1 Kings 2:1-27

1 Kings 2:1-27

As David approached death, he poured some words of wisdom into Solomon. He understood the importance of following God, obeying the commands He had set forth in the Law of Moses. Furthermore, God had promised David and his descendants that if they would remain obedient, He would continue to bless them, and they would continue to have the throne in Israel. God’s plan all along was to use Israel to reach the nations, and as we continue to walk through 1 and 2 Kings, we will see examples of this (whether for good or bad – mostly bad). But God had selected Israel, made them His people, and wanted to use them as an example for the nations, so that they too would know God. That is why it was so important for the king of Israel to remain obedient to His commands. He was the example for Israel, who was ultimately the example for everyone else.


David’s final requests to Solomon were for Solomon to take care of those who had betrayed David in his final days. Some of David’s closest friends and allies had turned on him or betrayed him when times got tough. Although David had promised not to retaliate and had offered forgiveness, he told Solomon that he did not have to hold to those same promises. Solomon could react in whatever way he saw fit. Afterwards, David died, after reigning as the king of Israel for 40 years.

But it was not long into Solomon’s reign before the trouble began. From the start Adonijah thought that he should be the next king of Israel. He was the older brother, and he felt that throne was his. However, God had chosen Solomon to be the next king. So he went to Bathsheba to ask her to ask Solomon if he would grant a certain woman to be Adonijah’s wife. Now I must admit that I am not sure who this woman was or how she was key to this situation, but for some reason this bothered Solomon. First of all, Adonijah knew that it would be hard for Solomon to deny a request made by his mother (and Solomon knew this). Secondly, Solomon feared that he would ask for the kingdom as well, possibly convincing Bathsheba to support him. Whatever the fear may have been, Solomon denied the request and sent Benaiah out to kill Adonijah, removing that threat to the throne.

Another problem Solomon had to deal with was Abiathar, one of the priests. When Adonijah declared himself as king, trying to take the throne before Solomon had a chance, he had gained the support of both Joab and Abiathar. Solomon knew that Abiathar had been faithful to God, even helping in bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, but he did not need a man near him who had been disloyal to him or his father, David. So while Solomon chose not to kill him, he sent him away, back to his home.

1 Kings 2 is filled with situations such as these, and they show the hard decisions Solomon had to make during the first few days of his reign. Solomon is known as the wise king, because he asked God for wisdom (1 Kings 3), but even at the beginning of his reign we see the wise decisions he was making. I am sure it was hard for him to have to clean house in the way he did, removing many men who had been so loyal to David in the past. But when they chose to go against Solomon, and ultimately against David and God, Solomon knew that he could not keep them around. He had to break ties with these men lest they stir up more problems.

Matt