The Lord Establishes His Kingdom
1 Kings 2
I mentioned last week that the book of 1-2 Kings was written to the Jews in exile. To get a feel for the text this morning, you have to put yourself in their sandals. Just imagine for a moment what it would have been like to be in that situation. Imagine being a native Judean living in the land of Babylon.
You just got home from a hard day’s work. Things have been difficult since coming into exile. Doing business in a foreign land isn’t easy. You are not only being taxed out the nose, you are constantly dealing with people who are trying to swindle you. You co-workers and your clientele are profane, sun worshipping cheaters who see you as a stepping stone to get what they want.
Business is grueling and it’s hard to make an honest buck. And that’s just the business side of life. The religious element is another factor. You are steeped in a pagan world that mocks your monotheism. You worship a God that basically everyone hates. They are not afraid to take any opportunity to tell you how foolish your religion is and tease you about it.
Now that you are home, you’d think that there would be some rest and reprieve. However, things are not all that great at home either. You can’t relax because your children have gone to the market with their mother and are again asking all these questions and showing interest in the Babylonian culture. The theater is advertising a lusty show. The neighbor kids invited them to the moon sacrifice party.
It’s all a headache. You’d like to take some consolation in that the Sabbath is about ready to start. But you recognize that isn’t all that much of a comfort either. After all, the local synagogue has its problems. It’s not like your fellow Jews have it all together either.
You sit down on the porch for a moment of rest and you notice that the neighbor has just put another woke sign in their front lawn.
Now, I don’t know if you can identify with any of that? You may find it difficult to understand what it is like being surrounded by paganism and living in a world that is spiritually inhospitable.
But you know what would be going through the mind of that Jewish exile. He would be lamenting the collapse of the kingdom. God’s kingdom. There once was a time where God had a kingdom, and you had a place in it. But now, where is that kingdom? How it pains you that God’s kingdom seems to have, from all observable points, evaporated. From your vantage point it seems like its non-existent. Or, if it is in existence, it doesn’t seem very prominent. It doesn’t seem like God’s righteous, wonderful rule is anything like it should be.
Well, perhaps you can identify. Maybe you’re one who yearns for the kingdom of God too. Maybe you dream of God’s kingdom and deeply desire its renewal. You’d love it if God’s kingdom would come and be firmly established in your midst. It would be tremendous if this wicked world would pass away and the blessings of the Lord’s rule would be established.
Well, if you are able to identify with that Jewish exile at all; if you have those kinds of inklings, then I want to encourage you. That’s what this passage is all about.
The passage before us is all about how the kingdom of God was established. Solomon has just come to power. He’s just been made king. And, as we saw last time, this is a turbulent time. There were a lot of opponents. There was some potential threats to the kingdom. There’s a lot that could go wrong. But the passage before us is all about how the kingdom is established. As a matter of fact, the word established is used 5 times in this passage. And the Jews in exile would have been fixated on that word. It would give them hope that God had established his kingdom once, perhaps he could do it again.
Which, of course, begs the question: How is God’s kingdom established? What are the things that actually make it possible for God’s kingdom to not only come, but to take real root and be a lasting kingdom?
That’s what this passage is all about. It actually tells us that it takes three things to establish God’s kingdom in this world.
When you look at the first 4-5 verses you’ll notice that you have David giving a speech to Solomon. And in that speech he mentions the most important building block for God’s kingdom. You’ll notice that David’s primary focus is on Solomon’s character.
I. Character
David calls Solomon to faithful obedience. Look at verse 2. It says, “Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walk in his ways, keep his commandments. Everything that is written in the law of Moses, that’s to be what takes up all of your attention.”
David reminds Solomon of his duty. He essentially tells this new king that he has a responsibility to uphold God’s law. David’s focus is not so much on the armies (and how it should be regulated) or the economy (and how Solomon should have a laser focus on increasing the nation’s GDP). David knows that there is only one thing that will really be definitive when it comes to establishing the kingdom: It’s the heart; it’s the devotion one has to God. The kingdom is established as God’s people honor God by being obedient to His law.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of a Jewish man who is reading this for the first time. He’s there in exile. He’s wondering about the kingdom of God. He’s wondering about the status of Israel.
