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SOLOMON CLEANS HOUSE. I Kings 2:26-35. 3/20/2022. #6.
I Kings 2:26-35 [New Kings James Version]
26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh. 28 Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’ ” And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31 Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. 32 So the Lord will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword—Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. 33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.” 34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
1. Abiathar exiled
a. Abiathar was the priest who sided with Adonijah
a1. Abiathar was the only surviving priest of the 84 killed by Saul, using Doeg
a2. Ahimelech, his father, had given David bread and a sword when he fled from Saul
b. Solomon does not want to kill a priest, so he exiles Adonijah to his fields
a1. Priests are not supposed to have fields, but are supposed to be supported by tithes
a2. Adonijah is stripped of his priesthood
c. This is the first time we see a ruler take dominion over the priesthood
a1. I Samuel 1 God determines who is priest
a2. II Chronicles Uzziah tried to make a sacrifice as a priest and was struck down with leprosy
a3. Psalm 110:4 the priesthood and kingship would not be recombined until Christ came
b1. Genesis 14 Melchizedek was king plus priest
b2. Aaronic priests = separate from kings
d. This is a fulfillment of what God through Samuel had told Eli at Shiloh (priesthood was removed in the 4th generation of priests descended from Eli)
2. Joab meets his fate
a. David had not dealt with Joab’s murders
a1. Had instructed Solomon to take vengeance
a2. Joab had chosen to follow Adonijah and so Solomon had his own reason to execute him
b. Joab had not defected to Absalom, but to did defect to Adonijah, his brother
c. Joab fears for his life (first time Joab is said to fear)
a1. He grabs the horns of the altar
b1. The idea that no one would kill inside a holy place doesn’t work
b2. The priests can’t grant asylum unless in a city of refuge until a trial
a2. The act of fear puts Joab in a weak position
b1. To flee from Israel would mean leave his family and property behind
b2. Little chance of Joab surviving
d. Solomon orders Benaiah to execute him
a1. Ben. tries to coax Joab out of the Tabernacle so that he won’t pollute the sanctuary
a2. When Joab refuses to leave, Solomon orders him executed at the altar, which Ben. does
b1. The murders of Abner and Amasa are avenged (though quite late)
b2. David needed Joab, so he did not administer justice
a3. Benaiah = takes Joab’s place as army chief
3. Intrigue of death
a. All this death and intrigue is due to lust, greed, and pride
a1. The lack of self-control and desire for self-promotion ends in disappointment and destruction
a2. David, Adonijah, Joab, and eventually, Solomon end poorly due to selfish ambition
b. Prideful and lustful acts are a double loss (both here via ruin and in eternity due to loss of reward for saved)
a1. All of Joab’s good deeds are forgotten
a2. Abiathar’s aid to David during rebellion counts for little due to his last acts (Ezekiel 18)