Pam Padgett ... teacher
When David was old, his son Adonijah took it upon himself to set himself as king ...
1 Kings 1:5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king:
and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before
him. 6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why
hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother
bare him after Absalom. 7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah,
and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. 8
But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the
prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to
David, were not with Adonijah. 9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and
fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all
his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's
servants: 10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men,
and Solomon his brother, he called not.
But God had ordained that Solomon, not Adonijah, would be king ...
1 Chronicles 22:7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me,
it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God: 8
But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood
abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house
unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my
sight. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of
rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his
name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto
Israel in his days. 10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall
be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
Nathan the prophet gave counsel to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, to go to
David and tell him that Adonijah was reigning, although David had said
that Solomon would be king. Nathan also went to David, confirming these
things to him. David gave instructions to Zadok the priest, Nathan the
prophet, and Benaiah to anoint Solomon as king, which they did ...
1 Kings 1:38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites,
went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and
brought him to Gihon. 39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of
the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and
all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40 And all the people came
up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great
joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
Adonijah and his guests heard the trumpet and sounds of rejoicing as
Solomon was anointed as king. Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest,
came and told them about Solomon, causing fear because Solomon, not Adonijah, was sitting on the throne as king ...
1 Kings 1:49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were
afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. 50 And Adonijah feared
because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns
of the altar. 51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah
feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the
altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not
slay his servant with the sword. 52 And Solomon said, If he will shew
himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth:
but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. 53 So king
Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and
bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine
house.
Adonijah exalting himself resulted in him being humbled, as Solomon,
whom God had chosen, was established. God
determines the role each of us is to have; we don't determine this ourselves ...
Psalm 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the
wicked, Lift not up the horn: 5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not
with a stiff neck. 6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor
from the west, nor from the south. 7 But God is the judge: he putteth
down one, and setteth up another.
Jesus gave a parable warning us to not exalt ourselves ...
Luke 14:7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden,
when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, 8
When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the
highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9
And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place;
and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee
cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou
have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted.
While thinking about God setting us in the roles He has chosen for us, I was also reminded that each of us have been set in the church as
God wills. We are all members of the body of Christ, and we function in the church as God wills ...
1 Corinthians 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15
If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body;
is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I
am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole
were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members
in particular. 28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts
of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
In all areas of our lives, we function in the position God has chosen for us, seeking to fulfill what God has called us to do in humbleness before Him.
Comments by Joan Boney
In the world, those who rise to high rank are thought of to be "special" in some way. They "earned" that position through achievement or cunning.
But in the church, we do not earn a position ... we do not rise to a position through achievement. There is nothing in ourselves that causes us to be appointed by God to that position in the church. It is all done by the will of God. And it is also done so the body of Christ will fit together properly. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: 25That there should be no schism in the body; I Cor. 12