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1 Kings 1 (Part 1) Bible Study (David in His Old Age/Adonijah King) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Well, meet me in First Kings together in chapter one.
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First Kings Chapter one, the book of First Kings was
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originally combined with the book of Second Kings as a single
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unit and it was called Kings and it is still called Kings in the
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Hebrew Bible in the Tanakh. But it wasn't until the
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subtuagent, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible
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that a division occurred with this lengthy text and we
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received 1st and 2nd Kings. And that was followed by
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subsequent translations all the way up to our English
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translations and it's just stayed that way.
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But if you look at the Jewish Bible, you'll see it as one
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entire actual book called Kings. Now, the Book of Kings, First
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Kings. There's dispute about who
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authored it, but the popular opinion is that Jeremiah the
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prophet was the one who penned and recorded this archive.
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And though the author might be argued, what is undeniable is
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that when you read First Kings, you are or should be convinced
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that it is a very well documented piece of history.
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And so perhaps you have read. I hope you have read First Kings
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of You and to leave her more than a year to have completed
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this text. If you've come to 1st and 2nd
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kings, you've perhaps seen this repeated phrase, usually around
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the end of a brief biography of one of the rulers of Israel,
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Something along the lines of and the rest of the Acts of blank.
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Are they not found in the books of the Acts of the Kings of
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Israel or the kings of Judah? Even in First Kings 11, you read
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of a book of the Acts of Solomon.
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So from a human standpoint, the author here did a very good job
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for his sources in bringing together what we have before us.
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And I say that as a simple nudge for you to understand that what
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we have as we're studying this is a factual and accurate
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historical document. These are real kings.
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These are real events, yes, authored by the Holy Spirit.
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But the Holy Spirit wants to even confirm through internal
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evidence that this is something that has been well researched,
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eyewitness accounts, and has been brought together as a
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reliable source. But when you and I read this, we
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have to understand that the Holy Spirit did not intend it for us
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to look at a a series of of events, a tracing of God's
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people under Israel's monarchs. It's more than that.
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You know that what we have for us and what we have before us is
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the chronological testimony of the decline of a nation and the
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decline of the nation as being recorded before us, as being
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told to us, is layered with spiritual insight and lessons
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and truths that are timeless. Some books are very
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sophisticatedly brought together.
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In terms of outline, First Kings is very simple.
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It's a very simple outline if you want to know how to
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structure First Kings in larger portions.
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It's really one division between First Kings 1:00 and 11:00.
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You have the telling the history of the United Kingdom of Israel,
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one nation, all the tribes loyal to one another under one king,
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one government. But something happens in chapter
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12. From chapter 12 to the end of
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the book of First Kings and leading into second kings, you
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have the telling the history of the divided Kingdom, where
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there's a split. And now you have the Kingdom of
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the north and the Kingdom of the South.
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So you have the Kingdom of Israel, which is represented of
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the north, and the Kingdom of Judah, which is represented of
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the South. So we're entering into a very
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critical time in redemptive history where Israel will know a
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fracture that seems to be almost permanent until the exile, the
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major exile with Babylon. And it is in those two sections
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that we will take our time to go through and and receive a wealth
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of of truths concerning who God is and who we are with him and
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who we are without him. And so as we introduced this
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chapter, it's very seamless. And that's why we prayfully
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considered this book ending with Second Sam, because it continues
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where we left off and what we're going to cover today is a church
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is the 1st 11 verses. I tried to go beyond it.
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It's very difficult to do so when there's so much packed in a
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series of verses. Well, let's read together the
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1st 4 verses, shall we? I'm excited.
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First Kings. 11 Now King David was old and advanced in years,
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and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get
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warm. Therefore his servants said to
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him, Let a young woman be sought for my Lord the king, and let
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her wait on the king and be in his service.
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Let her lie in your arms. Or other translations would say
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in his bosom that my Lord the king may be warm.
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So they sought for a beautiful young woman through all the
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territory of Israel, and found Abbashag the Shunamite and
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brought her to the king. The young woman was very
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beautiful and she was of service to the king and attended to him,
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but the king knew her not. The beginning of the book of
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First Kings describes the last days of King David, the
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concluding moments of his life. We are told here that he was old
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and advanced in years. I wonder if anyone knows how old
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David was at this point, 70 years.
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Do you know how we know that? When did he become king?
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When the 30 years old and how long did he reign as king?
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40 years. It's a very simple math.
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So at 70 we're told that he was advanced in years.
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Now, 70 doesn't seem like a very old age to have this kind of
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condition physically. But what kind of life did David
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live? He wasn't an ordinary man.
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This man was beaten, bruised, chased, enduring difficult
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terrain and circumstances. This man took a beating.
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He was a warrior. He was a fighter.
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He was a general, and it seems as though there was just a
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natural toll taken on his body. And it's showing here that there
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is going to be this earthly departure, but seemingly early.
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To be again this fragile at this point only testifies of the life
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that he lived. And as we read this, we realized
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something that he was sickly. He was ill.
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He he could not get warm. That's the indication of the
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seriousness of his condition. And really, this is a reminder
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of the fate of all men, that no matter how lively, spunky,
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strong, mighty, accomplished, agile you may be, your body is
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determined to decay. You are destined to die.
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And so am I. This is the end of all, man.
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This is our future. This is really our fate.
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But as I look here, I realized that this is again a reminder of
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the inescapable reality of the effects of the fall.
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No matter how many pills you take, no matter what your diet
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looks like, no matter how much you lift, no matter how much you
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run, we all have this end, and it is beyond our control.
