Who Is the Son of David? | 1Kings 1:1-2:46

Well, if you have a Bible or someone nearby has a Bible, point it to First Kings—the Old Testament book of First Kings. I’ll give you a couple of minutes to find it. Just a hint if you’re having a hard time finding it: First Kings comes before Second Kings. So, if you went to Second Kings, just go back—you found it.

First Kings chapter 1. We’re beginning a new series in the book of Kings. So, as you’re finding your way there, let me pray and then we’ll go ahead and get started.

May grace and peace be multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. For the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our Lord remains forever. Amen.

The Background of Kings

Kings is explanation. It’s one book in two parts—a historical narrative. We don’t know who wrote the book of Kings. It’s possible that it was the prophet Jeremiah. We do know that this book was written sometime after the city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and the people of God were carried off into exile.

This book, which will take up the subject of our study for the next few months, was written to them. It was written for us, but it was written to them. It explains to them how this exile happened to them and why. It helps the exiled people of God to grapple with the hard question: “How did we get here?”

There’s a lot going on in the background of the book of Kings, and the author just assumes that you, the reader, understand the story. So as we spend the next few months working our way through these books together, I will by God’s grace—and whoever else teaches this series—fill in the blanks and hopefully explain what’s happening in the background.

Kings covers a period of four centuries, from the death of King David somewhere around the year 970 BC all the way to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. To understand why we have this book, why it’s in the Bible, and what good and usefulness it is to us, let us attempt to put ourselves in the sandals of the original audience: exiles in Babylon with the temple in ruins, severed from the land that God had promised to them, generations of God’s own people wiped out, wondering, “If Yahweh is good and all-powerful, then why are we here? How could this happen?”

Kings answers the questions: God is good. God is all-powerful. And before the Babylonians broke down the city walls, Israel’s sin hollowed the stones. Knowing this as the background of Kings will help us when we read people and kings in this book doing dubious, questionable things. It’s part of the narrative tension in the book that we’re meant to feel. Understand that historical narrative like this is not all endorsement, but it is all explanation. How did we get here? Here’s how.

More than anything, the book of Kings builds expectation for a Savior—for the King who is greater than all the kings featured in this book. God’s people have been disoriented in exile, longing for someone to come and save them. All of the streams of 1 and 2 Kings flow to the ocean of Jesus Christ and His gospel. As much as the Lord would enable us, let us follow those streams to the ocean.

First Kings 1:1–4 — The Impotent King

That’s the setup. Here is the central claim of the first two chapters of 1 Kings: The throne belongs to God’s chosen king, and all who exalt themselves against him will fall.

Let’s pick up reading 1 Kings chapter 1. Everyone there? Okay.

“Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. Therefore his servants said to him, ‘Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.’ So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.”

First Kings picks up where 2 Samuel left off. David—Yahweh’s chosen king, the giant slayer, the lion killer, the kingdom conqueror, the military genius, the psalmist, the bard, the shepherd of Israel, the man after God’s own heart—is old, cold, quiet, and dying. During David’s great life, there wasn’t an enemy he couldn’t defeat. But here we see the enemy of sin and death is proving too great. Now he’s old and he can’t get warm.

His servants love him, they’re loyal to him, and they’re doing everything they can to help him. They come up with an idea: “Let’s get a young woman and put her in the king’s bed, and she will keep him warm.” Well, why not ask one of his wives? This may be the first sign that not all is as it should be.

You see, God told Israel that He would give them kings, and God gave them laws for how these kings were to rule. One of the laws for the kings was that they should not acquire many wives for themselves. Yet King David, at this point in his life, has at least eight wives and something like ten concubines. Any one of David’s wives or concubines could have done the job, but things are not as they ought to have been. So the servants hold a beauty pageant, find the most beautiful virgin in the kingdom—a woman called Abishag the Shunammite—and bring her to the king.

