Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of I Kings Chapter 1
Metaphysically Interpreting I Kings 1:1-27
1:1Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.1:2Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. 1:3So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the borders of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 1:4And the damsel was very fair; and she cherished the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not.
1:5Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 1:6And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born after Absalom. 1:7And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. 1:8But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men that belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.
1:9And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he called all his brethren, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants: 1:10but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.
1:11Then Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 1:12Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 1:13Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? 1:14Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.
1:15And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering unto the king. 1:16And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? 1:17And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by Jehovah thy God unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. 1:18And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and thou, my lord the king, knowest it not: 1:19and he hath slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host; but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. 1:20And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 1:21Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
1:22And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 1:23And they told the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 1:24And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 1:25For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, Long live king Adonijah. 1:26But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. 1:27Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not showed unto thy servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
Metaphysically Interpreting I Kings 1:28-53
1:28Then king David answered and said, Call to me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king. 1:29And the king sware, and said, As Jehovah liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 1:30verily as I sware unto thee by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; verily so will I do this day. 1:31Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did obeisance to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
1:32And king David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 1:33And the king said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 1:34and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow ye the trumpet, and say, Long live king Solomon. 1:35Then ye shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and over Judah. 1:36And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: Jehovah, the God of my lord the king, say so too. 1:37As Jehovah hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.
1:38So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. 1:39And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon. 1:40And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
1:41And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? 1:42While he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, Come in; for thou art a worthy man, and bringest good tidings. 1:43And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king: 1:44and the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule; 1:45and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon; and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. 1:46And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. 1:47And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, Thy God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne: and the king bowed himself upon the bed. 1:48And also thus said the king, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.
1:49And all the guests of Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. 1:50And Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 1:51And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon; for, lo, he hath laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me first that he will not slay his servant with the sword. 1:52And Solomon said, If he shall show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die. 1:53So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance to king Solomon; and Solomon said unto him, Go to thy house.
Undated: Editor's Note
[TruthUnity note: the following undated piece is on page 4 of the PDF. So it may have been written in November 1908.]
{EDITOR'S NOTE — These lessons assume the Scriptures to be a series of allegories. The historical truth is not repudiated, but given secondary importance. The Mosaic account of creation, Adam, and the Garden of Eden, are clearly allegorical, and have always been so regarded by Jewish scholars. Paul says that the history of Abraham and Sarah is “an allegory,” and Jesus taught in parables.
The one theme of the Bible is man and his relation to God, the One Omnipotent, All-Good and All-Loving Mind. The various personalities represent the changing states of mind of one ego repeatedly incarnating, and thus picture the history of every man. The Garden of Eden, the Promised Land, etc., represent the body, the various personalities, the ever-changing soul of man, and the Lord God, the Christ-Mind, or God individualized. The Scriptures teach that man was created “the image and likeness of God,” therefore spiritually perfect. That a personality called Adam was also formed, who, in his ignorance and inexperience, began believing in two powers, good and evil, “The tree of knowledge of good and evil,” which is the sin that separated his consciousness from the One Omnipresence, and resulted in death of his body. Man is a free agent and has power to make through his thought a condition that seems real, yet is not. We live in such a state of sense delusion, called “this world,” and all calamities, sorrow, sickness and death are its creations.
The Christian Religion is a great School of Spiritual Instruction in which those who accept it are being taught that Good is the One and Only Reality, even our Father God, that man is created to be happy, healthy, wise and immortal here in this earth. That heaven is not far away, but an invisible condition here in our midst, to be brought into manifestation by right thinking and pure living. “The kingdom of God is within you,” said Jesus. Sickness and death are just as much an evidence of sin now as in the day of Adam. Death does not usher man into a better world, but simply separates spirit, soul and body, which are again and again united in repeated incarnations. This privilege of living and taking on new bodies is allowed, until we awake to the true understanding, the likeness of Christ, and through conformation to the Divine Law, overcome death of the body as did Jesus Christ; also that through his overcoming we are empowered to do likewise, and without him we have no life in us. This overcoming of the “world, the flesh and the devil,” is the supreme attainment and the absolute necessity of every soul, and it is of great importance that we strive to enter into the “kingdom of heaven” here and now.}
October 4, 1896: I Kings 1:28-39
The Saul-consciousness had been one of high professions, but it was false and hypocritical and, therefore, unfit for and unworthy of spiritual dominion. It had, therefore, to pass away to give place to the purer David-consciousness, which was worthy to continue in dominion; for “David was a man after God's own heart.” But David grows old and feeble “that which waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:13). The “vanishing away” of this consciousness does not indicate its unworthiness or unfitness to rule as in the case of Saul, but rather that a still higher consciousness is to succeed as an outgrowth or culmination of the faithful David-consciousness. The Saul-consciousness was a retrogression, while the Solomon-consciousness is a progression. There is no standing still in consciousness; by disobedience of the Inner Voice we retrograde, and by faithful obedience we advance to a higher plane.
The self-exultation of Adonijah and the princely authority by which he was able to seduce from their steadfastness in principle some of the leaders in David's kingdom, shows that in consciousness of Love all thoughts and faculties are not equally on the same plane, though obedient and serviceable, some being held to the high standard by the restraining power of Love, so that when restraint seems withdrawn, they manifest their selfish proclivities, and when dominion is again restored their subjection is humiliating and abject.