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David could not control what was happening here to his frame, and
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that is true of you and I. But you know what is in our
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control? Perhaps not the warmth of our
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body, but the warmth of our devotion to the Lord.
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You may not be able to determine what happens to your frame, but
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you are responsible, and so am I.
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Of what happens with our faith? Will it grow in zeal?
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Will it grow in passion? Will it grow in devotion?
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Or will it also with our bodies grow weaker and weaker as time
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goes on? And Paul gave us the projection
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of the Christian life in 2nd Corinthians 416.
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So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting
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away, our inner self is being what renewed day by day.
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And though that is something that God's will is for us, it's
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something that we also have to partner with and participate in
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actively. And so you not have to make a
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decision, as our fate physically is set for deterioration.
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What will happen to my devotion? Will I choose to invest in it in
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a way that as I age my love for the Lord, my service to the
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Lord, my commitment and my worship to the Lord will only
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increase as I decrease that. As I age more and more, my
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adoration will also increase more and more.
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And that's a good reminder. And we're told here in verse
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two, that the servants came up with an idea concerning how to
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preserve a healthy temperature for their beloved leader.
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And this was the idea. Let's find a beautiful woman, to
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be somewhat of a nurse and to be at service for him, and mainly
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to lie with him in his arms in his bed, so that there'd be a
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transfer of bodily heat. And hopefully the presence of
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this young woman would even stimulate his blood and that his
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life would be prolonged a little bit longer.
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And we look at this and we think that seems kind of strange as a
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solution, does it not? Now some simply explained this
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away by saying, well, this is a custom of kings at the time
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where they had a harem and they had this kind of availability.
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It was medicinal. You can make that case.
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But I think here there is something deeper to consider.
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There are a lot of questions that I have with this text
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because even though this is a medicinal pursuit, if this is
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something that's in order to preserve his body and nothing
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more, we're told we are comforted that he knew her not,
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wasn't becoming seen. Now he didn't have intimacy with
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her. That's what we're being told
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here. This is questionable.
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And then some again want to soften this and say, well she
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was made a concubine. She was she was somebody who
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came into relationship with David.
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So it was it wasn't a big deal for her to be in the presence of
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his actual bed. Yeah, but that still doesn't
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help explain this. Because even if this was in
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addition to his harem, that's just a confirmation that you're
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only adding to the problem of your original issues, and that
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was having multiple wives to begin with.
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So whether or not Abish AG is a second class wife or she's just
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a nurse, this is problematic. You know what the name Abish Ag
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means? Father of error.
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And an error she was because we're going to discover that
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Abhishek is going to be problematic in a very short
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season. Abhishek is going to be the
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object of an issue in the Kingdom.
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But OK, look at the description that we're given of her.
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Therefore his servants had them let a young woman be sought for,
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my Lord. Then look at verse 3.
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So they sought for a beautiful young woman and look at first
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for the young woman was very beautiful like why is that
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important? If she was beautiful or not?
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Put anybody with a pulse in the bed and let them hold on to
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them. So again, this seems a little
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bit suspicious and rightfully so.
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It is suspicious and it's a reminder that as long as you
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live, sin will pursue you in one way or another until the very
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moment that you give your final breath.
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There is an ever present enemy that will seek to capture you
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and to make you a slave, or to make you stumble to taint your
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testimony all the days of your life.
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And it is a relentless foe. Sin doesn't care about your
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financial condition, your societal standing, your physical
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health. It doesn't care.
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It seeks to devour you. It seeks to make you a slave.
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It seeks you until you enter into glory.
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So let it be a reminder that as you and I want to protect this
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flame in our hearts, as we desire to honor God all the days
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of our lives, sin is right there.
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Every moment, every season, whether you're 17 or you're 70,
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there is a war, an ongoing war, And we will not know eternal
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rest until we enter into eternity.
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So be mindful that in your spiritual warfare, be mindful
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the fact that as you get old, warm and fuzzy, sin doesn't
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care. It still wants to kill you.
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And there's also other important lessons concerning how sin
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works. When we look at this, I realized
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that it was the ideas of the servants to bring this woman
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into the palace, and it wasn't a good suggestion.
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You'll find out why again in the in the next few studies you'll
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see why. And let me give you a hint.
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It wasn't a help to it. A man who would become king,
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who'd watch his father as an example, the servants came with
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a suggestion, and it was under the guise of health, sin and
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temptation. Has a very creative way of
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approaching us and introducing itself to us, and it's one of
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its favorite cloaks. Is to pretend to be a means for
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good, to pretend to be something that will benefit you, or to
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achieve a better end. Though the means might be
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questionable and arguable, so there's a call for discernment.
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To understand that I have to be on guard at all times, I have to
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understand that there are even people who might have good
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intentions for me and might present ideas to me that
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ultimately drift me further away from the will of God.
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I wish I didn't help, really. She might have physically.
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But again, this is just pushing David further away from what he
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should have honored from the beginning, and that's to be a
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king with one wife, one woman. And so this is the idea of these
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friends. We are told that because of his
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age, primarily, he knew her, not This could also be an indication
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that David himself was integral. But we go from Abu Shag to
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another person in verse 5. And this is where the chapter
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really wants us to focus on. Now Adenija.
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Now Adenija the son of Haageth, exalted himself saying I will be
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king, and he prepared for himself Chariots and horsemen
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and 50 men to run before him. His father had never at any time
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displeased him by asking why have you done thus?
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And so he was also a very handsome man, and he was born
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next after Absalom. This is not the first time we've
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seen the name Adenija. He was mentioned by name
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concerning his birth and Second Samuel chapter 3, along with his
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other brothers from the different wives that David had.