. Why did she have to be young? Why did she have to be beautiful? David is a 70-year-old man at this point. But the servants suppose—you’ll forgive the expression—that they can jumpstart his old body. If the king can sire more children, then perhaps he can reclaim some of his former glory. Oh, but look at verse four: The king knew her not. The king is old, cold, quiet, and impotent. There’s no more riding into battle. There’s no more winning glory and fame. There’s no more building the royal household. This king is impotent.

A Negligent King & The Promise of a Son

But that’s not all this king is. This king is also negligent. David was Israel’s first official king. During his reign, the Lord entered into a covenant with David. Let me encourage you this afternoon to read 2 Samuel chapter 7. God promised that He would provide a dynasty to the house of David—that the son of David would sit on the throne of Israel, and he would rule the people of God.

More than that, David’s son wouldn’t be just David’s son; David’s son would be God’s son. God would be like a father to him in the same way that Adam was the son of God and Israel was the son of God. David’s son will be the son of God. Not only that, he will be the mediator of the covenant of Abraham and the mediator of the covenant of Moses. As goes the king, so goes the kingdom. The whole nation of Israel is embodied in one man: the son of David.

Second Samuel 7 is a massive chapter. God identifies the son of David as the fulfillment of the long-awaited prophecy from the very beginning. In the beginning, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, a curse fell upon them, and the Lord spoke of one to come who would be the offspring—the seed of the woman—who would crush the serpent’s head, destroying the enemy of God and the offspring of the enemy. So the son of David is the seed of the woman that would crush the seed of the serpent.

All of that is behind what’s going on in the opening verses of 1 Kings. As King David lay dying, these great expectations were for this son of David to come, and that time is almost here. But notice: David’s successor has not been anointed, and David is almost dead. This king has been negligent. This is brilliant writing, by the way. You see what the author is doing? As goes the king, so goes the kingdom. David is impotent; David is negligent. Israel has been impotent; Israel has been negligent.

First Kings 1:5–10 — Enter Adonijah

Now, David, with eight wives and ten concubines, has many sons. Which of the sons of David is the son of David? Well, one man has an answer. Enter Adonijah, son of Haggith. Pick up reading at verse 5:

“Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. His father [that’s David] had never at any time displeased him by asking, ‘Why have you done thus?’ He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David’s mighty men were not with Adonijah. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened calves by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.”

Once again, the author of Kings assumes his readers know the Bible. Those who have read 2 Samuel know we’ve been here before. David’s family is a mess—like Netflix-docuseries-level mess. David was a great king and a terrible father. He had many sons by many women. Adonijah was the fourth oldest of David’s sons and the oldest living of David’s sons. As the oldest living, that made him, to many people, heir apparent.

Well, where were his other sons? David’s first son, Amnon, raped his half-sister, Tamar, and was consequently murdered by David’s third son, Absalom. King David got angry with his son Absalom, but refused to reconcile with him. The Bible says that Absalom was a beautiful man with glorious hair—like Jason Momoa-glorious hair. The people loved Absalom almost as much as Absalom loved Absalom. And Absalom tried to make himself king.

Second Samuel 15 tells us the story, and it might sound a little familiar: Absalom got himself a chariot and horses and 50 men to run before him. So yes, we’ve been here before. Absalom fails and dies in battle. First son, second son—third son, we don’t know anything about; he must have died at some point along the way. But we do know David’s fourth son, Adonijah, exalted himself and said, “King me.”

We read that David handled Adonijah about the same as he handled his other sons, which is to say he didn’t handle them at all. Verse 6 says that he never questioned Adonijah, never displeased him at all. The dad never disciplined his son his whole life. Which makes Adonijah a handsome man—royalty, rich, and undisciplined. I’ll bet he was just a joy to be around.

Adonijah is scheming. He confers with Joab, the king’s cousin, who is the commander of the armies of Israel. He confers with Abiathar, the high priest of Israel. This boy knows what he’s doing. He’s accumulating powerful allies and friends.

