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[0:00] Phil Copeland, one of our associate ministers, is continuing to open up 1 Kings to us. Having begun last week with chapter 1, we return this week to chapter 2, and we're going to be reading the whole thing. So 1 Kings chapter 2, beginning then at verse 1.

[0:30] When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart, with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. Moreover, you also know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in a time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals of his feet. Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met with me when I fled from Absalom, your brother. And there is also with you Shimei, the son of Gerah, the Benjaminite, from Beharim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.

[2:23] Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol. Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was 40 years.

[2:46] He reigned seven years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peacefully? He said, Peacefully. Then he said, I have something to say to you. She said, Speak. He said, You knew that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers, for it was his from the Lord. And now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.

[3:37] She said to him, Speak. And he said, Please ask King Solomon, he will not refuse you, to give me Abishag, the Shunammite, as my wife. Bathsheba said, Very well, I will speak for you to the king.

[3:54] So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, I have one small request to make of you. Do not refuse me.

[4:15] And the king said to her, Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you. She said, Let Abishag, the Shunammite, be given to Adonijah, your brother, as his wife.

[4:31] King Solomon answered his mother, And why do you ask Abishag, the Shunammite, for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother. And on his side are Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah. Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God, do so to me and more also, if this word does not cost Adonijah his life. Now, therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David, my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today. So King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died. And to Abiathar, the priest, the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David, my father, and because you shared in all my father's affliction. So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shilu. When the news came to Joab, for Joab had supported Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom, Joab fled to the tent of the

[5:59] Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. And when it was told King Solomon, Joab has fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar, Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, strike him down. So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, the king commands, come out. But he said, no, I will die here. Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, thus said Joab, and thus he answered. The king replied to him, do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. The Lord will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with a sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner, the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne, there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore. Then Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and struck him down and put him to death. And as he was buried in his own house in the wilderness, the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, over the army and place of Joab, and the king put

[7:41] Zadok, the priest in the place of Abiathar. Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever.

[7:57] For in the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head. And Shimei said to the king, What you say is good, as my lord the king has said, so your servant do.

[8:14] So will your servant do. So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish, son of Maccah, king of Gath.

[8:27] And when it was told, Shimei, behold, your servants are in Gath, Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants.

[8:40] Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die.

[9:03] And you said to me, What you say is good, I will obey. Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you?

[9:16] The king also said to Shimei, You knew in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will bring back your harm on your own head.

[9:27] But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. Then the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died.

[9:42] So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. Amen. This is God's word, and we'll return to it shortly.

[10:00] Well, please do have your Bibles open to 1 Kings chapter 2. That would be most helpful. That would be most helpful. A chapter that's really all about the established kingdom.

[10:22] Well, last Sunday in chapter 1, we saw that the kingdom was in danger. David, once the mighty ruler, great king of Israel, was lying in his deathbed.

[10:33] He couldn't get warm. He was old, weak, and frail. His life was petering out. And whilst that was happening, his eldest surviving son, Adonijah, made a power play, a greedy power play, for the throne.

[10:46] He simply announced that, I am the king, is what he said. And he gathered support around him, some big names, and he threw a great feast to celebrate the fact that he was next in line to the throne.

[10:59] And humanly speaking, that was a massive threat to the welfare of the kingdom of God. For it is clear from the text that Adonijah would have been an awful king, atrocious king.

[11:11] He should never have been anywhere near the throne. And we saw, didn't we, wonderfully, that Nathan, the faithful prophet of the Lord, took action to defend the kingdom. Along with Bathsheba, they went to King David, and they spoke to him words that moved him.

[11:27] And the Lord seems to have supernaturally moved in him. And David springs into action, and it seems that within minutes, David has seen to it, that Solomon, the Lord's actual chosen successor to the throne, has been anointed, officially and publicly, instead of Adonijah.

[11:47] And you'll remember that, if you were here last week, at Adonijah, as soon as that happened, he immediately feared for his life. He was terrified, because of what he had done. And remember, what King Solomon said, chapter 1, verse 52.

[12:02] Have a look back at chapter 1, verse 52. Solomon said, if he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth. But if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.