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But this is the first time we're seeing Adenija in action.
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This is the first time that we see his words.
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This is the first time that we see him moving and behaving.
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And in verse five alone we have so much to consider his
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statement. The very first words of mention
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in the scriptures concerning him is I will be King.
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Problem already with this guy, but not just the fact that he
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wanted to exalt himself as a self appointed ruler.
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The timing of it. Look at the first word of verse
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5. Now if you have the King James,
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if you have the new King James, it would say what then ESV&ESV
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now, So based on the background and what's the main background
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of verse one to verse 4, David is very sick.
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David is ready to die at any moment here, all the signs are
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there. His body is shutting down.
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And who caught on to that? Very quickly, Adenija and
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Adenija realized this is my opportunity, which proves to me
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that after this point there's no record of Adenija's activity.
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But he internalized this illegitimate desire to be king
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for so long and only now it manifested.
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Only now it was made known because he saw this wedge, he
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saw this clear opportunity brought perform and he's going
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to take advantage of it and it's actually going to cost him his
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life. Ada Nyjah teaches us something
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frightening about human nature. Very, very scary, and it's
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should scare us in a holy way concerning what sin can do to a
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man at an idea here shows, and perhaps you've experienced this
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to some level where you have known someone for so long and
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for that time of knowing them, they have been generally
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peaceable, kind, respectable, but something switches in their
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character. All of a sudden they turn and
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they become almost unrecognizable, usually at
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critical junctures in life. Maybe you've experienced this.
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I hope not. I've heard it.
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I've seen it myself. I've heard people lament about
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it. It's amazing what happens in
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families when an aged parent dies and leaves back an
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inheritance, right? It's amazing what can happen,
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how even 1 greedy selfish sibling can cause a war in that
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house. Or you think about even when
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positions open up, whether that be in the church or in the
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workplace, it's it's absolutely stunning to see what people will
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do to one another, what they would do with their own
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reputation, order to gain a place of power.
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The things that they will say, the politics that they will play
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just so that they can attain something for the sake of
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status, prestige, reputation. You can even say that
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relationally, in so many different facets, with
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promotion. When something happens with
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somebody else, with giftedness with, with romance, when things
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don't occur the way you had hoped and when things don't
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flourish or continue the way you had desired.
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And how unmet expectations or opportunities can pop the lid
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and the true character of somebody is revealed.
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Friendships, business, partnerships, you name it.
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And that an idea here proves something very drastic, that
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potential or missed opportunities don't make people
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evil, they just reveal the evil that was in them all along.
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I know that might be shocking to you, but it is true.
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And so you and I have to understand that.
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How you and I behave. How other people behave during
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during these moments. Crisis moments, transitional
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periods. Promotions, or lack thereof.
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How you behave, how you react, reveals who you truly are, or at
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least a lot about you. And that is the case with this
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man here. He's showing who he is.
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So we see here when he chooses to say I will be king, but look
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at how he chooses to do it. He prepared for himself,
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Chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him.
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Why is that a significant detail?
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Any idea? Oh, very good, because you have
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your rear viewer mirrors up. When you read your Bible, make
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sure that your mirrors are in the right place.
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Always looking. Where have I seen this before?
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And you have seen this before? Almost word for word.
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If you want to cross, reference Second Samuel 15 verse one.
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This is concerning Absalom, and look where you're told
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concerning Absalom. After this, Absalom got himself
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a chariot and horses and 50 men to run before him.
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This was Absalom's early phase of trying to steal the
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allegiance of the nation of Israel away from his father and
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to bring it to himself. And with his pompous pride, he
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chose to parade himself around and to let his looks do what
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looks can do. And that's to win the votes of
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many people. And Adenija, a very handsome
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man, follows in the steps of his brother.
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And that, to me, says a lot about who Adenija is.
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What does it tell me about Adenija?
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What does it tell you about Adenija?
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This guy had a front row seat to another man's crash and burn
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when he allowed pride to take over.
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And he acted upon that pride. Did he not?
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Did he not know? Did he not see for himself?
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When a man try to revolt and do something against God's will and
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to elevate himself what what your fate is, how God humbles
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you? And this man, understanding all
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of that, still doesn't learn from it.
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He imitates it. He imitates his brother, which
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tells me what he is. A fool of the 1st order.
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That's what it tells me, and it should tell you the same you're
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going to imitate him almost step by step.
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When you see this section, he almost mirrors exactly the plan
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that Absalom tried to convince himself would work.
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A fool is described in many ways, and one of the marks of a
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fool is that when they fail to interpret personal lessons from
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somebody else's failure, a fool is somebody who fails to
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interpret personal lessons not from their own failure, but from
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somebody else's failures. And the mark of a wise man is
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able to look at the mistakes in the falls and the sinful
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consequences of others and to realize that they are
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susceptible to the same kind of destiny and choose to make the
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appropriate preparation so that they would never happen to them
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by God's grace. Can I show you in the Bible how
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it is proven that wisdom is defined by you observing other
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people's lives and then interpreting that for your own?
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One of my favorite proverbs to to back that truth up is in
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Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24.
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I want you to see this so that you can remember it for yourself
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and help others understand it as well.
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And Proverbs 24. Look at verse 30 to verse 32.
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Here's what the writer says. I passed by the field of a
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sluggard, a lazy person. I passed by the field of a
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sluggard by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold,
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it was all overgrown with thorns.
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The ground was covered with nettles and its Stonewall was
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broken down. That positive.
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So this is what he's seeing. He's taking a stroll, and he
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sees the House of a man that is clearly not being taken care of,
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not being groomed, not being managed.
