“So the king gave the order to B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada, and he went out and struck him down, so that he died. Thus, the kingdom was established in Shlomo’s hands.”-1 Kings 2:46
Yesterday, I left things off with the following quiz question:
Was Solomon’s order to execute Shimei just?
By all customs of that era, what Solomon did was right and to be expected.
But from God’s perspective, was it the correct thing to do?
Before I give you my answer, there are a couple of things we gotta consider.
First, did Shimei ever rebel against David or Solomon?
The answer is no.
He was certainly extremely disrespectful, and he had most definitely hoped that David’s kingdom would end.
My brother in Messiah, Steven, commented, “God allows death for certain things, but as I recall, throwing stones at the king is not one of them, and it certainly can’t be good in God’s eyes to create the conditions under which someone would die.”
So the position that Solomon took that Shimei had violated a commandment deserving of death doesn’t hold water.
Honestly, this echoes the time when David had Uriyah (Bathsheba’s husband) killed to cover up his adultery.
The bottom line is that the Lord values life.
Therefore, He doesn’t support the death sentence lightly.
And He certainly doesn’t support the execution of someone for insulting another human being, or for hateful inner thoughts, or for traveling outside of a certain geographical region.
I know some folks will quote these words of Yeshua to try to prove me wrong.
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”-Matthew 5:22
Listen, man, if I have hateful thoughts toward someone and wanna kill him but restrain myself and don’t do it…
Versus NOT restraining myself and burying an ax in somebody’s head out of pure anger…
Which action do you think deserves the death penalty?
The answer is pretty obvious, isn’t it?
If you wanna properly use the words of Yeshua to apply to this situation, I feel these verses are much more appropriate:
“You have heard it said before.
Love your neighbor, hate your enemy.
But I tell you something different.
Love your enemies, pray for them.
Pray for those who persecute you.
So you may be children of God.
Your Father in heaven above.
He gives sun to all people.
He sends rain on everyone.
Both righteous and unrighteous people.
If you love those loving you,
what reward do you really get?
Even tax collectors do that.
They love those who love them.
If you greet only your people,
what are you doing more than others?
Even pagans behave the same.
They greet only their own people.
Be perfect in how you live,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
-Matthew 6:43-48
I’d say these verses perfectly apply to Shimei and King David’s situation.
For sure, Shimei was disrespectful and insulted the King.
However, if David and then later his son Solomon wanted to respond in an appropriate Godly manner, I’d say loving Shimei would’ve been the appropriate response.
So to conclude, I believe Solomon was firmly in the wrong for what he did, and he now has blood on his hands.
But what do you think?
Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.
If anyone slaps you on the right cheek,
turn to them the other cheek also.”
-Matthew 5:29
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN 1 KINGS CHAPTER 3
With regard to David and/or Solomon acting in the manner that Yeshua taught, we should remember that Yeshua taught the Remes, the deeper, spiritual understanding of the law that, pretty much up to that time, no one had really understood.
Now, in Proverbs 25:21-22 , it says:
“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”
I think that is very much the same idea that yeshua taught, and assuming that Solomon wrote that one, I think it is safe to say that it was after the event with Shimei, since that happened very early in Solomon’s kingship.
And, if that is a correct assumption, then maybe Solomon learned his lesson, and if Shimei hadn’t already been dead, maybe (?) Solomon would have released him from the jailterm in Jerusalem?
That’s a lot of maybe’s, I agree.
As you said in the previous lesson, David technically didn’t kill Shemei, but I think a good DA would find him guillty of conspiracy. Al Capone didn’t participate in the Vallentine’s Day Massacre, but we all know it was his idea.
It may be argued that Shemei presented a potential threat to the throne, since he clearly wanted Shaul’s family back in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, and that is why keeping him in Jerusalem was a way for Solomon to keep him under control, but still… it was pretty clear that the house of David was in charge and going to stay there.
In any event, we agree that this was not a justifiable death, but just revenge for insulting the king.