If you’re on the Genesis Email List, you saw my note this week … to read 2 Samuel, chapters13-20 …
A sweeping saga …
And epic story …
Lust and love …
Victory and violence …
Murder and mayhem …
Loyalty and betrayal …
Treachery and tears …
A steamy drugstore novel …
An afternoon soap opera … and then some!
The heart of the story, the rebellion and death of Absalom,
And a father’s grief:
O Absalom, O Absalom, cries David.
Why does the Bible go into such detail on these tangled stories?
All of this blood and sadness …
These stories help us along the way in our own story.
And everyone has a story.
The good, the bad and the ugly.
You’ve heard me say a time or two, there is no pretending in the Bible … life is life is life, just as it as …
And if there is a God, we find God in the hints of grace that appear without fail …
But hints they are …
Hardly obvious, mostly hidden …
We see them only in hindsight …
Woven into the fabric of life like a golden thread …
The golden thread of God’s love.
Let’s back up a second … to where the story begins.
After Saul’s death, David gains the crown …
And God makes a promise to David.
An unconditional promise.
I will never leave you or forsake you.
Though you will sin, and though there will be consequences, I will stand by you.
I will build you a house, a dynasty.
I will give you a future.
Your throne will never lack a sovereign.
I am your God, and it’s with you that I cast my lot …
Lock, stock and barrel …
The whole nine yards.
You’re da man David.
I will never leave you or forsake you.
God was surely right about the sin business.
There was plenty of it in the land of milk and honey.
The immediate story begins with Amnon and Tamar.
Half brother, half sister …
Different mothers …
David the father.
Amnon fell in love, or so he thought, with his half-sister.
He fell into in a dark place …
Beside himself with desire … unable to sleep …
And then there’s Jonadab, a shrewd man, says the Bible, David’s brother.
What’s wrong with you Amnon?
You look terrible.
Tell me your troubles …
So Amnon unburdens himself to his uncle.
And what an uncle he is.
Jonadab lays out a scheme.
Pretend you’re ill Amnon.
And when your father comes by to inquire about you, tell him that you’d like your sister to come over and do a little baking for you.
Amnon thought, Good idea … I’ll do it.
And it came to pass.
Tamar came over and did some baking.
Send everyone out of here, said Amnon.
And bring this good food into my bedroom.
And when Tamar entered the bedroom, Amnon grabbed her … she begged him to stop, but Amnon forced her …
And when it was done,
He despised her.
Ordered her to leave.
But now Tamar refuses.
Uh uh, she says.
You did this to me; now I’m yours.
What you did was bad enough.
But sending me away in shame would be worse.
But Amnon would have none of it.
He forcibly removed Tamar from the house.
She tore her clothing and removed the signs of her virginity.
She went to live with Absalom, her brother.
Absalom told Tamar, Think no more of it.
But in his heart, he hated his brother.
He was bitter … and bitterness is a bad habit.
Two years later, in the spring of the year,
The sheering of the sheep,
Absalom invites Amnon, with all the king’s sons, to the party.
When everyone had plenty to drink,
Absalom gave the order to his men: Kill Amnon.
And that’s what they did.
Fearful of his father’s reprisal, Absalom flees the kingdom and finds refuge with the King of Geshur …
For three years, Absalom lives in exile.
But David’s heart yearns for Absalom.
Now enter Joab, David’s chief commander.
A man of fire and steel.
Likes things neat and clean …
If there’s a problem here, let’s solve it.
With a clever scheme, and the help of a wise woman, Joab convinces David to bring Absalom home.
But with one proviso from David … he’s not welcome in my house!
A strange moment.
David yearns for Absalom, but when the moment comes, David refuses to see him.
David brings his son back, then walls him off.
David forgives, and doesn’t forgive.
Forgiveness is hard, isn’t it?
Memory runs deep.
Memory plays hard and fast with us, as it did with David.
Absalom remains an exile in the Holy City.
For two years, two long years, Absalom lives within a stone’s throw of his father’s house, but not a word, not a touch, not a moment, from David.
Absalom, it says, is a handsome man with a fine head of hair.
He marries and has a family.
But David will have nothing to do with him.
Absalom contacts Joab, but Joab ignores him, too.
So Absalom orders his servants to burn Joab’s barley field.
Well, that got Joab’s attention.
Why did you burn my field?
Because I want to see my father, and you’re the only one who has enough influence to sway his decision.
Joab goes to David:
Absalom wants to see you.
If you want to kill him, kill him; he’s ready to die.
But he wants to see you, and you can do with him as you will.
David agrees:
Bring the boy to my house.
Absalom bows down to the ground.
And David kisses him.
Welcome home, my boy. Welcome home!
End of the story? A Hallmark Card ending?
Remember how Absalom nursed his hatred for Amnon?
Something dark and bitter grows darker still.
Bitterness is a bad habit.
Absalom hatches a plan.
He acquires a chariot and a horse, and fifty men to run ahead of him – what a show!
He makes himself available to the people; he charms them with his good looks and commanding personality.
The people like him.
All the while, a seething bitterness.
Four years pass … four years to think and plan … four years to nurse a grudge …
Then, one day, he asks his father’s permission to go to Hebron … a sacred city … to worship the LORD God.
Daddy, I wanna go to church in Hebron. Will you let me go?
What’s a father to do when the son asks to worship the LORD?
David gives him permission to leave Jerusalem for Hebron.
David gives him permission to leave Jerusalem for Hebron. Absalom uses Hebron as a base of operations, to declare himself king of Israel. His dark plans emerge. He wants his father’s throne. The word is suddenly given in Hebron: Absalom is king.
The rebellion grows.
David and his cohorts flee Jerusalem to prevent an attack.
Better for us to leave the city then Absalom lay siege to it.