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And he sees this, and he sees the vulnerability.
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He sees the lack of harvest. He sees the lack of all these
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different issues. And notice what it says next.
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Then I saw and considered it. I looked and received
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instruction. I looked and I received
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instruction. So his observation was made into
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interpretation. And then it turned into
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application. When was the last time not in a
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judgmental sense, but when was the last time you've looked or
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considered or heard news or have seen the way people have handled
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situations that thought that's probably not the best way to do
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it. Lord, help me do it the way you
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would want me to do it. And this is what the Bible
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promotes in our lives as we go through life, whether those
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observations are at a distance or they are close and near.
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Have you heard the story of the two sons who had the same
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alcoholic, abusive father and they had two different lives As
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a result of that upbringing, the one ended up following the exact
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same example. He became an alcoholic.
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He became abusive, He had a terrible marriage.
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He had a broken, dysfunctional relationship with his children.
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And then when they asked him why, Why did you end up doing
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this to yourself? Why do you end up doing this to
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your own family, to your own marriage?
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And he says, well, this is all I've ever known.
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This is what I've seen. This is the example that was
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brought before me. And then the the other son who
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was successful, financially successful, relationally
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successful with his children, successful in all these
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different areas, with the same father, same upbringing, same
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atmosphere, same environment. And they asked him why, Why are
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you so different from your brother?
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Why, why do you have this different outcome of life?
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And he said, because I saw what my father was like, and I
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determined that I would not be like that.
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And I chose to learn from those mistakes and to do the exact
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opposite of what I've seen. Do you see the perception?
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Do you see how you interpret these things can determine the
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direction of your life? And the Bible calls us to do
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such a thing. So he learns that, and we're
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told what he learned. Just read the rest of that
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proverb and you would see it at an age.
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Unfortunately doesn't learn. He sees what his brother, his
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brother does. And I think to myself, is there
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anything else that would cause this man to be so confident that
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he can actually walk in the same path and expect different kind
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of ramifications? And I believe there is, there is
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a clear answer. There is something to know about
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at a Niger that made him believe and think this way.
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It's perplexing, it's confusing, but we know why.
27:12
Go to chapter two First kings, and notice here in verse 15 what
27:15
he says to Bathsheba. This is scary.
27:21
First Kings 2:15. This is Adam and I just
27:24
speaking. And he said, you know, that the
27:28
Kingdom was mine and that all Israel fully expected me to
27:33
reign. Pause.
27:34
Is that true? But there's distortion here, and
27:39
I'll show you why there's distortion.
27:40
In a moment, however, the Kingdom has turned about and
27:44
become my brothers, for it was his From who?
27:49
The Lord that should give us chills.
27:55
This man fully admitted that the divine prerogative, the divine
28:00
right, the divine ordinance for the Kingdom to be given, was
28:03
granted to his younger brother Solomon.
28:07
And guess what? He didn't care.
28:10
I don't care if God determined that Solomon would be king.
28:15
I want to be king. So what you have here is not
28:20
just a man who was a fool because he failed to learn from
28:24
his brother's failure, but a man who was a fool because his heart
28:31
had a special kind of pride. There's there's levels of pride.
28:38
All of it is really bad, but there's a special kind of pride
28:41
where you can even think that you can thwart the purposes of
28:45
God and that you can prevail with your own will and desires.
28:51
People always wonder, how does Satan keep going?
28:53
Why does he keep going? I mean, we have everything
28:56
determined. We read the end of the book and
28:58
we know we win. Doesn't he read it as well?
29:00
Doesn't know the Bible? He does, but he's so proud.
29:02
He thinks that he can actually change it.
29:05
He thinks he can actually change course, thinks you can actually
29:08
hinder and put an obstacle before God's determination for
29:11
what would happen concerning his glory and his people.
29:13
That's what pride can do. And before we think that this is
29:17
shocking and unique, you have to be remember that it's the same
29:20
attitude that's repeated in many people's lives who can look at
29:23
clear, obvious scriptures and truths and believe that they can
29:28
interpret it the way they would and apply it the way they would.
29:33
It's the same kind of pride that I than Nigel had.
29:35
He knew what God's word was about Solomon, about the
29:37
Kingdom, and he still resisted it.
29:39
And you have people did it who look at clear doctrinal truths
29:42
and are willing to force it into something else, dismiss it
29:45
altogether, interpret it to the point where they've butchered
29:48
it. Why?
29:50
For the sake of self-interest, self wisdom, personal agendas?
29:55
Is that what we're seeing? You know, people tend to
30:00
criticize the Protestant church because of all these
30:03
denominations, usually from those who come from traditional
30:07
backgrounds. And they say, look at you guys,
30:09
you can't even get your Bible right.
30:11
You can't even interpret your scriptures right.
30:12
You have all these people who believe different things about
30:14
different texts. Don't you guys need somebody to
30:17
be able to interpret the word of God for you?
30:18
Look what happens when you're all your own personal popes?
30:20
And I say it's not because of people's interpretations,
30:23
genuine sinceres, but because of people's.
30:25
This is what I believe, traditions, traditions.
30:32
And what I mean by traditions is you wanting to impose what you
30:35
want the word of God to say. Are you ignoring key truths,
30:38
foundational truths and willing to elevate?
30:41
Guess what guys, Evangelicals have their own ideas and
30:44
philosophies as well, not just the Catholic and Orthodox.
30:49
And so I deny you here has a special kind of pride because he
30:52
knows what God's will is and he's willing to actually stand
30:55
against it. And I thought to myself reading
30:56
this man, is there any indication how this person was
31:00
able to live with such a frame of mind where he thought that
31:04
the world, not just the world, the creator of the world,
31:07
revolved around him? And you actually do get the
31:12
answer. It's actually undeniable.
31:14
It's actually so obvious. Here's one of the major
31:16
contributions for adenitis Ugly, Nasty, Selfdestructive attitude.
31:23
Verse six his father had never at any time displeased them by
31:28
asking why have you done thus and so?
31:32
Why is that mentioned there? To show that verse 5 is because
31:36
of verse 6. Verse five is because of verse
31:40
6. David was a great warrior.
31:45
David was a wonderful king. David was a trusted friend.
31:50
David was a beautiful worshipper.
31:52
David was a failure as a father, and not only in this instance.
32:00
And the Bible wants to reveal that to us, to help us
32:03
understand that there is something that David failed to
32:07
do that would ultimately lead to a destruction beyond what he had
32:11
imagined. And as I read this and meditated
32:14
on this, I thought that the lack of fatherly discipline that AD
32:18
and Nyjah was accustomed to made him the monster that he is and
32:21
that we read of at this time. It made him a hideous beast.
32:29
And this is a crucial call to how future parents should
32:35
understand the role, how current parents.
32:37
And I want to be careful because I don't have children of my own,
32:41
but I do have the authority of God's word.
32:43
I don't want to speak from my experience or lack of it.
32:45
I want to speak on what the Bible says.
32:47
But I'm sure you can all agree that you don't need to have a a
32:50
child to know that if you give somebody anything that they
32:53
want, it's not a good idea. I don't think you need to pick
32:57
up a book or talk to a child psychologist to know that that's
32:59
not it's not the best thing to do.
33:03
And that is certainly right. We're told that David never
33:07
wanted to displease his son by ever contradicting any of his
33:11
wishes, and it is one of the most unloving things for a
33:19
parent to do to relate to their child in a way where there is no
33:22
presence of correction or instruction.
33:26
Free range upbringing is a sure and promised destination for a
33:36
child to become a societal thorn.
33:42
And the parents who want to try to keep good terms with their
33:46
children, because that's probably one of the main reasons
33:48
why correction is never ensued. Because they don't want to
33:51
create conflict and they don't want that conflict to create
33:53
anger and they don't want that anger and their child to create
33:56
resentment. And they don't want that
33:57
resentment to ultimately become what rebellion.
34:02
And so with that notion in mind, they they're very minimal, if,
34:06
if at all, confrontational. And the Bible says that a person
34:13
who thinks that way actually hates their child, hates their
34:17
child. And there's so many proverbs
34:19
about that. And I wonder if Solomon, just
34:21
with his own upbringing with his siblings and having a father
34:24
like David, knew a lot. Yes, Holy Spirit inspired, but
34:26
just by observation, knew what? Knew what it was like to live in
34:30
a house where there was unhinged indulgence.
34:34
Parentally speaking, Scripture says something fascinating in
34:41
Proverbs 2215, Follies bound up in the heart of a child.
34:44
But what? But the rod of discipline drives
34:47
it away. Follies bound up so that with
34:50
that bundle of joy, right that comes in that little heart of
34:54
theirs is foolishness, and it's bound up in there.
34:59
It's wrapped around it is chained.
35:03
And what is the primary means for that to be reduced?
35:06
For that to be dealt with is something called discipline,
35:09
which tells me that one of the divine designs of the family
35:14
unit among many is that parents have a primary responsibility to
35:20
posture their children unto greater godliness through the
35:25
means of holy and godly chastisement.
35:31
Your discipline won't make your kids saved, but it will Polish
35:35
them and posture them in a way where they can be more
35:40
receptive, more open, ultimately attracted to the truth, the God
35:45
of truth. To understand, there is a
35:46
sovereign master, a creator, a savior over you.
35:50
The world isn't about you. You're created for the creator
35:54
of the world. And I look at David and I think
35:58
to myself, this is so sad to see.
36:01
He was able to conquer nations, but he wasn't able to conquer
36:04
the hearts of his own children. And to fail to see that as the
36:10
divine mandate, as a father, as a mother, is to ultimately
36:17
reject the heavenly mandate of what it means to be a parent.
36:21
And one of the main reasons, as I said earlier, is that there is
36:23
the sense of fear and there should be a good sense of fear
36:27
because scripture says not to provoke our children unto wrath.
36:31
There is sometimes unrealistic standards and type of correction
36:35
that is so abused that you end up discouraging your child.
36:38
But that we're not talking about that here.
36:40
We're talking about godly training over the years that
36:45
will better prepare your children to not just live in
36:48
this world, but to live for God. And what I've seen one of the
36:53
tragedies of knowing this truth of seeing parents who, when
36:57
their children are old enough to make decisions of their own,
37:00
they come to passers. They come to other seasoned
37:03
Saints with desperation on their faces and their voices.
37:07
Please talk some sense into my child.
37:10
They're destroying themselves and others, and oftentimes it's
37:13
too late. It's too late.
37:21
Not that the gospel can never change anybody.
37:23
That would be untrue. But JC Ryle has a book that I
37:26
recommend to all of you, whether you're a man or not.
37:28
It's a very small book. It's a book actually worth
37:30
repeating over and over. Thoughts for Young men.
37:35
Anybody here? Read it.
37:37
You did good. If you haven't, I would
37:39
recommend it highly. Thoughts for Young Men.
37:42
And one of the places in that book, he speaks about habits.
37:48
And he says habits are like trees.
37:55
They get stronger as they age. And even a child can bend a tree
38:01
when it is a sapling. Have you ever seen a tree when
38:04
it's so premature? It's like a little, just like a
38:07
looks like an overgrown plant, but you can still bend it.
38:10
You can really, with the force uprooted, even you can change
38:13
the direction of it. But 100 men cannot uproot an oak
38:17
tree. And he spoke with that metaphor
38:23
to speak about what habits are like.
38:26
The earlier you catch on to bad habits, the more guaranteed you
38:30
are to see victory to overcome them and yourself and those that
38:34
you you've, you were responsible for.
38:36
The later you wait, The more difficult it is, the more
38:40
difficult it is. And unfortunately, when it comes
38:43
to AD and I just attitude here, it's reached the point of no
38:46
return. And yes, God can do the
38:48
impossible and rescue us from century old habits, but that
38:53
does not negate the fact that we have a responsibility for
38:56
ourselves and for those that God has called us to train up the
38:59
earlier deal with it. Young men, you're considering
39:01
marriage, but you're still dealing with pornography.
39:03
Deal with it now. Marriage isn't going to fix it.
39:06
Deal with it now, because it's only going to get harder as time
39:09
goes on. Anything else, Anything else
39:12
that you see that is out of line of God's will see it like that.
39:16
The longer I wait, the stronger it will become.
39:19
So let me kill the thing right now.
39:22
Let me go to war with it tonight and God will help you and he
39:26
will be with you. Adenija, Adenija, Adenija.
39:30
When you read verse six, it's really a bad combination of
39:32
three things. Really.
39:33
Look at it again. His father had never had any
39:35
time displeased him by asking why have you done this?
39:37
And so he was also a very handsome man and he was born
39:40
next after absolute meaning. He was, he was humanly speaking
39:44
next in line to be king if they were to operate as how the
39:46
nation's operate. But they didn't operate as the
39:48
nation's operating operate. He was fourth, right?
39:53
And you have. And then who died?
39:56
And then there was another mention of Hilly AB, who was
39:59
mentioned at birth but never mentioned again.
40:01
So it's presumed that he died. Then there was Absolon, who
40:03
died. And add that Nigel is next.
40:04
So he he thinks that naturally speaking, I'm I'm the one who's
40:08
supposed to be king, though he knew that Solomon was supposed
40:10
to be king. So what do you have here in this
40:12
combination? Here's you have this combination
40:14
of parental leniency, privileged status, and good looks.
40:22
A recipe for disaster, right? It's dangerous for somebody to
40:30
be good looking and to be undisciplined, very dangerous.
40:37
And we were being told that he was good looking, not just for
40:40
that truth, but in order to prepare us That some people are
40:43
going to be persuaded by his outward appearance and the
40:48
people that he's going to convince to join the side might
40:50
shock you. In verse seven he conferred with
40:54
Joe AB The son of Zuraya and with Abiath are the priests, and
40:59
they followed Adenija and helped him.
41:03
How 2 prominent men very unlikely to join Adenija, but
41:12
apparently they did Joe AB, that man who had fierce loyalty to
41:16
David all the time that he defended him.
41:19
Was he not with David when Absalom revolted?
41:22
Was Abby Ather not the one who from the beginning was under
41:25
Davis protective care? He was one of the priests that
41:28
escaped nob when Saul brought that massacre into that priestly
41:32
town. Both of these guys were with him
41:36
from the beginning. Both of them endured many
41:38
trials, many temptations, and they already dealt with a coup
41:41
before this. And now there's another one you
41:43
would think, okay, here they are again.
41:44
We've been through this. We've rode this rodeo.
41:46
God will be with us. No, they jump ship and they join
41:50
another man and they turn their backs on the will of God.
41:54
How? How is that possible?
41:57
Well, look, Job is expected a little bit, right?
41:59
The guy's shady, he's shady. And you think that he is loyal
42:06
to David, but he is really loyal unto himself.
42:10
And the way that's proven is that whenever there was a risk
42:13
of his position being lost for the sake of self preservation,
42:17
he would even deny the wishes of David.
42:20
And he's done that on more than one occasion.
42:24
So knowing the background of Joe up here, he's very smart, he's
42:28
very shrewd. He understands what's about to
42:30
take place in this transfer of the Kingdom.
42:35
Was David not replaced by somebody, or rather Job?
42:37
Was he not replaced by somebody? And second Samuel 19, he was
42:39
Amasa replaced him. David was so fed up with Job, he
42:43
says it's done. You're no longer the commander
42:45
of my army. Amasa will be the commander
42:47
instead. Job kills Amasa because of that.
42:51
And Job understands that David is about to leave.
42:53
But David is going to, he's going to tell his son Solomon of
42:57
his low view of Job. And certainly Solomon's going to
43:02
replace Joe AB. It's a given.
43:05
If David replaced him, surely Solomon his son, is going to
43:07
replace me. And so he understands that he
43:10
has no hope under Solomon's ruling reign.
43:12
I will go to add the Nigel Y job security, even if it meant
43:20
resisting God's will. There's no denying.
43:24
Listen, this guy idolized his position.
43:27
He idolized his post to the point where it's going to kill
43:30
him. You worship anything more than
43:32
God. I don't care how innocent it may
43:34
seem. I don't care how much security
43:36
provides, how much meaning it brings to your life.
43:39
It will kill you. It will betray you.
43:47
I'm not surprised with you. I am a little surprised with
43:49
Abiathurdor. Right.
43:51
He's a priest and there's no indication whatsoever, really,
43:56
at least from a preliminary reading, of why Abiathur would
43:59
would turn his back on David. Does anybody have an idea why he
44:02
would, though? Because there's there's only one
44:06
possible solution from a scriptural standpoint why
44:09
Abyothra would be inspired to say I'm done with David.
44:14
Any idea? Here's a hint.
44:17
Yes, go ahead. Very good observation.
44:27
You want the answer? The possible answer.
44:29
Our sister said it, but I'm not going to repeat what she said
44:32
because I want you to sit in your Bibles And 1st Chronicle is
44:35
1511. First Chronicles 1511.
44:39
With other mentions of this duo throughout the Bible, you get
44:44
the idea of why Abby Athur might have said I'm done with David.
44:52
Then David summoned the priest Zadok and Abby Athur.
44:56
Abby Athur was not the only chief priest in David's
44:59
administration. There was another named Zadok.
45:03
And every time Zadok and Abby Athur are mentioned together in
45:05
a verse. And guess who's 1st Every time?
45:08
Zadok. It could be that Abby author
45:13
recognized Zadok as a threat. It could be that with that, he
45:16
also saw this opportunity to occupy a individual position as
45:21
priest. And Adenija promised that I'm
45:26
in. You mean I don't have to share
45:27
this with Zadok? You mean Zadok can be his own
45:30
thing and I can be my own thing? Then let it be.
45:34
And so again, you see even a priest who is allured by the
45:39
false sense of purpose you get solely with a position, even if
45:42
it's a religious position. If God's not with you, who cares
45:45
what you have? Who cares?
45:49
I'd rather be God's will and lose my position than to be in a
45:52
ministerial position and not be in God's will.
45:56
Do you think most people think like that?
46:00
No, because we idolize things like this.
46:03
And Abby, Arthur will never be the same once Solomon becomes
46:08
king. So these men here, they turn on
46:12
Dave, and there's so much to make mention of concerning how
46:14
purpose can pull us away from the will of God.
46:16
But I want to see from David's perspective, these guys were
46:20
with you from the beginning, From the beginning and not just
46:27
the beginning. When you were successful, from
46:28
when you were at zero with no promise of a Kingdom, at least
46:34
naturally speaking. When you're a fugitive, when
46:37
you're an exile, when you're being chased like a animal.
46:41
These guys come in. Like if you're willing to be my
46:44
friend and be with me at these kind of times, surely you're
46:46
with me till the end. That's not always the case.
46:52
I think a lot of Christians need a wake up call.
46:53
The reality of relationships. Even within Christendom, that's
46:57
not the case. And servants of God will know
47:02
that to be true soon enough that people will come and go, and
47:11
some people that you would never expect to abandon the cause of
47:14
Christ. And with that abandon you might
47:18
just do that. And you have to be prepared for
47:22
that. You have to be prepared for when
47:25
that happens. David at his last moments saw
47:32
people that you would not expect walk away from him.
47:37
So why are you surprised when it happens?
47:39
And you think this is Old Testament?
47:41
What it What did Paul say? And second Timothy 410 Demus in
47:45
love with this present world deserted.
47:47
Who me? You would think he deserted
47:53
Christ. And it is true that he deserted
47:55
Christ. Paul was realistic with his
47:58
emotions and his feelings that when Demos did walk away, he
48:03
walked away from Paul. And he knew the pain of that.
48:08
And he knew the frustrations with that.
48:11
He knew the disappointments of that.
48:15
Demos walked away. Demos was mentioned more than
48:17
one of the epistles. Demons, was a trusted fellow
48:20
servant. Paul didn't let guys in so
48:23
easily into his inner circle, did he?
48:26
Now, when Mark tried to wedge himself back in, he's like, no,
48:28
no, you can go with Barnabas. You're not coming with me.
48:31
He was that kind of guy. He was like, I have standards
48:34
for who's who's going to serve with me, demons of obviously one
48:39
his affection, one his trust. And at some point he goes, see
48:45
you later. But what does he say?
48:50
Second Timothy 417. This is what he says.
48:55
The Lord stood by me. Do you have friendship with the
48:59
Lord Jesus Christ? He's my savior.
49:02
Good. Are you friends with Him?
49:06
Is your friend. Do you walk with him?
49:11
Do you believe in His presence in your life?
49:14
Do you converse with Him? Do you acknowledge him in every
49:20
place, every problem, every circle?
49:23
Is he there? Does your faith come alive, even
49:28
in relational distress? I want that always.
49:37
I hope you want that too. To be able to confidently, not
49:39
wishfully but confidently, accurately, genuinely
49:43
experientially scary word right. To be able to say The Lord stood
49:49
by me, The Lord was with me. The Lord is my shepherd.
49:54
The Lord is my friend. The Lord was with me.
49:57
He protected me. He supplied the strength I
49:59
needed. He gave me the grace.
50:01
He gave me the wings. He gave me the sustenance.
50:03
He gave me revelation. He gave me more than I imagined.
50:06
The Lord stupid, that's this isn't a stuffy headed theologian
50:11
that just knew how to explain doctrine really well.
50:14
Yeah, he could write amazing theological pieces like the book
50:18
of Romans. But he can also say with tender
50:20
heartedness the Lord stood by me.
50:23
Wow, what a heart. What a relationship he had.
50:28
Brothers and sisters, keep your eyes on Christ.
50:31
Always. Especially when people who are
50:35
running in that same lane of the cause of Christ don't run in it
50:38
anymore. The Lord is with you, and keep
50:43
him as your focus. Keep your eyes on him.
50:46
Win his smile, run toward his arms, and you'll know strength.
50:53
You'll know endurance. You're always looking at who's
50:56
here, who's not here anymore. Oh no, no.
51:00
You're not going to be able to do this with joy.
51:03
There's a lot of problems with that that I won't get into.