But notice who’s missing: most notably, perhaps, Nathan the prophet—the one who speaks God’s word. There is no prophet conferring with Adonijah. Adonijah seemingly wants nothing whatsoever to do with anyone who speaks God’s word.

When the author tells us that Adonijah makes himself king by the Serpent’s Stone, he’s laying on the clues thick. Things are bad. Adonijah is just Absalom 2.0, exalting himself as king while neglecting God’s words—holding a coronation for himself at a place that literally means “the slithering.” The author wants us to see that Adonijah is the seed of the serpent, not the true son of David.

Counter-Moves and the True Anointed King

Nathan the prophet isn’t the only one missing from this party, is he? Adonijah invited all of his brothers except for one. Well, why is that? Did they just forget to send the invitation? No, Adonijah knew what the original readers would have known: that the one who was to sit on the throne of David—the son of David—had already been announced by God. Adonijah knows that. So he’s being preemptive: getting himself an army, getting himself the priesthood, and gathering the royal family together to declare, “I’m the king, not him! I got here first!”

You read in verse 11 and following that Nathan the prophet steps in and goes to David’s wife, Bathsheba. Many of you will recognize that name. One day long ago, when King David was at the height of his glory and power—at a time of the year when he ought to have been out with his army fighting bad guys—he was back home taking a walk on the balcony of his palace. He looked down and saw a woman bathing, and he lusted after her. Her husband wasn’t at home because he was out fighting David’s battles. So David took her into his own bed, and she got pregnant. But God exposed him through the prophet Nathan.

Bathsheba bore David five sons. The first died in infancy, and the youngest was called Solomon. It is Solomon whom God chosen to sit in King David’s place.

The prophet Nathan engineers counter-moves against Adonijah. This is not political intrigue; this is acting upon God’s promises. He tells Bathsheba to go to her husband, the king, and say (quoting verses 17 and 18):

“My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it.”

All throughout this narrative, David is being presented to us as clueless and powerless. He can’t keep himself warm. He doesn’t speak when he needs to speak. He doesn’t do what he needs to do. He doesn’t know Abishag. He doesn’t know Adonijah is king. What does he know at all? He has to be prompted by others to do what the king is supposed to do.

Now, finally—finally—this impotent king speaks. Finally, he’s been aroused from his slumber, and David confirms that Solomon is God’s choice. So he calls Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the warrior, and he has Solomon sit on his own mule and ride not to the Serpent’s Stone, but to Gihon, a place of springs. There the prophet and the priest anoint the true son of David as king over Israel. They blow the trumpet: “Long live King Solomon!” All the people go up after him singing, and the Bible says that the earth was split with the noise.

The Grace of God Shown to Bathsheba

Before we move on to chapter 2, I would like to point out something that I’ve noticed here regarding God’s grace. The most powerful man in her world took her into his bed, used her, killed her husband, and forced her into a marriage. This woman endured the loss of her husband and of her child; her home was shattered.

Here is proof, sisters, that regardless of your past, what horrible sins have been committed against you, or what sins you have committed yourself, this God is a God of grace. What sins have been done to you do not have the final word. God sees you, God is not done with you, and when you are surrendered to Him, God will use you to put His Son on the throne.

Adonijah’s Mercy & The True Son of David

So, the rightful king of Israel takes the throne, and Adonijah knows he’s in trouble. All of the guests at Adonijah’s coronation also know they’re in trouble. They freak out and bug out, because no good comes from being on the losing end of a coup. Verse 50 says that Adonijah fears Solomon, and he flees to the altar of God for safety.

King Solomon goes to his older brother and tells him that if he shows himself a worthy man, loyal to the throne, he won’t touch him. But if there is wickedness found in him, Adonijah will die. He gives him a second chance and tells him, “Go home. You’re safe.”

So, who is the rightful son of David? It is Solomon, the man of God’s own choosing.

