Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Adonijah

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Kings 1:5–10, “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants: But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.”

David’s major weakness was the fact that, like both Eli and Samuel before him, he didn’t discipline his sons. They grew up with a sense of entitlement because they had always been treated with deference as the king’s sons. As David grew older, and was dying, his son Adonijah decided that he would like to be the king after David and set about doing everything that he could to ensure that he would be king. Adonijah was a good looking man and was the next in line for the throne after Amnon and Absalom. However, David was the king and he had the right to appoint a successor if he so chose. Adonijah didn’t wait for David to die but decided to proclaim himself as king. He called Joab, the head of the army and Abiathar the priest to come and support him as he proclaimed himself as king. He didn’t invite anyone who he thought might not be completely supportive of his ambitions. Adonijah started the religious ceremony that would make him the king but offering sacrifices and was ready to be king.

No comments:

Post a Comment