[12:15] In other words, if Adonijah submits to Solomon, as God's anointed king, he'll have nothing to fear. But, if he tries to take the throne again, and set himself up against the Lord's actual anointed king, there will be just, and fair, and righteous consequences.

[12:37] And in verse 53 of chapter 1, Adonijah seems to submit to Solomon, initially, and he's sent home unharmed. But as we see him walking off to his home, at the end of the chapter, as it were, we're left thinking in our head, how long is that going to last?

[12:53] How long is that going to last? At the end of chapter 1, whilst the kingdom looks secure, and we do have a bit of tension resolved, there's still plenty of deeper tension left.

[13:08] It is clear in chapter 2, that there are crucial things, that must happen, in order to keep the kingdom, established and secure. And we're going to look at the chapter together, but before we do that, let me just mention two things, that are repeated throughout the chapter.

[13:23] It's always a good thing, as you read through the Bible, in your own time, and as you read through narrative, look for repetition, what's repeated again, and again, and again, and again. It usually tells you, what the author is trying to teach you.

[13:36] Well in the second half of this chapter, there are two things, that are repeated again, and again. The first is the verb, that's translated as, established. Established.

[13:46] It comes at four main points, in the chapter. Let me draw your attention, to them just now. Look at verse 12, please, of chapter 2. After the report, of King David's death, we are told, Solomon sat on the throne, of David his father, and his kingdom, was firmly established.

[14:03] In verse 24, King Solomon says to the Lord, that the Lord, has established me, and placed me, on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised.

[14:17] And then look on to verse 45. It says, King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David, shall be established, before the Lord forever. And then finally, verse 46, the great climax of the chapter.

[14:32] It says, so the kingdom was, established, in Solomon's hand. That's the first thing, that's repeated, those four times. The other thing, that's repeated, throughout this chapter, is the Hebrew word, that's translated as, to die, or to be put to death.

[14:50] No need to look, at these references, but let me just tell you, it pops up in verse 24, verse 25, verse 26, verse 30, verse 34, verse 37, verse 42, and verse 46. Those are the two things, that are repeated.

[15:04] The kingdom being established, and death. A lot of death. And as we get to the second hand, second half of this chapter, we will see, that actually, these two things, go hand in hand.

[15:19] The kingdom is established, by these deaths. Keep that in mind, we'll think about it later. But let's think about the whole chapter, under two points.

[15:29] Here's the first thing. How is the kingdom made secure? How is it established? Well, in verses 1 to 4, it says, that it is established by, obedience.

[15:42] Obedience to God's, covenant law. So in verse 1, it's clear that David, really is about to die this time. And so he summons Solomon to him, and says, I'm about to go the way, of all the earth, my son.

[15:57] Be strong, and show yourself, a man. And you think, well what does that look like, exactly? Well the answer is in verse 3. What does it look like, to be strong, and to show yourself, as a true man?

[16:11] Verse 3, keep the charge, of the Lord your God. Walking in his ways, and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies. As it is written, in the law of Moses, that you may prosper, in all that you do, and wherever you turn.

[16:28] So David's final words, to his son, hold the key, or a key element, in establishing, and keeping the kingdom, secure. Obey, the covenant Lord.

[16:40] Obey his ways, obey his teaching. Remember law, in the Bible, just often just means, the Lord's teaching. Obey the Lord's teaching. Be a Bible man, and let the Bible master, and shape your life, Solomon.

[16:53] Let it lead you, in all that you do, both as a man, and as a king. You'll need boldness, for that. You'll need strength, for that, because it's not easy. There'll be times, when I'm sure you'll be opposed.

[17:06] And really, this should not have been, a surprise to Solomon, because it's written down, clearly back in Deuteronomy 17. Let me read to you, some words that Moses said, so clearly, and powerfully.

[17:17] This is what he says, Deuteronomy 17. When he, that's the king, whom the Lord has chosen, to appoint over the people, when he sits on the throne, of his kingdom, he shall write for himself, in a book, a copy of, this law, approved by the Levitical priests.

[17:35] And it shall be with him, and he shall read it, all the days of his life, that he may learn, to fear the Lord his God, by keeping all the words, of this law, and these statutes, and doing them.

[17:48] That his heart, may not be lifted, up above his brothers, and that he may not, turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand, or to the left. So that he may continue, long in his kingdom, he, and his children, in Israel.

