Feb 20, 2022. I Kings 1:11-27

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NATHAN’S PLOT. I Kings 1:11-27. 2/20/2022. #02.

1 Kings 1:11-27 [New King James Version]

11 So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it? 12 Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ 14 Then, while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.” 15 So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) 16 And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?” 17 Then she said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ 18 So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know about it. 19 He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon your servant he has not invited. 20 And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.” 22 And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. 23 So they told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25 For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he has not invited me—me your servant—nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. 27 Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

1. The prophet and the preferred wife

                a. Bathsheba does not initiate this response

                                a1. We never see her initiating anything (David, Nathan, Adonijah…)

                                a2. She is a follower

                b. Nathan the Prophet comes to Bathsheba

                                a1. He hatches a plot to make sure that Solomon will be the next king

                                a2. Ironically, Nathan had confronted David and pronounced death on Bathsheba’s first born son initially (II Samuel 12)

                                a3. Was Nathan’s concern about God’s will, David’s promise, or Adonijah’s unfitness?

                c. The plot was simple:

                                a1. Bathsheba was to go to David to ask why Adonijah is ruling

                                a2. David supposedly did not know about this (seems unlikely in light of vs. 6)

                                a3. David had promised that Solomon would rule after David

                                a4. Solomon and Bathsheba’s lives at stake

                                a5. Nathan would come in to confirm words

                d. Bathsheba as preferred wife was given this promise

2. Bathsheba and Solomon

                a. Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam, one of David’s mighty men (granddaughter of Ahithophel)

                                a1. She was given to Uriah (a mighty man)

                                a2. She was very beautiful (a problem for Uriah just like Sarah was a problem for Abraham and Rebekah was a problem for Isaac)

                                a3. David sees her bathing in a purification rite and takes her, impregnating her

                                a4. After arranging for Uriah’s death, David takes her to be his wife

                b. Solomon

                                a1. I Chronicles 3:5 Solomon was Bathsheba’s fourth son (Shimea, who died, Shobab, Nathan)

                                a2. Solomon not only jumps over David’s other sons to inherit the throne, but also 2 brothers

                                a3. No explanation is given as to how Solomon became the favored son or why David promised that he would succeed him

3. The decision making process

                a. David = easily manipulated and made snap decisions

                                a1. Sent Tamar to Amnon at his request

                                a2. Pronounced judgment on a fictitious man from Nathan’s story

                                a3. Manipulated by Joab through a woman to bring back Absalom from exile

                                a4. Believed Ziba’s story and gave him Mephibosheth’s land as a result

                                a5. Makes Bathsheba the favorite wife over all his other wives (II Samuel 5) because of her exceptional beauty (keep in mind that both Michal and Abigail rescued David) – fleshly!

                b. Bathsheba did whatever men told her to do

                                a1. She yielded to David’s desires

                                a2. She yields to Nathan’s scheme

                                a3. She yields to Adonijah’s request

                c. All these problems stem from carnal desires

                                a1. Power and lust destroy men and kingdoms

                                a2. Gal. 6:7 we always reap what we sow