Think about how this will hit him. It’s going to land like a ton of bricks. Why are we in exile? It’s because we didn’t do this. We lost the kingdom because we did not prioritize what God prioritized. We did not obey. We were unfaithful. We didn’t put our faith in God and follow His commands. That’s why we are where we are.
And this is a call to us as well. This is a reminder to you and me of what matters most to God. The most important thing in God’s kingdom is not our programs. The most important thing in God’s kingdom isn’t the kind of building we have. The thing that matters most to God is whether or not God matters most to you. And how do you know if God matter’s most? You are seeking to be obedient. It’s your character that is the indicator.
When we come to the New Testament, what does it say? How will people know if you are part of God’s kingdom? What will be the tell tale sign that you are a Christian? They will know we are Christians by the conferences we hold? Will they know that God’s kingdom is in their midst because we have tidy homes?
No. They will know we are Christians by our love. It has to do with our character.
In his book, “Embers to a Flame,” Harry Reeder talks about one of the first calls he had as a pastor. He was not called to an established church. He was not called to a church plant. He was called to a church that was on the brink of closing.
The church had once been a thriving community of believers. It had been a pillar in the community. But by the time Pastor Reeder came, it had dwindled down to just a couple families. This once thriving church was now on the brink of closing.
When he came, Pastor Reeder began looking into some of the history of the church. Then he found an old church directory with the list of all the names of people who used to be members in the church. Do you know what he did? He began calling those people. He started visiting their homes and he began asking questions. He asked them, what was it that caused them to stop attending? He disguised it as his being a naive young pastor. He was just wondering.
What he found is that this person got mad because this decision was made. This person was offended by that person. This family left because they were cheated. Another family left because they felt that they were not being heard when they brought attention to certain matters.
In other words, Pastor Reeder found that the church began to crumble in upon itself because of its sins. The leadership had failed to shepherd the flock of God. The people had failed in their calling to be loving and forgiving.
So Pastor Reeder said that the only way that church would survive is if it would acknowledge the sins that they had committed and begin to repent of them. And that’s exactly what they did. They first confessed their sins to God. Then they began going through that list of names. They confessed their sins to those people and, where they could, they sought to make things right.
Guess what happened? The church began to grow again. It went through a time of revitalization. Thus the name of the book: Embers to a Flame.
There should be no doubt about what God’s priority is. In God’s kingdom his concern is with our behavior. Where there is sin, there will be decay. That’s because where there is sin it shows that God is not first in your life. But you can be assured: wherever the people of God are walking in the light of God’s law, there the kingdom will be firmly established. There’s no doubt about it.
God’s kingdom is built on character. That’s the first point that the Lord makes. Anyone who wants to see God’s kingdom come, they need to take that to heart first.
But while that might be the most important thing, that is not the only thing. God’s kingdom does require character. But it also requires competency too. And that’s what you see in most of the rest of the passage.
II. Competency
It is important to understand that the kingdom was established under Solomon because he was a man who did the right things.
A majority of our passage is about how Solomon deals with different people. And what you see is that Solomon did the right thing at the right time with each one.
First, you have the people that David mentions in verse 7. David talks about the sons of Barzillai the Giliadite. These boys were to be treated with special favor. David say they were to eat at Solomon’s table. That’s because, as David points out, they treated David well. When David was running from Absolom, Barzillai gave him refuge.
Now, because of their faithfulness --because of their loyalty and love, David wants to make sure they are treated with loyalty and love.
The second person Solomon deals with is Adonijah. And you’ll notice that things do not go as well for him. Adonijah is put to death. Why is that? Well, that’s because Adonijah was (and continued to be) a usurper.