[18:04] So it's always been, so key, that the king, of God's people, behave this way. This is how to have, a secure kingdom. And that's why David, uses his dying breaths, to remind his son, of this basic fact.

[18:17] Obey the Lord. Don't neglect his teaching. Don't be a mere hearer, of the Lord's word. Be a doer, of the Lord's word, my son. And if Solomon does this, what will happen, to him in his kingdom?

[18:31] We'll look at the end, of verse three please. He says, you're to do that, so that, you may prosper, in all that you do, and wherever you turn, that the Lord, may establish, his word, that he has spoken, concerning me.

[18:45] Saying, if your sons, pay close attention, to their way, to walk before me, in faithfulness, with all their heart, with all their soul, you shall not lack a man, on the throne, of Israel.

[18:59] This is very interesting, if you know your Bible. What happens here is, David places alongside, the law of Moses, and the covenant, God made with him, in second Samuel seven.

[19:09] And he sits them down, right beside each other, and says that, they're not incompatible, with each other, but they're actually, sit alongside each other, there's no conflict. And here, David seems to be saying, to Solomon, the Lord will fulfill, his covenant promises.

[19:25] You can bet your boots, upon that, Solomon. But please be aware, that there will be, no enjoyment, of the blessings, of the covenant, in your life, without obedience. In other words, he's saying, if you obey the Lord, then he will establish you, and you will enjoy, covenant blessings.

[19:44] And therefore, all the people, who live under your rule, they will also enjoy, those blessings, that come from your obedience. And David, it doesn't explicitly say this, but it's implied in the text.

[19:58] If Solomon, doesn't obey the Lord, if he doesn't love the Lord, and if he spurns, the Lord's grace, then the king, will not enjoy, blessings from the Lord.

[20:08] In fact, he will be disciplined, and the people, under Solomon, will also experience, that discipline too. That's one of the major themes, of the Bible, when it speaks about a monarchy.

[20:21] If you live under a good king, he will be blessed, and so will you. If you live under a bad king, my word, you will receive, he will be cursed, covenantally, and so will you.

[20:34] And as we go through this book, especially from chapter 11 onwards, we're going to see again, and again, and again, this sort of thing happening, the performance of the king, always reflects, upon the way, that the people are treated.

[20:50] And I actually think, these are key verses, for understanding the whole, of one and two kings. If a king walks by, the obedience of faith, the people are blessed, because he is blessed. If he walks by, disobedience, and unbelief, it brings the opposite, to people and friends.

[21:06] That is one of the many reasons, why you and I, should be so full of praise, and thankful, that we live under, God's greatest king. Yes?

[21:17] We live under the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our king. And when he came into this world, he lived the perfect life, of human holiness, that not even Solomon, could reach.

[21:29] He is the greatest king of all, and he obeyed the covenant law, absolutely perfectly, and fulfilled it perfectly, for us. Securing for us, his church, every spiritual blessing, of salvation.

[21:44] These words, in 1 Kings 2, they should make us rejoice, for the fact, that we live under the king, whose kingdom, has been established, by perfect obedience. But, as Bob Foyle says, these words, they're not only, for Davidic kings.

[22:03] Yes? These words are actually, for all those, who by grace, belong to the kingdom. Friends, as kingdom people today, those who live under, the rule of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of God, we too, are called to do, exactly the same thing.

[22:19] If you want to be, established in Christ, if you want to feel, secure and assured, as a Christian, then walking, by the obedience of faith, is absolutely key, for your life, and my life today.

[22:30] Listening to God's instruction, letting the Bible, call the shots in your life, seeking to obey, what God says, by the help, of the power of the spirit, of Christ in us.

[22:41] I mean, just think about Jesus teaching, at the end of the sermon, on the mountain, Matthew 7. Remember what he says? According to Jesus, he says, the man who, hears his words, and does them, is like a wise man, who builds his house, on a rock.

[22:57] The storms, and the floods, and the winds of life, may beat upon that man, but if he's built his life, upon Jesus teaching, then eternally speaking, he has nothing to fear, he will never fall.

