The Fall of the House of David
First Kings 11: 9-25
The fall of the house of David DIG: Why is the story of Solomon such a tragedy? What choices did Solomon have in his own downfall? Why is the story of Hadad told in such detail? Likewise, why is the story of Rezon in the Bible? What was the only reason Solomon remained king?
REFLECT: Why do you think Solomon ended his reign so horribly? What was the root cause? Who are your adversaries? Are they attacking you because of your holy standards in this life? How did Yeshua turn our tragedy into a happy ending? Likewise, who can you help this week?
Yeshua turns our tragedy into a comedy – a story with a happy ending.
A genuine tragedy always results in pain and suffering. We see this in all the tragedies of Shakespeare, as well as the tragedies in the Bible. The tragic hero has made a tragic choice. Because of some particular flaw in his character, he had made a foolish and often sinful decision that can end only in disaster. As the tragedy unfolds, therefore, he suffers deeply for his decision. This is true even more so in the tragedy of Solomon the Wise. He had made his fateful choice. He had chosen to marry foreign women and to worship their many gods. The result was painful suffering for himself, his family, and his kingdom. The Bible tells us this story of Solomon’s tragedy so that we can avoid making the same mistakes that he made. The choices of sin are always tragic, and we are tempted to make them every day. If we are wise, therefore, we will let the Ruach Ha’Kodesh use Solomon’s example to teach us our own need for ADONAI’s saving grace.
The righteous anger of ADONAI: The first thing that we learn from Solomon’s tragic suffering is that Ha’Shem is angry because of our sin, and rightly so. The TaNaKh says very plainly: So, ADONAI grew angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from ADONAI the God of Isra’el (First Kings 11:9a). It was not simply that sin made God angry, as if somehow the sin could be separated from the sinner; it was the man who committed the sin, and who became the personal object of divine wrath. ADONAI was angry with Solomon. Most people don’t like to think about, talk about, or believe in the wrath of YHVH. Nevertheless, ADONAI is a holy and righteous God who cannot tolerate sin.
The truth is that Ha’Shem had every right to be angry with Solomon. The TaNaKh tells us exactly why the king fell under divine judgment. It was because his heart had turned away from ADONAI the God of Isra’el, who had appeared to him twice and given him orders concerning this matter that he should not follow other gods. But he didn’t obey ADONAI’s command (First Kings 11:9b-10). There is only one true living God. Yet Solomon had decided to worship false gods who could not save. He broke the first commandment by having other gods before God; he broke the second commandment by making idolatrous images; and this dishonored his father David, and therefore broke the fifth commandment. He also committed adultery which broke the seventh commandment. This is what happens when people turn away from God; by the time they are finished, they break every commandment in the Book. It is not enough to know the commandments, although that’s a good place to start. ADONAI demands that we do the commandments, and if we do not, He is right to be angry.221
The consequences of Solomon’s sin: The anger of God has real consequences, both in this life and the life to come. If He is angry with people for their sin, then He will certainly punish them for it. This is part of sin’s tragedy: it leads to punishment. Because of Ha’Shem’s perfect justice, sinners are liable to suffer the consequences of their sin.
We see this clearly in the tragedy of King Solomon. In earlier days, God spoke to Solomon using the word “if” (First Kings 9:4). If Solomon walked with the LORD in holy obedience, then God would establish his throne. Otherwise, his kingdom would be lost. The blessings of his dynasty were conditional on keeping the commandments. But when ADONAI spoke to Solomon this time, He started with the word “since.” Since this is what has been in your practice, and you haven’t kept My covenant and my regulations which I ordered you to obey, I will tear the kingdom from you – the tragic downfall of the house of David – and give it to your servant (First Kings 11:11). This reminds us of First Samuel 13:13-14, where Sha’ul’s sin led the prophet Samuel to tell the king that his kingdom would not endure, for ADONAI has sought for Himself a man after His own heart . . . because you did not observe what ADONAI commanded you to do.
