Defiance Defeated (Part B)

Now, he tells us here in verses 32 and 3 that David's special forces, his mighty men, they are loyal to him and they are there. The loyalty of a believer scares hell.

Enough to attack because he gets things done. That's why. When hell trembles, it's something we do. It's not because they're just trembling. It's effective if it holds.

All the troublemakers would be alarmed. YHWH lives. He is alive. He's real. And he has redeemed my life from every distress. And so what I'm shivering as I'm saying it.

He is still my deliverer. And then, of course, Paul just echoes it, as I mentioned, in 2 Timothy 3.11 and 2 Corinthians 2. I know that there are times in my life that I just get sick of it. And I know what the Lord says. You don't have that option. Soldiers don't have an option to be sick of war.

They have to fight the battles. You don't say, I'm just not in the mood today. And I can remember times, knowing this, repeating that, saying, I'm just not in the mood today. I'm just not in the mood today. And I can remember times, knowing this, repeating that to myself.

I know I have not the right to be sick of this, but I am. And yet, here I am, preaching the Gospel still. And my struggles are nowhere near as David and Paul. It doesn't have to be.

They were big to me, as yours are big to you. Trust God. That's what the Bible says.

God could have just wrote two words, and we would have had a very short Bible study every Sunday. Trust God. But then he says, I know that's not enough.

They need to know about me. He illustrates it through so many ways. Well, verse 30 now.

Just as I swore to you by Yahweh God of Israel, saying, assuredly, Solomon, your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, so certainly I will do this day. So David is charged now. And this may have been the turning point in his health. He may have just been enough to just revive him, because I think he's emotionally pretty hot. Because he's an emotional guy. Read the Psalms. Now, he's not emotionally driven, but his emotions, you know, he doesn't ignore them.

He uses them. And that's why the Psalms speak to us so much, because we can just hear him say, as the deer pants for the water, so my soul longeth for you. And then, of course, Psalm 23, after, you know, he makes the table, prepares the table before me in the presence of my enemies. Well, I don't want a table in front of my enemies. I want airstrikes.

I want something to take them out. He anoints my head with oil. My cup runs over.

I mean, he's just so articulate. Then he says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord. When I die, if I die, I will be in heaven before hell knows I'm dead. That's how fast God's going to move, because we who believe, we don't die. We just change duty stations. We're just here, and then we're there.

Man, it's just amazing. Well, oh, verse 31 now. So after David says, I certainly will do it this day, then Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth and said, whew, and paid homage to the king and said, let my Lord, King David, live forever.

Now, that's an ironic statement. He doesn't want to live forever like he is now, but it is in court etiquette. David is like, no, I'm ready to go home. Verse 32, and King David said, call me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaniah the son of Jehoiada. So they came before the king. You hear the court, Abishak and the rest of them are like, ooh, it's on. Then verse 33, David said to them, take with you the servants of your Lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.

So he's not just starting, but he is clear on what has to happen. Now, Gihon selected for its water source as Enrogel was selected for its well, well at Enrogel chosen by Adonijah. David says, Gihon, that's the spring, and I believe the lower elevation in the temple, but they channeled it to the temple area. That's, again, the location of the temple, not the conventional area where the Antonio fortress is. Anyway, why are these men having these events by the water?

Well, because all the animal sacrifice, all the blood and the washing is necessary to conduct the sacrifices. So that's why they're there. And I also believe, again, the elevation different, but Ornan's threshing floor that David bought from him is not far from there either.

They are about a mile, less than a mile from where Adonijah is just around the bend. So when the crowds start kicking in, they're going to hear it. Now, he tells us here in verses 32 and 3 that David's special forces, his mighty men, they are loyal to him, and they are there. The loyalty of a believer scares hell enough to attack because it gets things done. That's why. When hell trembles, it's something we do. It's not because, you know, they're just trembling. It's because it's effective if it holds.

