1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,120 If you have your Bibles, please open up to Second Samuel chapter 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,760 18. Second Samuel Chapter 18. 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,520 We're going to be reading through that entire chapter and 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,880 leading up to this point, we've been studying on Absalom and 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,760 David and the conflict that they've had. 6 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:24,200 And in chapter 17, we saw that Absalom had followed the advice 7 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:29,520 of Hushai, and that had caused things to shift into David's 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,720 favor. And the battle between David and 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,160 Absalom is now set. The battle lines have been 10 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:37,400 drawn, the armies have been assembled. 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,280 And here in chapter 18, we're going to read about that kind of 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,160 culmination of all those things that are happening that we've 13 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,200 been studying up to this point. So we'll begin there, reading in 14 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,360 verse 1, chapter 18 of Second Samuel. 15 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,320 And the record says there, and David numbered the people who 16 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,640 are with him, and said captains of thousands and captains of 17 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,240 hundreds over them. Then David sent out 1/3 of the 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:08,200 people under the hand of Joab, 1/3 under the hand of Abishai 19 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:12,680 the son of Zariah Joab's brother, and 1/3 under the hand 20 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,680 of Itai to Getai. And the king said to the people, 21 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,920 I I also will surely go out with you myself. 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,520 But the people answered, You shall not go out, for if we flew 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:27,200 flee away they will not care about us, nor if half of us will 24 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,520 die will they care about us. But you are worth 10,000 of us 25 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,240 now, for you are now more help to us in the city. 26 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,080 Then King David said to them, whatever seems best to you, I 27 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,880 will do so The king stood beside the gate, and all the people 28 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:44,960 went out by hundreds and by thousands. 29 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,280 Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai and Hittite, saying, 30 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,920 Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. 31 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,760 And all the people heard when the king gave the captain's 32 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,600 order concerning Absalom. So the people went out into the 33 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,320 field of battle against Israel, and the battle was in the woods 34 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,960 of Ephraim. The people of Israel were 35 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,880 overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,600 slaughter of 20,000 took place there that day. 37 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,960 For the battle was there was scattered over the face of the 38 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,640 whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day 39 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:23,080 than the sword devoured that Absalom met the servants of 40 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,960 David. Absalom wrote a mule. 41 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,720 The mule went under the thick bruise of the of the great 42 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,200 terebin tree or an oak tree, and his head caught in the terebin 43 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,760 tree. So he was left hanging between 44 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,520 heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him 45 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:40,960 went on. Now a certain man saw it and 46 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,920 told Joab and said, I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebin 47 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:46,880 tree. So Joab said to the man who told 48 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,440 him you saw him and you did not strike him there with the to the 49 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:52,560 ground. I would have given you 10 50 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,880 shekels in a of silver and a belt. 51 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,320 But the man said to Joab, though I were to receive 1000 shekels 52 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,240 of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,120 King's son. For in our hearing the king 54 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,880 commanded you and AB Shy and Itai saying, Beware lest anyone 55 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,040 touch the young man Absalom. Otherwise I would have dealt 56 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,600 falsely against my own life, for there is nothing hidden from the 57 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,680 king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me. 58 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,360 Then Joab said, I cannot linger with you. 59 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,520 And he took three Spears in his hand and thrust them through 60 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,720 Absalom's heart while he was still alive in the midst of the 61 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,040 terebin tree. And 10 young men who bore Job's 62 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,280 armor surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him. 63 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,360 So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from 64 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,000 pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people, 65 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,240 and they took Absalom and cast them into a large pit in the 66 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,240 woods, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. 67 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,560 Then all Israel fled, and everyone to his tent. 68 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,320 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillow for 69 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,000 himself, which is in the King's valley. 70 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,320 For he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. 71 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,000 He called the pillar after his own name, and to this day it is 72 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,200 called Absalom's monument. Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, 73 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,280 said, Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the 74 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,560 Lord has avenged him of his enemies. 75 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,120 And Joab said to him, You shall not take the news this day, for 76 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,519 you shall take the news another day, but today you shall take no 77 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:22,360 news, because the King's son is dead. 78 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,520 Then Joab said to the Kushite, Go tell the king what you have 79 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,320 seen. So the Kushite bowed and himself 80 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,160 before Joab, and ran, and at him, as the son of Zadok said 81 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,200 again to Joab, But whatever happens, please let me go run 82 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,960 after the Kushite. So Joab said, what? 83 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:42,080 Why will you run my son, since you have no news ready? 84 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,040 But whatever happens, he said, let me run. 85 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:50,000 So we said to him, Run the nahim has ran by the way of the plane 86 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,840 and outran the Ku Shy. Now David was sitting between 87 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:57,360 the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof, over the 88 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,200 gate to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a 89 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,560 man running alone. Then the watchman cried out and 90 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,800 told the king, and the king said if he is alone there is news in 91 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,920 his mouth. And he came rapidly and drew 92 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,160 near. Then the watchman saw another 93 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:13,920 man running. And the watchman called to the 94 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,560 gatekeeper and said, There's another man running alone. 