1 Kings 1 (Part 1) Bible Study (David in His Old Age/Adonijah King) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, meet me in first Kings together in chapter one, first Kings chapter one. The book of first Kings was originally combined with the book of second Kings as a single unit, and it was called Kings. And it is still called Kings in the Hebrew Bible, in the Tanakh. But it wasn't until the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, that a division occurred with this lengthy text. And we received first and second Kings, and that was followed by subsequent translations all the way up to our English translations, and it just stayed that way.

But if you look at the Jewish Bible, you'll see it as one entire actual book called Kings. Now the book of Kings, first Kings, there's dispute about who authored it, but the popular opinion is that Jeremiah the prophet was the one who penned and recorded this archive. And though the author might be argued, what is undeniable is that when you read first Kings, you are or should be convinced that it is a very well documented piece of history. And so perhaps you have read, I hope you have read, first Kings, if you have been a believer, more than a year to have completed this text. If you've come to first and second Kings, you've perhaps seen this repeated phrase usually around the end of a brief biography of one of the rulers of Israel, something along the lines of, and the rest of the acts of blank, are they not found in the books of the acts of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah.

Even in first Kings 11, you read of a book of the acts of Solomon. So from a human standpoint, the author here did a very good job for his sources in bringing together what we have before us. And I say that as a simple nudge for you to understand that what we have as we're studying this is a factual and accurate historical document. These are real kings. These are real events.

Yes. Offered by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit wants to even confirm through internal evidence that this is something that has been well researched, eyewitness accounts, and has been brought together as a reliable source. But when you and I read this, we have to understand that the Holy Spirit did not intend it for us to look at a, a series of of events, a tracing of God's people under Israel's monarchs. It's more than that, and you know that. What we have for us and what we have before us is the chronological testimony of the decline of a nation.

And the decline of the nation as being recorded before us, as being told to us, is layered with spiritual insight and lessons and truths that are timeless. Some books are very sophisticatedly, brought together in terms of outline. First Kings is very simple. It's a very simple outline. If you wanna know how to structure first Kings in larger portions, it's really one division.

Between first Kings one and eleven, you have the telling the history of The United Kingdom Of Israel. One nation, all the tribes loyal to one another under one king, one government. But something happens in chapter 12. From chapter 12 to the end of the book of first Kings and leading into second Kings, you have the telling, the history of the divided kingdom where there's a split, and now you have the Kingdom Of The North and the Kingdom Of The South. So you have the Kingdom Of Israel, which is representative of the North, and the Kingdom Of Judah, which is representative of the South.

So we are entering into a very critical time in redemptive history where Israel will know a fracture that seems to be almost permanent until the exile, the major exile with Babylon. And it is in those two sections that we will take our time to go through and and receive a wealth of of truths concerning who god is and who we are with him and who we are without him. And so as we introduce this chapter, it's very seamless, and that's why we prayfully consider this book ending with second Samuel because it continues where we left off. And what we're gonna cover today as a church is the first 11 verses. I tried to go beyond it.

It's very difficult to do so when there's so much packed in a series of verses. Well, let's read together the first four verses, shall we? Oh, I'm excited. First Kings one one. Now king David was old and advanced in years, and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.

Therefore, his servants said to him, let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, or other translations would say in his bosom, that my lord the king may be warm. So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel and found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not. The beginning of the book of first Kings describes the last days of King David, the concluding moments of his life.

We are told here that he was old and advanced in years. I wonder if anyone knows how old David was at this point. 70. Do you know how we know that? When did he become king?

When did he 30 years old. And how long did he reign as king? Forty years. It's very simple math. So at 70, we're told that he was advanced in years.

Now 70 doesn't seem like a very old age to have this kind of condition physically. But what kind of life did David live? He wasn't an ordinary man. This man was beaten, bruised, chased, enduring difficult terrain and circumstances. This man took a beating.

He was a warrior. He was a fighter. He was a general. And it seems as though there was just a natural toll taken on his body, and it's showing here that there is going to be this earthly departure, but seemingly early. To be, again, this fragile at this point only testifies of the life that he lived.

And as we read this, we realize something that he was sickly. He was ill. He he could not get warm. That's the indication of the seriousness of his condition. And really this is a reminder of the fate of all men, that no matter how lively, spunky, strong, mighty, accomplished, agile you may be, your body is determined to decay.

You are destined to die, and so am I. This is the end of all man. This is our future. This is really our fate. But as I look here, I realize that this is again a reminder of the inescapable reality of the effects of the fall.

