The Battle for Kingship Part 1: How God’s Plan Prevailed over Adonijah’s Birthright (1Kings 1:5–53)

King David

The succession to the throne of David was a battle between Adonijah and Solomon, but a close study of the story shows that it was a battle of strategy. Adonijah took the first step to claim the throne by assembling a team to implement his strategy, but the throne was claimed for Solomon without him doing anything. In the end, Solomon won, but it was not that easy as Adonijah was equal to the task of strategic thinking. However, there are significant differences in their teams that eventually determine the winner in this strategic battle royale.

On Adonijah’s team were Abiathar the priest, Joab, the commander of David’s army, and the king’s sons. Solomon had Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Bathsheba, and David’s mighty men of war in his team.

On the surface, Adonijah had a formidable team capable of winning the throne. But Solomon had a team with the required knowledge, attitude, and influence that were critical to the throne; people who knew and acknowledged God’s plan for the throne, people who were loyal to the king, people that the king trusted, people who had emotional and spiritual influence over him. The people on Adonijah’s team lacked all these attributes. Despite the deficiencies of his team, Adonijah would have successfully claimed the throne as his birthright, if not for the swift crucial steps taken by Solomon’s team and immediate follow-up actions by King David that enabled him to claim what was his promise.

In his strategic plan, Adonijah assumed that:

1. Birthright is stronger than the Promise, and David, as a natural man, will follow the protocol of birthright rather than the promise of God. He was not cognizant of God’s promise to David about Solomon and David’s commitment to fulfill it. This assumption proved to be a catastrophic error.
2. Abiathar still had some influence in Israel and with David.
3. Joab was very influential in Israel and among the Army. He believed that with Joab, the army would be on his side, and he did not need David’s military influence and power to ascend the throne.
4. He used to get his way every time and the claim to the throne would not be different (I Kings 1:6).
5. Solomon would be so afraid of him that he would not put up a fight for the throne and neither would anyone act on his behalf.
6. He had overcome every hindrance that could stop him from becoming King of Israel. Adonijah belittled Solomon’s ability to contest the throne with him and he ignored God’s favour on Solomon that he never bothered to check what was going on in the palace and by the time the information of the palace acts got to him, it was too late.

Adonijah refused to acknowledge and accept God’s decision and anyone who favoured God’s judgment was not his friend and he did not seek their help. He crowned himself king of Israel but not according to the proper procedure. He went through the process of unveiling himself as the king without undergoing the crowning procedure, nor did he get his father’s consent and blessing. His assumptions and eventual actions proved catastrophic to his quest to be king of Israel. His unveiling process was wrong before God and before King David.

Adonijah ended up losing the throne as his plans and actions were presumptuous and he eventually lost his life in this battle of ascension to the throne.

Lessons learned from Adonijah:

1. The promise of God is stronger than the birthright.
2. You cannot achieve your ambition only by your strength, you need God and the right people
3. The process is more important than the outcome as the process validates the outcome.
4. The quantity of your team is less important than its quality. A high-quality team will always prevail.
5. You cannot proclaim to be something God has not called you to be, if you do so, it will always end in disgrace and calamity.
6. If you despise God in your plan, all that you would achieve will crash sooner or later.
7. Your birthright, excellent physical and social attributes, intelligence, and savvy alone will not deliver your goal.

…to be continued…