95 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,600 And the king said he also brings news. 96 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,840 So the watchman said, I think, I think the running of the first 97 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,760 is like the running of Ahemaz the son of Zadok. 98 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,240 And the king said he is a good man and comes with good news. 99 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,040 So Ahemaz called out and said to the king, all is well. 100 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,240 Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king, 101 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,200 and said, Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up 102 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,040 the men who raised their hand against my Lord the king. 103 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,440 Then the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? 104 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,360 I am, I said, when Joab sent the King's servant and me your 105 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,320 servant, I saw a great turmo, but I did not know what it was 106 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,840 about. And the king said, turn aside 107 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:01,320 and stand here. So we turned to her side and 108 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,360 stood still. Just then the Kushite came in. 109 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,320 The Kushite said There is good news for my Lord the king, for 110 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,240 the Lord has avenged you this day, all of all those who rose 111 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,520 against you. And the king said, the Kushai is 112 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:19,440 the young man Absalom safe. So the Kushai answered, May all, 113 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,480 may the enemies of my Lord the king, and all who rise against 114 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,560 you to do harm, be like that young man. 115 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,000 Then the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over 116 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:36,240 the gate and wept. And as he went, he said thus, Oh 117 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:42,760 my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, if only I had died in 118 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,840 your place. Oh Absalom, my son, my son. 119 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,320 This is where we picked up from last month. 120 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,120 Last month, we our focus was kind of on how God's sovereignty 121 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,760 comes into play and how he rules over all things at all times. 122 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:09,720 And we saw how we consider the great dilemma that we have here 123 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:15,320 is how can love be expressed and how can just justice be executed 124 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:18,560 except in the work of the gospel? 125 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,000 And when we come to chapter 18, as we've read through it, what 126 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,880 we immediately are confronted with is an illustration of when 127 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:30,040 love and justice do not meet. We don't see love and justice 128 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,480 meet in this chapter. We have a great concern of the 129 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,320 loving heart of David, as we've seen, and yet at the same time 130 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,320 his desire and it's a justifiable, justifiable desire 131 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,960 that justice might be exercised in his doing. 132 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:46,240 So. The chapter begins with the 133 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,280 strategy of David for defeating the rebel king Absalom, and then 134 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:54,360 it ends with the agony of David on the back of that victory. 135 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,720 And in in it is a chapter which is made perfectly clear to us 136 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,680 that what David had desired and that namely is to treat the 137 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:05,920 young man gently, treat his son gently. 138 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,760 And what God had ordained back in chapter 17 and verse 14, 139 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,360 those two factors are on a collision course with each 140 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,440 other. What David wanted and what God 141 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,480 ordained are on a collision course. 142 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,040 And reading through the chapter and allowing kind of the story 143 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,600 to unfold in our minds. We'll have to find out, You 144 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,240 know, will justice be set aside, or is love and mercy going to 145 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,480 prevail? What's going to happen here? 146 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,120 And what makes this, of course, is it's really a poignant fact 147 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,880 that the rebel who had conspired against Abel, who against David, 148 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,760 who is God's anointed, this rebel is none other than 149 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,160 Absalom, his son. And so David has this dilemma. 150 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,480 He wants a decisive victory, but he also doesn't want any harm 151 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,840 done to his son Absalom. And that's a tall order. 152 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,040 That's a difficult order. And what we have to realize in 153 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,160 chapter 17, verse 14, the latter half of it, it remains a control 154 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,800 verse. If you want to say what that 155 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:09,320 means is that it's a point where that has been. 156 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,000 It's a point that's been made in such a way that it exercises 157 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,760 control over everything that flows from it, everything that 158 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,600 comes from it beyond. That's a control verse. 159 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:23,080 And in chapter 17 it says, remember in verse 14 it says in 160 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,480 Absalom and all the men of Israel said the council of 161 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,200 Hushai, the archive is better than the council of the Lord of 162 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,200 the Hithafel. And here it is, for the Lord had 163 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,760 ordained to defeat the good council of the Hithafel so that 164 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,400 the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom. 165 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:44,840 God is behind the death of Absalom, just as He is involved 166 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,200 behind the deliverance of David. God is behind it all. 167 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,880 So I want to work through this chapter a little bit. 168 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,280 In verses one through 5, we have essentially the battle strategy 169 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:02,080 at the end of chapter 17. The people there were kind of 170 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:03,480 having a potluck out in the wilderness. 171 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,360 If you want to say you come to chapter 18. 172 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,720 And David has mustered his army together. 173 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:13,560 He puts his commanders in place, which is Joab Job's brother 174 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:15,520 Abishai. And he tried to get tight who, 175 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,240 as we've seen previously, has commended himself to David by 176 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,960 bringing many of his friends to join David's forces. 177 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,720 So David having put the commanders in place, he now 178 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,880 finds that he himself is is put in his place. 179 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,440 And the people say to him, people are saying to David, 180 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,440 you're not going to go out on this battle. 