[23:09] And that is the point, of 1 Kings 2, verses 1 to 4. Whether it's, the Davidic king, the king in the line of David, or, the disciple, of the Lord Jesus, true stability, only comes, through obedience, to the Lord's commandments.

[23:24] Obedience, is not, some sort of a, choice, for the keen beans, in the church. It's for all of us, all of those, who belong to Christ.

[23:38] So how is the kingdom, made secure? How is it established? How are we, made secure, and established, in Christ? Answer, by obedience, to God's covenant law. That's the first point, this evening.

[23:50] Here's the second point, and it's this, from verses 5 to 46, a huge chunk, of this passage, we're taking it in one hour. This is the point, the kingdom, is established, by eliminating, enemies.

[24:05] The kingdom is established, by eliminating, enemies. So in this section, we really pick back up, on those two themes, that I mentioned earlier, the kingdom being established, and death, death coming.

[24:20] So in verses 5 to 9, before David dies, in verse 10, what he does, is he continues to give Solomon, advice for reigning, and he warns Solomon, of men, enemies, whom he needs to be wary of, and whom he needs to deal with, in order for justice to be done.

[24:39] And so if you look at verse 5, David warns Solomon of Joab. Joab was one of the commanders, of David's army. We are suspicious of him already, because in chapter 1, he sided so quickly, with Adonijah.

[24:51] But here, David makes no mention of that. What David is super keen, to see happen with Joab, is that he receives, just punishment, for war crimes, that he committed.

[25:03] You can read about them, back in 2 Samuel 3, and 2 Samuel 20. Joab, murdered, carried out acts, of vengeance killing, upon two other commanders, in Israel.

[25:16] When it was peacetime, and you did not do that, during peacetime. Joab was a man, who was guilty, of spilling innocent blood. Now why David, hadn't dealt with Joab, before this point, is a puzzle.

[25:30] He might have felt, that he was too weak, to deal with Joab, back at the time. He may have felt, it been shrewder, to wait to deal with Joab, at a time when the kingdom, was a bit stronger.

[25:41] We don't know for sure, it's not clear in the text. What is clear, is that looking ahead, David wants Solomon, to see that justice, is done, for Joab, and the murders, that he committed.

[25:54] And it's just, it's interesting, I've been thinking, a lot about this. If you look onto verse 31, just run your eye, over verse 31, to the words, that Solomon says there, it seems that, Joab's murders, actually brought, blood guiltiness, upon the house of David.

[26:12] His murders, actually reflected back, upon David's house. And so David says to Solomon, you've got to deal with him. According to your wisdom, deal with him, but I'll leave it to you, to see that punishment, has been brought, and justice is done.

[26:28] Now the other enemy, that David warns Solomon about, is mentioned in verse 8. He's called Shimei. And back in 2 Samuel 16, Shimei, what did he do?

[26:39] Well he greatly opposed David, when David was fleeing Absalom. And you can read about it, he continually cursed David, he showed that he hated David, in his heart, and he also pelted David, with rocks, he tried to stone David.

[26:53] And again, in the past, David hasn't brought punishment, upon this man, for what he's done. Verse 8 says, that David actually, gives Shimei a time of reprieve. But now, David wants Shimei, to face the consequences, of setting himself, against the Lord's anointed.

[27:10] Because to set yourself, against the Lord's anointed, is to set yourself, against the Lord. Well what happens next? In verse 10.

[27:20] As soon as David said these words, Solomon rushed out, and got out his sword, and callously carried out, cold hearted killing, of all his enemies. Is that what happened next? No.

[27:32] In verse 10 and 11, the great king David dies. He sleeps with his fathers, after his 40 year reign. And Solomon doesn't, immediately rush off, with glee.

[27:43] Like some kind of, a psychotic killer, systematically wiping out, his enemies with great gusto. Some commentators, when they come to this passage, they treat Solomon like that. But I'm afraid, I just can't agree with him, on that at all.

[27:57] I actually think, what Solomon does here, is he deals with, legitimate threats, to the kingdom. And he acts wisely, and justly. It all kicks off, when Adonijah, pops back up, and he makes a new power play, for the throne.

[28:15] So in verse 13, he approaches, the queen mother Bathsheba, and he swears, that he comes in peace. Oh I come in peace. And then he makes, some very, very arrogant statements.