No matter how many pills you take, no matter what your diet looks like, no matter how much you lift, no matter how much you run, we all have this end, and it is beyond our control. David could not control what was happening here to his frame, and that is true of you and I. But you know what is in our control? Perhaps not the warmth of our body, but the warmth of our devotion to the Lord. You may not be able to determine what happens to your frame, but you are responsible, and so am I, of what happens with our faith.

Will it grow in zeal? Will it grow in passion? Will it grow in devotion? Or will it also, with our bodies, grow weaker and weaker as time goes on? And Paul gave us the projection of the Christian life in second Corinthians four sixteen.

So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being what? Renewed day by day. And though that is something that God's will is for us, it's something that we also have to partner with and participate in actively. And so you and I have to make a decision as our fate physically is set for deterioration. What will happen to my devotion?

Will I choose to invest in it in a way that as I age, my love for the Lord, my service to the Lord, my commitment, and my worship to the Lord will only increase as I decrease? That as I age more and more, my adoration will also increase more and more. And that's a good reminder. And we're told here in verse two that the servants came up with an idea concerning how to preserve a healthy temperature for their beloved leader. And this was the idea.

Let's find a beautiful woman to be somewhat of a nurse and to be at service for him, and mainly to lie with him in his arms, in his bed so that there'd be a transfer of bodily heat, and hopefully the presence of this young woman would even stimulate his blood and that his life would be prolonged a little bit longer. And we look at this and we think that seems kind of strange as a solution, does it not? Now some simply explain this away by saying, well, this is a custom of kings at the time where they had a harem and they had this kind of availability. It was medicinal. You can make that case, but I think here there is something deeper to consider.

There are a lot of questions that I have with this text. Because even though this is a medicinal pursuit, if this is something that's in order to preserve his body and nothing more, and we're told we are comforted that he knew her not, he wasn't becoming senile, he didn't have intimacy with her. That's what we're being told here. This is questionable. And then some, again, want to soften this and say, well, she was made a concubine.

She was she was somebody who came into relationship with David, so it was it wasn't a big deal for her to be in the presence of his actual bed. Yeah. But that still doesn't help explain this. Because even if this was an addition to his harem, that's just a confirmation that you're only adding to the problem of your original issues, and that was having multiple wives to begin with. So whether or not Abishag is a second class wife or she's just a nurse, this is problematic.

Do you know what the name Abishag means? Father of error. And an error she was. Because we're gonna discover that Abishak is gonna be problematic in a very short season. Abishak is gonna be the object of an issue in the kingdom.

But okay. Look at the description that we're given of her. Therefore, his servant said to him, let a young woman be sought for my lord. Then look at verse three. So they sought for a beautiful young woman.

And look at verse four. The young woman was very beautiful. Like, why is that important if she was beautiful or not? Put anybody with a pulse in the bed and let them hold on to them. So, again, this seems a little bit suspicious, and rightfully so.

It is suspicious. And it's a reminder that as long as you live, sin will pursue you in one way or another. Until the very moment that you give your final breath, there is an ever present enemy that will seek to capture you and to make you a slave or to make you stumble, to taint your testimony all the days of your life, and it is a relentless foe. Sin doesn't care about your financial condition, your societal standing, your physical health. It doesn't care.

It seeks to devour you. It seeks to make you a slave. It seeks you until you enter into glory. So let it be a reminder that as you and I wanna protect this flame in our hearts, as we desire to honor God all the days of our lives, sin is right there every moment, every season. Whether you're 17 or you're 70, there is a war, an ongoing war, and we will not know eternal rest until we enter into eternity.

So be mindful of that in your spiritual warfare. Be mindful of the fact that as you get old, warm, and fuzzy, sin doesn't care. It still wants to kill you. And there's also other important lessons concerning how sin works. When we look at this, I realize that it was the ideas of the servants to bring this woman into the palace, and it wasn't a good suggestion.

You'll find out why again in the in the next few studies. You'll see why. And let me give you a hint. It wasn't a help to a a man who would become king, who'd watch his father as an example. These servants came with a suggestion, and it was under the guise of health.

Sin and temptation has a very creative way of approaching us and introducing itself to us. And it's one of its favorite cloaks is to pretend to be a means for good, to pretend to be something that will benefit you or to achieve a better end, though the means might be questionable and arguable. So there is a call for discernment to understand that I have to be on guard at all times. I have to understand that there are even people who might have good intentions for me and might present ideas to me that ultimately drift me further away from the will of God. Abishai didn't help really.