181 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:38,520 You're going to stay back here at the city. 182 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:41,440 You're not going to do that. David said, I'm going to go out. 183 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:42,800 But the people said, no, you're not. 184 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,120 And it's quite fascinating when you think about hit the Phils 185 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,160 council that we noticed before, you'll remember that a hit Phil 186 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,480 said to Absalom, you're going to be the one that goes out, you're 187 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,200 going to take all the glory, you're going to win the 188 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,320 battlefield, you're going to be front and centre Absalom so you 189 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,800 can have the glory that was that was a hit the Phils advice to 190 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:08,920 Absalom and that was of course not accepted by Absalom. 191 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,480 And so here it is that the people say to him, understanding 192 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,360 what a hit the Phil was actually saying, it's saying, listen, 193 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,400 it's far better that you stay here and we receive your help 194 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:21,520 and your guidance and your wisdom from the city. 195 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:24,480 That's what the people wanted David to do. 196 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,800 And David complies. David said to them, well, 197 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:30,240 whatever you actually think is best. 198 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:34,080 And I'll go ahead and do that. You know, maybe think about 199 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,120 David's sin on the rooftop back in Chapter 11 that we can read 200 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,080 about, you know, there was an incident there if you want to 201 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,400 read it in Chapter 11. And it's almost, you know, our, 202 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,160 our criticism goes along with most commentators saying you, 203 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,560 you know, you see what the problem is here is that he 204 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:51,680 should have been out there fighting. 205 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,040 David should have been out fighting and he would have never 206 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:56,360 ran into this problem at the at the rooftop. 207 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,120 Well, I think this kind of puts a little bit of twist on it or, 208 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,640 or more context if you want to say it raises the possibility 209 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,480 that back on that occasion in Chapter 11, they were operating 210 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:09,400 really in the the exact same principle. 211 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,240 They were wanting David to stay back to give, you know, orders 212 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,000 from headquarters. If you want to say orders from 213 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,160 the city, he stayed back and give that wisdom. 214 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,480 You know, we're not justifying the things that he did there, of 215 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,880 course, but if he stayed back for that reason, it's an 216 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,120 entirely legitimate reason that he stayed back. 217 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,880 However, what he did with his time, all he stayed back is 218 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:36,440 another subject. The choices he made in his 219 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,080 privacy made all the difference in the world. 220 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:42,840 So he stays back. They will. 221 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,200 They will obey orders. And his order, his order is 222 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,000 very, very clear. In fact, we have a record of 223 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,560 only one order given by David. Just one. 224 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,520 Excuse me. It says, deal gently with the 225 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,840 young man, Absalom. That was the only order that 226 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,840 David had given them. And what we need to keep in mind 227 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,480 here is that David is who he is. He is the king. 228 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:09,960 He is the man after God's own heart. 229 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,640 He is a man with the history that we've been reading about 230 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:17,760 for the past few weeks, but he's also at the same time a father. 231 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:23,840 And it's surely hard to imagine the turmoil that he knows in 232 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,720 establishing his fighting force in this, in this manner. 233 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,920 You know, in fact, the nature of his grief that we'll read about, 234 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,600 the nature of his grief is grounded in the extent of his 235 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:40,640 love for his son. We can understand that it's 236 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,560 because he loves so much that by the time we get to the end of 237 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:45,520 the chapter, he grieves so badly. 238 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,240 He knows what's unfolding here. He knows that those who stand 239 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,200 against the Lord's anointed are to be destroyed. 240 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,520 David knows that now he he knows that. 241 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:58,040 Now go out and deal with that, he says. 242 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,160 He says, let me say something to you're going to go a deal with 243 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,760 that, but you're going to take care of my son. 244 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:07,480 Do not treat him harshly. That's my boy. 245 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:13,040 Deal with him gently. That's verses one through 5 and 246 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,040 in verses 6 through 8 we have record of a decisive victory. 247 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,960 Both the build up to the battle are covered extensively and in 248 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,200 many ways the whole thing has been kind of leading up to this 249 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:29,080 point for a long time and in a way that we need to understand 250 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:30,680 that. It's really interesting that it, 251 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,600 if you only read, if we only have 3 verses that really 252 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,280 provide the summary of what the battle happened, just three. 253 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,400 All this build up, all these chapters and everything. 254 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,720 Then there's 3 verses to summarize the battle. 255 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,160 Kind of amazing to me. And we'll notice what it says. 256 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,120 It says that they went out, that they fought in the forest and 257 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,160 that the men of Israel defeated, that there was a great loss. 258 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,640 The battle was all over the face of the country and it took place 259 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,680 in the forest of Abraham. And fascinatingly, it says the 260 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,400 forest devoured more than the sword. 261 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:10,080 How did the force do that out of the forest, Devour more than the 262 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,480 sword. And it's clever on David's part. 263 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,560 I think he is a limited forces that we've seen in comparison to 264 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,080 the extensive numbers that are arranged against him under the 265 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,320 control of Absalom. So if we're out, you know, if 266 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,320 they're out in the vast space, you know, he's really got no 267 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,800 defense, He's got no cover, if you want to say against the huge 268 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,800 army of Israel. And he would have dealt with 269 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,960 that in a different way. But when we get to context like 270 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,360 this that it provides, you know, it's unfamiliar territory to 271 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,920 many of them. And the chances are the way that 272 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,400 they're going to collapse is really beyond human interference 273 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,000 or human interaction between the two armies, if we might put it 274 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,680 the way, you know, if you want to put it that way. 275 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,680 And it's really interesting, you know, this doesn't come without 276 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,880 precedence. This has happened before. 