1 Kings, Chapter 1 (part 2) - He Never Asked | Prophets of Israel Daily

[music] >> Shalom my friends. Welcome back to the Prophets of Israel daily. This is 1 Kings chapter 1 part 2. My name is Ari Bramson. I'm here with Jeremy Dimpel. You are in America right now. I think in the great [music] state of Florida. Yes, this is true. >> I'm in Florida. The weather here is better than it is in Texas. I don't know if that's just the way it is. I expected Florida in the summertime to be really hot, but then I meant to Houston, Texas and I don't think that I will ever experience a heat like Houston ever again. >> Yes, fourth generation Houstonian right here. It is the armpit of the universe. Anyways, it's good to see you Jeremy. And here we are. You know, yesterday we left off at the most dangerous moment in the chapter. King David is old and his health is failing. His son Adonijah has crowned himself at Ain Rogel with the with the general, with the priest, with 50 runners and a feast but without the king, without the prophet and ultimately without Hashem. And Nathan the prophet has just handed Bathsheba a plan. So she enters the inner chamber. She bows low and listen to what she says. Verse 17 and 18. Vatomer lo Adoni At My lord, you swore by Hashem your God to your maidservant. Solomon your son shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne. And now behold, Adonijah reigns and you my lord the king do not know it. And then she makes it personal. She makes it urgent. Verses 20 and 21. And you my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you to tell them who shall sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him. And when my lord the king lies with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as traitors. Now here's the question that I promised you yesterday Jeremy. That oath, where is it? Search the book of Samuel. It isn't there. We are never told that David swore this to Bathsheba. Not publicly, not privately, not once. So, what's happening here? Some understand it simply. David made a private vow to her in a quiet moment that the text just never recorded, and now she's calling it in. Others hear something more daring, that Bathsheba is taking what David has communicated to her, what she knows to be God's will, what Nathan, the prophet of Israel, has confirmed, and she's pressing it into the hardest possible way. She's putting the word oath into King David's mouth. And notice, David does not correct her. He doesn't say, "I never swore that." He swears it again on the spot in front of witnesses. Whatever it may have been before, it's an oath now. >> Yeah, I mean, my instincts are that it was an oath then, also, and that not everything is recorded in the Tanakh, because the Tanakh only records things that are really needed for every generation. If you say I quoted it, then that's just, I think, the reality of what was. But, first of all, I just don't think we need to rush past what these two are actually doing, cuz it's really masterful. I mean, look at these two speeches side by side. Bathsheba invokes the oath and the mortal danger to her son, and Nathan walks in a moment later, and never mentions the oath at all. Just his presence reminds David of the oath that he made. And instead, he goes somewhere totally different. He says, in effect, "My lord the king, did you decide this? Because Adonijah is down there right now sacrificing, feasting, and the people are shouting, 'Long live King Adonijah!' And you weren't told?" So, she goes for the king's conscience and his love, and then he goes for the king's authority. It's like two people with two completely different pressure points. And that's the theme of this whole chapter for me. The promise that would sit on the throne was a promise spoken years earlier, but that divine promise gets carried across the finish line by this old aging king, this courageous mom, and a prophet that's like willing to act. In redemption here, it doesn't happen. It doesn't fall from the sky. It rises through people who refuse to let the promise die and take action. Which by now, if you've joined us on this journey from the book of Joshua until now, that should sound very familiar. Emunah, Hebrew faith, is faith practiced with loyalty. >> That's right. It should sound very familiar not only from this story, but from the entire story of Israel. Hashem makes the promise, but then calls upon human beings to rise and to act and to become his partners in bringing that promise into the world. And then, my friends, something magnificent happens. The old lion wakes up. David, the man who a chapter ago couldn't get warm under a pile of blankets, summons Bathsheba back in and with a voice that suddenly carries the authority of the king of Israel, swears by God who redeemed him from every danger, verse 29 and 30, "As Hashem lives, who has redeemed my soul from every distress, your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place. So will I do this very day." "As Hashem lives, who redeemed my soul from every distress, even now at the very end, David sums up his entire life in a single phrase, one long story of redemption. From the lion and the bear, from Goliath, from Saul's spear, from Absalom's rebellion, in every chapter of his life, David saw the hand of Hashem carrying him. And with his last reserves of strength, he pours that lifetime of faith into one final act of kingship. And notice, he says, "This very day." Not tomorrow, not after a council or a committee, because as we've seen again and again on this journey, when the moment of truth arrives, redemption moves to her a fine in the blink of an eye. And the instructions come fast. Set on my mule. Bring him down to the Gihon Spring. Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet will anoint him there. Blow the shofar and declare, "Y'chi ha'Melech Shlomo." And Jeremy, I I want to slow down here on the Gihon Spring. Remember I said hold on to that? Because the sages ask, "Why there specifically?" And we learn that kings of Israel are anointed only beside a flowing spring. Perhaps as a sign that their kingship should flow onward and without end like living waters. I don't know. But but that's it's definitely true that that's the case. And my friends, I want you to understand that this is not a an ancient legend. That spring still flows today at the foot of the city of David, a few minutes walk from the old city walls. Jeremy, if my memory serves me correctly, you we have ritually immersed ourselves in those very flowing waters numerous times. Right? There's There's no disagreement about this one. We know where it is, and it's just so cool that we know the coronation site of the House of David. Um we know the GPS. You know, anyways, so it