The only thing that would keep Solomon on the throne at all was the promise the LORD had made to his father David. However, for David your father’s sake I won’t do it while you are alive, but I will tear it away from your son. Further, for David’s sake his descendants will continue to rule a portion of the covenant nation. Even then, I won’t tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe (Benjamin, which was too small in numbers, was merged with Judah) to your son for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Yerushalayim, which I have chosen” (First Kings 11:12-13). Despite the concessions to David’s memory, however, the punishment is clear, irrevocable, and stunning. Solomon’s sin would soon cause the nation to crash from the heights it had achieved. His idolatry had led to the idolatry of the people. Isra’el had begun her long road to exile, though she didn’t know yet that her actions would result in such dire consequences.222
Just because ADONAI left Solomon on the throne did not mean that he would suffer no consequences. First Kings 11 tells the story of two adversaries. One came from Edom, in the south: Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. Ever since the days of Jacob and Esau, there had been bad blood between the Israelites and the Edomites. In Solomon’s day, there had been recent conflict between the two tribes. Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom (First Kings 11:14-16). Needless to say, that didn’t help relations any. Elsewhere, we read that David’s men killed almost twenty-thousand Edomites before subjecting them to slavery (Second Samuel 8:13-14; First Chronicles 8:12-13). The few Edomites that somehow managed to survive had vengeance on their minds.
This was especially true for the only member of Edom’s royal family who escaped with his life: But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. The Bible then tells how Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. While living in Egypt, Hadad not only survived, but also thrived. He was welcomed as a prominent member of Pharaoh’s royal court, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food. Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpanhes, in marriage. The sister of Tahpanhes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpanhes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children (First Kings 11:17-20).
Yet for all the blessings he experienced in Egypt, Hada never forgot what Isra’el had done to the Edomites. He named his son Genubath, which means to steal (from the Hebrew verb ganab), possibly to serve as a constant reminder of the kingdom that had been taken away from him. He bided his time in Egypt – a bitter victim nursing a hateful grudge while he gathered his power and waited for the day of his revenge. And when the chance finally came, he seized it. While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab, the commander of the army, was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.” “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh, seemingly offended, asked. “Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go” (First Kings 11:21-22)! So Hadad persuaded Pharaoh to let him go, and from that time on, the Edomites began to harass Solomon on his southern border, chipping away at his empire.
But why does the Bible tell us this story in so much detail? To answer that question, it is important to notice how similar Hadad’s story sounds to the story of Isra’el in Egypt. A nation sojourns to Egypt, where it is given bread to eat and a place to live, and where some of its sons’ become princes At the end of his sojourn, the leader of that nation asks Pharaoh to let his people go – a request he initially refuses, before eventually granting. Does any of this sound familiar?
The story of Hadad follows the main plot lines of the exodus, in which Moshe and the children of Isra’el escaped from Egypt and returned to the Promised Land. Except that everything in Hadad’s story is backward. The nation coming out of Egypt is not Isra’el, but Edom. This turnabout is God’s doing – not for Isra’el’s benefit but this time for her detriment. The Bible clearly states that the LORD raised up Hadad as an adversary against Solomon (First Kings 11:14). The broader point is that this is what happens when our hearts turn away from God: His hand goes against us, and we suffer the consequences of our sin.
The story of Rezon makes a similar point. While Hadad was harassing Solomon from the south, Rezon was raiding him from the north. And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah (Second Samuel Chapters 3 to 8). When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So, Rezon ruled in Aram, or Syria, and was hostile toward Isra’el (First Kings 11:23-25).
This story has political relevance as up-to-date as the evening news. Isra’el and Syria are still fighting over the same territory today – such as the Golan Heights. We will see this conflict throughout First and Second Kings, in which the Syrians attack the Israelites again and again. Therefore, this episode has literary significance: it sets the stage for some of the stories that will follow.
But this story has spiritual significance in its own right. Rezon and his band of rebels were waging guerrilla warfare. In former times, this had been the role that David occupied. In the days before his royal dynasty, when Sha’ul was still the king of Isra’el, David had been the leader of a marauding band (First Samuel 27:8). But now everything is turned up-side-down. The house of David is not on the attack, but under attack. The roles were reversed, which was a clear sign that Solomon’s dynasty had fallen under the judgment of Ha’Shem.223
The consequences of our own sin: This is what happens when our hearts turn away from God: because of His justice, we are liable to suffer the tragic consequences of our sin. At one level, the stories of Hadad and Rezon are about the politics of war. But on a more fundamental level, they are about sin and judgment. Political and military conflict is never outside the sovereignty of God. In this particular case, the Bible tells us that Ha’Shem was raising up adversaries against Solomon because the king had committed the great sin of worshiping other gods. His sufferings were deserved; they were the tragic consequences of his own tragic choices.
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that though You are very loving, You are also holy. As the Seraphim call out from God’s Temple in heaven: Holy, holy, holy, is ADONAI-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3). The Parable of the Prodigal Son is such a wonderful picture of both a humble heart and God’s magnificent forgiveness. “And he got up and went to his own father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and felt compassion. He ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your presence. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’ (Luke 15:20-21).