277 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,040 There's a great story in Joshua. We find that in chapter 10 of 278 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,360 Joshua where Israel rose up against the Amorites. 279 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,000 And of course the battle, we read it and it says, and the 280 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,800 Lord threw down large hailstones from heaven, hailstones. 281 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,800 And then this is what it says is, and there were more who died 282 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,720 because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel were killed 283 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:23,080 by the sword. One commentator said, says we 284 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,560 might see here a suggestion that nature was enlisted on the side 285 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,680 of David, that a sovereign God who is sovereign not only over 286 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,520 the affairs of men and women is actually sovereign over nature 287 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:40,360 itself. And he is the force devoured 288 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,400 them. And notice the force is going to 289 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,120 play a very significant part in the end of Absalom. 290 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,080 And it's interesting that what we really see here in just these 291 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,880 3 verses, we see the hidden hand of God at work. 292 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,360 We see the exercise of human ingenuity and each of them 293 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,920 colliding together with each other. 294 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:04,520 Now what about Absalom? We need to keep in mind Absalom. 295 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,760 Remember who he is. He's a handsome beyond measure. 296 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,079 No blemish from the sole of his feet to the tip of his head. 297 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,319 An Old Testament Fabio, as some of you have suggested to me, 298 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,680 he's got a hairstyle that was quite remarkable, even enough 299 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,520 for it to get mentioned by all those that were around him. 300 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:26,280 He had, he had decided that he had was going to establish 301 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,240 himself as king in a position that was unmerited by any 302 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:34,080 measure that he would get a chariot for himself back in 303 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:35,600 chapter 15. We can read about them. 304 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,880 And then along with that, with that, he decided that he would 305 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,120 have 50 men that would ride in front of the chariot. 306 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:46,160 His entourage, if you want to say very, very important to him. 307 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,120 He had to make sure that he was looking the part he was also in 308 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,640 dealing with the people told he told the people what they wanted 309 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,080 to hear. The perfect politician, if you 310 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,960 want to say. And then he stole the hearts of 311 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,920 them by telling him what they what they want to hear is what 312 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,680 we just mentioned. He stole their hearts at the 313 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,960 same time. And that's who Absalom is. 314 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,760 And that's what we find. He's introduced now in verse 9 315 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:10,840 says that the Absalom met the servants of David. 316 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,040 It says Absalom met the servants of David. 317 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:17,640 Well, did he meet him? Like was it was it a set up 318 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,560 meeting like they met? Well, I don't think it's that 319 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,040 way. I think it's actually, you know, 320 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,720 understood more by saying like Absalom happened to run into the 321 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,680 men of David accidentally ran into them wall on the 322 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:35,640 battlefield. He didn't mean to and Absalom's 323 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:40,120 father wishes him no harm. On the back of the study guide 324 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:42,840 that I passed out, there's some verses referencing how David 325 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,120 loved his son. You can do what you want with 326 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:47,400 those worksheets. They're not meant to be filled 327 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,560 out or anything. You can ball them up and throw 328 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,600 them in the trash for like here. But maybe they're just a tool 329 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,040 for you. If it's if it's good and helps 330 00:18:55,040 --> 00:19:00,560 you, that's what it's for. But on the back there, it's got 331 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,120 some. I didn't pull my. 332 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:19,760 I just want to read through these second Samuel 18 verse 5 333 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,240 it says in the king commanded Joab and Abishai of the anti 334 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,880 saying deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. 335 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:30,160 As we read Second Samuel 18 verses 32 through 33, the king 336 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,920 said to the Kushai and it goes on through that and the king was 337 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,120 deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. 338 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:41,120 And as he went went, he said, Oh my son, my son, Absalom, my son, 339 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:46,120 would I have died in instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son. 340 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,880 And then we get to chapter 19 verses one through 4. 341 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:54,120 It says it was told that Johan Joab, behold the king is weeping 342 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:58,080 in mourning for Absalom going on through there a few verses down. 343 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,120 It says the king covered his face and the king cried with a 344 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,360 loud voice. Oh my son Absalom. 345 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:10,040 Oh Absalom my son, my son back in chapter 13 of Second Samuel, 346 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:16,080 verses 37 through 39 says, But Absalom fled and went to tell my 347 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,120 the son of MA Hood, king of Gisher, and David mourn for his 348 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,320 son day after day. So Absalom fled and went to 349 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,480 Gisher in their three years. And the spirit of the king 350 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,400 longed to go out to Absalom, because he was comforted by 351 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:35,040 Amnon since he was dead. Chapter 14 of Second Samuel, 352 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,480 Verses 33. So Joab went to the king and 353 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,360 told him as he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king, and 354 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:44,040 bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. 355 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:49,840 And the king kissed Absalom. I don't think there is any doubt 356 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:54,280 in our mind that David loved his boy Absalom. 357 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:02,560 None at all but the Lord has ordained to defeat of hit the 358 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,600 Phils council so that he might bring harm upon absent, because 359 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,880 God is the one who brings Princess to nothing. 360 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,480 Scarcely has the stem taken room, scarcely are they sewing, 361 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,840 and the wind blows over them, and they wither. 362 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:22,320 And So what we have here in verses 9 through 15 is at the 363 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,440 forest, one minute Absalom's on his mule. 364 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:27,920 And if we remember on a previous occasion, we're told that all 365 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,040 the sons and the kings left on their mules back in chapter 13. 