Disfigured Kings by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Story of Adonizek and the 70 Kings

In the book of Judges — Judges comes after Joshua — Judges 1:5-7 records that they found Adonizek in Bezek and fought against him. They defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites, and Adonizek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. Adonizek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their great toes cut off gathered their meat under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Disfigured but Still Kings

These are kings. They are royalty. Men of honor. Men of dignity. Men of prestige. Men of value. But they are disfigured. Adonizek was the only king in scripture who ruled over 17 nations. He achieved this by invading one nation at a time, capturing each king. When the inhabitants saw their king taken from the throne, they submitted. He did it to one, to two, to three — that is how he had 70 kings.

When Israel began to grow and flourish as a land flowing with milk and honey, Adonizek heard of them and demanded they surrender. Israel, though Moses and Joshua were dead, cried to God. God said, "Let Judah go." Judah means praise. When you go into the midst of battle, into the midst of pain, and you don't know what to do — you have prayed, you have fasted, nothing is working — let praise go. Let adoration go. Let thanksgiving go.

Judah replied to the king: "We have heard about you. But the truth is this — no matter what we heard, we only heard about you. But we know about God. You say you have conquered 70 countries. Our God owns the whole world. If you want to fight, let us fight." Adonizek came with all his armies, all their weapons. Israel engaged him, overpowered him, and he ran. A once great man turned his back on Israel. Israel caught him.

The Confession: Under My Table Are 70 Kings

When they caught him, they asked, "How did you succeed in doing what you did?" He said, "Let me confess. Under my table in the palace — I have the heads of 70 kings."

Sevenenty kings with dreams. Seventy kings with projects. Seventy kings with ambition. Seventy kings with destiny. They are under the table. There are many people who went to school, who have a vision, who have a dream — but they have been kept under the table. They have plans for their lives but the spirit of Adonizek has put them under the table. Their children are graduates who should be working — but kept under the table.

They asked him: "How did you keep them under the table?" He began to explain.

The Cut Thumb: Unable to Hold Anything Firmly

The first thing I did was spiritual. I cut off their thumb.

Why the thumb? When your thumb is gone, your grip is gone. So no matter the promises made to you, they will come and slip away. No matter the helpers you have, you cannot hold them. No matter the opportunities — nothing good stays, because the thumb is cut off. The kings could not hold anything firm.

With the kind of people you may have met in life, your life should have been better. But you cannot hold any helper because the enemy has cut off your thumb in the realm of the Spirit. Even if support and assistance come now, you cannot hold it. Money goes. Opportunity goes. Because your thumb is cut off in the spirit.

This is what Haggai 1:6 captures: you go out to labor, you bring in the proceeds — but there are holes in your bag. Anything you labor for leaks away when there is no thumb.

There are people called honorable — politicians, public figures — who stood with governors, who positioned many others to succeed. But once those people got there, they forgot them. Don't blame your helper. Blame your altar. It is the altar that suppresses the desire of the helper.

The Pattern of Joseph and Generational Delay

Consider Joseph. He had a dream. The father gave him a coat of many colors — the colors of the rainbow. The brothers fought someone wearing the rainbow, forgetting God said, "Anywhere I see the rainbow, my anger will be turned away." They sold him. Joseph went to Egypt, became Prime Minister — next to Pharaoh. He brought his family in and they enjoyed. But after 430 years, they were slaves.

Why? Because Joseph entered Egypt as a slave. He became Prime Minister but never dealt with how he entered. He never corrected it. Many generations later, his lineage was brought back to how he came in. Even medical science confirms this — when they find a terminal disease, they ask about family history. It is called genetics. Generational patterns traced from origin.

The Cut Toe: Your Speed Is Affected

Then he said: "I cut off their great toe."

Why the toe? When you are on your marks to race, you launch with your toe. When your toe is cut off, your speed is affected. What would have taken one year takes fifteen. A building that should have taken one year — you are building for 15 years. When your toe is cut off, you are on the spot for a long time trying to get your step. Others move on. You are restricted.

Proverbs 13:12 — Hope deferred makes the heart sick. They cut off their toes to slow their speed, to delay them. Nothing frustrates expectation like delay.

Same job, same profession, same trade, same business, same career — but they are at the back. Those who started before them have advanced. Those who joined the trade after them have advanced. And they are still there. Still on the spot.

There is a God that restores wasted years. The years lost to delay — God will restore them. Financial delay, health delay, career delay, ministerial delay — He will restore.

The Purpose of Disfigurement: Incompleteness

He cut off their thumbs and toes to make them incomplete. Without your thumb and your toe, you are incomplete. Your body is incomplete. A man with a detached thumb and toe is incomplete.

There are people whose lives are incomplete — grown, married — but there is something they are crying for God to do just to complete them. Psalm 138:8 says God is able to perfect — to complete — that which concerns you.

Anytime there is a "but" in your life, you are not complete: she has children, but none is doing well. He has a ministry, but it is struggling. She's a graduate, but no job. That person knows the governor, knows the president — but. Anytime there is a "but," you are incomplete.

Naaman was a captain of the host of Syria — but he was a leper. He had the ears of the king, but he needed the ears of God. Today the God that I serve — every area of your life that needs to be complete is about to be completed.

God Is a Finisher

To be complete is to finish well. Hebrews 12:2 — looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher. God is a finisher. Genesis 2:1 — God finished creating the heavens and the earth. John 4:34 — Jesus said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish it." 2 Timothy 4:6 — Paul said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course." God wants you to finish well. He wants to complete you.

You only have one life. The only life after this is eternal life. You must live this life to the fullness of God's plan. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It is not just enough to be on the earth — you must get the fullness.

Prayer: Restore My Thumb and My Toe

Lord, restore my thumb. That power that stops me from holding anything good — good things don't stay in my life because my thumb is cut off. Oh Lord, arise. Restore my thumb.

Oh Lord, arise. Restore my toes. This delay must end. A man cannot be inside the sea and yet have soap in his eyes. This delay must end. Oh Lord, arise. Restore my toes. Give me speed. Give me speed. Give me speed.

Oh Lord, arise. Complete me. I do not want to remain like this. I have only one life. My Father, in the name of Jesus, as I pray — Oh Lord, arise. Complete me. Complete me.

Declaration and Restoration

In the name of Jesus, stretching my right hand — the right hand of God is power, the same power that has opened blind eyes, helped the lame to walk, made the deaf to hear — I call upon the God of heaven: your thumb be restored. Your toes are restored. You are complete in the name of Jesus.

Every destiny helper of your life will be soft towards you. Those ordained to help you will be soft towards you. God will turn their heart.

There are people here whose thumbs have been cut off — they are not able to retain anything solid. As their hands are lifted — restore their thumbs, so that all the good things they lost will come to them. As many whose toes have been cut off — Satan has kept them on one spot for a long time. They have fasted, they have prayed, but they have not been able to move — right now by fire, restore their toes. Give them speed. Move them from where they are to where they should be. Restore their toes. Restore. Restore. Restore.