Adonijah was a princely thought of carnal extraction, being a son of a heathen mother, therefore unsuited for kingship in the spiritual realm; but Solomon, son of an Israelite, represents a thought or faculty wholly spiritual, Israel-fathered and Israel-mothered, and therefore fitted for kingship in this spiritual kingdom of mind. Solomon stands for the consciousness of wisdom or understanding. This high degree proceeds from Love (son of David), yet it is greater than Love (verse 37). The David-consciousness sees in Solomon the coming consciousness of transcendent wisdom, just as John the Baptist recognized transcendent wisdom in Jesus. “He must increase, but I decrease.” It is at the suggestion of the Prophet Nathan that David provides for the establishment of Solomon on the throne; which shows us that the succession of the Solomon-consciousness is according to divine order, and that the consciousness of Love leads up to and establishes the higher consciousness of understanding. If you abide faithfully in the consciousness of Love, you will in due time find yourself ripening into wisdom and understanding. Love is the father of understanding, and abdicates its throne that the greater consciousness may have full dominion.
So Love brings about the establishment of the Solomon-consciousness through the current action of his holiest thought (high priest), the Divine authority (Prophet) and the executive will (Benaiah), supported by his invincible host of strong thoughts (body guard of 600 Cherethites and Pelethites). The sublime consciousness of understanding is firmly and immovably established.
– UNITY magazine.
November 22, 1908: I Kings 1:32-40
Solomon means “peaceful.” Some authorities claim that the name and history of Solomon is derived from very ancient mythology, that Sol-o-man means Sun Man, the sun being symbolically represented by the man, and his history, the changes that occur in the yearly journeys of our great solar luminary.
That Solomon stands for more than a great Hebrew king and wise man is quite evident to those who have searched deeply in religious and mythological history. As students who look especially for information about the individual man, we discern in Solomon a certain development of the presiding genius at the heart-center or solar plexus, the sun-center in man. In Scripture brain-centers, or more strictly speaking mind-centers, are designated as cities, and the presiding or ruling intelligence that controls or directs the work of the center, as personalities. Jerusalem (city of peace) stands for the heart-center, and Solomon (peaceful man), the presiding intelligence.
When the ruling intelligence is in harmony with the fundamental character of the center, rapid construction of the spiritual body goes on. Thus we are told that David could not build the great temple, because he was a “man of war.” When violent and resistant emotions hold sway in the mind, the turmoil is such that the corpuscles of the blood are constantly broken up as they pass through the valves of the heart, preventing any permanent construction on the higher planes of consciousness of the new body. We see the importance of cultivating peace and not war, non-resistance instead of resistance, harmony and love instead of discord and hate.
Anointing the king with oil represents speaking the word of authority in order and harmony. We establish the ruling attitudes of mind throughout our bodies by our daily thoughts, and they may or may not be in harmony with Principle. For instance, our dominant thoughts about love will show forth in the heart-center and establish there a general character, without any definite rule of action or authority. Under such conditions our love would be merely that of the superficial world, in which we lived. But learning the power of man to set up definite mind and body conditions through his word, we begin the anointing of our kings, or ruling states of consciousness, throughout our domain.
Solomon, peace and wisdom, is to be king in our heart, and we mentally anoint him in the name of the Lord. Nathan, the prophet, and Zadok, the priest, are representatives of the spiritual kingdom, which is the real source of all enduring power. If we declare our word of authority without its spiritual relation in our thought, it will lack certain elements of stability and truth, and instead of being related to the One Inner Source, it will be associated with some of the many man-made thought atmospheres. We should also always anoint our ruling thoughts with oil, which represents Divine Order. The particles composing oil are related in mathematical symmetry; they roll upon each other without friction, and fitly represent that Divine adjustment which is possible to the whole body, when it comes under the dominion of spiritual ideas.
The mule represents human will. When it is ridden upon and is obedient, the inference is of subjection of that faculty to the established order. Gihon means “stream.” It is the name of the second river of the Garden of Eden, and represents the thought of the body as fluid. When the will is brought down to a consciousness that the body is pervaded by an invisible fluid, it becomes stable and steady and makes concentration easy.
– UNITY magazine.
September 8, 1918: I Kings 1:32-40
What in consciousness does “Solomon” symbolize? “Solomon” symbolizes “peaceful.” “Solomon” is made king when peace and poise are established in consciousness through Spirit.
Where in body consciousness does “Solomon” establish his kingdom? “Solomon” is the presiding intelligence reigning over a thought-center at the Solar Plexus region, near the heart.
How in Scripture are thought-centers designated? Thought-centers are designated in Scripture as “cities.” The city in which “Solomon” is established is Jerusalem, the “city of peace,” near the heart.
What in consciousness is the symbolical meaning of a “king”? A “king” represents a dominant faculty of mind.
What is meant by “anointing the king with oil”? When thoughts are established in harmony with Principle, through the authority of Love, they are anointed. Oil represents Divine Love.
What in consciousness does the “mule upon which Solomon rode” represent? The “mule” represents human will. Riding upon the “mule” (human will) symbolizes that Solomon had subjected the human will, until it had become subservient to love and wisdom.
How is kingship in spiritual consciousness attained? Kingship (Sonship) is attained when the human will is harmonized with the Divine Will, all warring, resisting thoughts and emotions having given way to the peace and harmony of Divine Love.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 02-05-2014
