4.3 Solomon Gets Established

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3. How to deal with treacherous strategists like Joab

The other plotter was Joab. In verses 28-35 we see how Solomon dealt with him. Joab was different again. No young pretender, he had served David for many years. However, Joab really only ever served himself. He was loyal to David because it suited him. When he no longer felt it appropriate he simply switched allegiance.

There are people like that today. How dangerous they are. They appear to serve the Lord but, in truth, it is only ever as far as it suits them.

Hearing about Adonijah, Joab (28) ‘fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar’. Solomon is told about it but is not fazed. He tells ‘Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Go, strike him down!’ (29). Benaiah is not sure about killing Joab at the altar itself but Solomon sees the issue clearly. This act will not pollute the altar. The pollution is coming from Joab. It is his actions that have stained the House of David and so to deal with it at the altar is quite appropriate. Surely the lesson for us is that such ruthlessness is a sacred responsibility. We need not be squeamish. Benaiah, we are told (35) then replaced Joab as head of the army. Zadok replaced Abiathar.

4. How to deal with volatile supporters like Shimei
The final case is that of Shimei, the man who had cursed David when Absalom rebelled but who had shown loyalty since David’s return. Solomon calls him in and says (36, 37)
Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head.
Shimei saw that Solomon was being merciful and so he went for it. All was going well until (39) ‘three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran off to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath’. When Shimei heard (40) ‘he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slave’s and brought them back.’
What was he thinking? He surely had not forgotten. Perhaps he felt he was untouchable. Perhaps he was testing Solomon. Will the man of peace do anything? Solomon says (44, 45)
You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the LORD will repay you for your wrongdoing. But King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain secure before the LORD for ever.
He then had Shimei killed. Again, it may seem severe but to have been weak at this point would have been highly detrimental. It is this ruthless streak that meant the final sentence of the chapter could be written – ‘The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon’s hands.’
From time to time we have had mice in our house – field mice not rats, thankfully. They are lovely creatures but a hazard– to our health for example - and a nuisance. One even inserted itself into the back of our electric cooker and short-circuited it. We take the opinion then that we do not want them living with us and so (forgive me if it horrifies you) we kill them. We use traps. I once caught a mouse in a trap but it was not dead and I had to take a hammer to the poor creature. I put it in a plastic bag so I would not have to look. Horrible! Perhaps I should have just set it free. I had to do something. So it is with God’s kingdom. As distasteful as it may sometimes be, we must act.
This is, in part, the character of this book. It sometimes has to be negative. We need to be warned against certain things and certain people. Think of Tit 1:13, 14 where Paul says to Timothy 'Rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.'
This is why church discipline is important. We welcome in members but we also believe that at times it is necessary to exclude some too. See 1 Co 5:5 'Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.' Sometimes that is needed.
What about Jesus’s words in Mt 5:29, 30? 'If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.'
Similarly, we all need to mortify sin. Romans 8:12-14 'Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.'
It is difficult, messy, painful work but it must be done.

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4.2 Solomon Gets Established

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Solomon’s actions in establishing the kingdom
Verse 12 acts as a sort of turning point, ‘So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David’. The acts that we read about in 13-46 describe how ‘his rule was firmly established.’ We read about how Solomon dealt, firstly, with two men that David had not mentioned and then with two that he had. A little lesson here then is that we need to draw principles from what we learn and apply them. Solomon applied what David had taught him even where he had not mentioned the individuals concerned. So learn

1. How to deal with rebellious pretenders like Adonijah
In verses 13-25, which are full of detail about the careful way that people spoke to each other and treated each other in the court, we read how Adonijah ‘went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother.’ In verse 15 he says to her ‘As you know, … the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD.'
He then requests that she ask Solomon to give him ‘Abishag the Shunammite’ as his wife. She was the woman who had been so close to David in his final days, of course. Bathsheba agrees to speak to Solomon but her son is very negative. Eager as he is to please his mother and show her all due respect, this is a bridge too far. 22 'Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him - after all, he is my older brother - yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!'
In light of what had been happening so recently, Solomon felt this request could only be considered in a negative light. If Adonijah had Abishag, he might then make another move on the throne. You may feel this is harsh. Perhaps he just took a fancy to Abishag. If so, he acted very foolishly. Bathsheba comes over here as naïve. As ruthless as he may seem, Solomon is the model for us – ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely’, he says (23) ‘if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request!’
24, 25 'And now, as surely as the LORD lives - he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised (this is the issue – not any petty vengeance) - Adonijah shall be put to death today! So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.'
It is all very nice to suppose that we can just let people believe and do what they like but beliefs and actions have consequences. We must recognise that.

