconsistency, discrediting Mr. Brian and his support for creationism and the Bible before the news media and the onlooking world, Ibid., p. 68!

In contrast, we state each Sunday that we heed Jesus' Matthew 19:4-6 literal handling of Genesis 1-2, what literally claims God miraculously made the WHOLE UNIVERSE, NOT JUST MAN! We then CONSISTENTLY REJECT ALL EVOLUTION, effectively countering the harmful deception of the Scopes "monkey" trial!

May we trust in Christ for salvation. Then, may we wisely expose harmful evil to deal well with it!