[28:27] Look at verse 14. Just run your eye, over that. In verse 14 he says, you know, I really am the rightful king. You know that. Everyone knows that.

[28:38] Everyone in Israel knows, that I am really the rightful king. Or I was the rightful king, for a while. You know. It's not that I set myself up there. It's that I really was, the rightful king. It's full of arrogance.

[28:50] And then look how he finishes off, verse 14. He says, oh but now I know, oh now I know, Solomon is the Lord's, anointed king. To me that last statement, seems very disingenuous.

[29:02] To me, Adonijah only makes that statement, in order to try and manipulate, Bathsheba here. See his plea, his plan is, to get Bathsheba, to go and make a request, to Solomon on his behalf.

[29:14] Because he thinks that Solomon, will say yes to Bathsheba. Whereas if he did it, well Solomon, wouldn't be likely to say yes at all. And what is it he wants?

[29:25] Look at verse 17. He wants King Solomon, to give him Abishag, the Shunammite, as his wife. Who have you seen her before? Start of chapter one.

[29:36] Abishag was appointed, as a kind of servant, concubine, to David. She was appointed, to lie in bed with David, by his servants. It's a pretty sleazy tale, but anyway, she was to lie in bed with David, in order to try and warm him up, on his deathbed.

[29:53] Now the text is clear, David didn't know her, in any sexual way, whilst he lay on his deathbed. But that is pretty much, what she was to him, a concubine. And back in those days, if somebody took, a king's concubine, for himself, then it was really a statement, that that man, had set himself, against the king, and was going to take over, from the king.

[30:16] Later on, go back and read, 2 Samuel 16, you'll see the grotesque way, that Absalom, one of David's sons, who himself, led a rebellion, against David, one of the things he did, was, he went and slept, with all of David's concubines, and made David a stench, in the nose of the people, and made support, for his own political campaign, greater.

[30:39] You did not ask, for a king's concubine. And here, Adonijah, seems to be making, another attempt, to take the throne. If the public sees, that David's former concubine, was his wife, then it would be, yet another sign, to the people, that he should actually, be on the throne.

[30:57] And I take it, that is why, King Solomon reacts, to the request, the way that he does. Just look at verse 21. Bathsheba said, let Abishag the Shunammite, be given to Adonijah, your brother, as his wife.

[31:10] King Solomon, answered his mother, and why do you ask, Abishag the Shunammite, for Adonijah? Ask for him, the kingdom also, for he is my older, brother. And on his side are Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah.

[31:23] In other words, Solomon, rightly I take it, interprets this, as another power play. A sneaky, conniving, power play.

[31:34] And in verse 24, he vows to wipe out, this new threat. And it doesn't take long. Verse 25, he sends his top soldier, Benaniah, to go and strike down Adonijah, and he does that.

[31:46] And like that, the threat against the kingdom is gone. Now again, just in case you fly off the handle at Solomon, and accuse him of excess, please remember, what I started the sermon off by saying.

[32:00] Adonijah, had the chance to show he was a worthy man. That is, if Solomon, was a hungry brute, who carried out callous killing, then he would have struck down Adonijah back in chapter 1, but he didn't.

[32:15] He gave him time to repent, to submit to the Lord's anointed. But eventually, Adonijah shows himself as true colors. He's not really interested in surrendering to God's king.

[32:29] Sadly, there are many in the church today who show themselves over time to be in Adonijah. Are there not? One part of their life, they claim to be under the Lord's king.

[32:42] But over time, they show their true colors. They show that their submission to Christ was only skin deep. So then, Adonijah is out of the way.

[32:58] And then Solomon deals with another threat from Abiathar in verse 26 and 27. And again, Abiathar had supported Adonijah in chapter 1. And it was treasonous.

[33:09] It was deserving of death. But again, notice, Solomon is not a callous, cold-hearted killer here. He doesn't execute Abiathar, although he could have. He could have diced him right there.

[33:21] But he doesn't. He spares his life, notice, on the account of the way that Abiathar had been faithful to the house of David in the past. Solomon shows mercy, and instead of killing this man, he takes him away from being a priest.

