2 Samuel 15:1 – 13 “Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate.
Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”
And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”
Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD. For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
“Go in peace,” said the king. So, Absalom got up and went to Hebron.
Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”
Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter. While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So, the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.”
When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed, God warned David, “Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.” (2 Samuel 12:11 – 12) For David, the day of reckoning is fast approaching.
While David might have promised Bathsheba that her son would reign after him, it was common for princes to try to seize a throne by force. When David’s oldest son, Amnon, who might potentially have succeeded him as king, raped his half – sister Tamar, Tamar’s brother Absalom used this as an excuse to kill Amnon, getting him out of the way. David’s sin with Bathsheba shook all of Israel, leaving David’s followers and his subjects wondering just how far they could really trust him. After all, Uriah the Hittite was one of David’s outstanding warriors. If David was willing to have such a man eliminated, who might be next? By this point, David must be sixty years old or more; definitely, he was no longer the boy wonder who had captured the imagination of all of Israel. Now Absalom was about to make his bid for the throne.
In a place where most people were not using chariots, Absalom got himself a chariot with a handsome team and fifty men to run ahead of him, informing everyone that Absalom was approaching. These men may have been dressed in special livery that marked them as Absalom’s men. Each morning, Absalom would grandly pull up to the road just outside the city gate that led to the palace and would station himself where he could meet all passers – by. Intercepting those who were coming to the king with a grievance, Absalom would assure them that their cause was a just one, but that there was a backlog of cases to be handled by the royal court. It was going to take these people a long time to get justice. Wasn’t it a shame that the king did not deputize someone to hear them swiftly, someone like Absalom, for example? And then when petitioners would attempt to bow to Prince Absalom, he would embrace them as if they were his closest friends. Absalom did this daily for four years, and the Bible tells us, “In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.”
Where was King David during these four years? Surely, someone must have carried the news to David as soon as Absalom began his campaign. Was David so sure of himself that he discounted the effect of Absalom’s campaign to undermine him? Perhaps David was trusting in the anointing that God had given him, little remembering that he himself had violated that anointing when he stole Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered. David assumed that the hearts of the Israelites were still with him; however, he was doing nothing to reach out to them while Absalom was doing his utmost to ingratiate himself with the people. If David had been from the American South, the good old boys would have said that “David’s got the big head!” In other words, David had forgotten his humble beginnings and was now trusting in his power as king, forgetting that God had put him there in the first place and it was God who would have to keep him there.
After four years, Absalom judged that the time was ripe for his next move. Absalom got permission from David to go to Hebron to make sacrifices and invited 200 innocent men to accompany him. But Absalom also invited Ahithophel, David’s most trusted counselor, to accompany him to Hebron, and Ahithophel gladly came. Why did Ahithophel join Absalom in Hebron? Surely, Ahithophel must have realized what Absalom was plotting. Did the incident with Bathsheba damage Ahithophel’s confidence in David, or was David ignoring Ahithophel or even worse, refusing to listen to him? At this point, Ahithophel was no longer in Jerusalem, but had returned to his home town, indicating that his advice was not being requested frequently.
APPLICATION: By betraying Uriah’s loyalty, David has cut himself off from the people who have supported him and from his most trusted counselor. Now Absalom has taken advantage of the situation. Things are about to get far worse!
While David is frequently pointed out as a model leader, this part of his career is a model for disaster. The scriptures clearly paint a picture of a man who is now trusting in himself rather than in God and who is blind to the needs and thoughts of those around him. Is it possible that David’s system of justice has broken down or become perverted? If Absalom’s claims have no basis in reality, it’s difficult to imagine that people would continue to believe him.
The lesson for leaders is clear: Stay close to God. Remember where you came from and remain humble. Be aware that there will always be those who want power and are willing to do anything to get it; if you give such people an opportunity, you will be in trouble.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all in leadership to remain close to You and to seek Your guidance rather than going their own ways. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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