CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1 Kings 1:33. Take the servants of your lord: viz., the royal body-guard (1 Kings 1:38). Ride upon mine own mule—The command that he “ride” was especially significant, for no one, under pain of death, might mount the king’s mule; to ride thereon was an actual declaration that be was king. A she-mule, טִּרְדָּה, because more docile and enduring than the male. Gihon—A pool or fountain on the west side of Jerusalem; favourable as a scene for a vast assemblage, and removed sufficiently from En-rogel to avoid a collision with Adonijah’s adherents.
1 Kings 1:34. Anoint him—Done only in the case of a new dynasty or disputed succession.
1 Kings 1:35. Sit on my throne—David would resign it to Solomon. Over Israel and over Judah—The kingdoms were not yet separate, but the union of the names was designed to arrest the growing disposition to separation which the envy of Ephiaim was fostering.
1 Kings 1:39. An horn of oil out of the tabernacle: the priestly consecrated oil, prepared according to divine directions (Exodus 30:22-25); the king was thus emphatically “the anointed of the Lord.”
1 Kings 1:40. People came up after him—i.e., to Zion, the citadel.
HOMILETICS OF 1 Kings 1:32-40
THE CORONATION OF SOLOMON
1 Kings 1:1. Was undertaken with the full approbation and by the express directions of the reigning monarch. 1. The king voluntarily abdicated in favour of his son Solomon. “He shall be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah” (1 Kings 1:35). No sooner is David roused to comprehend the gravity of the occasion than he proceeds to make the most complete arrangements for carrying out his own intentions and the Divine will. He surrenders into the hand of the youthful Solomon the kingdom which, for the most part, had been conquered and consolidated by his own military and administrative genius. He had subdued Ephraim, which took the name of Israel, and united it with Judah. Considerable jealousy existed between these two portions of the empire, which ultimately forced on a separation. The old disunion reappeared in the revolt of Absalom, and was again revived by the attempt of Adonijah. It was therefore with a view of strengthening Solomon’s authority over the whole kingdom that David expressly declared that his son should be ruler over Israel and Judah. The abdication of a monarch in favour of a son is not always a wise proceeding. King Henry II. of England lived to regret that he had so acted. Prince Henry, inflated with his new dignity, and instigated to filial disobedience by his mother, rebelled against the king; and in 1183, in the midst of his wicked designs, was seized with a fatal illness, and died. But Solomon had learned better things from his father (Proverbs 4:4), from his mother (Proverbs 31), and from his tutor, Nathan.
2. The king was explicit in his directions (1 Kings 1:32-35). He summoned into his presence Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah, the chief representatives of the church and the army, and commanded them to take with them the royal body-guard, to set Solomon on his own mule, an honour never conferred but as a mark of the highest distinction; to conduct him in state down to Gihon, there to anoint him with the sacred oil, to sound the trumpet and proclaim him king in the public street; to bring him back to the court in magnificence and triumph, with all the necessary and imposing ceremonies of coronation. The minuteness with which these orders were given indicates the clearness and vigour of David’s mind, and the fervour of his soul in doing what he believed to be the right. Zeal for God should ever be controlled by particularity, method, and purpose.
3. The action of the king met with signal approval (1 Kings 1:36-37). Benaiah, on behalf of the rest, applauds the act, and adds his devout Amen. He also utters a prayer that Jehovah may be with Solomon, and exalt his throne above that of his father. The best of men desire their children to be wiser and better than themselves; as they themselves desire to be wiser and better. To be wise and good is to be truly great. Benaiah neither flattered not reflected upon David; but, convinced that the king’s arrangements were in conformity with the Divine will, he wished that the blessing of heaven might rest upon the newly-formed government. God heard the prayer, and confirmed Solomon’s reign, characterized by a lengthened period of civil and religious felicity, representing the triumphant church in heaven, as David’s reign had been a figure of the church militant on earth.
II. Was celebrated with becoming solemnities.
1. There was all the outward display of regal magnificence. Among the Persians it was a capital offence to ride on a king’s horse, to sit on his throne, or to handle his sceptre without the royal permission: on the other hand, to be authorised to mount the royal palfrey was accounted by them the highest dignity. Solomon was placed on the king’s own mule, as a token that he was invested with the regal office; and, attended by the principal officers of the church, the state, and the army, with all the external pomp of a royal procession, was conducted down to Gibon, a small brook on the west side of Jerusalem which emptied itself into the Kedron. The Rabbins assert that all the Hebrew kings were anointed beside a fountain or river as a symbol of the perpetuity of their kingdom. It was a spot where a large assemblage could be gathered, and from which an imposing entrance into the city, which had no open public square, could be made. External display is an important means of impressing the people with the majesty of the throne. That was a striking spectacle in the city of Brussels in 1555, when Charles V. abdicated in favour of his son Philip II. (vide Motley’s Rise of the Dutch Republic, vol. i., chap. 1). What a sight for the universe was that when the triumphant Messiah ascended on high, and was invested with the kingly authority!
