Thursday
Evening Bible Study
August
30, 2012
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church
loved?
We’ve seen
David become king of Israel.
We’ve seen him
conquer his enemies, the nations all around Israel.
We’ve seen
David commit a terrible sin, adultery with Bathsheba, followed by the murder of
her husband Uriah.
And now we are seeing some of the fallout of David’s sin take place as his
now oldest son Absalom has turned the nation against David and has chased David
out of Jerusalem.
Absalom was joined in his rebellion by a man named Ahithophel, an incredibly
smart man, one of David’s closest friends, but also the grandfather of
Bathsheba.
After marching into Jerusalem, Absalom asked for suggestions of what to do
next, and Ahithophel advised Absalom to set up a tent on top of the palace and
have sex with the ten concubines of David that were left behind to take care of
the house.
Ahithophel is not done with his advice.
17:1-4 Ahithophel’s end game
:1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let
me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.
:2 I will come upon him while he is weary
and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will
flee, and I will strike only the king.
:3 Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will
be at peace.”
(2 Sa 17:3 NLT) and I will bring all the people
back to you as a bride returns to her husband…
:4 And the saying pleased Absalom and all the
elders of Israel.
:2 I will strike only the king
Ahithophel knows that the momentum is on Absalom’s side.
If they strike and take out David now, then it will all be over.
Actually, this is excellent advice for Absalom, because David is vulnerable
right now and could be more easily defeated.
I am amazed that this “pleases” all the elders of Israel.
People are quite fickle.
17:5-15 Hushai’s advice
:5 Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let
us hear what he says too.”
:6
Hushai the Archite
This fellow was David’s secret “plant” in Absalom’s new government.
When David was evacuating the city, he initially heard about Ahithophel
joining up with Absalom and had prayed that God would somehow thwart any advice
that Ahithophel would give.
The next thing that happened was Hushai coming up
to David to offer to accompany David.
David asked Hushai to stay behind and help
counter any dangerous advice that Ahithophel might give.
Hushai convinced Absalom that he was just a loyal
Israeli, and would willingly work in for the government, no matter who was in
charge.
Note that Ahithophel seems to be hanging out with Absalom, but Hushai has to be called.
I wonder why Hushai wasn’t asked in regards to
the concubine thing. Perhaps he was asked, but decided that it wasn’t time for
him to contradict Ahithophel.
:6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying,
“Ahithophel has spoken in this manner. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak
up.”
Absalom tells Hushai of Ahithophel’s
advice to attack David now.
:7 So Hushai said to
Absalom: “The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.
:8 For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and
his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their
minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a
man of war, and will not camp with the people.
:8 a bear robbed of her cubs
You don’t mess with a mama bear’s cubs.
:9 Surely by now he is
hidden in some pit, or in some other place. And it will be, when some of
them are overthrown at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There
is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’
:10 And even he who is valiant, whose heart
is like the heart of a lion, will melt completely. For all Israel knows
that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with
him are valiant men.
:10 your father is a mighty man
The people who first hear of spotting David will be the same ones to report
that Absalom’s people have been slaughtered.
David and his men are the toughest of warriors, even if they are getting up
in years.
It would be a little like trying to take on a bunch of old warriors like Stallone,
Willis, Schwarzenegger, and Chuck Norris all at once …
:11 Therefore I advise that
all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand that is
by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.
:12 So we will come upon him in some place where
he may be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And of
him and all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as
one.
:11 all Israel
Hushai doesn’t recommend a smaller force of
12,000. He wants Absalom to use huge
overwhelming force.
He doesn’t recommend that they only kill David, but that they kill all
those who are with David as well.
He doesn’t recommend that Ahithophel lead the force, but that Absalom
himself should be leading the troops.
He’s appealing
to Absalom’s pride. That’s the right
approach with a man like Abasalom.
This also exposes Abaslom to a little more
danger.
:13 Moreover,
if he has withdrawn into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that
city; and we will pull it into the river, until there is not one small stone
found there.”
:14 So Absalom and all the men of Israel said,
“The advice of Hushai the Archite
is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had purposed to defeat the good
advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord
might bring disaster on Absalom.
:14 the advice … is better
Absalom and the others with him like Hushai’s
advice better.
Perhaps because it sounds so macho with Absalom leading,
and the idea of a huge victory over David’s people.
Lesson
Answered prayer
This was part of the answer to David’s prayer.