366 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,080 So it's kind of sort of sort of a standard issue that that 367 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:40,640 royalty rides mules, if you want to say if you even had a mule. 368 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,720 And so it's no surprise that he was riding his mule. 369 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,600 And at least on one minute he was riding on his mule and then 370 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,840 the next minute he wasn't. Because in the next minute, the 371 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,960 mule keeps going and he's left dangling with his head caught in 372 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,760 a terebin tree or an oak tree, some translation, say. 373 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:02,880 And so it's, I don't know why it is we want his to be his hair 374 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,480 that he's hanging from. It doesn't say anything about 375 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:09,520 him hanging from his hair. I tried to find a picture of him 376 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,680 not hanging it by his hair, but everybody has and assumes that 377 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,400 he's hanging by his hair. I don't know if that's the truth 378 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,680 or not. It just says that he's hanging 379 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,560 from the tree. Those of us who have thinning 380 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,840 hair, you know sometime those or thin completely. 381 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,360 We want to say, see, bald is good. 382 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,120 Having not so much hair can get you into trouble. 383 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:35,120 But anyway, we don't know if it was his hair or if it wasn't his 384 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:35,840 hair. We know that. 385 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,680 We know that he did have hair. But the chances are, it would 386 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,960 seem that if we want to imagine that Absalom has come upon the 387 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:44,920 servants of David, he begins to make a run for it. 388 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,360 If you want to say maybe he's looking back over his shoulder, 389 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,680 right on his mule, and then he hits head on into a tree. 390 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,360 Maybe his head's stuck in the branches or something. 391 00:22:55,280 --> 00:23:00,720 But we see that he is definitely verse 9, hanging between heaven 392 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,080 and earth. It's quite a picture. 393 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,560 Nothing his good looks can achieve now. 394 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,480 No ability to influence the people by telling them what they 395 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,120 want to hear. Picture is clear. 396 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:18,960 He's hanging, helpless, hopeless and humiliated. 397 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,440 Even his mule is gone. And meanwhile, back in the city, 398 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,440 David is waiting, hoping that Abishai and Itai and Joab will 399 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,960 have obeyed, have obeyed his order to deal gently with the 400 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,000 young man Absalom. And then it says a certain man, 401 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:41,920 a certain man, another unnamed individual in the Bible who 402 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:50,120 makes a great impact, a certain man and told Joab, I saw Absalom 403 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,200 hanging in an oak. And I think we can understand 404 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,720 kind of the inflection here that Joab responds to him. 405 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,520 Joab said to the man and told him what? 406 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,720 You saw him and you did nothing about it. 407 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:04,960 You didn't strike him to the ground. 408 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:11,000 What do you mean you saw him? And this, this is the rebel 409 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,560 pretender to the to the throne. We're out here in order to make 410 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,360 sure that David is delivered and and Absalom is destroyed. 411 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:18,720 What do you mean? You saw him? 412 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,320 I would have given you a reward. I would have gotten you a belt 413 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:24,960 of victory. We could have had money in your 414 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,880 hand. But we'll notice what the man's 415 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,080 response. It will reveal a couple things 416 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,920 here. It reveals that that man is 417 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,920 principled, that he's a pragmatist. 418 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:41,120 He's acting on facts. He is also brave, I think at the 419 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:44,800 same time in in confronting Joab and opposing Joab. 420 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,360 We know Joab from his past. If we read back through all his 421 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:54,920 life, he's a very, he doesn't put up with foolish people. 422 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,800 If you want to say he doesn't have time for it. 423 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,040 He doesn't want to put up with any foolishness or anything like 424 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,320 that. He just wants to get the job 425 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,040 done, and he wants to get it done violently most of the time. 426 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:12,520 He says, well, we heard that you were told and that you were told 427 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,880 to protect Absalom. Everybody heard it is what the 428 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,720 man told Joab. And furthermore, he says, if I 429 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:19,920 had killed him, I don't see why there's any reason for me to 430 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,200 believe that you would have protected me at the same time. 431 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,000 And if you didn't protect me, then I'd be in some of the 432 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,200 similar situations Absalom is right now. 433 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,120 You would have taken care of me, basically, or David would have 434 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:33,840 taken care of me. Well, it seems that he's pretty 435 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,280 persuasive in his response because we'll notice that Joab 436 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,280 chooses not to engage with this guy. 437 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,080 Verse 14, Joab says I'm not going to waste my time with 438 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,440 this. He says I'm not going to. 439 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,640 I'm not going to argue. And that's really the offering, 440 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,680 the response for somebody who doesn't have a good response to 441 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,960 an argument. Well, we're just not going to 442 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,360 argue about it anymore, OK? But what he's saying is this, 443 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:04,440 we're not having a discussion here about morality and ethics 444 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,800 and all that stuff. Absalom is an enemy. 445 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,120 We're involved in a military exercise, and we need to make 446 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:12,560 sure that exercise is carried out. 447 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,360 And despite David's plea, it's clear that Joab, in keeping with 448 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,520 his personality, is not to change who he is. 449 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,760 And that is a man of war. And so we'll notice what happens 450 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,480 then. Incidentally, for the word 451 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:31,720 Spears here could be translated equally stick or rod in the same 452 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,760 way that thousands or hundreds could be transit like regiments 453 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:37,800 or platoons, whatever it might be. 454 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,800 So just keep that in mind. And So what happens here is is 455 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,480 describe for us. He took three sticks or three 456 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,080 Spears in his hand. Why 3? 