She might have physically, but again, this is just pushing David further away from what he should have honored from the beginning and that's to be a king with one wife, one woman. And so this is the idea of these friends. We are told that because of his age primarily he knew her not. This could also be an indication that David himself was integral. But we go from Abishag to another person in verse five, and this is where the chapter really wants us to focus on.

Now Adonijah Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself saying, I will be king. And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, Why have you done thus and so? He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. This is not the first time we've seen the name Adonijah.

He was mentioned by name concerning his birth in two Samuel chapter three along with his other brothers from the different wives that David had, but this is the first time we're seeing Adonijah in action. This is the first time that we see his words. This is the first time that we see him moving and behaving. And in verse five alone, we have so much to consider. His statement, the very first words of mention in the scriptures concerning him is, I will be king.

Problem already with this guy. But not just the fact that he wanted to exalt himself as a self appointed ruler, the timing of it. Look at the first word of verse five. Now. If you have the King James, if you have the New King James, it would say what?

Then. ESV and ASV? Now. So based on the background and what's the main background of verse one to verse four? David is very sick.

David is ready to die at any moment here. All the signs are there. His body is shutting down, and who caught on to that very quickly? Adonijah. And Adonijah realized, This is my opportunity, which proves to me that up to this point there's no record of Adonijah's activity, but he internalized this illegitimate desire to be king for so long.

And only now it manifested. Only now it was made known. Because he saw this wedge, he saw this clear opportunity brought before him, and he's going to take advantage of it, and it's actually gonna cost him his life. Adonijah teaches us something frightening about human nature. Very, very scary, and it's should scare us in a holy way concerning what sin can do to a man.

Adonijah here shows, and perhaps you've experienced this to some level, where you have known someone for so long. And for that time of knowing them, they have been generally peaceable, kind, respectable. But something switches in their character. All of a sudden, they turn and they become almost unrecognizable, usually at critical junctures in life. Maybe you've experienced this.

I hope not. I've heard it. I've seen it myself. I've heard people lament about it. It's amazing what happens in families when an aged parent dies and leaves back an inheritance.

Right? It's amazing what can happen. How even one greedy, selfish sibling can cause a war in that house. Or you think about even when positions open up, whether that be in the church or in the workplace, it's it's absolutely stunning to see what people will do to one another, what they would do with their own reputation in order to gain a place of power, the things that they will say, the politics that they will play, just so that they can attain something for the sake of status, prestige, reputation. You can even say that relationally in so many different facets.

With promotion, when something happens with somebody else, with giftedness, with with romance. When things don't occur the way you had hoped or when things don't flourish or continue the way you had desired, and how unmet expectations or opportunities can pop the lid and the true character of somebody is revealed. Friendships, business partnerships, you name it. And Adonijah here proves something very drastic that potential or missed opportunities don't make people evil. They just reveal the evil that was in them all along.

I know that might be shocking to you, but it is true. And so you and I have to understand that how you and I behave, how other people behave during during these moments, crisis moments, transitional periods, promotions or lack thereof. How you behave, how you react reveals who you truly are, or at least a lot about you. And that is the case with this man here. He is showing who he is.

So we see here when he chooses to say, I will be king, but look at how he chooses to do it. He prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. Why is that a significant detail? Any idea? Oh, very good.

Because you have your rearview mirrors up. When you read your bible, make sure that your mirrors are in the right place. Always looking where have I seen this before, and you have seen this before, almost word for word. If you want to cross reference second Samuel 15 verse one, this is concerning Absalom. And look what we're told concerning Absalom.

After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses and 50 men to run before him. This was Absalom's early phase of trying to steal the allegiance of the nation of Israel away from his father and to bring it to himself. And with his pompous pride, he chose to parade himself around and to let his looks do what looks can do, and that's to win the votes of many people. And Adonijah, a very handsome man, follows in the steps of his brother. And that to me says a lot about who Adonijah is.

What does it tell me about Adonijah? What does it tell you about Adonijah? This guy had a front row seat to another man's crash and burn when he allowed pride to take over, and he acted upon that pride. Did he not? Did he not know?

Did he not see for himself when a man tried to revolt and do something against God's will and to elevate himself what what your fate is, how God humbles you? And this man, understanding all of that, still doesn't learn from it. He imitates it. He imitates his brother, which tells me what? He is a fool of the first order.

That's what it tells me, and it should tell you the same. You're gonna imitate him almost step by step. When you see this section, he almost mirrors exactly the plan that Absalom tried to convince himself would work. A fool is described in many ways, And one of the marks of a fool is that when they fail to interpret personal lessons from somebody else's failure. A fool is somebody who fails to interpret personal lessons, not from their own failure, but from somebody else's failures.