All the troublemakers would be alarmed at the mention that these men were with David and loyal. That's what I mean. It does count. It means something. And this reference to the mule, that at this point, in this period in Israel's history, there was the preferred upper class mode of travel.

They went to war. It would be a horse. Kings were not to multiply the horses, but they could ride them.

They were not prohibited from riding them. Our Lord returns on a horse, and he's coming back as, you know, with no nonsense. He's not coming as the Lamb of God towards his enemies.

He's coming as the Lion of Judah. Revelation 19-11, Now I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. You just kind of love how the Bible just all ties right in. Don't we appreciate a piece of furniture where, you know, the little dovetails, everything fits so nicely.

Man, this is craftsmanship. Well, the Bible, of course, is that way. Verse 34, There, let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel and blow the horn and say, Long live King Solomon. How about that? The Bible doesn't give us David saying things like that.

How about that? Because, you know, he knows Joab, you know, that guy, that guy. He just got under David's skin so many times, and now he's over there defected as far as David's concerned. His loyalty is gone, and Abiathah, who is, you know, David showed so much kindness, and it elevated him.

He can't believe it. The shofar here, when it says that they were to blow the horn, that's the shofar, the ram's horn, mainly a signaling device, not an instrument. You don't go to a concert that, you know, it's Ira blowing the shofar.

It would be a different horn for that. Anyway, verse 35, Then you should come after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place, for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah. The distinction, Israel and Judah, probably suggests that the publication of 1 Kings was either during the exile or after the exile. It would have been almost redundant to say Israel and Judah when the kingdom was united.

Yeah, that's neither here nor there, but it's just a point you can't miss, shouldn't miss. Verse 36, Benaniah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen, may Yahweh God of my Lord the king say so too. Benaniah, the captain of David's personal guard, he couldn't constrain himself, not any longer. He blurts out with a hearty Amen.

Yeah, that's it right there. And this is from a man of valor, so much so that when the record is taken to Adonijah, they quote Benaniah's words, these words, because that's the impact it had. So here they are on the king's court, and the king says, bring my mule, come anoint him, take him down to Gihon, he's given these directives, and when he's done, Benaniah says, Amen, Amen. He's like, man, yeah, that's what I've been wanting you to say, king.

He's expressing his allegiance and his delight in the king's orders and his choice before God. He's the kind of man who let you know where he stood. He's the kind of man that if he didn't like you, you knew about it. You didn't have to say, I don't think he likes me, because he didn't if he got that far.

And you know, you just love it. So, 2 Samuel 23, just here's a little blurb about his life. Benaniah, the man who just said, Amen, may Yahweh God of my Lord the king say too. It says that he had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab, he also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a snowy day, and he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. He was very good at calculus and invented the first motor in Israel.

No, it doesn't say all that. But he was just this Wario. So this is a powerful moment. There's no script here. David's not expecting it.

He's giving his directives. Bathsheba and Nathan are going, yeah, we got this. And then Nathan, Benaniah is like, finally, yes, this is the one. And he's going to be loyal to Solomon too. Solomon says he needs to go kill him, pew. Verse 37, Yahweh has been with my Lord the king, even so, may he be with Solomon. Let me reread that, because Benaniah is still speaking. As Yahweh has been with my Lord the king, even so, may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my Lord, King David.

This is beautiful. What was he supposed to say? Can Solomon's throne be less than yours, O David?

Because I really like you more. That would have been terrible. That would have been a curse. What was he supposed to say? Should he say, should it be the same, stagnant, you know, no more advancement and development? No, he's wise enough to say, may our kingdom continue to grow and expand through your son, your appointment, by God, loyal to Solomon as he was loyal to David. Hell is afraid of loyalty. He's afraid of servants like this, and they're hard to find. We have a good amount here in this church, and may it always be so.

And may you spread like wildfire. Loyalty means something, and it hurts to be loyal. Sometimes, not all the time. You're going to have times where you're going to have to see, well, let's see if your loyalty card is up to date. And me too.