[33:37] He expels him from the position of priest to the Lord. And just look at the author's comment in verse 27. If you're in any doubt that this was a wrong move by Solomon, what does it say?

[33:49] It says Solomon was actually fulfilling the word of the Lord. Solomon was probably not aware of it at the time, but in rejecting Abiathar as priest, the Lord's word of judgment that he spoke back in 1 Samuel 2 against the house of Eli was finally fulfilled.

[34:06] So again, another threat arises, and it's taken away. And in verse 28 to 35, Solomon deals with Joab.

[34:18] And in verse 28, when Joab hears about what happened to Adonijah, he flees to the tent of the Lord, and he grabs onto the horns on the altar. Now, why does he do that?

[34:29] Answer, I have no idea. I've been thinking about this all week. He was definitely not trying to save his own skin because he knew that death was coming to him. And if you look at verse 30, he shouts and says, no, I will be put to death here.

[34:44] He knows that death is coming. I actually think that personally, he's taking up this stance to commit one final act of defiance against the house of David.

[34:56] And Benaniah says, come out here. Come out so I can kill you away from the tent of the Lord. And he goes, no, because yet still at the end of his life, he refuses to bow down to the Lord's King.

[35:09] And so Joab, in the end, gets what he asks for. Benaniah goes back to Solomon, and Solomon says, very well, go and do as he says. He is guilty, and justice needs to be done.

[35:20] He's not repented. And Joab is struck down for the murders that he's done and for siding with Adonijah.

[35:30] And he's buried out in the wilderness. And in verse 35, notice both of these religious leaders and top leaders are out of the way, Abiathar and Joab.

[35:41] What does Solomon do? Well, wisely, he installs loyal leaders, good leaders, leaders who will bring good for the kingdom. It bodes very well for the future.

[35:52] Solomon is making very good decisions in this chapter. Well, the final enemy of the kingdom to be dealt with in this passage is Shimei. And in verse 36 and 37, Solomon places him under a house arrest.

[36:08] But actually, it's not really a house arrest. It's more like a kind of village arrest. Because he is told, go and build a house in Jerusalem and stay in Jerusalem. Don't leave there.

[36:19] The day you leave Jerusalem is the day that you will die. You will be put to death for that. And again, these aren't the actions of a cold-hearted killer. I think Solomon's actually being really merciful to Shimei here.

[36:32] Yes, he does punish Shimei. And he does restrict his life. Remember, Jerusalem back then, it was probably only about 11 acres. Yeah? It was probably only about 2,000 people there.

[36:44] It was a very locked down existence. Restricted. So it was a punishment. And yes, he always lived with threat that if he moved out of Jerusalem, he would die.

[36:55] However, it could have been much, much worse for him, couldn't it? Solomon could have destroyed him then and there, but he doesn't. He shows him a severe mercy. And in verse 38, Shimei seems delighted with his outcome.

[37:09] He agrees. He says, that's a very good plan. That's a very good plan. You're not going to put me to death? Yes, that's a very good plan. And he ends up living there for a long time. But, one day, two of his servants go rogue and they run off to the country of Philistia, the Philistine country where Gath was.

[37:29] In order to get these two runaway slaves, Shimei leaves Jerusalem and goes and pursues them. And it was a really, really foolish decision.

[37:40] Solomon finds out about the trip and he summons Shimei and charges him with rebellion against the Lord's anointed. He also reminds him of the hatred and the harm that he did to David when he was king.

[37:52] And so, in verse 46, he is also struck down. Friends, how do you establish and secure the kingdom?

[38:04] Well, these verses say, again and again and again, by eliminating enemies of the kingdom. We might wince at the severity that this may require, yet there is no getting round it.

[38:19] If the kingdom is to be secure, then threats against it must be neutralized. About 20 years ago now, I was away with a trip, a group of people, a group of friends, Christian friends, to the country of Tanzania.

[38:34] And I was on a four-hour bus journey in the blistering heat from the capital city of Dar es Salaam all the way up into the north to a place called Moshi.

[38:46] There was this tiny wee minibus and we were all crammed in. And the first half an hour of the journey went by very pleasantly until somebody at the front of the bus let out a blood-curdling scream.

