Pick a Side
Text: 1 Kings 1:1-9
Well good morning everyone. I want to thank you all once again for having me fill in for Pastor Tony. It’s always a privilege to be here with you all, and I’m so very grateful for the opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning.
We’re going to be looking at 1 Kings this morning… and we’re going to be in chapter one. While you’re turning there, I’m going to go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer.
(PRAYER)
Now I’m actually going to preach through this entire chapter this morning, but I’m not going to read the entire text. You’ll have to do that later on today when you get home. Instead, I’m just going to read through to verse 9 and we’ll get to the rest as we go (READ TEXT).
Ok, now let me give you a little background to this passage.
Adonijah is at this time, David’s oldest living son, and in that day and age, and in that culture, the oldest son usually was the one who was in line for the throne. We’ve seen that before with Jacob and Esau way back in the book of Genesis… Esau was first in line… he was the oldest, and he was expected to get the blessing and the inheritance, but Jacob ended up getting it… ya’ll remember that right? Well, Adonijah, being the oldest surviving son of David, expects that he’s next in line to be king. David’s oldest son, Amnon was murdered by his 3rd son Absalom, and Absalom rebelled and tried to take the throne, and he was killed in that rebellion. So that leaves Adonijah, who should be the next in line.
And what we see here is that David is on his deathbed. He’s an older man now… most scholars say he was probably in his early 70’s… Now if you’re in your 70’s and you’re still getting around ok – praise the Lord, but you’ve got to remember that David has lived 10 lifetimes in just those 70 or so years. He’s been in countless battles, he’s fought off the enemies of Israel many times, and like I said a second ago, he even had to stop the rebellion of Absalom, his son. He’s been affected by sin… his own sin, and sin in the world. He’s seen a lot, and done a lot, and it takes a toll on a person.
I always tell folks, “It’s not the age that gets ya’ it’s the mileage.” And David is what we would call high mileage. And so, he’s basically worn out, and worn down.
And in our text, we see that his son Adonijah, recognizes that as well. He’s seen his dad, and he knows that there probably isn’t much left in the tank (or so he thinks), and he takes the opportunity, and proclaims himself as the new King of Israel. And if we just look at it through the worlds eyes, it seems like Adonijah is pretty smart in how he does this – right?
He gets the support of the army behind him by getting General Joab to back him, and he gets the High Priest Abiathar to back him… and both of those guys have served David faithfully for many years, but now here’s his oldest living son, saying, “Ok guys, it’s now time to serve me.” And for all we know, they may have thought that was David’s will.
We aren’t given any insight into whether or not they knew the whole story.
But the point is – Adonijah is hedging his bets. He’s shoring up his base and his support, and his power.
The truth is – he’s in rebellion. David hasn’t died yet. He’s still alive. He’s kind of like that song, “aint as good as he once was…”. And so we need to understand that Adonijah is in rebellion. He’s opposing the ruling authority in two ways… one – he’s going against his king… and two… this may even be more of an act of rebellion… he’s going against his dad.
Look again with me at verse 5 (READ).
Now that sounds an awful lot like Isaiah 14:12-15… if you’re not familiar with that, let me read it to you… it says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star (Lucifer), son of dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.”
What we’re seeing here in the heart of Adonijah, is really not so different than what we see in Satan. His pride leads to rebellion. His own self-worth leads him to rebel against the king.
But here’s the thing Church, all of us are sinners, and because all of us are sinners, we’re all rebels at heart. We rebel, we oppose God. If you’re a parent or a grandparent, you’ve seen it in your own children. If you’re a boss you’ve seen it in your employees. If you’re a teacher, you’ve seen it in your students. And the reason for that is because we are all born in sin. It’s kind of like that story… you may have heard it before… but if not, it goes like this.
One day a father was taking his son out with him to do some swathing… and he told him, to sit down and buckle his seat belt. The boy at first didn’t do it, and kept standing up in the seat. So the father told him again, and again, the boy wouldn’t listen. Finally the dad, raised his voice a little and said, “If you don’t sit down and buckle that seat belt, I’m going to whip your hind end.” The boy sat down, and buckled up, but then said to his dad, “I’m sitting down, but on the inside I’m standing up.” That’s the rebellion that’s in our heart.
