1 Kings 2:23

When Bathsheba states Adonijah's request, Solomon's sharp insight and wisdom show at once. "And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother, even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." Adonijah's request was a scheme to get the kingdom. Abiathar and Joab most likely worked it out. To many people, taking a dead king's wife or concubine was, by Eastern custom, the same as claiming the rights of the king.

It did not look much on the surface, but Solomon was wise. Solomon detected the unjudged ambition and rebellion of Adonijah's heart, and so he judges, even though it was Bathsheba his mother who was asking. She presented what she called a small petition. That is often done when there is something great behind it, though not always known, for Bathsheba on this occasion was only the instrument of one who was not seeking something small, but the greatest place in the kingdom.

Abishag! — that young woman who had served David and cared for him tenderly, who had lived close to the king of grace! And she was to be given to this rebellious man, whom only Solomon's patience had spared until now! How little he knew both David and Solomon! To give Abishag to him would be to admit that he had some right to his father's succession. It would grant him a link with the kingdom that he could press at some convenient moment. It would treat his claims, and the revolt led by Joab and Abiathar, as legitimate.

It will be the same for the Church. Will the King of Glory ever consent to give up to another the bride He has chosen for Himself as King of Grace? … Here judgment did not have to wait: that very same day Adonijah is put to death.

Adonijah begs for the king's mercy and tries to get from him a solemn promise to spare his life. Solomon agrees to forget and to be gracious one more time. But he places Adonijah under responsibility before the glory of his reign: "If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die."

Certain critics have suggested that Solomon had a more selfish, sensual reason for putting his elder brother to death. One of them says that if Abishag is the fair Shulamite of the Song of Songs, there can be little doubt that Solomon himself loved her. But there is absolutely no evidence that Abishag is the same as the Shulamite, and Jewish tradition does not support such a theory. It is a mere guess.

So we see that Solomon was not the man of blood that David was, and he was not the conquering king of Israel. Even so, he was a type of the Lord Jesus when He goes out as a man of war, which He surely will. He is a type of Him when He executes vengeance on His enemies, when He will bring them before Him and have them slain before Him, as He says in the parable. He is the type of the carrying out of righteous vengeance.