David flees to another city … on his way there, a man from Saul’s clan confronts him, curses him and throws stones at him, shouting at him: You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood.
David’s men are ready to kill the man.
But David says, Leave him be. Perhaps this of God. Maybe God will see my distress and repay me with good.
David and his cohorts travel on, and the man walks beside the road, shouting and cursing the entire day.
David and his men finally arrive in their city of refuge, exhausted.
It looks like Absalom has won the day.
But spies remain in Jerusalem.
Intrigue and betrayal.
Double agents and double crosses.
Ahithophel offers Absalom good military advice to further the rebellion and finish David off, once and for all.
But David’s counter-agent, Hushai, offers another plan, and Absalom buys it.
The writer of the story interjects:
Chapter 17, verse14 -
For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring ruin on Absalom.
In the end, all-out war.
Absalom’s soldiers are no match for Joab’s battle-hardened warriors.
Absalom’s army is routed and Absalom flees on donkey through the thick forest of Ephraim, only to have his head, maybe his thick, luxuriant hair, caught in the branches of a low-hanging oak tree … and there he’s trapped, dangling between heaven and earth, unable to escape.
Joab’s soldiers find him and report back to Joab.
Did you kill him? asks Joab.
We didn’t dare, because King David asked us to treat the boy gently.
But Joab would have none of it.
He’s a man of smoke and steel, with lots of blood on his hands.
Joab makes the decision – Absalom is a threat to the kingdom … as long as he lives, David’s hold on the throne is uncertain.
Joab finds Absalom, and drives three spears into his heart … and then, smelling blood, the soldiers join in for the kill.
When David hears of Absalom’s death, he’s crushed.
Devastated.
Broken.
Thrown into despair.
Paralyzed.
Unable to govern.
A portrait of deepest grief, captured in music and art over the centuries, a portrait of a father’s heart torn to shreds.
But what could David have done.
The dilemma of many a family with wayward children.
Every choice a bad choice.
Tough love, soft love?
Forgiveness or punishment?
What’s a parent to do?
Grief … raw and uncut …
A child torn from your heart.
The cruelty of life.
The untimely death of a child.
O Absalom, O Absalom, my son.
Joab, the man of smoke and steel, turns to David harshly.
There is yet a war to be finished.
This is no time for grieving.
You have insulted your soldiers.
They won a great victory for you, and all you do is groan and moan about Absalom.
You haven’t said a word of praise or thanks to your men.
You’ve made them feel like skunks.
You’ve made it clear to us all – you’d rather WE be dead and your son alive … now go out and encourage your men.
There is still much work to be done.
For crying out loud, be the king!
What a strange story.
But here’s what we can learn.
First and foremost, God is faithful.
God’s commitment to David and to David’s house will not fail, though David should fail a thousand times over.
And here’s an interesting question:
Are we not of David’s house, too?
Of course we are.
Because we are in Christ.
Christ Jesus our LORD.
Christ, the Son of David.
Christ, our brother.
We are of David’s house.
And God’s promise to David’s house never fails!
God’s promise to David, God’s promise to you and me, sealed with the blood of Christ, stands the test of time and eternity.
When we turn to the New Testament, the story continues to unfold for us.
God remains faithful and will save the day, though the world be faithless a millions times over,
Though sin abound, grace abounds all the more.
There is a generous forgiveness in the heart of God.
God still bends the course of time and history to fulfill God’s purpose for a new world and a better day.
What we learn next is simple: life is life is life!
I grieve when TV Christians tell impossible stories about a life in Christ that doesn’t exist except in their effort to sell Christ, as if Christ were nothing more than a new and improved version of self-advancement and personal happiness.
I watched a leading Christian on the Larry King Show the other night … this fine Christian man spoke about the release of the journalists from North Korea and the good work of Bill Clinton and President Obama … he urged negotiations on every front – talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, he said …
I gave thanks for this witness, because he’s a man of influence in the Christian world.
But then something happened.
He launched into his “convert Larry King shtick” – what a life I’ve had since Jesus came into my heart … all victory and all sunshine; all goodness and all glory … and you can have this, too; just turn your life over to Jesus.
It was canned, scripted, and stale … like a bag of half-eaten Fritos discovered behind your couch.
I was crushed.
Why do some Christians do this to Jesus.
Why all the hype?
All the sugar-coating?
Because Americans are gullible?
Do we really believe in some kind of alternative “christian” universe, just around the corner, if we only try harder, believe a little more, read one more book, and buy the CDs of another TV preacher offering health, wealth and happiness, for just $29.95, plus shipping.
The biggest lies told on the face of the earth are told by TV Christians and fundamentalist preachers!
I’ve watched thousands of good and decent folk try to live the lie – how they pump up one another, convince one another, tell the story again and again, hoping to make it true, but they go to bed at night weeping the silent tears of sin and sorrow.
When the church over-sells Jesus , we set people up for heartache.
The church has to tell the truth.
We’re not selling beauty products.
Or five easy steps to wealth and happiness.
We offer Christ.
We offer real truth for real life.
Because the truth sets us free.
The truth of life,
The truth of God,
The faithfulness of God …
The Jesus story …
Come to me all you who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Take up your cross and follow me.
Dear Christian friends, the promises of God ARE real.
Woven into the fabric of REAL life.
Sorrow and hurt.
Sin and death.
Love and laughter, too.
And good things and small blessings.
The love of God, like a golden thread, woven into the fabric of every-day life.
For God so loved the world.
Just as it is – just as we are …
To bring us to a better day.
Dear Christian friends,
You will make it, because CHRIST is real.
You will make it through, to the better day.
You will make it, because GOD is faithful.
That’s the news from the Holy City, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."
Amen and Amen!
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