You may remember from last week how he tried to supplant Solomon and become king. Here in our text we see that he’s still trying to gain the throne in an underhanded way.
The passage tells us about how he asks for Abishag the Shunnemite. He tries to get Solomon’s mother to persuade Solomon to give her to him. But this was no innocent marriage proposal. This was the young woman who tended to David. If Adonijah marries the woman who belonged to David, he will be looked at as having David’s throne.
Some people wonder: if that is the case, why would Bathsheba agree to being the matchmaker? She probably agreed because she knew her son. She knew he would see right through this flimsy plan.
So what happens? Solomon has Adonijah struck down. He is a threat to the throne. He has basically committed treason two times over. And so Solomon has him cut down.
The next person we meet is Abiathar the priest. Now, you will remember that Abiathar and Joab were also involved in Adonijah’s coup.
You’ll notice that Abiathar is given a great deal of grace. He’s deposed from the ministry. He was a priest. But Solomon sends him home and he’s no longer allowed to serve in that capacity any longer.
And the reason he is allowed to live is because he had been a priest and friend to David. He had been one who carried the ark of the covenant and been with David through the thick and thin. But there’s a sense in which Abiathar was really only given a slap on the wrist. He definitely does not suffer the loss of life, like he should have for being a part of that mutiny.
The third person is Joab. Joab, like Adonijah, gets struck down. Why is that? Why doesn’t he get the Abiathar treatment? This is where we must go back to David’s charge to Solomon at the beginning of the chapter. Joab was guilty of murder. David tells Solomon that Joab must not go down to the grave in peace. That’s because he killed Abner & Amasa.
These were two generals in David’s army. Abner was the commander of Israel’s army before the kingdom was united under David. Amasa was a general in Absolom’s army. David brought both of these men into his ranks as a way of extending an olive branch to make peace.
Joab didn’t like that much at all. Had he been in battle with them and killed them, that would be fine. That’s war. But Joab killed them in a time of peace, which makes him guilty of double murder.
Solomon then, carries out the penalty that Joab justly deserved. In doing so he sends a message: My kingdom will not tolerate such things.
The last person is Shimei. Again, blood flows. Shimei ends up being slain. But, that was his own fault, of course. Shimei was a guy who had allegiance to the house of Saul, the former king of Israel. Shimei was would not someone you could really trust.
But you’ll notice that Solomon gave him an opportunity. Shimei agreed to stay in Jerusalem and vowed not to leave the city. He was probably put under surveillance, but he was free to live so long as he stayed within the walls of the city. The idea, of course, is that he can’t be free to come and go, lest he help to make plans to overthrow the king.
Well, he broke the terms of the agreement. He went and chased some servants that had escaped. So Solomon has him executed.
All in all, you see that Solomon puts everything in order. He acts wisely and, in many instances, graciously. So you see how competent he is.
It should be obvious that leadership is such an important thing. Leaders need to make right decisions. They need to handle people in the best possible way. They need to rule well.
The thing that makes Solomon so competent is that he does not overlook threats. He doesn’t play around and let these loose cannons have any room to gain any ground. There’s a sense in which some of his actions are almost apocalyptic. He seeks to do everything in his power to allow them life and a chance to live, but he’s not afraid to bring the sword and let the blood flow either.
That’s what leaders have to do. They are only competent when they deal with people the way they should be dealt with.
There’s one more thing that I want to mention before concluding. We’ve said that the kingdom is established by Character and by competency. There’s one more thing that is important to note. Our text insinuates that God’s kingdom requires one more thing. It is ultimately built by Christ.
III. Christ
The funny thing about this text is that it uses the word established several times. The kingdom was established under Solomon. The word established means “Firm” or “secure.” But the people reading this book were lamenting the fact that it wasn’t secure. It’s the very fact that it was not firmly established that had them in tears.