457 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,480 Well, there is no reason why 3 but I think we can kind of maybe 458 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,000 think about Joab a little bit and, and what he was dealing 459 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,000 with here. And he says to him, you know, 460 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,840 Absalom's up in the tree and he says, you know, this one's for 461 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:10,520 this one's for Abishai, this one's for Itai and this one's 462 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:15,640 for me hitting him three times or three regiments or the three 463 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,120 regiments are represented. Maybe in that or perhaps in some 464 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:21,400 way in in Job's mind, he wanted to make it clear that this is 465 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,920 not a one man operation that the whole army of David is behind 466 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:32,440 the death of Absalom. If we read more about the life 467 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:37,360 of Absalom the previous chapters, maybe he said, you 468 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:43,080 know this one's for this one's for Amnon, this one's for you 469 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,760 being a pain in the neck. Maybe this one's for burning my 470 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,040 fields that we noticed that happened previously in the in 471 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,160 book. Whatever it was. 472 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,720 Absalom of course was pierced, it says Through the heart three 473 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,120 times that day and he died. Incidentally. 474 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,480 If Absalom had heeded A hippophiles council he would not 475 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,200 be here. We need to remember that he 476 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,160 listened instead to who Shy's council because who shy 477 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,680 suggested that Absalom should be front and centre and Absalom 478 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,160 likes the idea being front, front and centre. 479 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,920 So here he is now Absalom is killed and having been devoured 480 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,240 by the force, he is now destroyed by it says 10 young 481 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,080 men. And that should be a reminder to 482 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,160 us about the brutal violence is not a new thing in our world. 483 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,120 It happened all the way back in the Old Testament. 484 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,200 Nothing's changed. A reminder too of the Scripture. 485 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,480 Be not deceived. God is not mocked. 486 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,200 Whatever a man shows that he shall also reap. 487 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,240 Of that there is no doubt that we can see here. 488 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:52,080 And then what we see here in verses 16 through 18 is 489 00:28:55,320 --> 00:29:00,120 loneliness of vanity, loneliness of vanity. 490 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:03,680 I came to this and of course start thinking there's a, 491 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,560 there's a passage in Ecclesiastes that says vanity, 492 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:11,400 vanity all is vanity is unhappy business absence. 493 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:13,360 Life was really striving after the wind. 494 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,000 It also says in Ecclesiastes, and again in Ecclesiastes the 495 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,880 writer saw, I saw vanity under the sand sun, a man all alone 496 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:22,920 who had no one, neither son nor brother. 497 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:29,040 And there we have it, I have no son to keep my name in 498 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,120 remembrance. We see there in verse 18 of 499 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:36,280 chapter 18 of Second Samuel. Now in Second Samuel 1427, we 500 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:41,840 read about Absalom having three boys, SO3 boys and a daughter 501 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,720 that were born to Absalom. But here it says that he had no 502 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,360 boys. So is that a contradiction? 503 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:52,640 Well, it's a contradiction, but we have to assume that maybe 504 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,080 something happened to those three boys between that time and 505 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,000 now because the Bible says that he had no sons at that point. 506 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,040 Whatever the reason, what may be, whatever was it, it's, it 507 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,200 doesn't mean anything other than he had no sons. 508 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,360 The fact was he had no one. Now who who may entrust to his 509 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,480 legacy. So Joab blows the trumpet and he 510 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,440 has restrained the troops and Absalom is not ceremonial laid 511 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:25,640 to rest, but he's thrown into a great pit and he's covered by a 512 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,000 great heap of stones and the wind blows over it and its place 513 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,520 is no, no more. You see, Absalom, he sought to 514 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,840 make a name for himself. That's what he wanted. 515 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,440 We need to remember the word of God to Abraham was, I will give 516 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,080 you a great name. God told that to Abraham. 517 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,440 And these promises to Abraham were then reinforced to David of 518 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,960 a promise being made saying I will give you a great name in 519 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,520 Chapter 7 of Second Sam, pointing forward, of course, to 520 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,720 the name above every name that is Jesus Christ that we read 521 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,240 about in Philippians. But everybody else, Absalom 522 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,480 included, seeking to make the name for themselves as foolish. 523 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:07,400 It's really foolish to the extreme. 524 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,840 And So what you'll notice there is he has, if you like, if you 525 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:16,120 want to say 2 grave sites, he's got a physical grave site. 526 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,320 And then he's got a monument site, if you want to say he has 527 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,560 one of this great mound of stones which exists to a 528 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,400 testimony of his rebellion and to his ruinous end. 529 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,200 And, and he has another, which he has, he already had this 530 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,200 other one planned for himself, setting up a pillar in the 531 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,400 Valley of Kings so that whenever people happen to drop by the 532 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,200 drive by there or see it or walk by there, whatever, maybe people 533 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,160 will be able to see, ah, you see, this is absolute. 534 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,080 This is absolute right here. And then they would think, wait, 535 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,720 wasn't Absalom Belt buried out in the middle of the forest 536 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:48,160 where nobody knows a bunch of rocks? 537 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,760 Yeah, he was. That shows you the vanity, that 538 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:56,320 Absalom hat. And incidentally, this picture 539 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,440 on the bottom here, it's standing to this day. 540 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,520 And that's what the Scripture states, standing to this day. 541 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,440 That is the historical known site of Absalom's Pillar. 542 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,120 And it's actually in the Valley of the Kings, which is actually 543 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:12,240 also the Kidron Valley and the Kidron Valley. 544 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:17,360 If you ever study the Kidron Valley, it's really quite 545 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,760 amazing the illusions that the Kidron Valley has to help. 546 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,600 It was a place, it was a physical place where there was 547 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,120 burning of the is a city dump. If you want to say they burn 548 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,520 things there, they they burned and destroyed idols there. 549 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:38,000 They also took dead bodies there and they burned some of the dead 550 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,040 bodies there. It was a place of also the, the 551 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,360 word Kidron is actually translating the old Hebrew, 552 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,160 Hebrew as darkness, deep darkness. 