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1 Kings 1:25
This mornings sermon text contrasts two rival princes, both vying for the throne of David. Adonijah attempts to lift himself up, and ends up abased; Solomon does nothing, relying on the intercession of his mother, and yet he inherits the kingdom.
Part of the contrast is a contrast of two coronations. Both Adonijah and Solomon go with their supporters to a spring, a garden setting, and there celebrate the coronation. And both of them engage in feasting and rejoicing. The feasting is explicit in the case of Adonijah, and implicit in the case of Solomon: The peoples rejoicing with great joyEsuggests a festive setting.
In short, we have here a contrast of two tables, presided over by two kings. One table leads to humiliation, the other to exaltation. One table is rooted in rebellion, the other is set up in response to the kings command. One table leads to death, the other to life. Eventually everyone who is at the table of Adonijah ends badly: Joab is executed, as is Adonijah himself, and Abiathar is sent away into exile. Solomon the king brings judgment against those who celebrate a feast at the Stone of the Serpent.
Paul emphasizes this same contrast: You cannot share in both the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Eating and drinking at this table means that you have renounced the world and its enticements and seductions. You are at the table of the Greater Solomon, who has been anointed and installed as King in Zion. Keep to this table; refuse the table of demons. And rejoice until the earth splits.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, August 15, 2004 at 09:12 AM
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