And there’s a hint of that at the very beginning of the passage. David says, “I am about to go the way of all the earth.” David, of course, was talking about dying. But that was true of the kingdom too, wasn’t it? It went the way all kingdoms eventually do. It died just like David.
But notice the second to last verse of the chapter. It says, “the throne of David shall be established before the Lord, forever.”
There’s an anticipation that the kingdom would be secure. The Scripture seems to insinuate that the kingdom of God would be firmly established. It would have this enduring quality.
There’s another word that pops up in our text repeatedly. It’s the word “turn.” Some of the places it is found doesn’t come out in the English. But the most prominent place it is found is in verse 15. Adonijah says that the kingdom was his, but “the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers.”
Do you see the message? The kingdom seems to belong to another. It seems like Babylon has the upper hand. It seems like Satan is winning. It so often seems like the kingdom of darkness is prevailing.
Well, that’s the message here. Things will not remain that way. There will come a point where things get turned around. Babylon isn’t going to be in power forever. Things will get turned around and God’s kingdom will turn out to be the one in power.
Our present day Babylon seems pretty strong, doesn’t it? The kingdom of sin and Satan seem to be so prevalent. They often seem to dominate. But guess what? It will not be that way forever. Things will turn. Satan and all those in league with him will be overthrown. They will be cast into the lake of fire. And the kingdom of God will be established. There will be no tears or sorrow.
And we know that will happen because of Christ. Ultimately, this passage points us to Jesus. It’s really him that we hear echoes of in this passage. When the passage talks about character, it’s ultimately speaking of Jesus. He’s the one who was obedient to the law.
And he is the only one who is competent to lead. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom because he knows how to bring the sword and he knows how to extend steadfast love.
But ultimately, he rules because of the cross. That’s when things got turned around. That was the thing that turned everything upside down. It’s at the cross where you see the tides turn. Satan went in for the kill, but the cross became his undoing.
And that continues to be the promise that runs through the ages. God’s kingdom will be established. All those who opposed the kingdom will be put down eventually. It’s just a matter of time. We may suffer some in this world, but the promise is that it won’t stay that way. Things will eventually take a turn for the better. Christ will be found coming on the clouds of heaven and all the woes that now dog us will be gone.
You just got home from a hard day’s work. Things have been difficult since coming into exile. Doing business in a foreign land isn’t easy. You are not only being taxed out the nose, you are constantly dealing with people who are trying to swindle you. You co-workers and your clientele are profane, sun worshipping cheaters who see you as a stepping stone to get what they want.
Business is grueling and it’s hard to make an honest buck. And that’s just the business side of life. The religious element is another factor. You are steeped in a pagan world that mocks your monotheism. You worship a God that basically everyone hates. They are not afraid to take any opportunity to tell you how foolish your religion is and tease you about it.
Now that you are home, you’d think that there would be some rest and reprieve. However, things are not all that great at home either. You can’t relax because your children have gone to the market with their mother and are again asking all these questions and showing interest in the Babylonian culture. The theater is advertising a lusty show. The neighbor kids invited them to the moon sacrifice party.
It’s all a headache. You’d like to take some consolation in that the Sabbath is about ready to start. But you recognize that isn’t all that much of a comfort either. After all, the local synagogue has its problems. It’s not like your fellow Jews have it all together either.
You sit down on the porch for a moment of rest and you notice that the neighbor has just put another woke sign in their front lawn.
Now, I don’t know if you can identify with any of that? You may find it difficult to understand what it is like being surrounded by paganism and living in a world that is spiritually inhospitable.
But you know what would be going through the mind of that Jewish exile. He would be lamenting the collapse of the kingdom. God’s kingdom. There once was a time where God had a kingdom, and you had a place in it. But now, where is that kingdom? How it pains you that God’s kingdom seems to have, from all observable points, evaporated. From your vantage point it seems like its non-existent. Or, if it is in existence, it doesn’t seem very prominent. It doesn’t seem like God’s righteous, wonderful rule is anything like it should be.