And the mark of a wise man is able to look at the mistakes and the falls and the sinful consequences of others and to realize that they are susceptible to the same kind of destiny and choose to make the appropriate preparation so that they would never happen to them by God's grace. Can I show you in the Bible how it is proven that wisdom is defined by you observing other people's lives and then interpreting that for your own? One of my favorite proverbs to to back that truth up is in Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24. I want you to see this so that you can remember it for yourself and help others understand it as well.

In Proverbs 24, look at verse 30 to verse 32. Here's what the writer says. I passed by the field of a sluggard, a lazy person. I passed by the field of a sluggard by the vineyard of a man lacking sense. And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns.

The ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Now pause there. So this is what he's seeing. He's taking a stroll, and he sees the house of a man that is clearly not being taken care of, not being groomed, not being managed, and he sees this. And he sees the vulnerability.

He sees the lack of harvest. He sees the lack of all these different issues, and notice what it says next. Then I saw and considered it. I looked and received instruction. I looked and I received instruction.

So his observation was made into interpretation, and then it turned into application. When was the last time, not in a judgmental sense, but when was the last time you've looked or considered or heard news or have seen the way people have handled situations and thought, that's probably not the best way to do it. Lord, help me do it the way you would want me to do it. And this is what the Bible promotes in our lives as we go through life, whether those observations are at a distance or they are close and near. Have you heard the story of the two sons who had the same alcoholic abusive father and they had two different lives as a result of that upbringing?

The one ended up following the exact same example. He became an alcoholic. He became abusive. He had a terrible marriage. He had a broken dysfunctional relationship with his children.

And then when they asked them, why why did you end up doing this to yourself? Why do you end up doing this to your own family, to your own marriage? And he says, well, this is all I've ever known. This is what I've seen. This is the example that was brought before me.

And then the the other son who was successful, financially successful, relationally successful with his children, successful in all these different areas with the same father, same upbringing, same atmosphere, same environment, and they asked him why. Why are you so different from your brother? Why why do you have this different outcome of life? And he said, because I saw what my father was like, and and I determined that I would not be like that. And I chose to learn from those mistakes and to do the exact opposite of what I've seen.

Do you see the perception? Do you see how you interpret these things can determine the direction of your life? And the Bible calls us to do such a thing. So he learns that and then we're told what he learned. Just read the rest of that proverb and you would see it.

Adonijah unfortunately doesn't learn. He sees what he brother his brother does. And I think to myself, is there anything else that would cause this man to be so confident that he can actually walk in the same path and expect different kind of ramifications? And I believe there is. There is a clear answer.

There is something to know about Adonijah that made him believe and think this way. It's perplexing. It's confusing, but we know why. Go to chapter two, first Kings, and notice here in verse 15 what he says to Bathsheba. This is scary.

First Kings two fifteen. This is Adonijah speaking. And he said, you know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. Pause. Is that true?

But there's distortion here, and I'll show you why there's distortion in a moment. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers, for it was his from who? The Lord. That should give us chills. This man fully admitted that the divine prerogative, the divine right, the divine ordinance for the kingdom to be given was granted to his younger brother, Solomon.

And guess what? He didn't care. I don't care if God determined that Solomon would be king. I want to be king. So what you have here is not just a man who was a fool because he failed to learn from his brother's failure, but a man who was a fool because his heart had a special kind of pride.

There's there's levels of pride. All of it is really bad, but there's a special kind of pride where you can even think that you can thwart the purposes of God and that you can prevail with your own will and desires. People always wonder how does Satan keep going? Why does he keep going? I mean, we have everything determined.

We read the end of the book and we know we win. Doesn't he read it as well? Does he know the Bible? He does, but he's so proud. He thinks that he can actually change it.

He thinks he can actually change course. He thinks he can actually hinder and put an obstacle before God's determination for what would happen concerning his glory and his people. That's what pride can do. And before we think that this is shocking and unique, you have to be remember that it's the same attitude that's repeated in many people's lives who can look at clear, obvious scriptures and truths and believe that they can interpret it the way they would and apply it the way they would. It's the same kind of pride that Adonijah had.

He knew what God's word was about Solomon, about the kingdom, and he still resisted it. And you have people today who look at clear doctrinal truths and are willing to force it into something else, dismiss it altogether, interpret it to the point where they've butchered it. Why? For the sake of self interest, self wisdom, personal agendas. Is that not what we're seeing?

You know, people tend to criticize the Protestant church because of all these denominations, usually from those who come from traditional backgrounds. And they say, look at you guys. You can't even get your Bible right. You can't even interpret your scriptures right. You have all these people who believe different things about different texts.

