{"id":1991,"date":"2019-02-21T21:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2019-02-17T22:36:14","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T05:36:14","slug":"1kings_2_13-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1kings_2_13-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Alert Against The Enemy’s Underhanded Tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Kings 2:13-27\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

There are many lessons we can learn from today’s passage, 1 Kings 2:13-27.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a02:17\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon–he will not refuse you–to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-18:\u00a0 Here Adonijah goes to Bathsheba the king’s mother with a request: he asks for Abishag the Shunammite as his wife.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It’s not because Adonijah was in love with Abishag, as beautiful as she was.\u00a0 Rather it was a political move.\u00a0 Remember that Abishag was effectively David’s last concubine.\u00a0 Abishag lived with David, took care of David, slept in the same bed as David, though she never had sexual relations with David (see 1 Kings 1:3-4). Back in David’s time, whoever controlled the king’s harem was viewed as controlling the kingdom.<\/p>\n

That’s why back in 2 Samuel\u00a016:22, when Absalom sets himself up as king in place of David, Absalom’s first move was to sleep with all of David’s concubines in public.\u00a0 It was his way showing he had control over the kingdom.<\/p>\n

That’s also why Solomon in verse 22 responds to Adonijah’s request, saying, “You might as well request the kingdom!”\u00a0 It’s because the smooth-talking Adonijah was looking to wrest control of the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands by taking David’s last concubine as his wife.\u00a0 I could just imagine that if Adonijah had been successful at marrying Abishag, he could announce to everyone: “Do you know what Abishag told me?\u00a0 She said that David’s wish had always been to give the kingdom to Adonijah.” Requesting Abishag as his wife was yet another attempt by Adonijah to seize the throne.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Just as Adonijah wanted to bind Abishag to him as his wife, our enemy Satan fights so hard to capture and bind people today.\u00a0 It’s because we are the bride of Christ, and if Satan can get us, he’s one huge step closer to getting the kingdom.\u00a0 So be on guard against Satan’s underhanded tactics in your life<\/strong>.\u00a0 Praise God that we belong to Jesus and that we are safe in His hands.<\/p>\n

(By the way, why does Bathsheba agree to bring Adonijah’s request to Solomon?\u00a0 See my comments below regarding verses 20-21.)<\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a02:19\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0 Notice how King Solomon responds when he sees his mother: he stands to meet her, bows down to her, and has a throne brought for her to sit on at his right hand.\u00a0 Here was the king of Israel showing honour to his mother.\u00a0 We too are to honour our parents (Ephesians 6:2-3).\u00a0 How well do you honour your parents?\u00a0\u00a0One measure of a person’s maturity in Christ is in how they treat their parents: not by worshiping them, not by vilifying them, but by showing them appropriate honour and respect.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 2:20-21 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>“I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.” The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.”
\n21\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-21:\u00a0 Here Bathsheba goes to King Solomon with Adonijah’s request to marry Abishag.\u00a0 Why did Bathsheba agree to do this for Adonijah?\u00a0 One theory is that Bathsheba was stupid or naive, but I don’t think that was the case.\u00a0 Remember that Bathsheba was now the queen mother.\u00a0 She of all people must have been especially sensitive to any potential threat to her son.\u00a0 I believe Bathsheba agreed to bring Adonijah’s request to Solomon because Bathsheba knew how Solomon would respond to such a request.\u00a0 I believe Bathsheba saw this as an opportunity for Solomon to finally deal with the threat of Adonijah.\u00a0 Rather than dealing with the threat herself, she wisely decided to let her son the king deal with it.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Parents,\u00a0part of empowering your kids and setting them up for success is trusting them to make decisions for themselves when they are old enough<\/strong>.\u00a0 It’s about giving your kids, when they are old enough, the freedom to choose, even if it means letting them make mistakes and letting them learn from them.<\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a02:23\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 22-25:\u00a0 King Solomon responds to Adonijah’s request with anger and indignation.\u00a0 Previously King Solomon had shown Adonijah great mercy by sparing Adonijah’s life despite his treasonous actions (1 Kings\u00a01:53).\u00a0 Now, King Solomon is unable to keep allowing the possibility of further rebellion from Adonijah.\u00a0 He has Adonijah executed.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0 Adonijah never learned his lesson.\u00a0 He continued his underhanded, self-promoting ways and tried repeatedly to seize the throne from Solomon.\u00a0 As a result, his life came to an abrupt end.\u00a0 Similarly,\u00a0it is silly and foolish to keep rebelling against God and God’s plan, to keep insisting on grabbing the throne that belongs to another Son whom God has chosen (Jesus)<\/strong>.\u00a0 True happiness comes not from grabbing for power that is not yours, but embracing the calling and identity God has for you.<\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a02:27\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n27\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD, fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 26-27:\u00a0 Solomon also removes Abiathar, one of Adonijah’s biggest supporters, from the priesthood, thereby fulfilling a prophecy Samuel had spoken about Abiathar’s family (1 Samuel 2:30-35).\u00a0 \u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God is faithful to His promises and will fulfill them in His way and His time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, may I not be like Adonijah, who took the mercy he was shown for granted, who kept trying to promote himself, who kept\u00a0grasping for a throne that did not belong to him, and\u00a0<\/em>who never learned his lesson.\u00a0 Thank You that my happiness does not come from grasping for that which is not mine, but in embracing the calling and the plan You have for me.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

There are many lessons we can learn from today’s passage, 1 Kings 2:13-27.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a02:17\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0
\n17\u00a0So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon–he will not refuse you–to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses 13-18:\u00a0 Here Adonijah goes to Bathsheba the king’s mother with a request: he asks for Abishag the Shunammite as his wife.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It’s not because Adonijah was in love with Abishag, as beautiful as she was.\u00a0 Rather it was a political move.\u00a0 Remember that Abishag was effectively David’s last concubine.\u00a0 Abishag lived with David, took care of David, slept in the same bed as David, though she never had sexual relations with David (see 1 Kings 1:3-4). Back in David’s time, whoever controlled the king’s harem was viewed as controlling the kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1993,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions\/1993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}