Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

1 Kings 2 Devotional

Old Accounts and a Lasting Promise

“and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’”1 Kings 2:4 (BSB)

David's last words to Solomon begin with God's law and God's promise. Walk in the LORD's ways, he says, so that the LORD will keep his word that David's descendants will hold the throne (2:3-4). Then the chapter turns hard. Adonijah, Joab and Shimei are put to death, and Abiathar is removed from the priesthood (2:25-46). The text does not dress it up.

Yet the narrator names what lies beneath. Abiathar's removal fulfills the word the LORD spoke against Eli's house at Shiloh long before (2:27; 1 Samuel 2:31-35). Joab's death answers the innocent blood he shed in peacetime (2:31-32). God's words do not expire, whether they speak judgment or promise. And promise is the deeper thread. Solomon's throne will prove fragile, but the angel told Mary that God would give Jesus the throne of his father David and that his reign would have no end (Luke 1:32-33). You can rest your whole weight on that throne.

To think about: Which of God's promises are you tempted to treat as fragile, and what would it mean to lean on the King whose reign has no end?

About 1 Kings 2: David’s Charge and Solomon’s Throne Secured

Before he dies, David urges Solomon to obey God’s law and gives instructions about Joab, Barzillai’s sons and Shimei. After David’s death, Solomon has Adonijah executed for seeking Abishag, dismisses the priest Abiathar as foretold against Eli’s house, and has Joab and later Shimei put to death, securing his rule.

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