Don't you guys need somebody to be able to interpret the word of God for you? Look what happens when you're all your own personal popes. And I say it's not because of people's interpretations, genuine, sincerest, but because of people's, this is what I believe, traditions. Traditions. And what I mean by traditions is you wanting to impose what you want the word of God to say, or you ignoring key truths, foundational truths, and willing to elevate.

Guess what, guys? Evangelicals have their own ideas and philosophies as well, not just the Catholic and the Orthodox. And so Adonijah here has a special kind of pride because he knows what God's will is, and he's willing to actually stand against it. And I thought to myself reading this, man, is there any indication how this person was able to live with such a frame of mind where he thought that the world, not just the world, the creator of the world revolved around him? And you actually do get the answer.

It's actually undeniable. It's actually so obvious. Here's one of the major contributions for Adonijah's ugly, nasty, self destructive attitude. Verse six, his father had never at any time displeased him by asking, why have you done thus and so? Why is that mentioned there?

To show that verse five is because of verse six. Verse five is because of verse six. David was a great warrior. David was a wonderful king. David was a trusted friend.

David was a beautiful worshiper. David was a failure as a father, and not only in this instance. And the bible wants to reveal that to us to help us understand that there is something that David failed to do that would ultimately lead to a destruction beyond what he had imagined. And as I read this and meditate on this, I thought that the lack of fatherly discipline that Adonijah was accustomed to made him the monster that he is and that we read of at this time. It made him a hideous beast.

And this is a crucial call to how future parents should understand their role, how current parents and I wanna be careful because I don't have children of my own, but I do have the authority of God's word. I don't wanna speak from my experience or lack of it. I wanna speak on what the Bible says. But I'm sure you can all agree that you don't need to have a a child to know that if you give somebody anything that they want, it's not a good idea. I don't think you need to pick up a book or talk to a child psychologist to know that that's not it's not the best thing to do.

And that is certainly right. We're told that David never wanted to displease his son by ever contradicting any of his wishes. And it is one of the most unloving things for a parent to do to relate to their child in a way where there is no presence of correction or instruction. Free range upbringing is a sure and promised destination for a child to become a societal thorn. And the parents who want to try to keep good terms with their children, because that's probably one of the main reasons why correction has never ensued, because they don't wanna create conflict, and they don't want that conflict to create anger, and they don't want that anger in their child to create resentment, and they don't want that resentment to ultimately become what?

Rebellion. And so with that notion in mind, they they're very minimal if if at all confrontational. And the Bible says that a person who thinks that way actually hates their child, hates their child. And there's so many proverbs about that. And I wonder if Solomon, just with his own upbringing with his siblings and having a father like David, knew a lot.

Yes. Holy Spirit inspired, but just by observation, knew what knew what it was like to live in a house where there was unhinged indulgence, parentally speaking. Scripture says something fascinating. In Proverbs twenty two fifteen, folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but what? But the rod of discipline drives it away.

Folly is bound up so that with that bundle of joy, right, that comes in that little heart of theirs is foolishness, and it's bound up in there. It's wrapped around. It is chained. And what is the primary means for that to be reduced, for that to be dealt with, is something called discipline, which tells me that one of the divine designs of the family unit among many is that parents have a primary responsibility to posture their children onto greater godliness through the means of holy and godly chastisement. Your discipline won't make your kids save, but it will polish them and posture them in a way where they can be more receptive, more open, ultimately attracted to the truth, the god of truth, to understand there is a sovereign master, a creator, a savior over you.

The world isn't about you. You're created for the creator of the world. And I look at David, and I think to myself, this is so sad to see. He was able to conquer nations, but he was unable to conquer the hearts of his own children. And to fail to see that as the divine mandate as a father, as a mother, is to ultimately reject the heavenly mandate of what it means to be a parent.

And one of the main reasons, as I said earlier, is that there's this sense of fear, and there should be a good sense of fear because scripture says not to provoke our children unto wrath. There is sometimes unrealistic standards and a type of correction that is so abused that you end up discouraging your child, but that we're not talking about that here. We're talking about godly training over the years that will better prepare your children to not just live in this world, but to live for God. And what I've seen, one of the tragedies of knowing this truth is seeing parents who, when their children are old enough to make decisions of their own, they come to pastors. They come to other seasoned saints with desperation on their faces and their voices.

Please talk some sense into my child. They're destroying themselves and others, and oftentimes, it's too late. It's too late. Not that the gospel can ever change anybody. That would be untrue.