Verse 38. I'm going to pause. One more thing about loyalty.

When it is absent, and you know it should be present, you notice it. You say, man, they blew it. They were that close, and they blew it.

They gave it all up. But when it stands, it's magnificent. The charge of the light brigade, they confused the order, and it was just madness. But one of the generals watching makes a comment as he's watching these light cavalry charge these cannons, and they prevailed, incidentally. He says, it is magnificent, but it's not war. He's saying, it's actually pretty stupid, but it's courageous. And these men were loyal. This was the suicide mission they were sent on. Well, if the world can do this, why can't we Christians do it? History is loaded with unbelievers being loyal to their cause.

Most of the time, loyal to their comrades more than their state, but sometimes both. Verse 38. So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaniah the son of Jehoiath, and the Cherithites and the Perithites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and took him to Gihon.

It's like he's driving like the king's sedan. I mean, his official secret service is all around him, and he's got the flags, and he is now the king in the process of. We don't read about these bodyguards, the Cherithites and the Perithites, who were likely Philistines, after David's death.

Maybe they were disbanded or absorbed into different units, restructuring. We won't read about them after David. Verse 39. Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon, and they blew the horn. And all the people said, long live King Solomon. Well, when they took the oil from the tabernacle, it had like three different places going on.

It's probably the Moses tabernacle that was currently in Gihon, and he had it with him. I don't know. It's not an important point.

I wrestled with those things, so we'll just move on and pass it. Because I say, well, where did he get the oil? I mean, it's special oil.

It's patented. He couldn't just go buy it at the market. It had to be the primary place of worship. That will come back into the story when Solomon gets, he's going to have a second coronation, and he's going to go up to the temple to do it, and we'll get to that in the latter chapters. Verse 41. Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating, and when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, why is the city in such a noisy uproar? And the angel sitting by said, you'll find out.

So just around the bend, noise reaches them. Verse 42. While he was still speaking, there came Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest. And Adonijah said to him, come in, for you are a prominent man, and bring good news. What a doof ball. It's snobby.

Come in, for you're good enough. And it just reflects who he is. Furthermore, there's no connection between being prominent and bringing good news. Prominent people can bring bad news. God is prominent, I would say, and he sometimes brings bad news. Adonijah never gives us a reason to like him. Arrogant people don't.

And I pray that this is not us. I mean, these are the lessons that come out of the scriptures, you know. I don't want to be like this guy.

I don't want to be where everybody dislikes me unless they can get something from me. Joab and Abiathar had their own personal interest in getting behind this guy. Verse 43. Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, no, no, our Lord King David has made Solomon king.

Oh, to have a picture of their faces when that news came out of his mouth. Jonathan was one of the spies on David's behalf when Solomon took Jerusalem. And it was Jonathan and, I forget the other one with him, they would funnel news out to David from the city.

David had told the priest, go back to the city, send me these messages. And now he's not with Adonijah, but his father, Abiathar, is the kohai priest and he is there. And we don't know what's in Jonathan's head except he's coming to say, hey dad, you got trouble. Verse 44. The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaniah, the son of Jehudah, Cherariah, and the palatites, and they have made him ride on the king's mule, and I saw it with my own eyes, and you boys are in big trouble. Verse 45. So Zadok the priest and Nathan, incidentally, these are the guys you didn't invite. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you've heard.

Oh man, this is worse than getting a subpoena. It's like, oh man, he's going to kill us. That's because they're defiant. Verse 46. So Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom. Now that's what he has said, but he's not done telling them. He was there. He's telling them what's going on, as I mentioned.

Well, I'll mention this instead. Solomon, according to 1 Kings 11, is 20 years old here, and he'll reign for 40 years. We're about 970 years before the coming of Christ, and he's going to expand the kingdom over 50,000 square miles.

He's going to be the dominant influence in the region, from Egypt to Syria to the borders of Mesopotamia. Solomon is going to do some great things according to men, but spiritually he's going to flop. Verse 47.