(2 Sa 15:31 NKJV) Then someone
told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.”
And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
The first thing that God did to answer David’s prayer was
to bring Hushai to David (2Sam. 15:32).
The next thing that God does to answer David’s prayer is
to use Hushai’s counsel and stop Ahithophel.
Don’t underestimate the power of prayer.
It may be that God would use a “non-supernatural” means like Hushai’s counsel, but God is still at work.
Pray.
17:15-29 Hushai’s warning
:15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so Ahithophel
advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have advised.
:16 Now therefore, send quickly and tell David,
saying, ‘Do not spend this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily
cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be
swallowed up.’ ”
:15 Hushai
said to Zadok
Hushai and Zadok the
high priests were the other fellows friendly to David that had been left
behind.
They are informed of the two plans and are charged with getting word to
David to get across the Jordan to safety in case Absalom changes his mind and
decides to attack immediately.
The plan in place was to use Zadok and Abiathar’s two sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz,
as messengers to relay information back to David.
:17 Now Jonathan
and Ahimaaz stayed at En Rogel,
for they dared not be seen coming into the city; so a female servant would come
and tell them, and they would go and tell King David.
:17 En Rogel – “fount of the fuller”
A place near Jerusalem on the border between Judah and Benjamin and from
which the permanent source of the pool of Siloam comes. Just outside of
Jerusalem.
Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying just outside of
town to avoid being detained by Absalom’s people.
:18 Nevertheless a lad saw
them, and told Absalom. But both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s
house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and
they went down into it.
:18 Bahurim
Play Bahurim to Jericho map clip.
If the land back then was anything like today, Bahurim
is probably the last chance to get gas before you make the trip down the hill
to Jericho out in the wilderness before the Jordan River.
:19 Then the
woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground grain
on it; and the thing was not known.
:20 And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman
at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz
and Jonathan?” So the woman said to them, “They have gone over the water
brook.” And when they had searched and could not find them, they
returned to Jerusalem.
:21 Now it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of
the well and went and told King David, and said to David, “Arise and cross over
the water quickly. For thus has Ahithophel advised against you.”
:22 So David and all the people who were
with him arose and crossed over the Jordan. By morning light not one of them
was left who had not gone over the Jordan.
David knows better than to ignore good advice.
He gets the people to safety.
:23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice was
not followed, he saddled a donkey, and arose and went home to his house, to his
city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died; and he
was buried in his father’s tomb.
:23 hanged himself
This sounds a little like a spoiled-brat who doesn’t get his way. It
doesn’t sound too wise. But there may be more to it than we first think.
Josephus
(Antiquities, 7:9:8) gives us a little different slant on things:
But Ahithophel, on rejection of his advice, got upon his ass and rode
away to his own country, Gilon; and, calling his
family together, he told them distinctly what advice he had given Absalom; and
since he had not been persuaded by it, he said he would evidently perish, and
this in no long time, and that David would overcome him, and return to his
kingdom again; so he said it was better that he should take his own life away
with freedom and magnanimity, than expose himself to be punished by David, in
opposition to whom he had acted entirely for Absalom. When he had discoursed
thus to them, he went into the inmost room of his house, and hanged himself;
and thus was the death of Ahithophel, who was self-condemned;
The idea is that Ahithophel knew that Absalom would be
defeated by following Hushai’s advice, and so he
thought it would be better to take his own life than to face David after he
defeats Absalom.
Lesson
Suicide
Suicide is the ultimate expression
of selfishness.
All you think about is your own pain.
Some people even think they are being selfless by taking themselves out of
the picture.
Yet if they were truly selfless, they wouldn’t put the burden of a suicide
on the hands of those they leave behind.
You ignore the incredible pain that you will be putting on those you leave
behind.
You leave behind people who will feel overwhelmed with grief and guilt,
wondering, “If I had only said this or done that …”
Lesson
Lack of trust
Sometimes we take desperate steps when we probably shouldn’t take any steps
at all.
We are afraid of the outcome, so we take things into our own hands.
We ignore the fact that God can work things out.
(Ps 37:3 NKJV) Trust in the Lord,
and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His
faithfulness.
The ultimate irony of Ahithophel’s life – he may have had some sort
of bitterness or anger at David for having committed adultery with his
granddaughter Bathsheba, but
because he took his own life, he never gets to see his grandson Solomon
become crowned king.