Well, perhaps you can identify. Maybe you’re one who yearns for the kingdom of God too. Maybe you dream of God’s kingdom and deeply desire its renewal. You’d love it if God’s kingdom would come and be firmly established in your midst. It would be tremendous if this wicked world would pass away and the blessings of the Lord’s rule would be established.
Well, if you are able to identify with that Jewish exile at all; if you have those kinds of inklings, then I want to encourage you. That’s what this passage is all about.
The passage before us is all about how the kingdom of God was established. Solomon has just come to power. He’s just been made king. And, as we saw last time, this is a turbulent time. There were a lot of opponents. There was some potential threats to the kingdom. There’s a lot that could go wrong. But the passage before us is all about how the kingdom is established. As a matter of fact, the word established is used 5 times in this passage. And the Jews in exile would have been fixated on that word. It would give them hope that God had established his kingdom once, perhaps he could do it again.
Which, of course, begs the question: How is God’s kingdom established? What are the things that actually make it possible for God’s kingdom to not only come, but to take real root and be a lasting kingdom?
That’s what this passage is all about. It actually tells us that it takes three things to establish God’s kingdom in this world.
When you look at the first 4-5 verses you’ll notice that you have David giving a speech to Solomon. And in that speech he mentions the most important building block for God’s kingdom. You’ll notice that David’s primary focus is on Solomon’s character.
I. Character
David calls Solomon to faithful obedience. Look at verse 2. It says, “Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walk in his ways, keep his commandments. Everything that is written in the law of Moses, that’s to be what takes up all of your attention.”
David reminds Solomon of his duty. He essentially tells this new king that he has a responsibility to uphold God’s law. David’s focus is not so much on the armies (and how it should be regulated) or the economy (and how Solomon should have a laser focus on increasing the nation’s GDP). David knows that there is only one thing that will really be definitive when it comes to establishing the kingdom: It’s the heart; it’s the devotion one has to God. The kingdom is established as God’s people honor God by being obedient to His law.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of a Jewish man who is reading this for the first time. He’s there in exile. He’s wondering about the kingdom of God. He’s wondering about the status of Israel.
Think about how this will hit him. It’s going to land like a ton of bricks. Why are we in exile? It’s because we didn’t do this. We lost the kingdom because we did not prioritize what God prioritized. We did not obey. We were unfaithful. We didn’t put our faith in God and follow His commands. That’s why we are where we are.
And this is a call to us as well. This is a reminder to you and me of what matters most to God. The most important thing in God’s kingdom is not our programs. The most important thing in God’s kingdom isn’t the kind of building we have. The thing that matters most to God is whether or not God matters most to you. And how do you know if God matter’s most? You are seeking to be obedient. It’s your character that is the indicator.
When we come to the New Testament, what does it say? How will people know if you are part of God’s kingdom? What will be the tell tale sign that you are a Christian? They will know we are Christians by the conferences we hold? Will they know that God’s kingdom is in their midst because we have tidy homes?
No. They will know we are Christians by our love. It has to do with our character.
In his book, “Embers to a Flame,” Harry Reeder talks about one of the first calls he had as a pastor. He was not called to an established church. He was not called to a church plant. He was called to a church that was on the brink of closing.
The church had once been a thriving community of believers. It had been a pillar in the community. But by the time Pastor Reeder came, it had dwindled down to just a couple families. This once thriving church was now on the brink of closing.
When he came, Pastor Reeder began looking into some of the history of the church. Then he found an old church directory with the list of all the names of people who used to be members in the church. Do you know what he did? He began calling those people. He started visiting their homes and he began asking questions. He asked them, what was it that caused them to stop attending? He disguised it as his being a naive young pastor. He was just wondering.
What he found is that this person got mad because this decision was made. This person was offended by that person. This family left because they were cheated. Another family left because they felt that they were not being heard when they brought attention to certain matters.
In other words, Pastor Reeder found that the church began to crumble in upon itself because of its sins. The leadership had failed to shepherd the flock of God. The people had failed in their calling to be loving and forgiving.
