Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Keep the Charge of the LORD Your God

By Dan & Brenda Cathcart
The video version of this teaching is available at: https://youtu.be/cJw3p14ycL0
The scripture reading is 1st Kings 2:1-12
David was arguably the greatest Israelite since Moses, yet his passing is barely mentioned in the Book of 1st kings. In this week’s haftarah reading we see that David is about to die and we read of David’s last words to his son Solomon whom he had chosen as his successor.
David reigned over a unified Israel. But that unification didn’t come without a price. David’s struggles for the nation of Israel are well documented, primarily in the books of Samuel and Chronicles.  His battles include victories, defeats, and challenges from his own family and close associates. At first David’s kingship only included the tribe of Judah and he reigned from the city of Hebron for seven and a half years. But the entire nation was eventually unified under one king, David who reigned from Jerusalem for the next 33 years.
Through all of David’s struggles, his victories, his defeats and his personal triumphs and failures, David had a heart for God and a deep desire to serve the LORD in spirit and truth. As he reached the end of his life, David desired to pass on this great legacy to Solomon; to see that his covenant with God would continue through his chosen heir, and that there would always be a Son of David on the throne of Israel.
Almost all of what we know about King David is recorded only in the scriptures and other Jewish writings.  Secular history has very little to no mention of king David.  In years past, many scholars, not willing to accept the scriptural references as being entirely historically accurate, assumed that the Biblical chronicles of David were much like the legends of King Arthur; at the most a composite of many kings and leaders, and at the least a total fiction; A kind of cultural legend that serves to unify a society and preserve a culture.
That all changed with the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948 and when archeological evidence began to surface. Scholars discovered artifacts and other direct evidence of the reign of king David in exactly the places the scriptures spoke of.
When we take a closer look at the chronology of King David and compare it to what is found in other secular histories and writing from other Middle Eastern kingdoms of the time, we find corroborating evidence. First Fruits of Zion in their work, “Torah Club, Volume 3, The Haftarah Portions” quotes from the Expositor’s Bible Commentary.
“… these sources (the secular sources) provide a fairly accurate time sequence for dating events of the ancient (middle) East, particularly so for the period of the Kings… the general timeframe of much of the period from Solomon to the fall of Jerusalem (the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians) can be acknowledged as rather well established. Hence we can say with a great deal of certainty that the year when David passed on the throne to Solomon was either 970 or 971 BCE”[i]
At the time of David, Israel was about to reach the pinnacle of their power and the furthest reach of their territory. It would be a time of relative peace for the nation of Israel. Other Middle Eastern nations were rather inactive.  The Assyrians were barely a blip on the radar and the Egyptians, although displaying some aggressive activities, were never a serious threat to Israel. After David, Solomon, in one of his first acts as king, formed a political alliance with Egypt.
1 Kings 3:1 NKJV 1 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh's daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall all around Jerusalem.
Also, Solomon fulfilled David’s desire to build the House of God on the plot of land that David had purchased.
2 Samuel 24:20-21 NKJV 20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people."
The Haftarah portion for this week is rather brief but contains the important last words of David as he gives charge to his son Solomon. David’s words to Solomon can be broken down into basically three areas that we will take a closer look at.  David tells Solomon to guard his life, guard his Torah, and guard his realm.
David’s first words to Solomon as David is about to die are about guarding his life.  David had the right to name Solomon his successor. But Solomon’s three older brothers were not happy with their father’s choice. Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah were spiritually and morally bankrupt. Solomon, on the other hand, had a willing and humble heart and found grace in David’s eyes. Given that his older brothers were blinded by their own corruption and ambition, Solomon had to keep a special watch over his own life.
David opened his words of wisdom to Solomon with an admonition to be strong and be a man.
1 Kings 2:1-2 NKJV 1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2 "I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.
David wasn’t giving this advice to Solomon out of some macho considerations. In a previous teaching, we learned that Solomon may have been as young as twelve years old at the time of his coronation according to Jewish tradition. David realized that, while Solomon was very young and perhaps too young and inexperienced to be king over all of Israel, Solomon none the less had to function as a grown man.  David would not be at his side to guide him on this path.