But JC Ryle has a book that I recommend to all of you, whether you're a man or not. It's It's a very small book. It's a book actually worth repeating over and over, Thoughts for Young Men. Anybody here read it? You did?

Good. If you haven't, I would recommend it highly. Thoughts for young men. And and one of the places in that book he speaks about habits. And he says, habits are like trees.

They get stronger as they age. And even a child can bend a tree when it is a sapling. Have you ever seen a tree when it's so premature? It's like a little just like a looks like an overgrown plant, but you can still bend it. You can really, with the force, uproot it even.

You can change the direction of it, but a 100 men cannot uproot an oak tree. And he spoke with that metaphor to speak about what habits are like. The earlier you catch on to bad habits, the more guaranteed you are to see victory to overcome them in yourself and those that you you've you're responsible for. The later you wait, the more difficult it is. The more difficult it is.

And, unfortunately, when it comes to Adonijah's attitude here, it's reached a point of no return. And, yes, god can do the impossible and rescue us from century old habits, but that does not negate the fact that we have a responsibility for ourselves and for those that god has called us to train up. The earlier deal with it. Young men, you're considering marriage, but you're still dealing with pornography, deal with it now. Marriage isn't gonna fix it.

Deal with it now because it's only gonna get harder as time goes on. Anything else? Anything else that you see that is out of line of god's will, see it like that. The longer I wait, the stronger it will become. So let me kill the thing right now.

Let me go to war with it tonight, and god will help you, and he will be with you. Adonijah, Adonijah, Adonijah. When you read verse six, it's really a bad combination of three things, really. Look at it again. His father had never at any time displeased him by asking why have he done thus and so?

He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. Meaning, he was he was, humanly speaking, next in line to be king if they were to operate as how the nations operate, but they didn't operate as the nations operating operate. He was fourth. Right? And you have Amnon who died, and then there was another mention of Hilyab who was mentioned at birth, but never mentioned again.

So it's presumed that he died. Then there is Absalom who died, and Adonijah is next. So he he thinks that naturally speaking, I'm I'm the one who's supposed to be king, though he knew that Solomon was supposed to be king. So what do you have here in this combination? Here's you have this combination of parental leniency, privileged status, and good looks.

A recipe for disaster. Right? It's dangerous for somebody to be good looking and to be undisciplined. Very dangerous. And we were being told that he was good looking, not just for that truth, but in order to prepare us that some people are gonna be persuaded by his outward appearance.

And the people that he's gonna convince to join his side might shock you in verse seven. He conferred with Joab, the son of Zuriah, and with Abiathar, the priest, and they followed Adonijah and helped him. How? Two prominent men, very unlikely to join Adonijah, but apparently, they did. Joab, that man who had fierce loyalty to David, all the time that he defended him, was he not with David when Absalom revolted?

Was Abiathar not the one who from the beginning was under David's protective care? He was one of the priests that escaped Nob when Saul brought that massacre into that priestly town. Both of these guys are with him from the beginning. Both of them endured many trials, many temptations, and they already dealt with a coup before this. And now there's another one you would think, okay.

Here they are again. We've been through this. We've rode this rodeo. God will be with us. No.

They jump ship, and they join another man, and they turn their backs on the will of god. How? How is that possible? Well, look. Job is expected a little bit.

Right? The guy is shady. He's shady. And you think that he is loyal to David, but he is really loyal unto himself. And the way that's proven is that whenever there was a risk of his position being lost, for the sake of self preservation, he would even deny the wishes of David, and he's done that on more than one occasion.

So knowing the background of Joab here, he's very smart. He's very shrewd. He understands what's about to take place in this transfer of the kingdom. Was David not replaced by somebody? Or rather, Joab, was he not replaced by somebody?

In second Samuel 19, he was. Amasa replaced him. David was so fed up with Joab. He says, it's done. You're no longer the commander of my army.

Amasa will be the commander instead. Joab kills Amasa because of that. And Joab understands that David is about to leave, but David is going to he's gonna tell his son Solomon of his low view of Joab, and, certainly, Solomon's gonna replace Joab. It's a given. If David replaced him, surely Solomon, his son, is going to replace me.

And so he understands that he has no hope under Solomon's rule and reign. I will go to Adonijah. Why? Job security. Even if it meant resisting God's will.

There's no denying. Listen. This guy idolized his position. He idolized his post to the point where it's gonna kill him. You worship anything more than God.

I don't care how innocent it may seem. I don't care how much security it provides, how much meaning it brings to your life. It will kill you. It will betray you. I'm not surprised with Joab.

