1 Kings 1:5 Humble Yourselves!

 “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.”

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Exalted himself: 2 Samuel 3:2-5describes the sons of David and lists Adonijah as the fourth son. We know that two of the three sons older than Adonijah were dead (Amnon and Absalom), and we suspect that the other older son (Chileab) either also died or was unfit to rule because he is never mentioned after 2 Samuel 3:3. As the oldest living son of David, by many customs Adonijah would be considered the heir to the throne. But the throne of Israel was not left only to the rules of hereditary succession; God determined the next king.

i. Adonijah violated a basic principle in the Scriptures - that we should let God exalt us and not exalt ourselves.

For exaltation comes neither from the east 
Nor from the west nor from the south.
But God is the Judge: He puts down one, 
And exalts another. (Psalm 75:6-7)

Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD, and He will lift you up.(James 4:10)

b. He prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him: Adonijah had a good marketing campaign, and he knew how to present himself as king. He hoped that if he put forth the image of a king, he would become king in reality.

i. “In effect this was a personal military force designed to anticipate Solomon’s claim by a coup d’etat. (Out) runners were part of a close royal bodyguard.” (Wiseman)

ii. Adonijah was the brother of Absalom, and a look at 2 Samuel 15:1shows that “He copied the conduct of his brother Absalom in every respect” (Clarke).

(Guzik)

Humble Yourselves!

This isn’t an easy for a person as it goes against our very nature! Im reminded of a verse:

“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19‬:‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Last Sunday our church had a catered luncheon for ministry volunteers and my observation was, the elders were serving and our pastor and his wife went last through the line. Then the elders served themselves.

They humbled themselves by going last.

We could all learn by their example.

Blessings