Let God work things out. Let Him
take care of it.
:24 Then David went to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all
the men of Israel with him.
:24 Mahanaim
Play Mahanaim clip.
Mahanaim was one of the places where old Jacob
stopped on his way back home with his family and flocks (Gen. 32:1-2). It was there he was met by angels, and so he
named the place “two camps” (one for his family, one for the angels).
(Ge 32:1–2 NKJV) —1 So Jacob went on his
way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When
Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of
that place Mahanaim.
We are not totally sure of where this city is located, but we think it’s
located up in the hills of what is now Jordan.
Mahanaim will become David’s headquarters while
he is in exile. He will run the war from
here.
:25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. This Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra, an Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail the
daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah,
Joab’s mother.
:25 Amasa
The short of it – Amasa is another nephew of
David, making him a
cousin to Absalom.
Joab, the old head of the army, is with David.
:26 So Israel and Absalom
encamped in the land of Gilead.
:26 Gilead
See map. The general term used to describe the area in
the northern part of Israel, on the eastern side of the Jordan.
:27 Now it happened, when
David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi
the son of Nahash from Rabbah
of the people of Ammon, Machir
the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,
:28 brought beds and basins, earthen vessels and
wheat, barley and flour, parched grain and beans, lentils and parched seeds,
:29 honey and curds, sheep and cheese of the herd,
for David and the people who were with him to eat. For they said, “The
people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”
:27 Shobi
the son of Nahash
Nahash
was the Ammonite king who challenged the city of Jabesh Gilead and brought
about Saul’s first opportunity to prove himself as king (1Sam. 11).
Hanun was also
a son of Nahash (2Sam. 10), and when he first became
king of Ammon, he humiliated David’s servants and caused a war between Israel
and Ammon.
Rabbah
was the capitol city of the Ammonites, whom David defeated at the time of the
affair with Bathsheba. (see map)
Apparently when
David had defeated the Ammonites, he had set up the other son (Shobi) to be their king.
:27 Machir
Machir
was the man who had originally been taking care of Jonathan’s lame son,
Mephibosheth. When David had wanted to show kindness to Jonathan’s children, he
found out that Mephibosheth was being taken care of by Machir.
(2Sam. 9:3-4)
(2 Sa 9:3–4 NKJV) —3 Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of
the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to
the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his
feet.” 4 So the king said to
him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in
the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”
Now Machir offers to take care of David.
:27 Barzillai
He is a very old man, 80 years old (2Sam. 19:32), probably one of the
leaders of Gilead. We will see him later
on…
Lesson
Helping in trouble
You could make a point that David deserves what happened to him.
Shimei threw stones and yelled curses.
These guys brought help.
Remember that definition of “friend” we saw last week?
“A friend—the
one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.”
18:1-18 Absalom’s
Defeat
:1 And David numbered the people who were
with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
:1 numbered the people
It sounds like more and more people are coming to join David. When he left
Jerusalem, it seemed that perhaps six hundred or more were with him. But don’t
get too excited. Josephus
tells us that David had about 4,000 followers at this time (Antiquities,
7:10:1)
As an experienced warrior, David knows he needs to get a little organized.
:2 Then David sent out one
third of the people under the hand of Joab, one third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king
said to the people, “I also will surely go out with you myself.”
:3 But the people answered, “You shall not go out!
For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will
they care about us. But you are worth ten
thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city.”
:2
one third of the people …
David organizes the army he has and puts it under the control of these
three faithful men.
Joab and Abishai are
David’s nephews.
Ittai is David’s friend from Gath, the warrior
(2Sam. 15:19)
:3 You shall not go out!
At this point, David is the whole game.
If they lose David, they’ve lost everything. When you play “capture the flag”, you don’t carry the flag with
you as you try to capture your opponent’s flag, you protect your flag.
And David is probably getting up a bit in years as well…
:4 Then the king said to
them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the
gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.
:5 Now the king had commanded Joab,
Abishai, and Ittai, saying,
“Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people
heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom.
:5 Deal gently … with
…Absalom
David gives a public order to his three captains. They are not to harm
Absalom. The entire army is aware of this order. Even though David’s own life
is being threatened by Absalom, he can’t get over the fact that Absalom is his
son.
:6 So the people went out
into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the woods of
Ephraim.