I am a little surprised with Abiathar, right, he's a priest. And there's no indication whatsoever, really, at least from a preliminary reading, of why Abiathar would would turn his back on David. Does anybody have an idea why he would though? Because there's there's only one possible solution from a scriptural standpoint why Abiathar would be inspired to say, I'm done with David. Any idea?

Here's a hint. Yes. Go ahead. Very good observation. You want the answer the possible answer?

Our sister said it, but I'm not gonna repeat what she said because I want you to see it in your Bibles. In first Chronicles fifteen eleven. In first Chronicles fifteen eleven, with other mentions of this duo throughout the Bible, you get the idea of why Abiathar might have said, I'm done with David. Then David summoned the priest Zadok and Abiathar. Abiathar was not the only chief priest in David's administration.

There was another named Zadok. And every time Zadok and Abiathar are mentioned together in a verse, guess who's first every time? Zadok. It could be that Abiathar recognized Zadok as a threat. It could be that with that, he also saw this opportunity to occupy a individual position as priest, and Adonijah promised that.

I'm in. You mean I don't have to share this with Zadok? You mean Zadok can be his own thing and I can be my own thing? Then let it be. So, again, you see even a priest who is allured by the false sense of purpose you get solely with a position, even if it's a religious position.

If god's not with you, who cares what you have? Who cares? I'd rather be god's will and lose my position than to be in a ministerial position and not be in god's will. Do you think most people think like that? No.

Because we idolize things like this. And Abiathar will never be the same once Solomon becomes king. So these men here, they turn on David. There's so much to make mention of concerning how purpose can pull us away from the will of God, but I wanna see from David's perspective. These guys were with you from the beginning.

From the beginning. And not just the beginning when you were successful, from when you were at zero with no promise of a kingdom, at least naturally speaking. When you're a fugitive, when you're an exile, when you're being chased like a animal, these guys come in. Like, if you're willing to be my friend and be with me at these kind of times, surely you're with me till the end. That's not always the case.

I think a lot of Christians need a wake up call the reality of relationships even within Christendom. That's not the case. And servants of God will know that to be true soon enough, that people will come and go. And some people, they would never expect to abandon the cause of Christ, and with that abandon you might just do that. And you have to be prepared for that.

You have to be prepared for when that happens. David, at his last moments, saw people that you would not expect walk away from him. So why are you surprised when it happens? And you think this is Old Testament? What did what did Paul say in second Timothy four ten?

Demas, in love with this present world, deserted who? Me. You would think he deserted Christ, and it is true that he deserted Christ. But Paul was realistic with his emotions and his feelings that when Demas did walk away, he walked away from Paul, and he knew the pain of that. And he knew the frustrations with that.

He knew the disappointments of that. Demas walked away. Demas was mentioned more than one in the epistles. Demas was a trusted fellow servant. Paul didn't let guys in so easily into his inner circle, did he?

No. When Mark tried to wedge himself back in, he's like, no. You can go with Barnabas. You're not coming with me. He was that kind of guy.

He was like, I have standards for who's who's gonna serve with me. Demons have obviously won his affection, won his trust. And at some point, he goes, see you later. But what does he say in second Timothy four seventeen? This is what he says.

But the Lord stood by me. Do you have friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ? He's my savior. Good. Are you friends with him?

Is he your friend? Do you walk with him? Do you believe in his presence in your life? Do you converse with him? Do you acknowledge him in every place, every problem, every circumstance?

Is he there? Does your faith come alive even in relational distress? I want that always. I hope you want that too. To be able to confidently, not wishfully, but confidently, accurately, genuinely, experientially.

Scary word. Right? To be able to say, the Lord stood by me. The Lord was with me. The lord is my shepherd.

The lord is my friend. The lord was with me. He protected me. He supplied the strength I needed. He gave me the grace.

He gave me the wings. He gave me the sustenance. He gave me revelation. He gave me more than I imagined. The Lord's but that's this isn't a stuffy headed theologian that just knew how to explain doctrine really well.

Yeah. He could write amazing theological pieces like the book of Romans, but he could also say with tenderheartedness, the Lord stood by me. Wow. What a heart. What a relationship he had.

Brothers and sisters, keep your eyes on Christ always, especially when people who are running in that same lane of the cause of Christ don't run-in it anymore. The Lord is with you, and keep him as your focus. Keep your eyes on him. Win his smile. Run toward his arms, and you'll know strength.

You'll know endurance. If you're always looking at who's here, who's not here anymore, oh, no. No. You're not gonna be able to do this with joy. And there's a lot of problems with that that I won't get into.