And moreover, the king's servants have gone to bless our Lord, King David, saying, may God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may he make his throne greater than your throne, then the king bowed himself on his bed. So those are Benaiah's words that Jonathan is repeating, because it hit Jonathan like a bombshell. And so before he even says what David says, he says this is what Benaiah said, and you don't want to be on his bad side. Those are the words he remembered, because that moment, again, was a profound moment.

It was one of those things you had to be there to feel it in the room. Verse 48. Also the king said thus. Now he's going to say what David said, other than just bowing when David acknowledges all of this. Verse 48. The king said, Blessed be Yahweh God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see it. That seals the throne for Solomon. And David recalls a covenant with Yahweh made in 2 Samuel 7 there with Nathan. Verse 49. So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid and arose, and each one went his way.

Kind of lying at the hat check booth for valet parking, what are you doing, waiting for my chariot or whatever. They were deceived by their own pride. These guys thought they could pull it off. Joab said with my support and the priests Adonijah, we can make this happen. Obadiah the prophet, he writes about the Edomites who had fortified themselves in the region where they were, Petra being one of the rock cities where they were fortified and they felt invincible.

And they were inveterate enemies of the Jews. So Obadiah writes about God's judgment on them. And he says, The pride of your heart has deceived you.

You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, you who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground. And of course Yahweh's going to, you want me to Edomite, you won't be at Wal-Mart, where are you from? You're not from around here, I'm from Edom.

Well, what do you eat in Edom? Anyway, okay, so, deceived by pride, a bonus lesson here in this chapter. Verse 50. Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. To which altar again, you know, again there's Gibeon, Mount Zion, possibly one at the threshing floor, I mean he's just not sure. If you inadvertently committed a crime in Israel, certain crimes, you could gain asylum by grabbing the horns of the altar and say, hey I'm on base, you have enough evidence to kill me. Exodus 21, 14 however says, but if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die. And that is precisely what is going to happen to Adonijah when he again tries subterfuge to take the throne from Solomon.

And here Solomon's going to pardon him, but he has grounds already because this is treachery and it is against the life of Solomon, they would have understood it that way. Now the horns on the altar, you know, the power of the animal. Horns and tusks, they let you know this thing can hurt you pretty quickly. I mean a mouse, if he had horns you'd probably be a little bit more careful with him.

But antlers on a mouse, but it would be real hard to pull a sleigh for a mouse. Anyhow, it speaks of the power and authority that belongs to the things God is doing. Anyway, verse 51, and so it was told Solomon saying, indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, good reason. For look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar saying, let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. Well, he's not in a position to negotiate.

He's wanting for himself what he likely would not give to anybody else, typical of his type of character. Verse 52, then Solomon said, if he proves himself worthy, verse 52, not one hair of his head shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die. So this is Adonijah's invitation to support God's choice and to be loyal to Solomon. So go back to my earlier statement, when loyalty is absent, we notice it. And it's not a glorious moment.

It's inglorious. He will do neither. He will not honor God's choice and he will not be loyal to Solomon and that will be his downfall. Verse 53, so King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar and he came and fell down before King Solomon and Solomon said to him, go to your house.

He was shocked. So he's escorted into the presence of his brother, his younger brother, King Solomon, stepbrother, where he renders homage to him. He follows the court etiquette, but his heart is not submitted. In 2 Kings, he will make the attempt to take the throne, which as I've repeatedly said, executed. God was always with Solomon, on Solomon's side, when Solomon answered the call of obedience to God. And far as Yahweh is it, but when Solomon starts bringing in, tolerating, that's the right, I think, choice of words for him, when he started tolerating false ideas about God, that's when it crumbled. But defiance is defeated. The king prevails. New Testament will close with this verse. Philippians 2 11, every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, the defiance will be defeated.

And those who are saved are no longer defiant or are not defiant. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

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