As we’re going to see in the weeks and months ahead, not all is as it should be. Solomon will ultimately fall short of the title of Son of Man, Son of God, Son of David. He will not keep God’s word; he will not fulfill God’s prophecy. Heavy is the crown.

There is a reason, by the way, the Lord Jesus rode a donkey on the way into the city of Jerusalem. There is a reason why those who followed Him cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” There is a reason why, as soon as the Lord Jesus entered the city, He put down the money changers and purified the worship of God. It is because Jesus Christ is the Son of David—the true King who alone can wear the crown, keep the word of God, stay faithful to the covenant, embody the people of God, and mediate the covenant of Abraham and Moses.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus brings justice between God and man, and between man and man. Jesus brings peace and the blessing of God to the nations. After His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father, with all authority in heaven and earth given to Him. There is one rightful King over all the earth: Jesus the Christ, King over all.

Stepping Down From the Throne

Yet, everyone in this room has been like Adonijah, haven’t we? Every one of us has exalted ourselves and said, “I will be king.” Every one of us has justified our own coronation by getting people to go before us, gaining the support of others to follow us. And like Adonijah, we do it without the prophet of God, without the word of God. Because we know, like Adonijah knew, the word of God isn’t going to say what we want it to say.

• God’s word says, “Humble yourself,” but we say, “I will be king.”

• God’s word says, “Deny yourself. Follow Christ,” but we say, “I’ll make my own way.”

• God’s word says, “You are not your own,” and we say, “My body, my choice.”

• God’s word says, but we say, “I’m an adult. I do what I want.”

• God’s word says, “Don’t get drunk,” and we say, “Well, I’m just having fun. Just need to chill.”

• God’s word says, “I am your provider. Trust in me,” but we say, “I’ll try and make a little bit of money on sports betting or the lottery.”

• Children, the Bible says, “Obey your parents, for in the Lord, this is right.” And you know that every time you disobey your mom or your dad, you’re being like Adonijah and saying, “I will be king, not them.” You’re breaking God’s commandments.

The point is, everyone in this room needs to be delivered from the seed of the serpent—the parts of Adonijah that live within us. If you’re not a Christian, I hope that you see that. I hope it’s clear: God will get His way. God does not bend His will to yours. God does not lower His standard for anyone, including you. There is one King, and you are not Him.

That King shows His greatness by giving Himself up, dying in the place of sinners, and offering them forgiveness for their sins and reconciliation with their Creator. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is enough to forgive you of any wicked thing and every wicked thing you’ve done, and to grant you peace with God and eternal life. Friend, turn to Him today. As Solomon did to Adonijah, He’s giving you that chance. Will there be wickedness in you?

Because as we’re about to see in chapter 2, the son of David brings justice and peace. Solomon does it in part; the Lord Jesus did it in full.

First Kings 2:1–4 — David’s Charge to Solomon

Let’s pick up reading in chapter 2, verse 1:

“When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, ‘I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, “If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.”‘”

A few weeks ago, when we finished up our series in 1 Corinthians, we read the Apostle Paul writing to the church, saying something somewhat similar to what David is saying to Solomon here: “Be a man.” This is what it means to be a man, brothers. I said it then, and I’ll say it again now: masculine strength is not measured in pounds on a barbell, but by obedience to the commands of God.

As goes the king, so goes the kingdom. David knows this, and so he tells his son, “Keep the charge of the Lord your God. Walk in His ways, keep His statutes, keep His commandments, keep His rules, keep His testimonies, and you will prosper, and God will establish His word.” David’s just taking all of that from 2 Samuel 7 and applying it to his son who’s now king. As long as the son of David does right, there will always be a son of David on the throne.

Now remember, let’s put ourselves in the original readers’ sandals, and feel how painful that would have been to hear and be reminded of—because they’re in Babylon. Their kings didn’t keep the commandments, and there is no son of David on the throne. This text is yearning for the King who will do what these kings did not.

