1 Kings 1:38-48   ³⁸ So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and led him to Gihon.  ³⁹ There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!"  ⁴⁰ And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.  ⁴¹ Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "Why is the city in an uproar?"  ⁴² While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, "Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news."  ⁴³ Jonathan answered Adonijah, "No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king;  ⁴⁴ the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they had him ride on the king's mule;  ⁴⁵ the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard.  ⁴⁶ Solomon now sits on the royal throne.  ⁴⁷ Moreover the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, 'May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.' The king bowed in worship on the bed  ⁴⁸ and went on to pray thus, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.'"

Yesterday in my sermon I mentioned that David and Jesus were the only two kings of the messianic lineage to receive the Holy Spirit at their anointing (David at his anointing by Samuel and Jesus at his baptism in the river Jordan by John).  The text above gives the details about how David’s son Solomon became king.  1 King tells us that “1 Kings 2:11-12   ¹¹ The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.  ¹² So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.” 

The anointing of David set up this very important lineage that would do many good things for God in the Promised Land.  Solomon would rule very wisely, and expand the kingdom to the point that rulers of other countries would come and see him (see 1 Kings 10).  He built a magnificent temple for God.  He would reign for forty years just like his father, until he turned the throne over to his own son, Rehoboam.  Solomon however, did not listen to some of God’s statutes, and therefore God put in place a challenger to Rehoboam.  A man named Jeroboam would eventually come and rule over a divided Israel.  Rehoboam would still have the southern kingdom and Jerusalem, but God but Jeroboam over the rest.  With the kingship of Jeroboam, God thought that he was starting over.  But like Solomon, Jeroboam was also not a fitting king who obeyed God.  He too turned his back on God, and the protection that he once had from God was taken away.  This was the beginning of the end for the Israelites, as their divided kingdom could not protect itself as one.  This led to the Babylonian exile and the end of the kingship of David’s family in Jerusalem.  That is, until Jesus was born…more later.

In our prayers this week:  Ann, Jane, and her dad

God’s Peace,