Defeating The Conspiracy

As David had gotten older, he became distracte with his health issues and wasn’t paying as much attention to leading the country.  He hadn’t realized his son Adonijah was plotting to take over the kingdom until Nathan and Bathsheba approached him about it.  When he realized what was happening, he took immediate steps to see that things were done the way he intended, in I Kings 1:32-35.  “And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.  The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.  Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”

The old leader can make a tremendous difference in how smoothly a transition goes by letting the people know what is expected.  The Israelites were thrilled to know what David intended and were glad to follow his plans, as I Kings 1:36-40 tells us.  “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.  As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.

So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.  And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.  And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.”

Adonijah and his followers were celebrating declaring him as king when they heard the celebration about the mation declaring Solomon king.  At first they didn’t know what was happening, but a short time later, Abiathar’s son Jonathan came to tell them what had happened, in I Kings 1:41-48.  “And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?

And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings.

And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king.  And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule: And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard.  And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.  And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed.  And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.”

Suddenly the people realized that their crowning Adonijah meant little if David and the rest of the nation had crowned Solomon and David’s army was backing him.  Their attempt to make Adonijah king was an attempt to bypass the people’s will and was an act of treason.  They all began to distance themselves, leaving Adonijah to face the music by himself, in I Kings 1:49-50.  “And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.  And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.”

Fearing Solomon’s ire, Adonijah fled to the temple for sanctuary.  Solomon promised not to punish kin for his actions as long as he made a point of doing what was right, but that if he went against what was right again he would be executed for what he had done, in I Kings 1:51-53.  “And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.  So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.”

This is the proper way of giving sanctuary.  If no one hads been seriously hurt by the person, he can be given a second chance, and his crime overlooked, but if he does not take it seriously, committing even a minor crime in the future, he should be penalizedfor both crimes.  Sanctuary does not ignore the fact that he has committed a crime, it just allows him not to pay the penalty immediately.  The idea of giving a person a second chance is a scriptural idea, but the idea of giving him amnesty is not.  We will see more on this subject in I Kings 2.