The Trap of Ambition 1Kings 1: 1-10

INTRODUCTION:

• 1Kings 1 tells the story of 14 kings who ruled over Israel from 961BC to 850BC.
• We will start with King Solomon, perhaps Israel’s greatest king, and finish with King Ahab, perhaps her worst.
• 1Kings is a story of power, politics, a prosperous empire, devastating failures; but through it all it is the story of God’s purpose through human history.
• 1Kings reminds us that the world is not saved by human power and planning. That even in troubled times, there is hope for mankind.

SCENE 1: Weakness and . (1-4)

• David was chosen by God to be King of Israel.
• He spent years of his life on the run because King Saul tried to prevent that from happening.
• David was described as, “a man after God’s own heart.”
• God made a promise to David through the prophet Nathan in 2Samuel 7.

When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ” — 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (CSB)

1.  Life is .

For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun? — Ecclesiastes 6:12 (CSB)

As for man, his days are like grass – he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known. — Psalms 103:15-16 (CSB)

“It was spring, but it was summer I wanted, The warm days, and the great outdoors. It was summer, but it was fall I wanted, The colorful leaves, and the cool, dry air. It was fall, but it was winter I wanted, The beautiful snow, and the joy of the holiday season. It was winter, but it was spring I wanted, The warmth and the blossoming of nature. I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted, The freedom and respect. I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted, To be mature, and sophisticated. I was middle-aged, but it was 20 I wanted, The youth and the free spirit. I was retired, but it was middle-age I wanted, The presence of mind without limitations. My life was over, and I never got what I wanted.” Jason Lehman at the age of 14.

SCENE 2: Self

1. Amnon (murdered by his half-brother Absalom) 2Samuel 13: 23-33

2. Chileab (probably died at a young age because he is never mentioned after his birth)

3. Absalom (died in battle trying to overthrow his father’s kingdom) 2Samuel 18: 9-15

4. Adonijah is 4^th in line and the oldest living son of King David.

PRIMOGENITURE – had not been established yet in Israel but was assumed. (Saul)

“who will come from your body,” 2Samuel 7 promise points to someone not yet born and Adonijah was alive at the time.

How did he operate?

1.  He had a pattern of himself.

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” — Matthew 20:16 (CSB)

2.  He learned to the part.

After this, Absalom got himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run before him. He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. — 2 Samuel 15:1-2 (CSB)

3. He was not by his father.

The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently. — Proverbs 13:24 (CSB)

Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it. — Proverbs 22:6 (CSB)

Don’t withhold discipline from a youth; if you punish him with a rod, he will not die. Punish him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol. — Proverbs 23:13-14 (CSB)

4. He was good .

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7 (CSB)

He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. — Isaiah 53:2-6 (CSB)

5. He was . “he was born of Absalom”

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. — Matthew 3:7-10 (CSB)

Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh ​— ​although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ ​— ​the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. — Philippians 3:2-11 (CSB)

6. He garnered .

• Joab was fiercely loyal to David, but often felt he knew better.

The man replied to Joab, “Even if I had the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for me.’ If I had jeopardized my own life ​— ​and nothing is hidden from the king ​— ​you would have abandoned me.” Joab said, “I’m not going to waste time with you! ” He then took three spears in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s chest. — 2 Samuel 18:12-14 (CSB)

• Abiathar was the great-great-grandson of Eli.

“Therefore, this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the Lord’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced. Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s family, so that none in your family will reach old age. You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age. Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently. This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day. — 1 Samuel 2:30-34 (CSB)

7. He acted in .

• Goes outside of town to sacrifice.
• Excludes people who would try to stop him.

For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and brought to light. Therefore take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.” — Luke 8:17-18 (CSB)

EMERALD CITY:

1. It is the pattern of the world to exalt ourselves. Jesus lived out and taught the opposite.

Mark 8-10