happens. Verse 39. V'yitk'u ba'shofar v'yomru Kol ha'am, "Y'chi ha'Melech Shlomo." And they blew the shofar, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon. Long live King Solomon." And the people stream up after him playing flutes, rejoicing with such joy that verse 40. And the earth split with their sound. The earth itself split from the sound of their joy. I'm sure it's a metaphor, but it definitely shows something. >> Yeah, well, Ari, I want to just put these two coronations side by side for a second. Adonijah, chariots, 50 runners, a curated guest list, a lavish feast, just like a full production. And Shlomo's is one borrowed mule, a horn of olive oil, a spring of water, and a shofar. That's it. Adonijah tried to look like a king, hoping that would make him one. was chosen to be the king. And so, he didn't need to put on a show. And I think that's one of the most meaningful ideas expressed in the life of David is becoming king. David and Bathsheba is by far David's worst sin, his biggest mistake. And like a living mirror, David is showing all of us that his biggest mistake ultimately becomes the king. It's like, that's what's going to outlive him. That's the one that's going to fulfill his lifelong dream of building a temple in Jerusalem. So, the Torah isn't just showing us that teshuvah can repair the wrong. It's that teshuvah can turn our sins into the temple itself. And that, I believe, is perhaps the final message of King David for all of us. >> It's so beautiful. It just that one message, that lesson in itself, makes all of this learning worth it. Just that one lesson itself. You know, it's just so beautiful. It's It's the message of ultimate hope. It's the message of redemption. That our greatest darkness can be transformed to our greatest light. Anyways, back to those two locations I asked you to hold on to where the two brothers were being crowned, En Rogel and the Gihon, they sit in the same valley system, just south of the city, a few hundred meters apart. close enough that a shofar blast at one is audible at the other. Two coronations happening simultaneously within earshot. And so Adonijah and his guests are mid-feast when the sound rolls up the valley. And Joab, the old general who has heard a thousand horns in a lifetime of war, lifts his head and says, "Why is the city in an uproar?" And then the news arrives. David has made king. The mule, the anointing, the Gihon, the whole city is ringing, and David, they report, bowed on his bed and blessed Hashem that his own eyes were able to behold the coronation of his son Solomon. And Adonijah's guests, verse 49, they trembled, rose up, every man to scattered his own way. That is what happens to a movement built on ego. One shofar blast of truth and it evaporates. So Adonijah runs and grabs the horns of the altar begging for his life. And here comes Shlomo's very first rule as king, his first ruling. Im ki ish chayil lo yippol misearato artza. If he shall be a worthy man, not a hair of his shall fall to the ground. But if evil is found in him, he shall die. That is what Solomon said. No revenge, no purge, justice with an open door. Your future, Adonijah, is in your hands now. Go to your house. Right, the first ruling tells you everything about the difference between these two brothers. Adonijah's instinct was to take. Shlomo's first instinct, with absolute power in his hands and the opportunity to consolidate his power by force, was restraint. The wisdom he became famous for is already there in his opening sentence as king. Now, I told you yesterday to keep your eye on cuz here's what what I wanted you to see here, Jeremy. Go back through the entire chapter. Like I said, read every verse. does not speak a single word until he's already king. He's excluded from a coronation and says nothing. His life is in danger and he says nothing. His mother pleads for him, a prophet maneuvers for him, a dying king swears for him, and he says [snorts] nothing. He's placed on a mule, brought to a spring, anointed and crowned, and only then, as king, does he open his mouth. Adonijah announced, "I will be king." and lost everything. announced nothing and received everything. >> You know, Ari, just striking me, it's exactly like his father. David out with the sheep, not even knowing that Samuel was on the way. Perhaps that's what Nathan the prophet recognized in Solomon. Because a crown, I mean, really everything everything true calling in life, it's not something that you can grab. It's something that you receive and then spend the rest of your life striving to become worthy of. And I can't help but feel like this is speaking to us today so profoundly, especially around election season. Cuz there's no question that we're living in a generation drowning in self-promotion. A generation of "I am love. I will be king." just like Adonijah declared. Everyone with their own 50 runners announcing their own brand. >> And Jeremy, I really think that's why when people ask me what I think about Israeli politics, who I support, who should win the next election, I find myself uninspired. Not because it's mostly the same old faces or because any particular candidate is so bad. I think it's because the leader I am truly waiting for, the leader that I believe this nation is ultimately waiting for, that we're all waiting for, is Mashiach, the true king of Israel. And I simply cannot picture Mashiach standing before the people declaring vote for me. I deserve to lead you. I'm the answer. I'm better than this guy and I'm better than that guy. The The true Mashiach would would feel the crushing weight of this mission. He would know the brokenness of the generation, what we've gone through, and the holiness of of the nation that he's being called to serve. And like Mosha and and Saul and David and Solomon, I don't believe his instinct would be to lift himself up. I believe he would he would have to be called. And here's the thing, Jeremy. I think this chapter is is is calling for us to keep a certain thing in mind. Natan didn't wait for Hashem to intervene. Batsheva didn't wait to be rescued. The promise was God's, but the courage, initiative, the action required to bring that promise into the world had to come from them. The promise of Mashiach ben David, Messiah the son of David, the restoration of that very throne anointed at the Gihon, is every bit as certain as the promise Natan carried. But promises get carried across the finish line by people who act. So, the question this chapter leaves us with, I believe, is simply will we be the Adonijahs of our generation or the Natans and the Batshevas, the ones who rise, who speak, who move so that the promise is fulfilled in our days? 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