Gospel Reflections #1181: Whom God had chosen

1 Kings 1:49, 50 ‘All the guests who had been invited by Adonijah rose in fear and went their separate ways. Adonijah, too, was afraid of Solomon; he rose and went to grasp the horns of the altar.’

This scene depicts the moment when Adonijah’s coup—in which he attempted to seize the throne for himself amidst the struggle over King David’s succession—failed completely, and his camp was thrown into panic.

As King David grew old, Adonijah, his fourth son, had organised a banquet to celebrate his accession to the throne (a coup) of his own accord, bypassing Solomon, whom God and David had originally designated as the successor.

Just as the celebrations were reaching their height, with influential figures such as General Joab and the priest Abiathar in attendance, loud cheers and the sound of trumpets rang out from the city, announcing that ‘Solomon had officially ascended the throne’.

Verses 49 and 50 describe the collapse of Adonijah’s camp immediately after they heard this decisive news.

 This signified that Adonijah, whom they had until then been hailing as the ‘next king’, had become a ‘traitor’ in the blink of an eye.

Now that Solomon had officially become king, those who had sided with Adonijah were seized by intense fear, as they faced the risk of execution for treason.

Consequently, they lacked the loyalty to share Adonijah’s fate and, in order to save their own skins, scattered like a swarm of spiders.

This illustrates the fragility of human political alliances and how plans that go against God’s will can collapse in the blink of an eye.

Adonijah felt his life was in danger because Solomon—the half-brother he had looked down upon until just moments before—had now become the absolute king who held the power of life and death over him.

In the Bible, the ‘horns’ at the four corners of the altar, upon which sacrifices were offered in the Tabernacle and the Temple, were symbols of God’s protection and salvation.

Under the Law of that time, there was a rule regarding sanctuary: if a person, such as one guilty of manslaughter, took refuge at the altar, they were not to be killed without just cause (although those who had committed intentional murder were to be removed from the altar and executed).

Adonijah clung to the altar not out of faith in God, but as a desperate act of political and legal self-defence, reasoning, ‘If I hold on to this, even Solomon will not be able to lay a hand on me, as this is a sacred and inviolable place.’

No matter how much power or support a person might amass, or how many schemes they might devise, they could not overturn the kingship of Solomon—whom God had chosen—(and, by extension, the lineage of the Messiah).

Furthermore, relationships forged out of self-interest and ambition crumble in an instant when crisis strikes.

The sight of Adonijah—who normally acted in defiance of God’s will—attempting to exploit God’s sanctuary (the altar) only when he found himself in dire straits highlights human selfishness and pitifulness.

A relationship with God is not something that can be built in an instant, nor is it something that can be established merely because one finds oneself in a desperate situation.

We build our relationship with God through our daily lives, and this is our victory in Him.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.