REBEL KING

Now Adonijah… exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”…  His father had never grieved him at any time by asking,

“Why have you done so?” 1 Kings 1:5a, 6a

David had two sons who attempted to usurp his throne. First, Absalom revolted against his father, David, in an assassination attempt which ended in Absalom’s death (2 Samuel 15, 17). The second son, Adonijah, schemed to seize the Davidic throne away from Solomon, while David was on his death bed (1 Kings 1).

A note about Adonijah in 1 Kings 1:6 gives insight as to what perpetrated such rebellion: “his father had never grieved him.” That is, David had never disciplined Adonijah by “paining him,” a failure on David’s part as his father. The lack of corporal discipline to Adonijah in his formative years by David was the root cause of Adonijah’s rebellion later on in life.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child according to his way. Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The patterns and procedures in child rearing show up in the adult life, whether good or bad.  A sin nature dwells in every soul conceived of man on earth since Adam (Romans 7); there are no exceptions. The Scriptures give no evidence of David failing to discipline his other numerous children. Perhaps David pampered his handsome son,  Adonijah and thus failed to lay a hand on him. Like Absalom, the insurrection by Adonijah ultimately ended in his death (1 Kings 2:13-25). Rebellious children often end up being rebellious adults, overtly or subtly. Oh how children need parental love: “He who holds back his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently” (Prov. 13:24). “Do not withhold discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die” (Prov. 23:13).

DeLane Miller