Having a contrite heart (Isaiah 57:15, 66:2) filled with remorse over one’s sin is the only way to come to God when asking forgiveness. How gracious the father was in the Prodigal Son parable to have the fatted calf killed for rejoicing with a party for the repentance of his son. But the father said to his slaves, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let’s celebrate with a feast! For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life- he was lost and is found!” Then they began to celebrate (Luke 15:22-24).
How wonderful the joy in heaven over a repentant heart! I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over the ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (Luke 15:7). Thank You for forgiving my sin when I come to You in humbleness with a repentant heart. I love to follow You. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
ADONAI still operates the same way today. As a righteous Judge, He often brings sinners to judgment. Admittedly, we do not always know the purposes of God. Why does He allow this nation to triumph or those people to suffer? Yet by the sovereign justice of Ha’Shem people often suffer the consequences of their sins. Self-destructive choices lead to destruction, not simply because this is the way the universe operates, but because the universe is governed by a just and righteous God.
For anyone who belongs to ADONAI through faith in Yeshua Messiah, these judgments are never punitive, only corrective. In His fatherly love, ADONAI will use whatever consequences we suffer for our sins to do His good work in our lives (see the commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Cz – God Disciplines His Children ). Still, the judgments of God are a serious matter for self-examination. The moral choices we have make real consequences. What we do with our money, the way we handle sex, the exercise of power – we are responsible before God for each and every decision we make. Could it be that some of our present sufferings are the tragic result of our own sin? If so, then YHVH is correcting us with His justice.224
How tragedy becomes comedy: Is there any hope for us to receive mercy? There is always hope in Yeshua, even in the darkest hour. And we find such openness here in this passage as we do everywhere in the Bible. It is true that Ha’Shem is angry with us because of our sin and that we deserve to fall under His righteous judgment. But this is also true: ADONAI has saved us from judgment by sending His Son to be our Savior. We are objects of wrath who nonetheless have received mercy (Ephesians 2:1-7), because Messiah has taken all of God’s anger against our sin on the cross.
But at the same time that we see ADONAI acting injustice against Solomon for his sin, we also see God acting in mercy to save His people. Even as we witness the downfall of the house of David, we know that this cannot be the end of His royal line. For according to the promises of YHVH, Solomon was a beloved son who would not be lost forever. When he commits iniquity, God said: I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him (Second Samuel 7:14-15). Whatever judgment Solomon suffered would be corrective, not destructive, for the love of the LORD would never leave him or abandon him. Ha’Shem also promised David’s house, David’s kingdom, and David’s throne would last forever (Second Samuel 7:16). Therefore, God still preserved a remnant of his dynasty – enough to keep His promises. For the sake of those promises He would protect the royal line of Judah. And in the fullness of time, a Savior-King from the house of David would rise to God’s eternal throne.
Here is a promise for us to possess – a promise that finds its fulfillment in the house and line of David. If God had not preserved the tribe of Judah, then none of the promises for salvation would have ever come true. But ADONAI protected a remnant of the kingdom, preparing the way for our salvation. This is part of the story of Yeshua Messiah, as we know from the royal genealogies in the Gospels (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ai – The Genealogies of Joseph and Mary).
Yeshua is the royal Savior who alone can rescue us from the wrath that we deserve. He does this specifically through the cross where he was crucified. Some people say that the painful death of Yeshua was a tragic mistake, but strictly speaking, “tragic” is exactly the wrong word to use in describing the Messiah’s death. The hero in a tragedy is the victim of his own tragic mistakes, His own sinful flaws. Yet our Lord is perfectly flawless. He never committed even the smallest, most insignificant sin. Whatever suffering He endured was not deserved, therefore, but undeserved, and thus it could not be tragic in the proper sense of the word.
What then was the cause of the painful death that Yeshua died? It was not caused by His sin, but our own. This makes Messiah a new kind of hero, one who steps into our tragic story to take our place. We are the people with the tragic and sinful flaw. We are the ones who deserve to suffer the consequences of our sin. Yet, Yeshua has stepped in to suffer the wrath of God in our place. This is why the Gospels feel almost like tragedies; they lead to the cross. By dying in our place, Yeshua turns our tragedy into a comedy – a story with a happy ending. Therefore, we are saved from the wrath of God to live happily ever after.225
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