2 Samuel 15:1-12
Absalom’s Treason
1 After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.” 4 Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.” 5 And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him. 6 In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 Now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the LORD. 8 For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the LORD indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.’”
9 And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.
10 Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’” 11 And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything. 12 Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city—from Giloh—while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number.
Some things deep in the sin nature of man drive him to do things that never change over time, such as the treasonous influencer Absalom gaining political gain over the popular opinion of the people against his father, the ordained ruler of the country. He was the first influencer way before the modern internet trend to use empty promises and offers of justice to steal the hearts of good people away from those God put on the thrones of nations. This is also seen with politicians of the recent generations with their bloated promises to get elected even if the promises are not realized later. Absalom was a master influencer for his time, sitting at the city’s gate to offer what he called true justice (which was what the offenders desired, not what was truly fair) that was not allegedly and currently offered by the current administration of king David. All who came to David for rulings heard the same from Absalom as he stole their hearts away from the justice of fair dealing that they were already facing in David’s court. That ploy continues today as politicians influence with flattering words of promise to mete out the justice that favors the guilty and skews the law for personal gain. At least that is what is promised. Absalom did this slowly over forty years as he built his power base until the time was hot to strike for the offense of his three year banishment from the king and kingdom for the crime of murder of his half-brother, his sister’s rapist. He took vengeance as a guilty man because he did not like the accountability for what he did, taking everything from his father the king. This was a result of David’s own miscarriage of justice in taking his neighbor’s wife and having the man Uriah killed in battle to have her all to himself. It was the consequence of David’s sin that led to this beginning of family troubles as the LORD had told him (2 Samuel 12:10, 11) through Nathan the prophet. God still had His eye on the anointed David, however, and kept him safe from the internal rebellion of his family and nation, even as Absalom gathered an increasing number of supporters and plotted to take over the government in the growing conspiracy of his treason by planting spies to trigger the rebellion in a revolution takeover when it was announced. We also can be aware of those inside and outside the church who conspire to influence against true justice to gain advantage through deception (Deuteronomy 16:19-20, Acts 20:29-30), keeping our focus on knowing and living according to the word of God to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves in a godly response, not with violence (Matthew 11:12) as the world encourages us to respond with to work the righteousness (James 1:19-20, 3:18) of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment