Adonijah's
Coup is Ended; 1 Kings 1:5-35
1 Kings 1:5 NASB “Now Adonijah the son of Haggith
exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ So he prepared for himself chariots
and horsemen with fifty men to run before him.” This is really a summary
statement. This has been going on for some time, he has had a mental attitude
power lust wanting to usurp the throne. He would have been fully aware of the
fact that Solomon was the one who the designated heir but he thinks that he,
because he is the older brother, has the right of primogeniture and thinks that
he has a natural-born right. He is totally self-absorbed and when he makes this
statement, “I will be king,” it is stated in an emphatic sense in the Hebrew.
Furthermore, as we look at the second part of the verse, what he does entails a
lot of forethought and planning and logistics. He is making sure that he has
all of the pomp and circumstance and has a great a parade as he possibly can as
he goes to the place for anointing. He wants to get everybody’s attention in
1 Kings 1:6 NASB “His father had never crossed him at any
time by asking, ‘Why have you done so?’ And he was also a very handsome man,
and he was born after Absalom.” He has been spoiled most of his life. One way
to guarantee that your children will grow up arrogant and self-absorbed is to
always let them have their way and never teach them anything about authority
orientation. One of the most important things a parent can do is instil
authority orientation into his children—to respect authority, teach them
self-discipline, and drill that into them in those early years. Adonijah is a
classic example of a child who is allowed to get away with whatever he wants to
get away with and he is now going to rebel against authority. Rebellion against
authority is always wrong in the Scripture. There is never a valid rebellion
against human authority unless that authority is demanding that you do
something in violation of what God has instructed.
Who was Adonijah? His name [jah
comes from the first syllable in the name of God, YHWH] means “My Lord is YHWH.” But what he is
doing is just the opposite of what his name says. He is rejecting the authority
of YHWH rather than submitting to it. He was the fourth son of
David by David’s wife Haggith. Cf. 2 Samuel 3:1-5, a list of the first sons
born to David when he was king of
The conspiracy: 1 Kings 1:7 NASB “He had conferred with Joab
the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and following Adonijah they
helped him.” This is all background. He has thought about this and planned
maybe for years. He has found some co-conspirators who would rather have him as
king than Solomon, and they are some of his father’s closest advisors. In verse
8 we see who he excluded: NASB “But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who
belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.”
Who are these people? Joab is the Commander-in-Chief of David’s army. He
had a violent streak in him and that was something that always bothered David.
There was something about Joab that he didn’t quite trust even though he had to
rely very heavily on him. Joab was the son of Zeruiah who was David’s half
sister, so he was David’s nephew. Abishai and Asahel were his two brothers.
This was a violent family. The first time we meet Joab in the Scriptures is in
2 Samuel chapter two when his brothers Asahel and Abishai are killed at the
time that David has his victory against Ishbosheth’s rebel forces. Abner is
Saul’s general who has survived and when he is fleeing Asahel is chasing him
and Abner kills Asahel and later Abishai. Then Joab comes along and assassinates
Abner because he is afraid that Abner is going to work his way into David’s
favour. When that happened David truly mourned over Abner but it wasn’t long
before he made Joab his Commander-in-Chief. We see in Joab’s character a
mixture of cunning and cruelty, loyalty, and he is the one who carries out the
conspiracy to put Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, up at the front of the battle but
he gives David the credit for the capture of the city. There is an element of
tremendous loyalty to David during that period of time. He also tried to bring
a reconciliation between David and Absolom. But at the end of his life his
loyalty to David faltered and he began to ally himself with Adonijah rather
than with Solomon.
The second person introduced is Abiathar the high priest. He was the son
of Ahimelech who was the high priest at Nob. Abathar was the one who helped
David take the ark to
Joab has the military and Abiathar has the priesthood, and that seems to
indicate that God is behind this move of Adonijah’s. But the ones who don’t go
along are equally significant. 1 Kings 1:8 NASB “But Zadok the
priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the
mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.” This is important
because Zadok represents also the priestly line. He is the son of Ahitub who
according to 1 Chronicles 6:4 is a direct descendant of Eleazar, the third son
of Aaron. He is serving as priest under David, along with Abiathar, and he is
going to become the high priest after this revolt is taken care of and Abiathar
is retired from the high priesthood.
Benaiah, whose name means YHWH has built up, is the son of Jehoiada, is the captain
of David’s foreign body-guard, according to 2 Samuel 8:18 and 20:23. He was
also placed in command of the entire army of Israel every third month and he
was renowned for his physical prowess and military skill among the core group
of David’s mighty men known as the thirty, mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:20-23; 1
Chronicles 11:22-25. He was loyal to David during Absolom’s rebellion and he
remained loyal to David during the coup of Adonjiah.
Third person mentioned here is really the most important, and that is
Nathan the prophet. He is the most important because as the prophet he is the
one who represents God, and from the time of the anointing of Saul by Samuel,
all the way up to the time John the Baptist baptizes Jesus as the offered King
of the Jews, the king of Israel is always anointed by a prophet demonstrating
that God is the ultimate authority in Israel, not the king. The king only
serves under God and the prophet is the one who is the king-maker and the king
designator. So when Nathan doesn’t throw in with Adonijah it is a clear sign
that God is not backing Adonijah. But the people don’t care. The people go with
the person who looks like they should be king, as they did with Saul who had
tremendous charisma, but again, like Adonijah he was not authority oriented, he
was rebellious towards God and that eventually led to his being removed from
the throne. So Nathan is the prophet, he has been a key figure in the reign of
David and is the one who is going to really be instrumental in making sure that
God’s plan is carried out.
The next person mentioned is Shimei. He is one of 19 men in the Old
Testament who are named Shimei and this is the best-known of the group. He is a
Benjamite and a kinsman of Saul. Even though 40 years have gone by there is
still a faction of Benjamites who think that David took the throne away from
Saul and they want to get the family of Saul back on the throne. All of this is
important because God has determined the line of the seed. All these
conspiracies to supplant David, to supplant the Davidic line all have to do
ultimately with a key move in the angelic conflict. Satan is not mentioned here
but we know that he is operating behind the scenes, just as God is. It is
interesting that there is no mention of God in this section, no mention of
Satan, we just see how man is carrying things out, but we do know that there is
a spiritual dimension behind the scenes and that God is still working behind
the scenes to bring about His purpose. So Shimei is a defendant of Saul and
someone that a faction could ally itself with against David. But he is not
throwing his weight behind Abiathar. Shimei was also one that cursed David at
one time, in 2 Samuel 16:5, for being a man of blood, and David seemed to
accept this admonition rather humbly and later allowed for the protection of
Shimei. By 1 Kings chapter two Shimei shows his colours that he is just as open
to conspiracy and to taking the throne from Solomon as the others.
The ceremony itself: 1 Kings 1:9 NASB “Adonijah sacrificed
sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel;
and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the
king’s servants.
Nathan discovers the coup and he is going to recruit Bathsheba to help
him inform David. Some how David has to become engaged and to intercede and do
something to stop Adonijah from seizing the throne. 1 Kings 1:11 NASB
“Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, ‘Have you not
heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does
not know {it?} [12] So now come, please let me give you counsel and save your
life and the life of your son Solomon.”
1 Kings 1:13 NASB “Go at once to King David and say to him,
‘Have you not, my lord, O king, sworn to your maidservant, saying, ‘Surely
Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? Why
then has Adonijah become king?’
Bathsheba reminds David of his promise, v. 17 NASB “She said
to him, ‘My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the LORD your God, {saying,} ‘Surely
your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne’.” This
is the first of several times that David is going to be reminded of this promise
regarding Solomon. [18] ‘Now, behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the
king, you do not know {it.}’ … [20] As for you now, my lord the king, the eyes
of all
Then we see David taking charge and getting involved. 1 Kings 1:28 NASB “Then
King David said, ‘Call Bathsheba to me.’ And she came into the king’s presence
and stood before the king.” David swears an oath. [29] “The king vowed and
said, ‘As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, [30] surely as I
vowed to you by the LORD the God of Israel, saying, ‘Your son Solomon shall be king after me,
and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this day.”
In verses 32-27 David gives instructions for the coronation of Solomon.
Think about how fast this has to be done, because while they are doing this
Adonijah is just about a mile away having his inauguration banquet and most of
the people are out celebrating the fact that he will be the kings. NASB
“Then King David said, ‘Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.’ And they came into the king’s presence.
The reason David is sending them down to Gihon, for one thing, is that
it is closer. As soon as they go down to the pool of Gihon and anoint Solomon
word is going to get to Adonijah fairly rapidly. The idea is that Solomon is
half a mile closer to the throne than Adonijah is and so they are not to waste
any time, there is no pomp and circumstance, they are going to go down with the
three key people, the head of the army, the high priest and the prophet, anoint
Solomon and then take him directly to David’s palace. He is going to sit on the
throne and that will pull the rug out from under Adonijah.
Verses 38-40 describe what takes place. We have the scene related to the
anointing of Solomon. NASB “So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet,
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and
had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon.
In the coronation what would take place is they would bring out the horn
of oil. They would take this oil from the tabernacle. This oil and the horn
that it was kept in was oil that went back to the anointing of the first high
priest back during the time of Moses. The horn was used because the horn
indicates strength, power and authority of the leader. A bottle was made by man
but a horn was made by God, so there was that implication that God was the one
establishing the throne and not man. Oil was used because it symbolised honour
and status. In Proverbs we are told that a good name is better than oil. Oil
lasts longer than water and so it implies permanence and stability. Oil
indicates that this is going to be a permanent dynasty.
Word gets to Adonijah. 1 Kings 1:41 NASB “Now Adonijah
and all the guests who {were} with him heard {it} as they finished eating. When
Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, ‘Why is the city making such an
uproar?’ [42] While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar
the priest came. Then Adonijah said, ‘Come in, for you are a valiant man and
bring good news’.” Abiathar comes in and informs Adonjiah that David has made Solomon
king and that this has the approval of Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet,
and Benaiah, as well as the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and at this moment
Solomon was sitting on the royal throne. [48] “The king has also said thus,
‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted one to sit on my throne today while
my own eyes see {it.}’”
At that point we get Adonijah’s response. He learns he has been trumped
and in the final scene he seeks grace from Solomon. 1 Kings 1:49 NASB “Then
all the guests of Adonijah were terrified; and they arose and each went on his
way.
At this time of his life he loved the Lord with all of his heart, is
totally devoted to the Lord, is grace oriented, a mature believer, and he is
going to deal with his enemies in grace.
What is happening here is that God is working behind the scenes to bring
about and secure the promise that he made to David in the Davidic covenant:
that a son of his would sit on the throne. God had indicated that that would be
Solomon and it is through the line of Solomon that the Messiah is going to
come. What goes on in Kings is the tracing of the seed through the line of
David and Solomon and how God is protecting that despite all of the bad things
that are going on. Despite the chaos of history God is still going to bring
about and accomplish His plan.