OR, REAPING WHAT YOU SOW
2 Samuel 13—18
David was a great man, but his sins were also great. The awfulness of sin is always plainly seen by God, who is offended by each transgression we commit, whether against him or another human being. Most of the time we are oblivious to sin’s true hideous nature. Thanks to Christ’s redemptive work, no Christian will ever be condemned on account of his sins—
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
However, while we stand forgiven, that sin has not gone unnoticed by God, and He allows us to experience the consequences of our sins to show us how truly despicable they are in his sight. As painful and as humiliating as those consequences may be, the sin that precipitated them is far worse in the sight of God.
In the case of David, he not only committed adultery with another man’s wife, he was directly responsible for her husband’s murder. Furthermore, his sin caused the name of God to be disdained among other people. An immediate consequence of the adulterous affair was a baby boy, who also became the first consequence of the sin, losing his life.
How this must have broken David’s heart! Generally, David’s heart was upright before God, and as we read his psalms we sense that was his strongest desire; to be righteous and pure. Yet when David became wealthy, powerful, and influential, he began to stray from the path of dependence on God, which is produced by faith. David, though loving God and loved by God, was a deeply flawed man, and his flaws are seen no clearer than in the life of his son, Absalom.
John Donne wrote,
No man is an island unto himself. Are we all part of the string of life?
The fruit of David’s iniquity was passed on to his offspring, to Absalom, especially. David’s partiality for Absalom brought with it a host of even more consequences for the House of David. How painful is it to see the man who conquered a giant driven from his own home and throne by his beloved son, and that allowed by God? If God had not allowed it, it would have never happened because David, remember, was God’s anointed to lead Israel. It reminds us of what the prophet Daniel learned—
[H]e sets up kings and deposes them. (Daniel 2:21)
The terrible things David experienced during the latter years of his life demonstrates the justice of God, for God’s Word is like a sharp, double-edged sword that cuts deep, as the king is learning. But make no mistake: David and Yahweh were bound together like no other. It was because of that transcendent relationship that David was allowed to feel the pain of sin the way God does.
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child.” (Hebrews 12:5, 6)
I’d like to take the focus off David and place it on his son, Absalom. David was not a sterling example of fatherhood, but Absalom serves as a beacon of warning to all who would be seduced by the lust of the eye and the pride of life. Let’s consider the following:
1. Absalom’s natural advantages. 14:25
In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.
This young man had it all! Not only was he the son of a king, but he was drop-dead gorgeous to boot! Too bad what was in his heart was so ugly; what a contrast!
From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness. (Isaiah 1:6)
If the story of Absalom teaches us anything it is that hereditary advantages or disadvantages don’t make or break a person. Starting off well in life may be desired but a good start doesn’t guarantee a good end. A runner may start well ahead of the pack, but still lose the race.
Absalom had so much going for him; he was Mr. Personality, the consummate politician—
Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel. (15:6)
And he thought nothing of taking his father’s kingdom from him. We can see how Absalom felt about his father with this single verse—
Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king’s face. (14:28)
Absalom, the son David loved so much, wanted nothing to do with his father. David never saw his grandchildren, yet they were all living in the same town.
2. Absalom’s vengeful, deceitful attitude, 13:23—28;
Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” (13:28)
Absalom’s murder of his brother Amnon took place a full two years after Amnon raped Tamar. Two years of silent hatred festered in Abaslom’s heart. On the outside he was calm, cool, and his words were like honey, but deceit lurked in his heart. This handsome, talented, young man had everything going for him, but a horrible event—the rape of his sister—caused hatred and bitterness to lodge themselves in his heart. He had all kinds of resources at his disposal to take care of this, but he waited two full years to catch his brother off guard and kill him.
The question is, why? Why did Absalom take matters in his own hands and dispense the kind of justice he felt was necessary? The bigger question, which provides the answer to the first question, is, where? Where was David while all this was going on? Like so many Old Testament fathers, David was missing when his family needed him the most. David was real good at acquiring wives and producing children, but he was no father.