2. There was the solemn anointing. An oil flask of horn, containing the anointing oil, which was used only for the anointing of priests and kings, was taken out of the tabernacle, where it was always carefully laid up; and Zadok and Nathan anointed the youthful king, one of them pouring out the oil, and the other anointing his head, drawing a circle round about it with oil, according to the maxim that the Hebrew kings were anointed in the form of a crown, to denote their delegation to the royal dignity. The pouring of the oil upon the head symbolized the communication of the Spirit of Jehovah (1 Samuel 16:13), and that the king should be endued with all regal virtues, and reign in submission to and for the furtherance of the will of God. The horn of oil was emblematic of power and plenty. The Messiah was anointed to his mediatorial office, not with oil, but with the immeasurable fulness of the Spirit (Psalms 45:7).
3. There was the public proclamation. Zadok blew his sacred ram’s-horn, that gave a far-sounding note, and was specially employed for giving signals, and on other solemn occasions; and, as was the custom on the inauguration of kings, the trumpeters of the guard followed with a loud blast, which announced to the assembled crowd the completion of the impressive ceremony. A shout then went up amid the acclamations of the multitude, “God save king Solomon!” Thus, with all the honours befitting the occasion, and in the most public manner, the youthful prince, at the age of fifteen according to some, of twenty according to others, was raised to the throne of his father David. The kingly character of the Messiah was openly proclaimed to the universe (Psalms 24:7-10).
III. Was the occasion of great national rejoicing (1 Kings 1:40). The people escorted their newly-crowned king to the city, and expressed their exuberant joy, after the manner of the Orientals, with the wild music of flutes, with vehement dancing, and with loud enthusiastic plaudits, so that the earth rang again. The excessive jubilation of the whole people showed that they did not side with Adonijah, but accepted the decision of David as authoritative and binding. They saw in the elevation of Solomon a victory over the daring usurper. The coronation of a monarch is a fitting time for national joy; the more so when the character of the king wins the confidence of the people. There is everything in the kingly character of the Messiah to call forth the joyous acclaim of all angelic powers, of all peoples, of all ages.
LESSONS:—
1. A wise king will make the best arrangement for the future stability and peace of his kingdom.
2. The accession of a good prince should be celebrated with all due honours.
3. All thrones are at the divine disposal. He disconcerts the most cleverly-conceived cabal, and works through the confusion his own peaceful ends.
THE ACCESSION OF SOLOMON TYPICAL OF THE KINGLY CHARACTER OF CHRIST
I. Like Solomon, Christ was appointed to the regal office by His Father. Years before the actual event the voice of prophecy declared: “I have set my king upon my hill of Zion” (Psalms 2:6). Gabriel announced to the Virgin: “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). The highest expectations were cherished as to the permanent results of Solomon’s brilliant reign; but it was reserved for the true, the later Son of David to fulfil the prophetic yearnings which had gathered round the birth of the earlier. All the weight and magnificence of the Father’s authority belonged to the Messiah absolutely (Matthew 28:18).
II. Like Solomon, Christ was established in His throne, notwithstanding the violent opposition of His enemies. The greatest dignitaries of both the Jewish and heathen worlds plotted against the Messiah, and strove to prevent the establishment of his kingdom. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed,” &c. (Psalms 2:2-3). There had been a similar confederacy among the Ammonites, Syrians, &c., against David, but it was completely crushed. And terrible was the vengeance that fell on the enemies of God’s anointed One. The Romans were the instruments of the Divine wrath against the Jews, and, in course of time, punishment fell upon the Romans; the imperial city was captured by the Goths, and the conquered people subjected to the most barbarous cruelties. All opposition to Christ, the Father looks upon as opposition to Himself, and it can end only in unutterable disaster and defeat.
III. Like Solomon, Christ was solemnly anointed. His name, Christos, implies it. But the Messiah was not anointed to the regal office with oil. Indeed, the consecrated oil, specially compounded and specially appropriated to the anointing of kings and priests, was lost hundred of years before the birth of Christ, and the custom of anointing in that manner had long ceased. The only anointing of the Messiah of which we read is, the anointing of the Spirit. Peter testifies “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Acts 10:38). And this anointing took place, partly at His conception (Luke 1:35), by which He was prepared for His mission, and more fully at His baptism (Matthew 3:16), when He formally entered upon the performance of all the functions belonging to His Messiahship. His baptism in the river Jordan still retained the analogy suggested by the old Jewish custom of anointing kings near a stream, to signify the perpetuity of the kingdom. The unction of the Holy Ghost was poured on Him with an immeasureable fulness (John 3:34).
IV. Like Solomon, Christ made His triumphal entry into the Holy City amid the joyous plaudits of the people. Great was the joy and loud were the hosannas of the people when Jesus rode in glorious but homely pomp into his own loved Jerusalem—“Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13). But grander and louder was the shout of victory that shook the heavens when the triumphant Messiah ascended to His court on high, and took possession of His mediatorial throne (Psalms 47:5-8; Psalms 24:7-10).
LESSONS:—
1. Jesus reigns—His people may therefore rejoice.
2. Jesus reigns—His people will therefore triumph over every foe.
3. Jesus reigns—the present and future interests of His people are therefore secure.