[38:59] It was terrifying. What had happened was one of the ladies was peacefully looking out the window and she just felt something on her shoulder. She turned round to see the biggest cockroach you will ever see in your life, probably the width of my palm, on her shoulder and it scurried at bullet pace onto her face.

[39:20] What did she do? She slapped it off her face like that. It landed on another lady's leg the other side of the bus. It slapped right across. For the next 30 seconds there was pandemonium and panic until one of the very experienced travellers in the group totally unfazed had got the cockroach which was in the middle of the bus by now and went and crushed it under his lovely Birkenstock sandals.

[39:50] Now doubtless some people when they hear that they may say especially if they're animal lovers may think well why not ignore the roach and just you know have a live and let live policy.

[40:03] Well I bet such folks have never been stuck in a small minibus with a beast of a cockroach. And do you know what? When that cockroach was eliminated peace came.

[40:15] Peace came. And sometimes it's like that and sometimes it must be like that and in 1 Kings chapter 2 it is like that. the security of the kingdom requires the elimination of its enemies.

[40:29] The kingdom must be preserved from those trying to destroy and undermine it. And friends if you don't let me just be gentle here if you don't like what Solomon says here you will not like what the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 13.

[40:44] Let me read to you Jesus' words in Matthew 13. This is him speaking about what he will do when he comes in all its fullness and brings in the kingdom in all its fullness. Jesus says so it will be at the end of the age the son of man that's Jesus' favorite way of referring to himself will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace in that place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[41:18] And then the righteous that is all those who've bowed the knee to Jesus and come to him for forgiveness the righteous real believers they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.

[41:32] He who has ears let him hear. One commentator puts it like this 1 Kings 2 shares the same kingdom theology as the rest of scripture.

[41:44] That is why 1 Kings 2 is such a searching text. The final Davidic king will follow the same principle that Solomon follows here in establishing his kingdom.

[41:55] Therefore your only safety and my only safety is submitting to the monarchy of Jesus. And very quickly if you do submit to the monarchy of the Lord Jesus what will happen?

[42:11] Well let's just jump back please to verse 7 and go back to these words of David on his deathbed to Solomon. Look at what he says because he doesn't just say to Solomon be warned about these men.

[42:22] He says something beautiful in these verses. Verse 7 Let me read that to you. Solomon deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite and let them be among those who eat at your table the royal table.

[42:40] Why? For with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. David was reminding Solomon to reward those who'd been loyal to him.

[42:52] And friends that is precisely what will happen in this age and also in the age to come for all those who trust in the Lord Jesus and show loyalty to him by showing love to his people.

[43:06] They will receive many good things from him now in this age such as the gift and the privilege of gathering round his table. That's what we're going to be doing shortly later in this service.

[43:17] to receive the means of grace through the sacrament. What a gift. And in the age to come the Lord will reward his good and faithful servants even more with even more goodness even more blessings than we can ever imagine.

[43:34] Our king will never forget acts of loyalty that we do especially if they're costly especially if we lose for him in this life.

[43:45] He will never forget just like King David never forget forgot these men here in verse 7. So let's let that spur us on to stand for Jesus all the more in our lives today.

[44:00] There's much more we could see from 1 Kings chapter 2 but remember this as we close. How is the kingdom established? How are we established in Christ by obedience to God's word to his covenant law and we're also the kingdom is also established we will be eternally established when all of our enemies are eliminated which of course is what the Lord Jesus has done is doing and will do completely on the day he comes.

[44:30] Well amen. Let's bow our heads together. We'll pray. Let's pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Our gracious heavenly father we pray that you will help us your kingdom people in Christ to walk by the obedience of faith all our days so that we will be established in him.

[44:59] We praise you that your son the triumphant Lord Jesus has defeated and is defeating the enemies of the kingdom so that nothing evil will exist in his new creation.

[45:15] Nothing that causes sin or evil or pain or sorrow will exist in that wondrous place. We praise you for our victorious and all powerful king and we pray that you will help us to keep trusting in him and to be loyal to him right to the very end.

[45:35] Father we cannot do this on our own not even David the greatest king of the Old Testament could do such a thing without your grace without your grace sustaining us and helping us.

[45:48] So please do that in us help us so that we will be with him and like him for all eternity and we pray this in his precious name Amen.