Solomon had to be strong, mature, and grow up fast! David was not referring to a physical strength in this charge to Solomon.  Solomon would have armies at his command to exercise physical strength and power.  David was speaking of spiritual and moral strength which comes from the LORD and he wanted Solomon to seek out God’s strength first.  This is evident in David’s next few words to Solomon.
1 Kings 2:3-4 NKJV 3 "And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4 "that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
In David’s words to Solomon, I am reminded of God’s encouragement of Joshua as he took over the leadership of the Children of Israel and led them into the Promised Land following the death of Moses. 
Let’s focus for a moment on the opening phrase of verse 3, “keep the charge of the LORD…”. This is not the literal translation of the Hebrew text, which would not make much sense in English. Looking at the Hebrew text will give us a deeper understanding of David’s words. The Hebrew phrase would translate, “and guard the protective guards.” This context reveals that David was referring to the Torah! Solomon was to protect and guard God’s Torah because that is what provides his guard and protection. Deuteronomy chapter 17 speaks specifically about the duty and responsibility of kings.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 NKJV 18 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 "that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
Perhaps David was reminding Solomon of this very passage of the Torah. Or perhaps reminding him of Abraham’s life and how it reflected this concept as well.
Genesis 26:4-5 NKJV 4 "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Further in verse three of our Haftarah reading, David gets more specific about what those guards are and what actions Solomon should take.  David referred to ways, statutes, commandments, ordinances, and testimonies. Let’s look at two places in Deuteronomy where these same words are used. First is Deuteronomy 6:17
Deuteronomy 6:17 NKJV 17 "You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
The other is Deuteronomy 26 verses 16 and 17.
Deuteronomy 26:16-17 NKJV 16 "This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 "Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice.
Would it have not been sufficient for David to just simply say “keep my commandments”, or “stick to the Torah?” But each of these words have specific meaning and are important.
The word for ways is “derekhim”, it is from number 1870 in the Strong’s lexicon meaning “a course of life or mode of action.” Solomon was to literally stick to the Torah!  The Torah is God’s instruction in righteous living.  The word implies a lifestyle choice.
The word for Statutes is “khok” number 2706 meaning an enactment, appointment, something bound or covenant.
The word for commandment is one we are probably most familiar with, “mitzvot.”  It is the plural for of “mitzvah.” Number 4687. It literally means commandment, law, or ordinance.  We also understand it to mean “good deed.”
The word for Judgements (some translations use the word “ordinances”) is “mishpatim” number 4941 meaning verdict, sentence or formal decree. This word would refer largely to the legal aspects of the Torah.
The last word used is testimonies.  It is “ay-dooth” number 5715 meaning testimonies or witness. The Torah was to give testimony to or bear witness to a righteous life.
All of the words refer to specific categories of instruction found in the Torah.  David was being very specific in his charge to Solomon. David clearly understood and was familiar with all of these aspects of the Torah and wrote extensively in the Psalms about how these applied to his life and reign as king. Psalm 119 is one such example.
Psalms 119:1-8 NKJV 1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! 2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! 3 They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. 4 You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently. 5 Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments. 7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. 8 I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!
David’s third charge to his son Solomon was to guard his realm. In 1 Kings 2 verses 5-9, David is instructing Solomon on some specifics about keeping his kingdom and throne secure. In this passage, David tells Solomon what kind of people to watch out for going forward.  Two of them are negative influences and one is positive.  In our day we might recognize David’s words as an application of the adage “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”  The 1st person David mentioned is Joab.
1 Kings 2:5-6 NKJV 5 "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. 6 "Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.
Joab was a thorn in the side of David.  He was one of those people who could be a great asset in time of need but Joab was always looking out for his own interest and would quickly become an enemy should the circumstances require it. Joab was very loyal to David but only to the point that it served his interest.
