Friday, May 9, 2014

The horns of the altar

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Kings 1:41–53, “And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule: And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.  And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.”

Adonijah and his supporters were celebrating what they believed was the most significant moment in his life to that point. Benaiah came in and told them that David had chosen Solomon to be king and he had been officially crowned as king in public. Not only that but most of David’s senior advisors had accepted the fact that David had chosen Solomon and were congratulating both David and Solomon for the event. They were also wishing Solomon a long and prosperous reign. Adonijah was afraid because he hadn’t factored this into his plans. He thought that he would be killed because he was acting treasonously by trying to replace the old king David while David was still alive. Adonijah went straight to the altar in the Tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar. He was seeking refuge in the Lord’s place and looking for mercy. When Solomon heard everything that Adonijah had done he asked Adonijah to swear that he would be loyal to Solomon as king. Adonijah wanted to save his life so he made the oath that Solomon required and went to his own home. Even though Adonijah sword an oath, he was still scheming.

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