:6 the woods of Ephraim
This is a
wooded area north of the river Jabbok. See map
It seems that Absalom’s army was trying to cut off David’s army by
attacking them from the north of Mahanaim.
Josephus records that the main battle took place on a plain and that as
Joab began winning the battle, Absalom’s men fled into the forest in retreat.
:7 The people of Israel
were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of
twenty thousand took place there that day.
:7 slaughter of twenty thousand
Very interesting if Josephus is correct and David only had four thousand
men. Yet David’s men
were the old grizzled veterans who knew how to fight. Expendables…
:8 For the battle there was
scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more
people that day than the sword devoured.
When Absalom’s men fled, they were at a disadvantage for fleeing into the
forest.
:9 Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom
rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth.
And the mule which was under him went on.
:9 his head caught in the terebinth
See picture of Terebinth…
Absalom was fleeing with the rest of his army.
Remember
Absalom’s great head of hair? He cut his hair once a year (2Sam. 14:6), and it
weighed six pounds. It seems that it became a liability to him.
Josephus records (Antiquities 7:10:2):
He was himself also afraid lest his enemies should seize on him, so he
got upon the king’s mule and fled; but as he was carried with violence, and
noise, and a great motion, as being himself light, he entangled his hair
greatly in the large boughs of a knotty tree that spread a great way, and there
he hung, after a surprising manner; and as for the beast it went on farther,
and that swiftly, as if his master had been still upon his back; but he hanging
in the air upon the boughs, was taken by his enemies.
Lesson
Get haircut before fighting
There’s something
smart about those Marines and their haircuts
There’s also another lesson about pride – Absalom’s hair was a source of
his pride.
You will do better in battle if you enter it with humility, not pride.
The Bible says,
(Pr 16:18 NKJV) Pride goes before destruction, And
a haughty spirit before a fall.
:10 Now a certain man saw it
and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth
tree!”
:11 So Joab said to the man who told him, “You
just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I
would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.”
:12 But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to
receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my
hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying,
‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’
:13 Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against
my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would
have set yourself against me.”
The man knows his king. He knows that if he killed Absalom, he’d probably
be killed by David.
If David killed the man who claimed to kill Saul, and then the men who claimed
to kill Saul’s son Ishbosheth, what do you think he
would do to the man who kills his own son?
:14 Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.”
And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart,
while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth
tree.
:15 And ten young men who bore Joab’s
armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.
I wonder if they think that if ten men kill Absalom, that David might not
kill them?
:16 So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned
from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people.
:16 Joab blew the trumpet
Joab stops his army from pursuing the remainder of the army of Israel, the
real battle is over. Joab doesn’t want any further complications. He doesn’t
want to cause the nation to resent David.
Lesson
Know when to stop
It’s not always appropriate to keep fighting.
Illustration
It's Been A Long Day!
A
knight and his men return to their castle after a long hard day of
fighting. “How are we faring?” asks the king. “Sire,” replies the knight, “I
have been robbing and pillaging on your behalf all day, burning the towns of
your enemies in the west.” “What?!?” shrieks the king. “I don’t have any
enemies to the west!” “Oh,” says the knight. “Well, you do now.”
There are times
when we can find ourselves in “battle-like” confrontations.
Sometimes as
we’re sharing our faith, we can find ourselves in an argument rather than a
discussion.
It’s not always worth “winning” the argument if you’re going to “lose” the
person.
There is wisdom in knowing when to stop fighting.
Don’t forget what you’re really trying to accomplish. It’s
not about wiping the person out, it’s about leading
them to Jesus.
:17 And they took Absalom
and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and laid a very large heap of
stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his
tent.
:18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set
up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, “I
have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own
name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
:18 Absalom’s Monument
We read earlier that Absalom had three sons and a daughter (2Sa. 14:27).
(2 Sa 14:27 NKJV) To
Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She
was a woman of beautiful appearance.
What happened? Perhaps his sons had
all died.
But apparently he set up this monument just in case all his kids died.
Josephus records (Antiquities 7:10:3),
Now Absalom had erected for himself a marble pillar in the king’s dale,
two furlongs distant from Jerusalem, which he named Absalom’s Hand, saying,
that if his children were killed, his name would remain by that pillar;
In other words, he made the pillar just in case his kids died.
We know that at least one of his children must have survived.