So Pastor Reeder said that the only way that church would survive is if it would acknowledge the sins that they had committed and begin to repent of them. And that’s exactly what they did. They first confessed their sins to God. Then they began going through that list of names. They confessed their sins to those people and, where they could, they sought to make things right.
Guess what happened? The church began to grow again. It went through a time of revitalization. Thus the name of the book: Embers to a Flame.
There should be no doubt about what God’s priority is. In God’s kingdom his concern is with our behavior. Where there is sin, there will be decay. That’s because where there is sin it shows that God is not first in your life. But you can be assured: wherever the people of God are walking in the light of God’s law, there the kingdom will be firmly established. There’s no doubt about it.
God’s kingdom is built on character. That’s the first point that the Lord makes. Anyone who wants to see God’s kingdom come, they need to take that to heart first.
But while that might be the most important thing, that is not the only thing. God’s kingdom does require character. But it also requires competency too. And that’s what you see in most of the rest of the passage.
II. Competency
It is important to understand that the kingdom was established under Solomon because he was a man who did the right things.
A majority of our passage is about how Solomon deals with different people. And what you see is that Solomon did the right thing at the right time with each one.
First, you have the people that David mentions in verse 7. David talks about the sons of Barzillai the Giliadite. These boys were to be treated with special favor. David say they were to eat at Solomon’s table. That’s because, as David points out, they treated David well. When David was running from Absolom, Barzillai gave him refuge.
Now, because of their faithfulness --because of their loyalty and love, David wants to make sure they are treated with loyalty and love.
The second person Solomon deals with is Adonijah. And you’ll notice that things do not go as well for him. Adonijah is put to death. Why is that? Well, that’s because Adonijah was (and continued to be) a usurper.
You may remember from last week how he tried to supplant Solomon and become king. Here in our text we see that he’s still trying to gain the throne in an underhanded way.
The passage tells us about how he asks for Abishag the Shunnemite. He tries to get Solomon’s mother to persuade Solomon to give her to him. But this was no innocent marriage proposal. This was the young woman who tended to David. If Adonijah marries the woman who belonged to David, he will be looked at as having David’s throne.
Some people wonder: if that is the case, why would Bathsheba agree to being the matchmaker? She probably agreed because she knew her son. She knew he would see right through this flimsy plan.
So what happens? Solomon has Adonijah struck down. He is a threat to the throne. He has basically committed treason two times over. And so Solomon has him cut down.
The next person we meet is Abiathar the priest. Now, you will remember that Abiathar and Joab were also involved in Adonijah’s coup.
You’ll notice that Abiathar is given a great deal of grace. He’s deposed from the ministry. He was a priest. But Solomon sends him home and he’s no longer allowed to serve in that capacity any longer.
And the reason he is allowed to live is because he had been a priest and friend to David. He had been one who carried the ark of the covenant and been with David through the thick and thin. But there’s a sense in which Abiathar was really only given a slap on the wrist. He definitely does not suffer the loss of life, like he should have for being a part of that mutiny.
The third person is Joab. Joab, like Adonijah, gets struck down. Why is that? Why doesn’t he get the Abiathar treatment? This is where we must go back to David’s charge to Solomon at the beginning of the chapter. Joab was guilty of murder. David tells Solomon that Joab must not go down to the grave in peace. That’s because he killed Abner & Amasa.
These were two generals in David’s army. Abner was the commander of Israel’s army before the kingdom was united under David. Amasa was a general in Absolom’s army. David brought both of these men into his ranks as a way of extending an olive branch to make peace.
Joab didn’t like that much at all. Had he been in battle with them and killed them, that would be fine. That’s war. But Joab killed them in a time of peace, which makes him guilty of double murder.
Solomon then, carries out the penalty that Joab justly deserved. In doing so he sends a message: My kingdom will not tolerate such things.
