1 Kings 1

Introduction

You’ve Probably Heard the Saying, “Never Meet Your Heroes”

The Reason this is a Saying is Because We Tend to Idolize People We Look Up to

We Place Them on Such an Impossibly High Pedestal…

That, Often Times, When We Meet Them…

They Don’t Live Up to Our Expectations of Them

We See Their Weaknesses and Imperfections

Maybe They’re Not as Good Looking as the TV Makes Them Look

Maybe They’re Not as Friendly and Outgoing as They Seem on Talk Shows

Whatever the Case, “Never Meet Your Heroes” is a Warning

Don’t Meet Them Because They are Probably Going to Disappoint You

I Want to Tell You 2 Stories of When I Met Some of My Heroes

(Talk About the Time I Met Eddie George)

That was a Time When Meeting My Hero Turned Out Really Well

But Then There was Another Time I Met a Couple of My Heroes

These 2 Men are Well-Known Preachers in the Churches of Christ

They were Both Speaking at a Men’s Day that I Went to

They were Speaking to One Another to Themselves at One Point…

So I Took My Chance to Tell Them that They were 2 of My Favorite Preachers

After I Did, Neither of Them Said a Word

But They Both Gave Me the Same Look

The Look of, “I Don’t Know You and You’re Bothering Us”

The Silence and Their Looks Made Me Feel Super Awkward and Discouraged

So I Just Walked Away having Marked Their Names Off of My Favorite Preachers List

Maybe I Caught Them at a Bad Time, I Don’t Know

I Expected that Reaction Out of Eddie George

But I Never Expected that Out of 2 Well-Known, Well-Respected Preachers

But that’s Often What Happens When a Person Becomes “Well-Known”

It can Feed into Our Pride and Negatively Affect Us

One Hero From the Scriptures that Many of Us would Love to Meet is David

But I would Like to Meet Young David, Before He Becomes King

Because After He Takes the Throne…

We See a Lot of Negative Changes in Him

Sin Became a Much More Natural Part of His Life

We’re Doing a Series on 1 & 2 Kings

Through Much of 2nd Samuel, We See a David that We Don’t Like to See

And in the 1st Few Chapters of 1st Kings, Before David’s Death…

We’re Going to Continue to See a David We Don’t Like to See

It Hurts Us to See a Man After God’s Own Heart…

Act So Differently Than the God He Claims to Follow

You Know What They Say, “Don’t Meet Your Heroes”

That’s a Pretty Fitting Saying for the Book of Kings

Because it’s All About How the Kings of Israel Led the Kingdom to its Doom

The Men Who should have Been the Leaders of Righteousness…

Were the Leaders of Wickedness

They should’ve Been the Heroes, But Most of Them were Villains

1 Kings 1

1 Kings 1:1–4 (NIV)

1 When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2 So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” 3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.

The Once Mighty King David is Now a Frail Old Man

His Servants Decide to Get Him a Beautiful Young Woman…

To Lay in Bed with Him and Keep Him Warm

Answer this One for Me:

If David is Simply in Need of Warmth…

Why Not Ask His Many Wives to Lay with Him?

Why Did They Need to Travel So Far to Find a Warm Body?

Why Does He Need a Young, Beautiful, Virgin Girl?

“But Jon, He Didn’t have Sex with the Girl!”

You’re Absolutely Right!

But was that Because of His Righteousness and Self-Control?

Or was it Because of His Inability to Do So?

The Text Doesn’t Tell Us…

But I Don’t Think We’re Meant to See David in a Positive Light Here

If You Remember:

All of David’s Sin-Induced Troubles Began…

With Him Bringing a Beautiful Woman to His Bed

A Woman Who Didn’t Belong to Him

Now David’s Life is Coming to a Close…

With a Beautiful Woman in His Bed…

Who Shouldn’t Belong to Him

We’ll Learn More About this Situation Next Week in Chapter 2

1 Kings 1:5–10 (NET)

5 Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith, was promoting himself, boasting, “I will be king!” He managed to acquire chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard.6 (Now his father had never corrected him by saying, “Why do you do such things?” He was also very handsome and had been born right after Absalom.)

David’s Oldest Living Son Decides its His Rightful Turn to Take the Throne

And He had Himself a Royal Procession as a Formal Declaration of His Reign

Adonijah is a Spoiled Little Pretty Boy Prince…

Just Like His Deceased Older Brother, Absalom…

Who Tried to Take the Throne From David Years Prior

Why was He Like this?