After the death of Saul, Abner, then the commander of Saul’s army waged a war with David and Judah.  Abner, finding war with David fruitless eventually entered into a covenant of peace with David, there by unifying all the tribes into one kingdom. Joab didn’t trust Abner and eventually murdered him contrary to David’s wishes. This incident was relayed to Solomon in David’s words in verse five “he shed the blood of war in peacetime.”
In another incident, David was faced with a rebellion by his own son Absalom. David gave instruction that Absalom was not to be harmed but Joab took matters into his own hands by subsequently murdering Absalom. David left it up to Solomon to handle the matter of Joab, using his own wisdom and judgment with the condition not to let Joab die in peace.
Next David tells Solomon to give special attention and care to the sons of Barzillai who assisted David in his time of need during Absalom’s rebellion.
1 Kings 2:7 NKJV 7 "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
Through this example, David was showing Solomon how to treat the righteous people in the kingdom.  Solomon was to recognize and remember the kindness of such acts as those of Barzillai.  David said that they should eat at the king’s table.  What does it mean to “eat at the king’s table?”  A commentary by D.J. Wiseman explains:
“To eat at the king’s table was equivalent of having a pension, the beneficiary receiving a regular royal allowance of food and clothing, with a house and land to support him and his family.”[ii]
Another troublemaker that David leaves for Solomon to handle is a man by the name of Shimei, grandson of Saul who confronted David at the time David fled Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion.
1 Kings 2:8-9 NKJV 8 "And see, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.' 9 "Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood."
Cursing the king was clearly a violation of the Torah.
Exodus 22:28 NKJV 28 "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
For whatever reason, known only to David, he allowed this descendant of Saul to continue his bad-mouthing of the king even though such cursing was a capital offence.  In his last words to Solomon, David considered Shimei a danger to Solomon’s reign. But given that David had allowed Shimei to live, Solomon would have to handle him in a different way.
David was giving some very sound advice to Solomon. Solomon needed to protect his realm by eliminating all the troublemakers who would threaten his reign and the stability of the kingdom. At the same time David instructed Solomon that he was also to protect and provide for those who were good influences. David gave examples of these two different kinds of people and it was up to Solomon to discern the difference.
Sometime after David finished speaking with Solomon, he died. It is amazing that the writer of the Book of Kings gives so little mention of the actual death of David, the greatest king in the nation of Israel.
1 Kings 2:10-12 NKJV 10 So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. 11 The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 12 Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.
David was a true and faithful servant of the LORD.  He was also a man with many flaws and he had many personal doubts and fears. David poured out his heart to God and some of His prayers and songs are recorded in the Psalms.
Solomon took the charge from his father David to heart and among his first acts as king was to pray for the spiritual wisdom to handle the tremendous task of leading the people. Solomon would be a just king and ruled the nation with fairness and dignity. And we too can learn from David’s final words to Solomon.
God promised that a son of David would reign from Jerusalem forever.  Solomon was but the first.  Messiah Yeshua, a son of David as well, will one day return to His rightful place as the king of a united Israel and reign with wisdom and justice from Jerusalem.  Someday, perhaps in our lifetime we can say once and for all, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob!” He will teach us His ways and we can learn at His feet.
Study Questions:
1. Discuss the connection of this teaching to the Torah Portion Vayechi Genesis 47:28-50:26? 
2. 1st Kings 2:5-6 describes how Joab used his armor, putting blood on his belt and sandals. According to Ephesians 6:10-18, how are we to use our armor?  What does this say about Joab? 
3. Using the Psalms of David as a guide, how did David view and apply the 5 aspects of the Torah outlined in this teaching?

4. Why do you think the account of David’s death is so brief?  Including other accounts such as the one found in Chronicles 29:23-30 
5. By digging deeper and reading further about Solomon’s reign as king, what was Solomon’s solution to the troublemakers, Joab and Shimei?

© 2018 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved


[i] Frank E. Gaebelein, gen ed. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (“EBC”), vol. 4, p.11.
[ii] D.J. Wiseman, 1 & 2 Kings (TOTC), P.77.

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