Destined for a Throne

The king also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your Lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” (1 Kings 1:33-35)

Before he died, King David was anxious to proclaim Solomon as king and to do it in a way that would let everyone know he was really destined for the throne. David said, “Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king.” This was a rare Old Testament glimpse of all three offices in cooperation – prophet, priest, and king. All three worked together because David wanted the proclamation of Solomon as successor to be persuasive. He had five points to the plan:

– Ride on my own mule
– Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him
– Blow the horn
– Say, “Long live King Solomon!”
– He shall come and sit on my throne

We might say that God is just as concerned that we know that we are destined for a throne, that we are His sons, heirs, and that we will reign with King Jesus.

First, Jesus says to us “Ride on my own mule.” The mule was a special way of transportation – mules were rare in ancient Israel and had to be imported because of special laws against interbreeding. This was the ancient Israeli equivalent of the presidential motorcade. In the same way, Jesus says to the Christian, “Go the way I went – as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

In His own way, Jesus also says to His modern followers, “Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him.” He has anointed everyone of His followers with the Holy Spirit. As it says in 1 John 2:20, “you have an anointing from the Holy One.”

Jesus also wants to “Blow the horn” over His people today. He wants everyone to know about His special relationship with His people and He wants to proclaim it as loudly as possible. As it says in Hebrews 2:11, “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

We can also say that just as David wanted to proclaim, “Long live King Solomon!” so Jesus also wants to proclaim everlasting life and blessing to His people. As it says in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

Finally – and perhaps most wonderfully – Jesus says of His people, “He shall come and sit on my throne.” We are invited to reign with Jesus as overcomers, as it says in Revelation 3:21: “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne.”

The point is beautiful – just as Solomon was destined for a throne and David wanted everyone to know it, so the Christian today is destined for a throne and Jesus wants everyone to know it. Much of what we experience in this life is simply preparation for that future reign with Jesus. Even if no one else gets the message, we who believe should know: we are destined for a throne.