Because His Dad Never Raised Him to Be Any Different

He Never Disciplined Him or Taught Him to Act Right

He Let Him Do Whatever He Wanted

7 He collaborated with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported him.8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s elite warriors did not ally themselves with Adonijah.

Adonijah Got David’s Nephew and Commander, Joab, to Join Him…

As Well as David’s High Priest and Life-Long Supporter, Abiathar

But Several Others Stayed Loyal to David

9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened steers at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, as well as all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. 10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors, or his brother Solomon.

Adonijah Then Threw a Big Banquet for Himself By a Spring Near Jerusalem

He Invited All the Royal Officials of Judah…

Except for Those Who Remain Loyal to David

All the While, David had No Idea this was Taking Place

So the Prophet Nathan and Bathsheba Come Up with a Plan to Tell David

1 Kings 1:29–30 (NIV)

29 The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, 30 I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”

So David Told Those Loyal to Him…

Place Solomon on the King’s Mule…

And Anoint Him as Ruler Over All Israel at Another Spring Near Jerusalem

Then They are to Blow a Trumpet and Shout, “Long Live King Solomon”

And as They Made Their Way Back to Jerusalem…

For Solomon to Sit on the Throne, We Read:

1 Kings 1:40 (NASB95)

40 All the people went up after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook at their noise.

The Sound of this Royal Procession was Heard By Those at Adonijah’s Banquet

Once They Received News that Solomon had Just Been Anointed King, We Read:

1 Kings 1:49 (NLT)

49 Then all of Adonijah’s guests jumped up in panic from the banquet table and quickly scattered.

They No Longer Wanted Anything to Do with this Party

If the King Knows You’re Supporting a Successor that He Didn’t Appoint…

Bad Things are in Your Future

So They Abandon Adonijah in a Panic

Adonijah was So Afraid that He Ran and Grabbed the Horns of the Altar

This was to Say to King Solomon, “I Am Begging/Pleading for Mercy!”

1 Kings 1:52 (NIV)

52 Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.”

“If Your Life From this Point Onward Proves that You have Sincerely Repented…”

“Then You will have Life”

“But if Your Life From this Point Onward Doesn’t Prove that You’ve Sincerely Repented…”

“Then You will Die”

Application

What Solomon Offers His Older Brother, Adonijah…

Our Older Brother Jesus Offers Us

If We will Show Ourselves Worthy of the Gospel of Jesus…

Then He will Give Us Eternal Life

Paul Wrote to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians…

Saying to Each of These Churches…

“Walk/Live/Conduct Yourselves in a Worthy Manner”

But How can Someone Ever Be Worthy/Deserving of the Gospel?

We’ll Never Deserve What Jesus has Done for Us

Not Once is Paul Referring to Being Deserving or Perfect

He’s Referring to Living a Life that’s Different

A Life that’s About Selflessness, Instead of Selfishness

A Life that’s About Unity, Instead of Division

A Life that’s About Doing Good Works, Instead of Being Wicked

A Life that’s About Repenting of Sin, Instead of Indulging in it

A Life that’s About Loyalty/Allegiance to Jesus…

Instead of Myself or Anything/Anyone Else

Solomon was Saying:

“You’ll have Life if Your Actions Prove that You’re Loyal to Your True King”

Jesus Through Paul is Saying the Same Thing

Like Adonijah, We are Guilty of Trying to Place Ourselves Upon the Throne

Our Fallen Nature Wants to Be in Charge of Our Own Lives

We Want to Follow Our Own Rules and Live By Our Own Desires

If We Continue to Live According to Those Fleshly Impulses…

We’re Going to Die

But Also Like Adonijah…

If We will Approach the King, Pleading for His Mercy…

Making the Commitment that We will Be Loyal to Him

He will Offer it Graciously

Hebrews 4:14–16 (NIV)

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Adonijah Grabbed the Horns of the Altar in Fear

We are Able to Approach Without Fear the Very Throne…

Of the One Who Sacrificed Himself Upon the Altar…

And Rose Again to Claim His Throne

So May We Submit to the Kingship of Jesus…

And Offer Him Our Loyalty/Allegiance From this Day Forward…

Living Our Lives Worthy of Him

If We Do so, He will Give Us Life

If We Don’t, Death is Our Fate