We see it in ourselves, we see it in our children… we see it in society. We live in a day and age, where it seems that all of society is rebelling against God’s authority, and against His rule and reign. God’s Word clearly says that He made us “Male and Female”, yet people want to rebel and change their gender, or at least pretend like it. God’s Word clearly says that God ordained marriage to be between man and woman, and yet people want to rebel and marry people of the same sex. God’s Word clearly says that We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and yet, state officials all over the nation, are telling people that they cannot gather and worship God. We see it in our world today, and we see it here in our text in the heart of Adonijah. Maybe if he would’ve humbled himself… But instead Adonijah missed that principle. He didn’t realize that the way to be exalted was to humble himself.
Instead, he listened to the world.
The world says, “Never let a crisis go to waste! Take the opportunity to exalt yourself, and make a name for yourself!”
But the Bible says, “The Lord lifts up the humble, He casts the wicked to the ground.”
(Psalm 147:6)
It says, “Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4).
And in James 4:10 it says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.”
And it’s the same for us today… Jesus must increase, and we must decrease. Jesus must be exalted, not us, not our ability, not our personality, not our career… Jesus! He should be high and lifted up! He should be magnified and exalted above all else!
But Adonijah didn’t learn this. He said, “I will be king! I will be exalted! I will be lifted up!” He was a rebel… a rebel by nature… AND… a rebel by nurture.
Go back to our text, and look at verses 5 & 6 (READ 1 Kings 1:5-6) – do you see it? Adonijah is making himself look like he’s king. He’s preparing chariots and horsemen, and he has 50 dudes who run before him. That’s a kings entourage right? And his father David is aware of all of this, he knows what Adonijah is doing, and yet, he never rebukes him, he never corrects him, or discipline him. Let me just tell you… there’s no faster way to make a monster out of your child than to not discipline or correct them. And not only that… Adonijah, was a good looking guy on top of all that.
What we’re seeing here, is the recipe for how to make a pride monster.
You’ve got a young man who’s handsome, he’s in a high position of authority, and he’s never been disciplined or corrected.
This is why the Bible is such a great BOOK. Because it shows us the truth. The Bible is not a book about good guys and bad guys… it’s a book about bad guys and a GOOD GOD! Because the fact is – we have this tendency to look at someone like David and lift him up and we forget that he’s not only a man after God’s own heart, but he’s also a hugely flawed sinner, with serious character defects. In David’s life we see a guy who loved God, and served God, but who also had a tendency to fail miserably from time to time. He failed to restrain himself with Bathsheba, and he has failed to restrain the impulses of his older sons as well. So we can learn what to do by looking at the life of David, but we also learn what NOT to do.
Now… let me get back to Adonijah… He’s trying to make himself the new King of Israel. His pride has led to rebellion… but God has other plans right? Nathan – the prophet along with Bathsheba come to David and call him out on all of this… and David does the right thing in the end. He places Solomon on the throne. And look at what happens here… it’s towards the end of the chapter (READ 1 Kings 1:41-53).
The tables have turned. The One True King was coming, and everyone who was singing Adonijah’s praises all of a sudden were gripped with fear. They realized that they were on the wrong side – they had been following the wrong “king”.
They had picked the wrong side.
Church, please hear me today. The ONE TRUE KING is coming. His name is JESUS! He’s come once before to bear our sin, and endure the wrath of God on our behalf.
He’s coming again to bring judgment upon this sinful, wicked, and evil world.
He’s coming to claim His Bride, and bring Her to Himself.
The question is – are you following the right king?
There is only one King who has died for your sin. There’s only one king, who has the power over death, hell, and the grave. There’s only one King, who can justify you before a holy and righteous God. It’s King Jesus! And just like Adonijah, we all have rebelled against Him. We’ve all tried to be the king of our own lives, and set ourselves… OUR wants, and OUR desires upon the throne of our heart. But God who is rich in mercy, and who has made forgiveness possible through the death of His Son, is willing to forgive you, but you must bow the knee to the One True King. You must turn from your sin, and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone.
CLOSING
