Tues.’s Devo -Solomon Takes the Throne

Read: 1 Kings 2:1-3:2; Acts 5:1-42; Psalm 125:1-5; Proverbs 16:25 David gave his last instructions to Solomon before he died. Solomon was to be courageous and follow God and his laws. That would secure his success. If he does this, his descendants would always sit on the throne of Israel. Then David gave Solomon three loose ends he needed him to tie up. The first was Joab, his army commander. Joab had killed Abner and Amasa and called it an act of war when it was just plain murder. He was to be killed. The second was Barzillai who had been David’s trusted friend. Barzillai had met him with food and provisions when he left Israel fleeing Absalom. Solomon was to take care of him and feed him from his table. The third was Shimei from the clan of Saul. He had met David when he fled Absalom with cursing and rocks. He was to be judged accordingly. Solomon was wise and waited till the situations were perfect to fulfill his father’s last wishes. Adonijah’s mother came to Solomon’s mother and asked Bathsheba if she would ask her son for Abishag to be given as a wife for her son, Adonijah. Adonijah was David’s son who proclaimed himself king and almost won the kingdom from Solomon. When Bathsheba took the request to Solomon, he saw through the trick. Adonijah was still trying to take his kingdom. Solomon had him killed by the hand of Benaiah. When Joab heard that Adonijah was killed he knew he was next since he had conspired with Adonijah for the kingdom. He ran to the horns of the altar to beg for mercy. Solomon had him killed and did it through the hands of Benaiah. So number one was taken care of. Solomon sent for Shimei, number three, and told him that he had to build a house and live inside the city of Jerusalem where Solomon could keep an eye on him. If he left the city for any reason then he would be killed. Shimei did that and lived safely for three years inside Jerusalem. Then two of his slaves ran away. He went after them to Gath. Solomon heard that he had left Jerusalem and he was killed by Benaiah. Benaiah was made David’s commander over his army. Solomon made an alliance with Egypt and married one of his daughters. He built a palace in the City of David. The Temple and the wall had not been built yet. In Acts we get a lesson on the grace of God. A couple by the name of Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land but lied about its cost so they would look like they were giving it all to the Lord. Instead, they gave part of it to the Lord and kept back some for themselves. Ananias means “the grace of Jah”. When Ananias lied to Peter, Peter was given the gift of knowledge and knew he was lying. He asked him why he let Satan fill his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. Ananias immediately fell dead. Three hours later his wife came in and repeated the lie and fell dead also. So, maybe “grace” is not the ability to sin and then be forgiven but maybe grace is getting punished here on earth so you won’t have to be judged in heaven. If Ananias and Sapphira had lived in their lie, they would have continued down a path of deception and eventually lost their faith. They would have also brought others down with them. Maybe it was the grace of God for them to be taken before this could happened. It ended up putting the fear of God in the church instead of opening the door for greasy grace to grow. If sin is not dealt with, it will spread like a disease. Since it was dealt with, Gods’ spirit was free to move in signs and miracles. The apostles were unstoppable. Even the high priest and his officials couldn’t stop them. They tried to put them in jail to stop them, but angels released them to go back and preach. When the religious leaders found the apostles had returned to the streets to preach they brought them in to question them. Peter stood up in their midst and told them that they had to obey God’s authority which was higher than theirs. This made them even more furious and wanted to kill the disciples. An older Pharisee named Gamaliel, convinced the council to not act but let it their movement die on its own like so many before them. They agreed to wait and had to let the disciples go. The apostles left the council rejoicing and continued to preach every day in the Temple about the good news of Christ. Lord, give us the tenacity to stand against he wokeness of our day. May the fear of God fall on the church and on our land.