Day of Pentecost - Chapter 6: David, Salomon, and other Kings, the Temple
So, as Anke pointed out last week, Saul was the first to be anointed king over Israel. And why? Because he literally stood head and shoulders above the rest: “2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.” (1 (Samuel 9:2)
Saul was picked because he was tall and good looking. He was anointed by the priest Samuel. But Saul had, shall we say, issues. He was impetuous and impatient and quickly falls out of favor with Samuel. Saul did not wait, as instructed by Samuel, for Samuel to arrive in order to offer sacrifice before going to war against the Philistines at Gilgal.
8 [Saul] waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to slip away from Saul. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the offerings of well-being.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived; and Saul went out to meet him and salute him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the people were slipping away from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were mustering at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord’; so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, 14 but now your kingdom will not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart; and the Lord has appointed him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:8-14)
Within that portion of scripture from 1 Samuel is a key phrase: 14 but now your kingdom will not continue; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. This is a phrase that will be later ascribed to David.
Later on, when going to war with the Amalakites, Saul once again disobeys God’s orders: 1 Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did in opposing the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (1 Samuel 15:1-3)
And once more, Saul fails to obey what God, through Samuel, has commanded: “8 [Saul] took King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was valuable, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed.” (1 Samuel 15:8-9) In other words rather than utterly destroying everything, as God had commanded, they saw to it to keep the good stuff for themselves.
It’s after this that Samuel secretly anoints David as king over Israel. Drawing a marked contrast with the selection of Saul, the selection of David is decidedly different. Remember why Saul was chosen? Because he was the tallest and most good looking. But what happens when Samuel begins reviewing the sons of Jesse? “And [Samuel] sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on [Jesse’s son] Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:5-7)
David, then, becomes a one-man sleeper-cell. He joins Saul’s staff as Saul’s armor-bearer and musician. Saul is constantly beset by the surrounding Philistines. But his true downfall comes about as a result of his own action. Samuel dies and God does not respond to Saul’s entreaties. And so, Saul consults a medium, commonly called The Witch of Endor, whom he has summon Samuel from the dead.
“15 Then Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’ Saul answered, ‘I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; so I have summoned you to tell me what I should do.’ 16 Samuel said, ‘Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done to you just as he spoke by me; for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD, and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you today. 19 Moreover the LORD will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the LORD will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.’” (1 Samuel 28:15-19)
And, of course, this is precisely what happens. Three of Saul’s sons die in battle and, in his grief, Saul dies by suicide.
The way is finally cleared for David to ascend to the throne. David is made king at Hebron in the southern territory of Judah. The only problem was that the leaders of the northern territory of Israel, including the city of Jerusalem, remained faithful to Saul and his kingdom. They installed Saul’s son, Ishbaal, as king over the north. They refused to recognize the legitimacy of David’s kingship and, so, rejected his rule over them. In the end it took David seven years to finally gain control over the northern area.
Once David establishes control over northern region the kingdom of Israel is finally unified, at least for a time. David decides that the needs a new capital, and so he takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites.
6 David and his men immediately set out for Jerusalem to take on the Jebusites, who lived in that country. But they said, "You might as well go home! Even the blind and the lame could keep you out. You can't get in here!" They had convinced themselves that David couldn't break through.
7 But David went right ahead and captured the fortress of Zion, known ever since as the City of David. 8 That day David said, "To get the best of these Jebusites, one must target the water system, not to mention this so-called lame and blind bunch that David hates." (In fact, he was so sick and tired of it, people coined the expression, "No lame and blind allowed in the palace.")
9 David made the fortress city his home and named it "City of David." He developed the city from the outside terraces inward. 10 David proceeded with a longer stride, a larger embrace since the GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies was with him. (2 Samuel 5:6-10)
It was this incident, by the way, that led to the blind and the lame being banned from entering the palace or, once it was built, the Temple.
Once the capital is established, David builds himself a palace there. More importantly, he has the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem. And that Ark, which held a golden pot containing Manna, Aaron’s budding staff, and the tablets of the 10 Commandments, was considered to be God’s very presence.
David is often represented as some kind of paragon of saintly virtue, which is a curious thing. David could be petty, as we’ve seen for his banning of the lame and the blind from the palace area. He wasn’t above resorting to bribery. He was a shrewd political animal, forming alliances through wives and concubines. When one of Saul’s daughters criticized David for dancing ecstatically in public before the Ark of the Covenant wearing nothing but a loose-fitting linen apron, he cursed her so that she bore no children. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and, piling sin upon sin, then has her husband killed in the midst of battle in order to try and cover it up. Even on his deathbed, he continues to plot, scheme, and exact revenge.
1 When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, 3 and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. 4 Then the LORD will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’
5 “Moreover you know also what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner son of Ner, and Amasa son of Jether, whom he murdered, retaliating in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist, and on the sandals on his feet. 6 Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7 Deal loyally, however, with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8 There is also with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a terrible curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; you will know what you ought to do to him, and you must bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.” 1 Kings 2:1-9
In other words, “Do what GOD tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you: Follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses; then you'll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go. 4 Then GOD will confirm what he promised me when he said, 'If your sons watch their step, staying true to me heart and soul, you'll always have a successor on Israel's throne.” (1 Kings 2:3-4) And while you’re at it, tie up a few loose ends for me, will you? Make sure that Joab and Shimei get what’s coming to them.
So, David is ruthless. David is brutal. David is opportunistic. David is a cheat. David is a liar. David is an adulterer. And yet on multiple occasions, we are told that David is “a man after God’s own heart.” And it makes you wonder how that can be the case.
In the end, what it comes down to is the acquisition and consolidation of power. More so than any ruler before or after, David was able to expand and consolidate the kingdom of Israel. David made Jerusalem the center of political and religious power in Israel, which given Israel’s standing in the political landscape, made it the center of political power in the Middle East.
But as we see, when the way of God is replaced by the way of the sword, things do not go well.
David is succeeded by his son, Solomon. But only after Bathsheba intercedes with David on Solomon’s behalf. And things go downhill after that.
No sooner does Solomon ascend to the throne than he had killed has his brother Adonijah, his cousin Joab, and Shimei (who, remember had cursed David). Yes, Solomon finally builds the Temple that David dreamed of. But it happens at a cost to Israel, just as Samuel had predicted when Israel first clamored for a king.
1 Kings tells us: “13 King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon also had seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, 16 besides Solomon’s three thousand three hundred supervisors who were over the work, having charge of the people who did the work. 17 At the king’s command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites did the stonecutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.” (1 Kings 5:13-18)
Forced labor. In other words, slavery. The very condition from which they had escaped under the leadership of God and Moses.
And while David had worked to rid Israel of all foreign religious influences, and consolidated worship of the One God in the One Place, Jerusalem, Solomon erected shrines to, and worshiped, the gods of his many foreign wives.
Eventually, Israel is once again split into northern and southern kingdoms: Israel in the North and Judah in the South. Kingships become shorter, and the list of assassinations and successions grows longer. The fall of the Northern Kingdom to the Assyrian Empire follows, and eventually the Southern Kingdom, Judah, falls to the Babylonians. And yet, when it would seem that the people of Israel have been all but abandoned by God, whaddaya know? God raises up for the people prophets, who seek to reestablish not the Kingdom of Israel as such, but the pre-eminence of God’s word as the thing by which we are called to live.
AMEN