What does 1 Kings 1:20 Mean?

Context Summary

The attempt of the usurper was met and defeated through Nathan's prompt action, and by the concerted appeal that he and Bathsheba made to the king, who seems to have sunk into premature old age. Bathsheba and David probably met for the last time on this dark day, and each of them must have remembered the solemn promise given them years before, through Nathan, who was still with them as friend and counselor. Much had happened since, but, amid all the changes in human affairs, the word of God is immutable and the promise of 1 Chronicles 22:9 must stand.

Probably only Bathsheba and Nathan knew of that solemn compact; and, knowing it, they at once took action. It is not enough that God should make a promise to His people; they must claim its fulfillment and put themselves at His disposal, that it may be fulfilled through them. The ancient prediction that the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord is true, but we must pray for and hasten its advent. From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.

Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 1

¹  Abishag cherishes David in his extreme age
⁵  Adonijah, David's darling, usurps the kingdom
¹¹  By the council of Nathan
¹⁵  Bathsheba moves the king
²²  And Nathan seconds her
²⁸  David renews his oath to Bathsheba
³²  Solomon, by David's appointment,
³⁸  being anointed king by Zadok and Nathan, the people triumph
⁴¹  Jonathan bringing the news, Adonijah's guests fly
⁵⁰  Adonijah, flying to the horns of the altar, is dismissed by Solomon