One Year Bible Monday, June 6th "David's Son Adonijah Tries to Steal the Throne from Solomon" "The Disciples Boldly Preach the Gospel on Trial"
Today we start in the first chapter of 1 Kings. This book will chronicle the transfer of David's kingship to his son, Solomon, the son of Bathsheba. Solomon becomes the third king in Israel.
Adonijah Claims the Throne
David had grown to a very old age so that even the blankets could not keep him warm. The $64,000 question was who would succeed him on the throne. His son, Adonijah thought he could self promote himself into being the next king. Adonijah strategically tried to form a team around him for take the throne. He managed to convince Joab, David's top commander, and Abiathar, the priest, but he could many others including Zadok and Nathan over to his side.
Not only did Adonijah appoint himself as king, but also through a party for himself, and even sacrificed sheep and cattle. But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Zadok the priest, or his brother Solomon to the feast. Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, and Nathan, the prophtet told King David what Adonijah was up to.
David Makes Solomon King
Fortunately David still had his "wits about him" and acted quickly to honor the vow he had made to Bathsheba before the Lord to make his son Solomon the king. So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoined Solomon with oil, and the trumpets were blown to signify the royal occasion. There was a banquet thrown was so filled with shouts of celebraion and joy, the earth seemed like it was shaking.
When Adonijah and Joab heard the raucous celebration, they wondered what was going on. Abiathar the priest, who was supporting Adonijah saw his son Jonathan running to them. When Jonathan informed them of all that was happening, the guests panicked. Adonijah knew his fake kingship was over, and he ran to the temple and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar asking God for Solomon to have mercy on him.
When Solomon heard of Adonijah's response and he called him in. Mercifully Solomon gave him his word that if he was loyal not a single hair on his head would be touched.
Adonijah is a good example of someone who tried to use God in order to put himself in power. David had always relied on God for everything and never assumed anything from God. In fact, he was a ruddy, young shepherd boy when he was called. The least likely of Jesse's sons to be called. God had made a covenant with David that he would not fail to have a descendant on the throne. And God would make the decision who that descendant would be.
One of the Ten Commandments is not to use God's name in vain and Adonijah is clearly breaking it. Make sure you don't use God's name to justify you are only doing to promote your own interests.
Peter and John before the Council
The religious leaders were not happy that so many people were coming to faith in Jesus based on the eyewitness accounts of him being raised from the dead. The estimates of the size of the church was now at 5,000 and growing by the minute. So the leaders had Peter and John arrested by the temple guard and put in jail.
The next day the rulers of the law, the priests, and the high priest, brought Peter and John before them. Importantly when Peter was called upon to testify, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had promised in Luke 12. This also gave Peter the opportunity to preach the gospel using a passage from Psalm 112. Finally, Peter says something very important as he boldly states,
"There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." 4:12
As an aside this verse alone dispels any notion that all religions lead to God. Peter makes it clear that there is no other name under heaven by which anyone can be saved. If there was, Jesus died for nothing. Galatians 2:21
This left the Council in a quandry. They could not believe the new boldness of these men and how well they spoke. They clearly could not deny what had happened to the lame man, so they thought they would let Peter and John off easy and just command them never again to teach in the name of Jesus. Notice it is not John and Peter preaching in their own name BUT in the name of Jesus. And this is specifically what they ask them not to do.
But Peter and John were having none of it and were not afraid of these men. They basically said, "You can do whatever you want to us but we will not stop teaching in Jesus' name." Now the leaders hands were tied. If they punished them, they may have a riot on their hands, so they let them go.
The Believers Pray for Courage
All this did was to embolden and encourage the believers. When they heard this news, they lifted their voices in prayer to God, quoting Psalm 2 where David prophesied about the kings of the earth gathering against the Lord's anointed One.
Listen to the power and conviction in their voices,
And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. 4:29-31
How would you like to go to a prayer meeting like that one? You can see the power of the Holy Spirit fueling everything the early church and its members.
The Believers Share Their Possessions
And lest we think they were "inward focused", we read in these last verses how everyone shared with everyone what they had so that no one was without.
Again notice the central theme, "The apostles testified powerfully about the resurrection of Jesus." The central preaching message from our pulpits should focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is what it means to preach the gospel. A lot of our preaching could be seen as law, or trying to get people to break bad habits. But the essential power we have to change our lives comes from the power of the resurrection of Jesus, which comes to use through the Holy Spirit.
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