2. How to deal with unfaithful schemers like Abiathar
This incident alerted Solomon to the fact that there was still an undercurrent of rebellion in his kingdom and so he deals next with Abiathar the priest. This is a priest not a would-be king and one who had been very loyal to David in the past. So Solomon says to him 'Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Sovereign LORD before my father David and shared all my father’s hardships.'
This was a fulfilment of the prophecy spoken to Samuel and Eli so long before.
Such ruthlessness in establishing the kingdom does not mean that we take a one-size fits all approach. We must deal firmly, fairly and with resolution but also with wisdom and care. [Pic - Anathoth]

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4.1 Solomon Gets Established

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In his commentary, American writer D Ralph Davis begins his analysis of 2 Kings 2 by telling the sad story of Officer Reinhold, a story from The Washington Times.
Officer Reinhold, as he was called, sat in his patrol car at various locations in the Maryland village where he served as a deterrent to speeding motorists. Officer Reinhold was, however, a mere mannequin, dressed as a police patrolman and plonked behind the wheel of a departmental cruiser. After he had been sitting in the same location for two days (he was usually moved every 12 hours), someone smashed his car window and pilfered him. Ultimately police work cannot be done passively (i.e., with dummies); it takes, as people say today, a pro-active approach.
The point of the story is that, like police-work, the work of God’s kingdom cannot be approached passively. That indeed is the lesson of this chapter. As we move from 1 Kings 1 ro 1 Kings 2 we move from the succession to the establishment of that succession. There should be no difficulty in spotting that theme – it is repeated several times. See the following verses

12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.
24 As surely as the LORD lives - he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised
45, 46 King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain secure (established) before the LORD for ever. Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and killed him. The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon’s hands.

Notice too that death is a rather prominent feature here. A certain ruthlessness is necessary in the work of the kingdom. Our subject then is establishing or securing a throne – how the kingdom can be made safe, which involves a certain measure of sanctified viciousness. We consider two things – David’s words and Solomon’s actions.

David’s words on establishing the kingdom
David is close to death and so he uses his last reserves of strength to speak to his successor, his son Solomon, and to exhort him. We read that ‘When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.’ Transitions like this are often given prominence in Scripture – Jacob to Joseph, Moses to Joshua, etc. That is a lesson in itself. Such changes are important.
David begins (2) ‘I am about to go the way of all the earth.’ All men die and after that comes judgement. Every day there are obituaries in the national newspapers and death announcements in the local ones. Death bears thinking about.
We can divide what David says into two parts.

1. His exhortations to obedience to establish the kingdom
He begins ‘So be strong, show yourself a man.’ Securing the kingdom calls for courage, for manliness; it cannot be done by wimps.
How is Solomon going to secure the kingdom? David goes on (3) ‘and observe what the LORD your God requires’.
And what does God require?
'Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses.'
All of the law is to be kept.
Why must it be kept? See the end of verse 3 and verse 4
'So that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
As ever, obedience to the law and enjoyment of the promise are linked together. The promise to David and the Law of Moses go together. They are perfectly compatible. God’s promise to David cannot fail but there is no way that Solomon is going to enjoy God’s blessing if he fails to take seriously the Law of God.
So what will secure the kingdom? Not advantageous trade treaties or wise alliances with other nations or a well-equipped and mobile army. No, the great need is for obedience to the holy law of God. Is that not what the New Testament teaches too? Think of the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Who is the blessed man? The man who not only hears the message but also obeys it. The same lesson is in Jesus’ parable of the sower.
So here is a lesson for nations, churches, families and individuals. What will establish a church? It is not a matter of tailoring the services to fit the clientele or learning the best evangelism techniques. It does not depend on Alpha courses or star guest speakers or money raising events. No, the key thing, firstly, is obedience. How far are we conforming to what is laid down in God’s Word? Are we walking in God’s ways? Do we ‘keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law?’
On the individual level this is the first question too, surely. We cannot be saved by such means. God demands a perfect obedience and we cannot give that. We must look to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness. However, what is our aim? What are our aspirations? By what rule are we guided? Are we taking God’s Word seriously? Are we endeavouring to be conformed to the perfect image of Christ, the one who has kept the law in every way?

2. His exhortations to eliminate enemies and be kind to friends to establish the kingdom
That is not all that David has to say. He goes on to tell Solomon that there are enemies that have to be dealt with (and friends too). In fact he names three different individuals and tells Solomon what to do in each case.

What to do about treacherous ones like Joab
5 'Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me - what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood stained the belt round his waist and the sandals on his feet.'
He had also recently sided with Adonijah. Why David had not felt able to deal with Joab we cannot be sure but it is clear what Solomon must do. David says 'Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his grey head go down to the grave in peace.'
There are times then when we must act ruthlessly. David knew how treacherous Joab was, a law to himself. The kingdom was in jeopardy. He could not be allowed to live. Similarly, for the sake of the kingdom we need to develop a ruthless side that treats sin with contempt. We must not get sucked in by it. We must be willing to remove from fellowship those who are unworthy and take a firm stand against what is false. We will say more about this below.

What to do about loyal ones like Barzillai’s sons
On the other hand, says David (7) 'show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.' David does not forget Barzillai’s act of kindness and as ruthless as we need to be with some we must never so harden ourselves that we forget to show kindness to those who are worthy of it. It is shameful when faithful servants are forgotten and treated as though they were nobodies. We must not let that happen. Prov 27:10 ‘Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father.’

What to do about difficult cases like that of Shimei
Finally, David mentions ‘Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim.’ David recalls how he called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: I will not put you to death by the sword. But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his grey head down to the grave in blood.
Again David urges ruthlessness. Shimei was loyal to Solomon at this present time and, as we shall see, Solomon tried to ignore David’s advice at first. David was right, however. He saw what a threat Shimei was. There are things in our lives, things in the life of the church, things that can seem so innocent. We need to be very wary indeed about such things. Take care. Some of us do not want to be so ruthless but at times that is the best policy.

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