Instead, we look here at verse eight. There's a remnant in this rebellion. God always has a remnant. But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shammai, and Rea Reaiah, and Nathan the prophet excuse me. And David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.

Now look at this. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the serpent You might have a different translation concerning what that is, but that translates to serpent, which is Beside and Rogel. And he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah. But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty man or Solomon his brother. K.

If you ever question Adonijah's motives, just look at that. He didn't invite Solomon. I wonder why. K. You said something.

Good. Now let's just pull back for a second. I'm closing here. Okay? You have two camps that were created here.

You have Adonijah's camp, and you have David slash Solomon's camp. Now what was Adonijah able to do? He was able to recruit certain people. Right? And notice here that he puts on a feast.

This is a coronation feast. This is a feast to celebrate his self appointment as king, and he's bringing all these people in to join in on that. But he does it even through sacrifice. He's providing the meal through a spiritual gloss. Because remember this, almost always in a spiritual context whenever somebody causes division, they will always come off as pious and godly, prayerful, biblical, in tune with the spirit.

They don't even know they're being used by the devil. And so here we see, look, guys. This is my this is my celebration of me becoming king, and so I'm gonna sacrifice. This is for God, and it's of God. Oh, really?

So who does he have in his camp? He has not just Joab and Abiathar. He has a military commander, and he has a religious leader. Does he not? And who are the ones that didn't come and who are on the side of the truth?

You have Zadok who is what? He also was a religious leader. And you have Benaiah who was one of the mighty men highlighted because he was a leader among the mighty men. So so far, they look like they have the same thing. So far, it looks like an even battle, even competition.

You have a son of David. You have a son of David. You have a military leader. You have a military leader. You have a military leader.

You have a religious leader. You have a religious leader. But who stands out among the two? Nathan, the prophet. Adonijah couldn't recruit a true man of God.

Adonijah could not recruit a prophet. But Nathan, he stood with the truth. I was meditating on this today and I thought to myself, how true is it that in life you will be introduced to many individuals, many friend groups, ministries, local churches, movements of all kinds. They will come and they will go. And some of them will demand your opinion.

Some of them will invite you to approve. Others might even go beyond that and extend an invitation to participation. And you and I have to make choices in life. Which side is true? Which side is right?

And it may look very similar. It may both look very promising. It may even both look very right in terms of God's will. But if you want to be able to discern, the main differentiating mark is God approve of it. Does God's truth, not just in theory, but in practice, back it up?

Nathan the prophet symbolizes God's word because he was God's mouthpiece. He was used. He was the means in this covenant to reveal God's will. And so with all these choices that you have to make, with with all these pulls from our experiences in life, to pledge our allegiance here or to there, or to say take sides with this or with that, or to give our time, energy, resources here or there. If you want to know which side is the truth, just go with the one that honors, esteems, lives, and surrenders to the word of God.

If I'm looking at this, I see Adonijah, I see David and Solomon, and I see Nathan the prophet here through the symbolism of him standing as the word of God, the mouthpiece of God, the representative of God, you can be safe with that decision. And Nathan, the prophet, is gonna play an instrumental role in the rest of this chapter as he will bring this uprising to David's attention, and it has awesome lessons of how you and I should respond to certain things. Let's pray. Thank you for bringing these truths, Lord, to our minds, to our hearts. Thank you that we were able to crack some of the shell and to receive the nourishment that these historical, actual lessons provide for us in our walk with the Lord Jesus.

Lord, thank you that already we are being prepared, and we will continually be reminded throughout first and second Kings that there is no king like king Jesus. Help us to never forget that as the overview truth that we have the king of kings and the lord of lords as our leader, as our governor, as our provider, as our protector. And for now, lord, we meditate in all the different truths that came from different angles, and we ask, Lord, that we would be wise in interpreting what happened with Adonijah, what happened with Abishag, what happened with even Nathan and these other figures, Lord. And to Lord, by your grace, help us know how to apply that to our lives now. Help us be equipped, Lord.

Help us find to where to put these truths in our own experiences. Lord, we wanna give you glory and thanks as we meditate on that. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Why don't you meditate on that?

We're gonna sing. We have a different service time. You know that. Right? So it's not 09:30.

It's 08:30. We can take our time a little bit to just sit back and let the word just wash over us more and more through meditation. Thomas Wasson said, the reason why so many of us come cold after reading God's word is because we did not sit by the fires of meditation. And so before they even if they wanna play softly, that's fine. But before we even sing a song and just go through the service, just meditate on the word.

Meditate on those different things. Speak back to the lord about them. Thank him for it, and then we'll sing altogether.