September 18,
2007
Rise
up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee
before thee. (Numbers 10: 35 KJV
2 Samuel Chapter 14 Author: Unknown KJV
Absalom
Returns to Jerusalem
(2
Samuel 14:1-3 KJV) "Now Joab the
son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. {2}
And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her,
I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and
anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for
the dead: {3} And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So
Joab put the words in her mouth."
David is basically
in mourning for Absalom so Joab takes it upon himself to try and make things
right between David and his son. He concocts a story, hires a woman from a far
away place to be an actor so that the story she tells David could not be easily
traced.
Secondly Joab felt
it was dangerous to have Absalom stewing away in a distant country. Joab felt sure Absalom would try and
strike out at his father and attempt to steal his throne.
Both sides remained
deadlocked, neither one going to the other to attempt reconciliation.
(2
Samuel 14:4-7 KJV) "And when the
woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did
obeisance, and said, Help, O king. {5} And the king said unto her, What
aileth thee?
And
she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. {6}
And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field,
and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew
him. {7} And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid,
and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the
life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they
shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither
name nor remainder upon the earth."
The woman puts on quite a show before the king, relating a false but similar story as to the situation she might have had with a son, but being careful enough to craft her words so the story was not exactly like David’s situation with Absalom. Had the stories been exactly the same, David might detect the purpose for which this charade was presented.
(2
Samuel 14:8 KJV) "And the king said
unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning
thee."
This was a
halfhearted response from David. A
mere order was not good enough for the ultimate return of Absalom or even for
her fictitious son.
(2
Samuel 14:9 KJV) "And the woman of
Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on
my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless."
If a person
did not like the ruling of a judge, the person had the right to appeal to the
king in the matter.
(2
Samuel 14:10 KJV) "And the king
said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not
touch thee any more."
David makes
a further commitment in the case.
(2
Samuel 14:11 KJV) "Then said she, I
pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer
the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son.
And
he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to
the earth."
David has
over stepped his bounds with regard to the avenger of blood. The avenger of blood had responsibility
to his family to avenge the death of one of his family members in the event of a
death by murder or accident. In
numbers 35:9-34 the cities of refuge were set up to protect the murderer or
accidental killer until a trial could be heard and the matter settled. The murderer was ultimately executed,
the accidental killer had to live in the City of Refuge until the death of the
High Priest.
As
the Lord lives, not one hair of
your son shall fall to the ground:
“This is what the woman - and Joab behind her - waited to hear. Now David
ignores the cause of justice for the sake of family sympathy and loyalty. In
personal relationship it is a good and glorious thing to be generous with
forgiveness and mercy when we are wronged. But David had a responsibility as the
king and chief judge of Israel, and he was being sorely tempted to forsake that
responsibility”. (David Guzik)
"He
guaranteed safety at the expense of justice, and immediately the farsighted
woman captured him in her trap." (Redpath)
“There were several factors that made this woman's appeal
successful.
·
She was a widow, which would
invite sympathy
·
She lived at some distance
from Jerusalem, which made it difficult to easily know or inquire of the facts
of her case
·
She was old, which gave more
dignity to her story
·
She wore the clothes of
mourning to heighten the effect
·
She brought a case of family
estrangement to David
·
She brought a case that was
not too similar, lest it arouse David's suspicions” (David Guzik)
Then the woman
applies her story to David’s situation with Absalom.
(2
Samuel 14:12-17 KJV) "Then the
woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord
the king.
And
he said, Say on.
The woman speaks boldly to David concerning the
estrangement of Absalom. David sins
with regard to Absalom because he does not initiate reconciliation. Absalom is living in a foreign land and
is growing bitter by the day. How
much longer will it be before he takes up arms against his father David and to
all of Israel?
{13}
And
the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people
of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the
king doth not fetch home again his banished. {14} For we must needs die,
and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up
again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means,
that his banished be not expelled from him.