51:06
Instead, we look here at verse 8.
51:09
There's a remnant in this rebellion.
51:11
God always has a remnant. But Zeitok the priest, and
51:14
Bennaya the son of Jehoida and Nathan the Prophet, and Shemay
51:17
and Reya Ray I and Nathan the Prophet, excuse me.
51:21
And David's mighty men were not with Adam and I just now look at
51:24
this. Adam and I just sacrificed sheep
51:26
oxen and fattened cattle by the serpent stone.
51:30
You might have a different transition concerning what that
51:33
is, But that translates to Serpent, which is beside and
51:37
Rogal. And he invited all his brothers,
51:39
the King's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah.
51:42
But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Banaya or the Mighty
51:45
man, or Solomon his brother. If you ever question Adenija's
51:49
motives, just look at that. He didn't invite Solomon.
51:51
I wonder why you said something good.
52:00
Now let's just pull back for a second.
52:01
I'm closing here. Okay, you have two camps that
52:05
were created here. You have Adenija's camp and you
52:08
have David slash Solomon's camp. Now, what was Adenija able to
52:12
do? He was able to recruit certain
52:14
people, right? And notice here that he puts on
52:18
a feast. This is a coronation feast.
52:20
This is a feast to celebrate his self appointment as king, and
52:24
he's bringing all these people in to join in on that.
52:28
But he doesn't. Even through sacrifice, he's
52:30
providing the meal through a spiritual gloss.
52:34
Because remember this, almost always in a spiritual context.
52:38
Whenever somebody causes the vision, they will always come
52:40
off as pious and godly, prayerful, biblical, in tune
52:49
with the spirit. They don't even know they're
52:54
being used by the devil. And so here we see.
52:59
Look, guys, this is my, this is my celebration of me becoming
53:03
king. And so I'm going to sacrifice.
53:06
This is for God, and it's of God.
53:08
Oh, really? So who does he have in his camp?
53:11
He has not just Joe AB and Abiathar, he has a military
53:17
commander and he has a religious leader, does he not?
53:25
And who are the ones that didn't come and who are on the side of
53:28
the truth? You have Zadok, who is what?
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He also was a religious leader. And you have Banaya, who was one
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of the mighty men highlighted because he was a leader among
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the mighty men. So, so far they look like they
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have the same thing. So far it looks like an even
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battle, even competition. You have a son of David, you
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have a son of David, You have a military leader, you have a
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military leader, you have a religious leader, you have a
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religious leader. But who stands out among the two
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Nathan the prophet, Adam. And I couldn't recruit a true
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man of God. Adonija could not recruit a
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prophet. But Nathan, he stood with the
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truth. I was meditating on this today,
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and I thought to myself, how true is it that in life you will
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be introduced to many individuals, many friend groups,
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ministries, local churches, movements of all kinds.
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They will come and they will go, and some of them will demand
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your opinion. Some of them will invite you to
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approve, others might even go beyond that and extend an
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invitation to participation. And you and I have to make
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choices in life. Which side is true?
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Which side is right? And it may look very similar, it
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may both look very promising, it may even both look very right in
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terms of God's will. But if you want to be able to
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discern the main differentiating mark is God approve of it.
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This God's truth, not just in theory but in practice back it
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up. Nathan the prophet symbolizes
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God's word. Because he was God's mouthpiece,
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he was used, He was the means in this covenant to reveal God's
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will. And so with all these choices
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that you have to make with, with all these pulls from our
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experiences in life, to pledge our allegiance here or to there
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or to say take sides with this or that or to give our time,
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energy, resources here or there, if you want to know which side
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is the truth, just go with the one that honors, esteems, lives
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and surrenders to the word of God.
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If I'm looking at this, I see out of Nyjah, I see David and
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Solomon, and I see Nathan, the prophet here through the
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symbolism of him standing as the word of God, the mouthpiece of
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God, the representative God. You can be safe with that
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decision, and Nathan the Prophet is going to play an instrumental
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role in the rest of this chapter as he will bring this uprising
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to David's attention and it has awesome lessons of how you and I
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should respond to certain things.
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Let's pray thank you for bringing these
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truths, Lord, to our minds, to our hearts.
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Thank you that we were able to crack some of the shell and to
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receive the nourishment that these historical actual lessons
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provide for us in our walk with the Lord Jesus.
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Lord, thank you that already we are being prepared, and we will
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continually be reminded throughout 1st and 2nd Kings
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that there is no King like King Jesus.
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Help us to never forget that as the overview truth that we have
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the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords as our leader, as our
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governor, as our provider, as our protector.
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And for now, Lord, we meditate in all the different truths that
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came from different angles. And we asked, Lord, that we
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would be wise and interpreting what happened with Adam.
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Nigel, what happened with Abby. Shag what happened with even
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Nathan and these other figures. Lord and to Lord, by your grace,
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help us know how to apply that to our lives.
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Now help us be equipped. Lord, help us find to where to
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put these truths in our own experiences.
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Lord, we want to give you glory and thanks as we meditate on
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that in Jesus name. Amen.
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Amen. Why don't you meditate on that?
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We're going to sing. We have a different service
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time. You know that, right?
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So it's not 9:30. It's 8:30.
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We can take our time a little bit to just sit back and let the
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word just wash over us more and more through meditation.
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Thomas Watson said the reason why so many of us come cold
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after reading God's Word is because we did not sit by the
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fires of meditation. And so before they even if they
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want to play softly, that's fine.
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But before we even sing a song and just go through the server,
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just meditate on the word. Meditate on those different
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things, speak back to the Lord about them, thank him for it,
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and then we'll sing all together.