What does 1 Kings 2:28 Mean?

Context Summary

The removal of Abiathar from the office of high priest and the execution of Joab quenched the last faint hopes of the house of Saul. In the case of Abiathar, note the remarkable fulfillment of the divine prediction, 1 Samuel 2:31-35. God does not fail to keep His word, whether of threatening or of promise.

Joab fled to the altar. Men who, throughout their life, have disregarded or despised religion will often turn to it in their extremity. Those who blaspheme when the seas are smooth, will be the first to cry for mercy when the storm-winds lash the waters into foam.

Joab's attempt to find mercy through the altar was futile; but no sinner ever flees to the Cross in vain. If he fulfills the conditions of repentance and faith, the sword of the avenger cannot touch him there. If we confess and forsake our sins, and humbly trust in the mercy of the Redeemer, no weapon that is formed against us can prosper, and every tongue that rises in judgment is condemned. "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord," Isaiah 54:17. From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.

Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 2

¹  David, having given a charge to Solomon
³  of Reverence
⁵  of Joab
⁷  of Barzillai
⁸  of Shimei
¹⁰  Solomon succeeds
¹²  Adonijah, moving Bathsheba to ask unto Solomon for Abishag,
¹³  is put to death
²⁶  Abiathar, having his life given him, is deprived of the priesthood
²⁸  Joab fleeing to the horns of the altar, is there slain
³⁵  Benaiah is put in Joab's room, and Zadfok in Abiathar's
³⁶  Shimei, confined to Jerusalem, by occasion of going to Gath, is put to death