“King David said, ‘Summon Tzadok the cohen, Natan the prophet and B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada.’ They came before the king. The king said to them, ‘Take with you the servants of your lord, have Shlomo my son ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gichon.‘”-1 Kings 1:32-33
After speaking with Bathsheba and Nathan, David springs into action with an urgency we haven’t seen in a long time.
In rapid fire, he orders the other High Priest, Tzadok, Nathan, and his chief bodyguard B’nayah, to gather the members of his royal court, put Solomon on his personal mule, and then rush to Gichon Springs.
There, Solomon is to be anointed King of Israel.
The ceremony was to take place at a source of running water.
Why was this important?
Because, in addition to being anointed with olive oil, the next king had to be cleansed with MAYIM CHAYIM or living water.
Now, what do I mean when I say “living water”?
This means water that flows from a moving source.
It cannot be an isolated pond or well, for instance.
Water flowing from a river is best.
But an artesian spring is also fine.
A lake would also meet the conditions, provided there were an inlet and an outlet attached to it.
The Galilee Sea met these conditions perfectly.
In Jerusalem, there were only two water sources that could be considered living water.
One was the Gihon Spring located in the eastern part of the city.
The other was the spring at Rogel, located in the southern part of the City of David (outside the walls).
Using Gihon instead of Rogel for Solomon’s coronation had a couple of advantages.
See, both Adoniyah’s banquet and Solomon’s ceremony were taking place at the same time.
And events of this sort were usually all-day affairs.
My point is that by using Gihon Springs for Solomon’s ceremony, it didn’t butt heads with Adoniyah’s shenanigans.
Yet since both ceremonies were being held in the same vicinity, news about Solomon’s coronation would quickly spread to Adoniyah’s crowd.
Ya feel me here?
So Gihon was an ideal location.
Let’s switch over to the takeaway.
Notice that Solomon wasn’t just crowned in a palace somewhere.
He had to be brought to a source of living water.
And then he needed to be publicly confirmed.
Now, with whom else do we see this pattern?
Fast forward to Yeshua.
What was he doing when he stepped into the Jordan River to be baptized?
He was stepping into the same pattern we just saw with Solomon.
The Jordan is living water, and in that moment, Yeshua was publicly revealed and affirmed.
His coronation didn’t take place in a palace or on a throne.
It took place at a source of living water.
When you compare Solomon’s coronation to Adoniyah’s, the difference couldn’t be clearer.
Adoniyah tried to make himself king on his own terms, without any confirmation from God.
But Solomon was established in a way that removed all doubt.
The same goes for Yeshua.
Ya feel me?
That’s your takeaway.
God doesn’t leave His King up for debate.
He makes it clear for those who know how to spot the Biblical signs.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“As soon as Yeshua was baptized,
he went up out of the water.
At that moment, heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove and alighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said,
‘This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased.’”
-Matthew 3:16-17
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