553 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:52,120 Some translation say, you know, crossed over the brick there. 554 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,280 There's many illusions. But anyway, if you have time to 555 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,240 study the, the Kidron Valley, it's, it's pretty interesting. 556 00:32:57,920 --> 00:32:59,840 There's physical and spiritual illusions there. 557 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,080 What we have next, though, the mission is accomplished. 558 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,480 Absalom is buried without ceremony. 559 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,240 And how disappointed he would have been that he didn't have a 560 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:13,240 ceremony after his death, right? The army's gone. 561 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:16,400 And when we're ready for the conclusion, we, what do we got? 562 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:21,520 We have two runners. The runners delivery from verse 563 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,600 19 all the way to 32. And it's pretty clear to us that 564 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,320 Ahimas desires the opportunity to be the guy with the good 565 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,720 news. Perhaps he wants to do it 566 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:32,760 because you almost made a mess of it previously. 567 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:34,880 We can read about that. And we tried to get the message 568 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,640 to King David and they ended up down a well hiding. 569 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,160 So maybe he wanted to have the opportunity to redeem himself. 570 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,800 He wants to be the deliverer of the news and Joe episode. 571 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,640 Oh, no, you're not going to deliver that news. 572 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,080 It's not for you to go and bring the news today because after 573 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,680 all, the King's son is dead. Rather, what we're going to do 574 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:58,880 is we're going to send the Kushite man, he's got no skin in 575 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:00,880 the game. He's an unknown man. 576 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,320 We're going to send him to deliver the news to David. 577 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,560 There's no motion attached to him. 578 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:12,320 He can just go, go and deliver it be done and then add him out. 579 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:16,360 Says no, no, no, I want to go, I want to go the job, let's go. 580 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:24,360 And then as what happens is a him out actually manages to get 581 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,320 there before the Kushite and then the watchman who's up on 582 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:31,520 the roof of the city and David, is that incidentally in between 583 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,840 the gates? I think there's a sermon there 584 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:36,120 somewhere. I don't know what it is, but 585 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,239 there's a sermon of David between the gates. 586 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,760 I don't know what it is, but maybe somebody can look into 587 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,520 that too. But emotionally, he's between 588 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,080 the gates in many ways. But anyway, a watchman says it 589 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,040 looks like the first one is Ahimas, to which David replies, 590 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:52,840 oh, Ahimas. Yeah, he's a good man. 591 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:55,760 Ahemaz is going to be good news. He's a good man. 592 00:34:55,760 --> 00:35:00,240 We can trust him. And if we put ourselves in 593 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:04,440 David's shoes, it would almost make us kind of emotional seeing 594 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:09,160 Ahemaz running to us and think, yes, good news, that my boy is 595 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,680 going to be safe. And we won at the same time. 596 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,960 And of course, he says that, you know, he said that deal gently 597 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,240 with the boy, says Ahemaz is coming. 598 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:21,840 Oh, Ahemaz, he's a good, He's bringing good news, won't he? 599 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:23,680 Well, he's going to bring good news, right? 600 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:30,200 Messenger must bring the good news, the good and the bad with 601 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:34,640 it, for it's only the bad that makes the good good, and it's 602 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:36,440 only the good that can deal with the bad. 603 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:39,800 Well, of course Ahemaz gets there. 604 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:44,200 He outruns the Kushai, and David's only has only one 605 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:46,560 question for him. Only one question? 606 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:50,440 Is it well with the young man, Absalom? 607 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,000 Is it well with the young men? Absolutely. 608 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:59,760 And at that point, I am, as who has said twice in his dialogue, 609 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,720 is whatever happens, whatever happens, I'll go. 610 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,440 No matter what happens, I'm the guy to go. 611 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,240 Yeah, well, whatever, Mr. Whatever happens, because it 612 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:10,080 comes to the point where now he's going to be asked the 613 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:12,440 question from King David. How is it with my boy? 614 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:16,760 Guess what he's going to do. He clams up. 615 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,280 He's got the message. He's got the truth, but he clams 616 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:25,720 up, he's got cold feet. He just rambles and Mumbles. 617 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:29,680 He's like any any one of us who maybe loses confidence in 618 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,840 ourselves when we're trying to spread the gospel or talk to 619 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:37,000 somebody about it, who are no longer able to actually tell the 620 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,480 absolute truth, Who are no longer able to be prepared to 621 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,040 say the reason the good news is good news is because the bad 622 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,560 news is that you're lost before God. 623 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,680 And you see, he makes himself irrelevant at that point when he 624 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:53,720 doesn't bring the news that needs to be brought to David. 625 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,120 And that's exactly what happened. 626 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,000 And David says, well, he's a good man with good news. 627 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,600 And in verse 30 it says he says, you now you know what? 628 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:07,760 Turn aside, turn aside. So he turned and stood still. 629 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,640 It was pretty amazing. He's frozen. 630 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:16,880 May not, may not, let's not that be said of us. 631 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,520 Let's not be frozen about telling somebody about the good 632 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,160 news, the good and the bad that come along with it. 633 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,880 The messenger must bring the message, the good and the bad, 634 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:32,440 for it's only the bad that makes the good good, and it is only 635 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:34,000 the good that can deal with the bad. 636 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,760 So the cushy kushy does it. The kushy says good news for the 637 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,600 king. David has the same response to 638 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:42,960 him. He says, here's my question. 639 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:48,400 Is it well with the young man? Absolutely and masterfully, the 640 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:55,520 Kushite manages to say no, it's not and he's dead without even 641 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:57,840 actually saying those exact words. 642 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,360 He's very good with his verbiage there. 643 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,200 He says, may the enemies of the Lord my King and all who rise up 644 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:10,160 against you for evil be like that young man. 645 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,480 And So what we have here in verse 33 is a personal tragedy, 646 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,360 David's grief. Grief consumes the king. 647 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,600 He doesn't ask why his orders weren't followed. 