(1) Kingship in Israel

From: Solomon and His Temple By: William Woldridge Fereday

THE commanding theme of Holy Scripture―of Scripture in its every part, is Christ. He is everything to God, and His Spirit delights to make known to us the glories of His person, the perfection of His work, and the Father’s eternal counsels respecting Him. Our principal interest in Solomon lies in the fact that he was a foreshadow of Christ. The peace of his reign, his righteous and wise administration, the prosperity of the people, and the homage of all the kings round about, all suggest conditions that will be true on a larger and more glorious scale when God’s true Anointed sits upon His holy hill of Zion (Psa. 2:6⁶Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:6)). Solomon’s administration, alas, finished badly, due to his own unfaithfulness. Far otherwise will it be with Christ. At the end of His long reign, “He will deliver up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.... Then shall the Son Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:24, 28²⁴Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)
²⁸And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:28)). He who was faithful when here in poverty and humiliation will also be faithful in the day of His Kingdom exaltation.

When Solomon was born his father named him Solomon, which means “Peaceable” (2 Sam. 12:24²⁴And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him. (2 Samuel 12:24)). Jehovah thus named him before his birth (1 Chron. 22:9⁹Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. (1 Chronicles 22:9)). But when he was born He sent Nathan the prophet to David with a second name for the child―Jedidiah, which means “beloved of Jehovah” (2 Sam. 12:25²⁵And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord. (2 Samuel 12:25)). It is added, “Jehovah loved him.” Another has remarked, “Nathan, with a marked reference to the meaning of the King’s own name (David=the darling, the beloved one), calls the infant Jedidiah (Jedid-yah), that is, the darling of the Lord.” Loved by God; chosen by God; preferred by Him above all others for the throne—what an expressive type of our blessed Lord! He is God’s true beloved (Isa. 42:1¹Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:1)), who in His due time “will Speak peace to the nations, and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth” (Zech. 9:10¹⁰And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:10)).

The inspired historian―Moses, we doubt not―tells us in Genesis 36:3³And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth. (Genesis 36:3)1 That “kings reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.” He who Wrote the Chronicles after the return of the remnant from the. Babylonian captivity repeats the statement (1 Chron. 1:43⁴³Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah. (1 Chronicles 1:43)). Edom as a people was very nearly related to Israel; but although not God’s chosen for supremacy in the earth Edom had kings (an honor, as men judge) before Israel. Kings developed rapidly after the break-up of the human family into nations. Nimrod came first as founder of the dominion of Babylon (Gen. 10:8-10⁸And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. ⁹He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. ¹⁰And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:8‑10)); Egypt comes next in the sacred record as ruled by a king (Gen. 12:15¹⁵The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. (Genesis 12:15)); and in Genesis 14 we read of two confederacies of kings at war with each other. Unhappy foreshadow of worse things to come!

But why was Israel so long without a monarch? God certainly spoke of a king for the nation while they were still in the wilderness, and gave instructions and warnings as to his conduct. He must not multiply horses, nor wives, nor silver and gold; but he must write out for himself a copy of the law, which he was to read all the days of his life that all might be well (Deut. 17:14-20¹⁴When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; ¹⁵Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. ¹⁶But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. ¹⁷Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. ¹⁸And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: ¹⁹And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: ²⁰That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:14‑20)). Balaam, when constrained by the Spirit of God to say against his will good things about the people he hated, declared: “Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” Further, “His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted” (Num. 23:21; 24:7²¹He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. (Numbers 23:21)
⁷He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. (Numbers 24:7)). Hannah in her prophetic song was led to say, “Jehovah shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed” (1 Sam. 2:10¹⁰The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:10)).

Why, then, was Israel several centuries in the land of promise before kingship was established? For the very blessed reason, if the people could have appreciated it, Jehovah was their king.

It was their glory to be living under a theocracy. Jehovah Himself personally directed their affairs. No nation has ever been thus honored, and no nation will ever have such an honor until the seventh trumpet is sounded in Heaven, and great voices say, “The Kingdom of the world of our Lord and of His Christ is come, and He shall reign to the ages of ages” (Rev. 11:15¹⁵And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15); J.N.D.). Then all the nations (not Israel only) will come under direct divine rule. This will be the final solution of all earth’s difficulties and sorrows, Israel, as the people of Jehovah’s gracious choice, was meant to be different in every respect to all others, and to be Jehovah’s witness to them. Balaam, in his first utterance said, “Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned amongst the nations” (Num. 23:9⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Numbers 23:9)). It was therefore deplorable when the people demanded of Samuel, “Make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Sam. 8:5⁵And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. (1 Samuel 8:5)).

Let us pause here and take account of ourselves. The Church is a company divinely called out and separated from the world. It is the body of the absent Christ (here to represent Him), and the house of God, the Assembly of the living God (Acts 15:14¹⁴Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14); 1 Cor. 12:13¹³For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13); 1 Tim. 3:15¹⁵But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)). Do we appreciate the inestimable honor and privilege of being a people separated to God? The history of the Church since the days of the Apostles reveals the grossest unfaithfulness in this respect. The Church and the world have long been friends, to the Lord’s dishonor, and to the spiritual injury of the saints. Further, the Church has been distinguished from the beginning as having its Head in Heaven, with the Holy Spirit dwelling on earth to act for Him. With respect to these great realities we have also been long unfaithful. Faith in the invisible Head in Heaven, and in the invisible Spirit on earth has lapsed; hence the hordes of Popes, Bishops, clergy, chairmen, etc. The Church, like Israel before her, has wished to be “like all the nations.” It is not even yet too late for some at least to recover themselves, and return repentantly to the right ways of God.

Israel’s willful descent from the high level upon which Jehovah in His grace placed them at the beginning of their national history has been recorded as instruction for us today (Rom. 15:4⁴For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)). For as surely as the people of Israel were divinely intended to be the aristocracy of the earth, those who are now being blessed and who compose the Church are the aristocracy of the universe. Our conduct should be consistent with our dignity.

Samuel felt deeply the people’s demand for a king “like all the nations,” but Jehovah said to His servant, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:7⁷And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:7)). The theocracy was thus at an end until the day of the Lord Jesus.

The Spirit’s words through Balaam and Hannah make it certain that Jehovah always had it in His mind to give Israel a king. Ultimately the king of His choice is Christ, but it was His intention that men typical of Him should occupy the throne meantime. Both David and Solomon, each in his own way, typify Him. But the impatience of the people could not wait for God to act; they would have a king forthwith. God knew where to find the sort of man that they wanted; thus Saul was anointed first king of Israel with disastrous consequences for all concerned.

Scripture numerals are instructive. Forty is the number of full trial (Psa. 95:10¹⁰Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: (Psalm 95:10); Matt. 4:2²And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. (Matthew 4:2)). For forty years Saul reigned. The trial ended with the dead bodies of the king and his sons nailed to the wall of Bethshan by the insolent foe, and the people scattered as sheep having no shepherd (1 Sam. 31). What confidence dare we have in flesh?

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