Executing Justice in the Kingdom

David tells his son, “Bring justice to the kingdom.” In verses 5 down to 9, he’s telling him, “Clean up the messes that I didn’t clean up when I was king.” And then in verse 10, David dies. This text once more yearns for a King who does what these kings don’t do—which is not die.

With the dirt still fresh over his father’s tomb, the seed of the serpent is back. Adonijah, sent home by his younger brother Solomon, who’s king, goes to the queen mother. The serpent always goes to the woman! He says, “Give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” What does he mean? That young girl who won the beauty pageant to keep the king warm? In the ancient Near East, possession of a deceased king’s wives and concubines was a symbol of succession to the throne.

Those of you who’ve read 2 Samuel remember when Absalom rose up against David and David fled the city. You know what Absalom did? He took all of David’s concubines to shame his father. That’s what Absalom 1.0 did; Absalom 2.0 is trying to do the same thing. The seed of the serpent is seeking to usurp the throne through a woman. We’ve been here before.

But Solomon is no dummy, and he recognizes what Adonijah is trying to do. Adonijah has answered the question: “Will you be a worthy man? Is there wickedness in you?” He had been warned, and so Adonijah is executed.

The rest of chapter 2 is taken up with Solomon exacting justice in the kingdom. You remember Joab, the commander of the armies, King David’s cousin? As soon as he hears the news that Adonijah has been killed, he knows what’s coming, because he took up with Adonijah against Solomon—he took up with the wrong king. So he flees for his life. Besides siding with Adonijah, Joab had also been guilty of shedding innocent blood during a time of peace, and his sins find him out.

Then we’re introduced to a fellow named Shimei, back from 2 Samuel, who had cursed King David during the days of Absalom’s rebellion. Shimei is given a second chance, just like Adonijah. When he also proves that he cannot keep the king’s commands, his sin finds him out, and he is killed.

Do you get what the author is doing here? There is one King. The earth is split when He is exalted. Those on this side, those on that side—you’re either with the son of David, or you are against him.

Chapter 2 ends in this way: So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. The son of David sits on the throne.

The King Above All Kings

The question hanging over this book is: Will the son of David do what is right? Will he keep the terms of the covenant?Will he bring peace and justice and order and beauty to the world? Will the nations see the blessing of God and come and worship Him?

In the weeks ahead, we’re going to see that Solomon’s kingdom, great as it is, will not last. It doesn’t survive one generation. Within one generation, it’ll be divided, and within a few centuries, Jerusalem will burn. Even the best son of David cannot carry the weight of the crown.

But there is another Son of David. Jesus Christ did not seize the crown like Adonijah; His Father gave it to Him. He did not rise through the ranks through intrigue, but through obedience. He conquered through being conquered. He died, rose again, and ascended to the Father. Now He sits on the throne over every square inch of creation, and His kingdom will have no end.

The church of Jesus Christ is not searching for a king. We’re not waiting for a king; we have one. Our calling is not to build our own kingdoms, but to serve the advance of His kingdom. This place—as I mentioned last week—is an embassy of God’s kingdom: an embassy of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Lord who is King, amidst a world that is against her King.

Every Lord’s Day that we gather, we hear our King speak. We conform our lives to His word. We are equipped to carry out His mandates. And every day we wake, we face the temptation of Adonijah to say, “I will be king.” Every day by God’s grace, we step down from that throne, and we gladly acknowledge that there is already a King in heaven: Christ is King, and I am His servant.

So I make one more appeal: if you are not a Christian, the issue is not whether or not Jesus is your King. He is your King. The question is: will you meet Him as your King or as your Judge? Friend, make your decision today. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. I pray that the Lord would use this book and our time in this book to help us find rest and refuge in the King who is above all kings.

Let’s pray.

Father, we thank You for Your word, and we ask that You would please have mercy on us every time we seek, like Adonijah, to make ourselves king—to remind us that there is already a King, and that the peace and the justice that we seek, the order and beauty that we want, will not be found anywhere else but in Him. Do this for His glory. We pray. Amen.