{15}
Now
therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is
because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now
speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his
handmaid. {16} For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the
hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the
inheritance of God.
{17}
Then
thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for
as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad:
therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee."
David needed to reach out and reconcile with
Absalom. Absalom would not initiate
the reconciliation himself for fear of death. In this case, David had to be the
avenger of blood against Absalom.
"He
is willing to pardon the meanest of his subjects the murder of a brother at the
instance of a poor widow, and he is not willing to pardon his son Absalom, whose
restoration to favor is the desire of the whole nation."
(Clarke)
“This
is one of the best gospel texts in the Old Testament. If we are under the
chastening of God, we may feel like banished ones. Yet we can put our
place of being His banished ones, belonging to Him and trusting Him to
bring us back to Him.
God
has devised a way to bring the banished back to Him, that they might not be
expelled from Him. The way is through the person and work of Jesus, and
how He stood in the place of guilty sinners as He hung on the cross and received
the punishment that we deserved.” (David Guzik)
(2
Samuel 14:18 KJV) "Then the king
answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that
I shall ask thee. And
the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak."
I like verse 18 because you can see that David is a man
after the Lord’s own heart. David
asked his subject for permission to speak.
Had this woman confronted Saul, I feel she might have lost her head, but
David proves himself to be a Godly man even if he does
sin.
(2
Samuel 14:19-21 KJV) "And the king
said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this?
And
the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none
can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath
spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the
mouth of thine handmaid: {20} To fetch about this form of speech hath thy
servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the
wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the
earth.
{21}
And
the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring
the young man Absalom again."
Joab got what he wanted; he wanted to see David and
Absalom reconciled. If that did not
happen, there was sure to be rebellion.
David had been over indulgent with his children and
perhaps this time he came down to hard on Absalom. We can see it today, parents are too
indulgent with their children and fail to discipline them properly, then when
the do discipline it is often too harshly.
(2
Samuel 14:22-24 KJV) "And Joab fell
to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab
said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord,
O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.
{23}
So
Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. {24} And
the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So
Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face."
David makes another mistake by refusing to see
Absalom. This was not a true
reconciliation it will have repercussions later on.
(2
Samuel 14:25-27 KJV) "But in all
Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the
sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
{26} And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he
polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled
it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's
weight.
{27}
And
unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was
Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance."
The people took to Absalom much liked they did with Saul
in that he was a very good-looking man. He had a full head of hair it equates
out to 5˝ pounds when he had his annual hair cut. That’s a lot of hair. David named his daughter in memory of
his sister Tamar whom he honored.
(2
Samuel 14:28-30 KJV) "So Absalom
dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face. {29}
Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would
not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
{30} Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine,
and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the
field on fire."
Joab had done his part in bringing Absalom back
home. It was up to David and
Absalom to meet face to face, he wanted no part of it. Absalom forces Joab by burning his
barley field to get his attention.
(2
Samuel 14:31-32 KJV) "Then Joab
arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore
have thy servants set my field on fire?
{32}
And
Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may
send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been
good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the
king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill
me."
Absalom felt he had done nothing wrong in killing his
brother Amnon. David could have
prevented all of this from happening had he chastised Amnon in some way, perhaps
even sent him to Jail for a period of time. Absalom was willing to suffer death
if his father had been offended.
(2
Samuel 14:33 KJV) "So Joab came to
the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king,
and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed
Absalom."
David and Absalom patch things up, but it is a patch that
will tear again and will eventually cause Absalom’s
death.
Footnotes:
2 Samuel 14:4 Many
Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts
spoke
2 Samuel 14:26 That
is, about 5 pounds (about 2.3 kilograms)
24
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25
The LORD make his face shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee:
26
The LORD lift up his countenance upon
thee, and give thee peace.
27
And they shall put my name upon the
children of Israel, and I will bless them.
Numbers 6 KJV
Have a blessed
day
Lee
A Watchman
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