Today's Haftorah Reading:
1 Kings 1:1-31
Today's Haftorah reading recounts the events at the very end of King David's life. David was the nation of Israel's second king. He was a descendant of Abraham, and was chosen by G-d himself to be king, despite the fact that he was the smallest and youngest of his brothers.
As 1 Kings opens, we see that David is now very old and ill, probably in the last days of his life. In verse 5, we learn that Adonijah, the king's oldest surviving son has decided to seize this opportunity to proclaim himself king. He does not seem to expect any real opposition to his plan because, as verse 6 tells us, he was very good looking, rather spoiled and used to his father turning a blind eye to any misdeeds he might commit. Plus, as the oldest surviving heir, it was expected that he would ascend to the throne on his father's death anyway. But G-d saw things differently.
Remember, G-d fulfilled His promises to Abraham through Isaac as the primary heir, despite the fact that Ishmael was technically older. G-d also chose David, a shepherd boy, the youngest child from a family of the smallest tribe, to rule the entire nation of Israel. A given course of action may seem logical to the human mind, but that has no bearing on whether it is right in G-d's eyes. So often we convince ourselves that the picture we see is all there is, when it is but a speck compared to the vast viewpoint of the Almighty G-d.
Picking up in verse 11, the prophet Nathan has learned of Adonijah's plot. We are not told exactly how he hears of it, but he immediately goes to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, with the news. Nathan has never been presented as anything but a faithful prophet of the L-rd and a truth-teller, so we can assume that since he goes to great lengths to have Solomon proclaimed king that it is because that is G-d's plan which He revealed to Nathan.
Nathan then advises Bathsheba how to proceed (verse 13-14) and the two of them rush to tell David the news before it is too late. Bathsheba relates Adonijah's actions to David and the danger this presents to her and to Solomon, Nathan confirms her story and they remind David of a promise he made before G-d that Solomon would be the next king. David wastes no time in acting on their behalf and in verse 30 states that he will install Solomon as king that very day.
So once again we see that despite all human efforts to the contrary, G-d's plan wins out. And once again we see that the chosen individuals through whom G-d fulfills His plan are far from those we would expect. Instead of choosing the popular, handsome eldest son, G-d chooses the son of a woman whose relationship with the king began in an act of adultery. Why? Is it a reminder to us not to evaluate people by external factors? Is it to demonstrate to us that G-d's strength is made perfect in our weakness? Whatever the lesson may be, G-d has many things to teach us through every detail of history if we will only open our hearts and minds to His Word.
My prayer today is that I will be open to G-d's life lessons, and that I will see others with His eyes.
Tomorrow: B'rit Chadashah: Matthew 1:1-17
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