Here we see how David’s sin had woven itself into the fabric of his sons. Just as he had taken Bathsheba, so Amnon took the woman he lusted after, his sister Tamar. Instead of disciplining Amnon as God had David, he is missing in action, leaving Absalom to avenge Tamar’s “living death” as a shamed old maid. To Absalom’s way of thinking, his sister had to be avenged and his brother had to be punished. Who wouldn’t think that? The problem was, Absalom was acting exactly like his father did on so many occasions; doing the right thing in the completely wrong way. There was a way to take care of this situation, but murder wasn’t it.
Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (Romans 10:3)
Absalom may have looked the part, but his actions belied the fact that he was not a godly man in any way. He was outwardly perfect, yet inwardly horribly deformed.
3. Abaslom’s second chance, 14:33
So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom. (14:33)
Fleeing to Geshur to escape the wrath of his father, it would be a number of years before Absalom would be restored to David’s favor, thanks to the influence of cousin Joab.
David was a man who knew well that God is a God of second chances. And third chances. And fourth chances! He had experienced the magnanimous side of God many times in his life. Now Absalom has been given, by the grace of God, a second chance at a fresh start in life.
What would Absalom do with this second chance? If experience is a good teacher, then many of us could answer that question without reading on. God has given man multiple chances to get right and time and again man has snubbed his nose at God’s good graces.
4. Absalom’s arrogance, 15:1—6
And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.” (verse 4)
David’s grace and the love of a father turned Absalom even more against his father. An unregenerate sinner will turn the grace of God into a license to sin. Absalom had been blessed by his father and he had taken those blessings to enhance his own pride and glory. In fact, we might say that, while God the Father had given the kingdom of Israel to David, Absalom was about to take that kingdom from his father to make it his own. He hated his father so much; he wanted to be just like him.
5. Absalom’s rebellion, 15:10
Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’ ”
The inner, secret purposes of Absalom’s heart are now exposed. David’s beloved son has now openly declared himself an enemy of the state; he wants the kingdom to himself. Why wouldn’t he? David hasn’t disciplined him for murdering his brother. Absalom played the part of a father in taking care of Tamar. Why not just go all the way be king; what’s David going to do anyway? Write a psalm about it? Open rebellion against the will of God—David was put on the throne by God—is always the fruit of a secret, self-centered life.
He had his followers, and verse 11 describes them succinctly—
Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter.
They were ignorant! They didn’t know anything! But they made Absalom feel good. A narcissist like Absalom always has his sycophants, but having followers and having people fawning all over someone doesn’t make that person right.
6. Absalom’s untimely death, 18:9—14
When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.” (18:10)
It was father against son for a while. And for a while, the son eclipsed the father.
A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.” Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.” (15:13—14)
Absalom’s plan was now complete. He had taken over the palace; the kingdom was his. But it wasn’t Absalom’s plan. Remember what Nathan the prophet told David—
Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ (12:—-)
Compare that to what Absalom did—
So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. (16:22)
In the course of time, Absalom, trying escape David’s men, got his hair all tangled in a tree and was left hanging there.
Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. (18:14)
Those who strike out against God and who stubbornly pursue their own will face forces they never dreamed of. Absalom never thought for a moment he would be hanging in an oak tree by his hair! A believer puts himself in a very precarious position when he steps out of God’s will for they step away from His protection.
Joab, for his part, did what he thought was right in getting rid of this usurping trouble maker. But vengeance belongs to God.
7. A sad dad, 18:33
The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
David loved his son, no doubt. In fact, in all likelihood David was the only one shedding tears for Absalom that day. The depths of a father’s love can never be plumbed or understood.
Absalom was not easy to love. He was a hateful son to his father and an arrogant, narcissistic, self-centered man. Verse 18 shows the height of his folly—
During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
He erected a great pillar; a kind of tower of Babel on a smaller scale, yet in an ironic twist, we read this—
They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. (verse 17)
The man who thought nothing of his father, was treated as less than nothing in his death.
Yet David mourned greatly for this lost son. This is a picture of the love of God who, while we were yet sinners, sent His only Son to die for us. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, as He weeps today over those who are lost. God’s love is always ready to manifest itself in the forgiveness of sins. Sadly, there are many like Absalom, who disregard this amazing love, preferring to pursue their own selfish desires.
