Post by Mark on Nov 12, 2009 18:42:03 GMT -8
King David was unquestionably the most influential and characteristic king representing the people of Israel. With the volumes of text dedicated to preserving and understanding the lives and actions of world leaders today, it’s worth considering that the Bible takes only a couple of hundred pages (at most) to tell us the story of the life of this great king: the proto-type of the Messiah to come. In his reign of forty-some years, it’s worth considering what was worth detailing for us to understand- and by extension what must have been left out. The account given for us in 1st Kings 1 seems somewhat trivial and unnecessary if not unglamorous at best.
King David was old and just couldn’t stay warm. Probably due to heart trouble (poor circulation), he couldn’t maintain a proper body temperature to be comfortable.
The idea came to his servants and they suggested that he employ a little girl to snuggle with him to keep him warm. The whole country was sought over and a youngster by the name of Abishag was chosen. There was little competition. She was "od meyowd yow-feh" which is Hebrew for "spankin’ hot": the prettiest girl in all the coasts and boarders of Israel.
It’s important to understand that there was nothing sexual in this relationship, and the text repeats this fact for emphasis. This "nar-arah" was a "little girl": pre-adolescent. There are a couple of reasons why this should be important. First, a little girl would not be the moral issue for the king that an older, sexually mature woman would be. He would avoid the whispers of the "dirty old man" that would suggest he was consumed in his lusts during these last days. Instead, the people would be more sympathetic to the aged king who could no longer keep warm. It might have also been important because of the inherent guilelessness of youth. The young girl would be an unlikely assassin or spy against the king, as he was still privy and party to the security decisions of the nation.
They found this pretty girl in the upper regions of Shuni. Shuni might be thought of in America as a mid-Western "peaceful valley". It was shepherding country, lush and picturesque. The word means "quiet and peaceful". It’s difficult to speculate as to what her life must have been like before coming into the court of the king; but we are certainly inclined to speculate. "Abbi" is a feminine form of the word "abba" which means father. "shaggah" means "to stray" or "in error". So, by the simple definition of her name, she would be introduced as "dad’s mistake". Such a name has to raise a few
. It may to help to understand an old wives’ tale in Jewish culture that if it is a man’s idea to have sexual relations with his wife because of his passions and the result is as child, that child will be a girl. If the woman drags her husband into bed because she is in that sort of mood, the offspring will be a boy. It could be based upon this that, in this agricultural community, that dad really had hoped on having a son- and thus this is truly a sort of Cinderella story. It just as easily could have been a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement by Dad that he just can’t keep his hands off of his wife. Soon after we are introduced to this novel relationship, David’s son Adonijah, possibly his oldest living son, determines that David is no longer able to rule the country and so he establishes himself as king. He got himself a chariot and hired fifty men to run before him. King David didn’t say anything. He didn’t say no, so Adonijah figured this must mean he had David’s blessing. He decided, since David didn’t shoot him down, by default he must be supporting him as the next king. He throws his own coronation party. He invites Joab, the warrior general who stood with David in the earliest days when he fought against King Saul. He invites Abiathar, the priest who ministered to David while in exile. But, Zadok, the High Priest, he didn’t invite. He didn’t invite Nathan the prophet. He didn’t invite Benaiah nor the other mighty men who were legendary in their battles, defending David and his throne. He invited the folks who were going to support him, who were recognized as once being with David in the good old days; but hadn’t been so close in recent years. He invited those who the common folk would recognize as "pro-David" but not the ones who really knew David closely.
This is a pretty dangerous thing to do because those closest to David know that the throne has already promised to Solomon. The nation teeters dangerously close to civil war, and only David can prevent it.
David had never seemed to have intention of not being king anymore. He had put off passing the torch of leadership until now and only acted because if he didn’t, his beloved country would be torn apart. He commanded that Solomon be put upon his own mount and paraded to the throne where he would be anointed as king of Israel by the priest (who hadn’t been invited to Adonija’s party. In the middle of the party, there’s this sound of a shofar blasting in the distance, coming from the direction of the stream Gihon. This was the place where the king would be submersed into the waters, to mikvah and be cleansed for service to God. The High Priest would anoint him with oil and he would be established as king over Israel.
The sound turned the head of Joab in surprise and he says, "What was that?" Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest tells them, "Oh, that’s just Zadock, the High Priest, anointing Solomon as King."
Suddenly the party became very quiet. Suddenly everyone remembered something else that they had forgotten, something that needed their immediate attention somewhere (anywhere) else but here. The party was over.
Adonijah could have learned a couple of things from this experience. He didn’t. He could have learned that just because you have some idea come into your head, it doesn’t make it so. And just because you manage to get some guys who don’t know any better to agree with you, it doesn’t make it right. And just because the King doesn’t slap you down the minute you start testing the proverbial waters, doesn’t mean you’ve got His blessing. It’s more likely to mean that He’s being gracious by not giving you the response that you really deserve.
Solomon was made king and very soon after, David died. Adonijah lay low and kept real quiet, fully expecting that Solomon would have him killed (because that’s what he would have done if he had been king). Nothing happened. After a while, Adonijah supposed that maybe if he couldn’t be king there must be at least a consolation prize. He went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mom and asked a special favor.
Bathsheba approached the throne of Solomon and Solomon rose to meet her. She said, "I have a favor to ask of you." He said, "You know that I would never turn you down from anything that you want." She said, "I want you to give Abishag the Shunamite to Adonijah."
One might have cause to wonder what made Adonijah make such a request. It could simply have been to test the waters: to ask a little thing would help him understood where he stood. It could be that he was particularly stricken with the girl. Keeping in mind that Abishag was pre-adolescent, this could have raised the wrath of his younger brother, the king (they married young in those days but not that young). It is more likely, from the way that Solomon responded that he recognized that this little girl was around to hear and see all the things that David heard and saw in his last days. She would have been the perfect spy to help Adonijah determine the weaknesses in the kingdom- and perfectly innocently so. At any rate, Solomon responded, "I’d like to help you, Mom, but Adonijah will be dead before morning."
Nothing more is said about the Shunamite. It’s possible that she became later known from a similar word, "the Shulamite" who would sing together with Solomon the greatest love song ever written (the Song of Solomon). It’s impossible to say.
The significance of this story, though, may pass beyond the simple historical account. The King chooses and preserves the beautiful young bride who will later be given to His Son. The evil one first attempts to usurp the throne. When he is unsuccessful at that, he conspires to take the bride. The parallels between this story and the manner in which our Messiah describes His relationship with His chosen Bride is a little to close to be coincidental. There is a familiarity to the Good News that our Messiah and His disciples taught to us- familiar because we’ve been there time and again, rehearsed for us over and over.