The last person is Shimei. Again, blood flows. Shimei ends up being slain. But, that was his own fault, of course. Shimei was a guy who had allegiance to the house of Saul, the former king of Israel. Shimei was would not someone you could really trust.
But you’ll notice that Solomon gave him an opportunity. Shimei agreed to stay in Jerusalem and vowed not to leave the city. He was probably put under surveillance, but he was free to live so long as he stayed within the walls of the city. The idea, of course, is that he can’t be free to come and go, lest he help to make plans to overthrow the king.
Well, he broke the terms of the agreement. He went and chased some servants that had escaped. So Solomon has him executed.
All in all, you see that Solomon puts everything in order. He acts wisely and, in many instances, graciously. So you see how competent he is.
It should be obvious that leadership is such an important thing. Leaders need to make right decisions. They need to handle people in the best possible way. They need to rule well.
The thing that makes Solomon so competent is that he does not overlook threats. He doesn’t play around and let these loose cannons have any room to gain any ground. There’s a sense in which some of his actions are almost apocalyptic. He seeks to do everything in his power to allow them life and a chance to live, but he’s not afraid to bring the sword and let the blood flow either.
That’s what leaders have to do. They are only competent when they deal with people the way they should be dealt with.
There’s one more thing that I want to mention before concluding. We’ve said that the kingdom is established by Character and by competency. There’s one more thing that is important to note. Our text insinuates that God’s kingdom requires one more thing. It is ultimately built by Christ.
III. Christ
The funny thing about this text is that it uses the word established several times. The kingdom was established under Solomon. The word established means “Firm” or “secure.” But the people reading this book were lamenting the fact that it wasn’t secure. It’s the very fact that it was not firmly established that had them in tears.
And there’s a hint of that at the very beginning of the passage. David says, “I am about to go the way of all the earth.” David, of course, was talking about dying. But that was true of the kingdom too, wasn’t it? It went the way all kingdoms eventually do. It died just like David.
But notice the second to last verse of the chapter. It says, “the throne of David shall be established before the Lord, forever.”
There’s an anticipation that the kingdom would be secure. The Scripture seems to insinuate that the kingdom of God would be firmly established. It would have this enduring quality.
There’s another word that pops up in our text repeatedly. It’s the word “turn.” Some of the places it is found doesn’t come out in the English. But the most prominent place it is found is in verse 15. Adonijah says that the kingdom was his, but “the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers.”
Do you see the message? The kingdom seems to belong to another. It seems like Babylon has the upper hand. It seems like Satan is winning. It so often seems like the kingdom of darkness is prevailing.
Well, that’s the message here. Things will not remain that way. There will come a point where things get turned around. Babylon isn’t going to be in power forever. Things will get turned around and God’s kingdom will turn out to be the one in power.
Our present day Babylon seems pretty strong, doesn’t it? The kingdom of sin and Satan seem to be so prevalent. They often seem to dominate. But guess what? It will not be that way forever. Things will turn. Satan and all those in league with him will be overthrown. They will be cast into the lake of fire. And the kingdom of God will be established. There will be no tears or sorrow.
And we know that will happen because of Christ. Ultimately, this passage points us to Jesus. It’s really him that we hear echoes of in this passage. When the passage talks about character, it’s ultimately speaking of Jesus. He’s the one who was obedient to the law.
And he is the only one who is competent to lead. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom because he knows how to bring the sword and he knows how to extend steadfast love.
But ultimately, he rules because of the cross. That’s when things got turned around. That was the thing that turned everything upside down. It’s at the cross where you see the tides turn. Satan went in for the kill, but the cross became his undoing.
And that continues to be the promise that runs through the ages. God’s kingdom will be established. All those who opposed the kingdom will be put down eventually. It’s just a matter of time. We may suffer some in this world, but the promise is that it won’t stay that way. Things will eventually take a turn for the better. Christ will be found coming on the clouds of heaven and all the woes that now dog us will be gone.