Solomon’s son Rehoboam would marry a granddaughter of Absalom:
(2 Ch 11:21 NKJV) Now Rehoboam loved
Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his
concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot
twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
Lesson
Ambition
He made a monument to himself. He was concerned about leaving his mark on
the world.
I think that Absalom’s ambition was part of what drove him to overthrow his
father and make himself king.
Ambition for
self is deadly.
(1 Jn 2:16 NKJV) For all
that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not
of the Father but is of the world.
I think of how a few professional athletes are willing to
cheat in their quest for ambition – to be great. Steroids, etc…
Ambition for
the right things can be good.
William Carey, the father of the Christian Missions movement wrote in 1792,
“Expect
great things from God. Attempt great things for God”
18:19-32 David
hears about Absalom
:19 Then Ahimaaz the son
of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to
the king, how the Lord has
avenged him of his enemies.”
Ahimaaz:
This is the same young man who had relayed the message to David from Hushai earlier (2Sam. 17:17)
:20 And Joab said to him, “You shall not take the
news this day, for you shall take the news another day. But today you shall
take no news, because the king’s son is dead.”
:20 you shall not take the news
I wonder if Joab is thinking about all the times in the past when someone
has given David bad news, and David has had the person killed.
When the Amalekite told David of Saul’s death, he had him killed for
claiming to have slain Saul. (2Sam. 1:15)
When Baanah and Rechab
came to tell David that they had killed Ishbosheth,
Saul’s son, David had them put to death (2Sam. 4:9-12)
Perhaps Joab doesn’t want to take this chance with Ahimaaz.
:21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.
:21 Cushite
– a man from Ethiopia
:22 And Ahimaaz the son
of Zadok said again to Joab, “But whatever happens,
please let me also run after the Cushite.” So Joab
said, “Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?”
Ahimaaz doesn’t really know the whole story. Joab doesn’t want him running.
:23 “But whatever happens,” he said, “let
me run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran
by way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.
Ahimaaz apparently knew a shortcut across the
plain and he out runs the Cushite.
:24 Now David was sitting between the two gates.
And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted his
eyes and looked, and there was a man, running alone.
:25 Then the watchman cried out and told the king.
And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.”
And he came rapidly and drew near.
A man running by himself would be a messenger.
:26 Then the watchman saw another man
running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “There is another
man, running alone!” And the king said, “He also brings news.”
:27 So the watchman said, “I think the running of
the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man, and
comes with good news.”
David and Joab might have an agreement. If Joab sends certain messengers,
it means good news. It could be that David simply understands the way Joab
thinks, that Joab isn’t going to risk sending a good man to tell David bad
news. David might kill the messenger.
:28 So Ahimaaz called
out and said to the king, “All is well!” Then he bowed down with his face to
the earth before the king, and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the
men who raised their hand against my lord the king!”
All Ahimaaz knows is that the battle is over and
that David’s men have won.
:29 The king said, “Is the young man Absalom
safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab
sent the king’s servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I
did not know what it was about.”
:29 I did not know what it was
about
If we take this at face value, Ahimaaz simply
didn’t know the whole story.
Lesson
Messenger without a message
Ahimaaz just wants to run. But he’s not just a
“runner”. He’s a “messenger”.
Whether he knows what the message is supposed to be or not, it really
doesn’t matter. The fact is, he’s a messenger without
the right message.
A messenger is of no value without a message. Listen to what Paul says, and see if you
can’t figure out what our “message” is:
(Ro 10:8–15 NKJV) —8 But what
does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved. 10 For with the heart
one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. 11 For the Scripture
says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to
shame.” 12 For there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over
all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name
of the Lord shall be saved.” 14 How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall
they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the
feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who
bring glad tidings of good things!”
We are messengers too. We have a message.
What message are we giving people?
:30 And the king said, “Turn
aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.
:31 Just then the Cushite
came, and the Cushite said, “There is good news, my
lord the king! For the Lord
has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.”
:32 And the king said to the Cushite,
“Is the young man Absalom safe?” So the Cushite
answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to
do harm, be like that young man!”
Translation: The kid is dead.
:33 Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to
the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: “O my son
Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my
son, my son!”
:33 O my son Absalom
This is going to greatly disturb Joab when he hears how David is reacting.
Joab and all the army will feel frustrated that they have defended David’s
life, and he is unappreciative.
But David is also a father. It doesn’t matter what Absalom was doing, David
loved his son.