648 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:29,040 He doesn't answer or ask for how these things have transpired. 649 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:33,640 He doesn't ask why he's now made aware of just the fact that he 650 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,040 has a victory on the battlefield. 651 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:39,000 The Kingdom of says, but he said, but he is sad and the 652 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,520 pictures clear. He's really deeply, deeply 653 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:43,440 moved. He's overwhelmed, if you want to 654 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,560 say. He moves away from that area 655 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,120 between the gates and goes to the upper Chamber of the gate 656 00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:53,000 over the gate where he can be by himself and weep. 657 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,960 Oh, my son, my son. He says it five times. 658 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:02,800 Oh my son. One of the verses that's on the 659 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,800 back of that summary is of David's love for Absalom is 660 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:11,920 Second Samuel 1339 through just verse 39 and chapter 13 where it 661 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:13,960 says he longed to go out to Absalom. 662 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:18,880 I was reading some people saying, well, he longed to go 663 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:22,880 out so he could kill Absalom. That's why he longed to go out 664 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:26,360 to Absalom. But I don't think that's true 665 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:31,120 based on what we're seeing here. He longed to go out to Absalom 666 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:33,080 to comfort him. He wanted to be with his boy, 667 00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:40,800 with his son in the sense that he longed to go out to Absalom. 668 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:42,560 Now we know exactly what that means. 669 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:47,560 The agony of all that could have been, and that was all the 670 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:49,600 things that he did. But now regrets, all the 671 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:53,160 everything's just cascading over David at this point in his life, 672 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:56,560 all the interactions with his boy. 673 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,560 He allowed Joab to go to negotiate the deal to bring 674 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,920 Absalom back to Jerusalem. But then he said, yeah, he can 675 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:04,600 come back to Jerusalem. But you know what, he's going 676 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:06,280 to. He is not going to sleep in my 677 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:10,480 house. For two years, he left his son, 678 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:12,920 separated from him back in Chapter 14. 679 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,520 Whether legitimately or illegitimately or selfish or 680 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,520 whatever it is, maybe we can relate to those things, those 681 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:22,040 unpleasant moments with our kids. 682 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:29,960 But when the day dawns and when that person is taken from you, 683 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:37,840 all those issues come back, descend upon you. 684 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,960 All those conflicts, all those disruptions, all the growing 685 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,920 pains, the happy times, the good times, the joyful times, times 686 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,200 of turmoil, those moments will come back. 687 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:57,920 You can bet on it. He loved his son, but he also 688 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:02,520 loved justice because the kings of earth are to do that, and 689 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:06,480 that is to deal justly. Proverbs 10 says a wise son 690 00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,040 makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his 691 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:15,040 mother and justice had been done at the expense of his love. 692 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:19,720 It's more than just a display of affection. 693 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,760 It's actually a cry of dereliction. 694 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:25,200 And say he says, oh, I wish I had died in place of you. 695 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,360 Well, you see, David was painfully aware of the fact that 696 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:35,120 it was his own sin that led to all of this, that led to 697 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:36,800 everything. It was his sin, and so his 698 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,920 guilt. His guilt inflamed and stirs up 699 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:43,640 his grief. But David obviously was unable 700 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:50,400 to do what he wished he could do, thereby reminding us of 701 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,920 this. What David was unable to do, his 702 00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:58,240 greater Son did, namely Jesus, who died in the place of 703 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:02,120 sinners, who died that so we need not die spiritually. 704 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,280 Who, unlike David, who sheds tears over his own sinful, 705 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:08,560 guilty life, David and all of us do that. 706 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,400 The Man of Sorrows came to bear our griefs and to carry our 707 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,040 sorrows. We can read about that in Isaiah 708 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:16,840 53. And he was able to do so because 709 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:19,320 the Lord had laid on him the iniquities of all of us. 710 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:25,360 It's a simple reminder again that the Bible is a book about 711 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:32,720 Jesus, and if the study in Second Samuel 18 or any of the 712 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:36,880 Old Testament scriptures do not help us understand that, then we 713 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:40,520 have missed it. It is a book about Jesus who 714 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:45,040 came to redeem us. We don't want to miss it. 715 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:50,920 Mercy and justice are often in tension, but they meet perfectly 716 00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,760 at the cross of Christ. Human strategy and divine 717 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:56,760 sovereignty both play roles in history. 718 00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,280 Pursuing vanity leads to emptiness. 719 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,800 True significance comes only from God. 720 00:43:02,720 --> 00:43:07,280 We are called to tell the truth. The gospel is good news because 721 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:11,760 it addresses the bad news. And only Jesus satisfies both 722 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:16,400 justice and mercy. Maybe there's one here who needs 723 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:20,600 to obey that gospel plan. Hear the word of God. 724 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:24,040 Hearing comes by faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word 725 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:28,000 of God. We then believe and believe is 726 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,560 not just a yeah, I believe that Jesus is who he says he is. 727 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:34,480 You know, the demons know that we believe and it's an action 728 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,960 word. When we believe, we change 729 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:38,920 things. It changes our mind, we change 730 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,000 our heart, we change the direction of life that we're 731 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:43,160 going and we repentance and follows that. 732 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:45,280 We repent, we change the way we're going now we're going to 733 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:48,200 live for Jesus. We then confess the name of 734 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:52,560 Jesus and we're baptized in for the remission of our sins, and 735 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:54,440 we give glory to God for all of that. 736 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,560 If there's one here who needs to follow that plan of salvation, 737 00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:59,440 or if there's one here who just needs the prayers of the 738 00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,400 congregation, please come while we stand, while we see.