PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: 1 Kings 1-2
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, ‘Go to your home.'” (1 Kings 1:53)
God is establishing David’s kingdom (1 Kings 2:46) by rooting out rebellion.
David’s son offers mercy to Adonijah and Shimei, but both of them abuse it.
We need to read their stories in light of 2 Samuel 16.
There Shimei curses David, treats his position with contempt.
There Absalom sleeps with his father’s concubines, to dishonour his father.
In these chapters Adonijah and Shimei are repeating their sins, after Solomon’s mercy.
In other words, though they kneeled before the king, they did not submit.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
On the last day when Jesus returns, everyone will bow whether they want to or not.
He will come with mercy, but only those who want it will experience it.
Whoever rejects God’s humble, gracious, merciful servant king will be sent ‘home’.
The final judgment is not God’s revenge, but the king giving people what they want.
No one will be sent to ‘hell’ against their will; it will be the ‘home’ they choose.
PRAYER
Lord, you will be merciful to the very end. It is not those who plead for mercy who will lose it, but those who defiantly refuse to submit, even after being offered mercy. They will get what they want.
Punishment – judgement will come on rebels. In many ways we are rebellious too! There is a day of reckoning for me too! But thanks be to God, I have a Redeemer who will stand for me – even though I don’t deserve it!
Always wondered why Solomon was so brutal to Adonijah based on his request. I realize now that if I was in Solomon’s shoes, I wouldn’t have been too happy about someone taking advantage of my mom’s good heart to try to usurp a kingdom, knowing full well the nuances of politics may escape her, and he’d probably kill everyone in the palace if he succeeded.
Once again I am reminded to walk in His ways, keeping His laws/rules, walking in faithfulness in His presence. I am not my own but belong to my Lord and Saviour who will guard and guide me in all my activities today. Every day I need to go forward in that power.
Loved with everlasting love,
drawn by grace that love to know,
Spirit sent from Christ above,
thou dost witness it is so.
O this full and precious peace
from his presence all divine;
in a love that cannot cease,
I am his and he is mine.