Bible 101 - 2 Samuel Chapters 18-20

Presented December 13, 2004 by Phyllis Gilbert

Review: We left David and his son Absalom in a curious reversal of roles: David is out of Jerusalem, and Absalom is in the city; David is on the run (again, but this time he's not running from Saul, but from his own son), and Absalom has been anointed king (see ch. 19:10) by those who gathered with him in Hebron. He's rebelled against his father by (1) undermining David's authority (greeting people at the city gate with handshakes and kisses, questioning David's ability to judge, and promises of justice if he were in charge); (2) usurping the throne; (3) returning to Jerusalem and sleeping with David's 10 concubines (a permanent break; such action was treason); (4) and finally, Ahitophel, David's trusted counsel, abandoned David to throw in with Absalom. All of this fulfills Nathan's prophecy in II Sam. 12 - and it's not over.

It's an upside down kingdom in Israel these days. What will the outcome be? Based on Nathan's prophecy "the sword will never depart from your [David's] house, because you despised me [God] and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own. Out of your own household, I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight." (vv. 10-11). All these are the consequences of David's sin, and the events are God's way of disciplining David, a man he loves.

II Samuel 18: Both Absalom and David are preparing for war; Absalom, following Hushai's advice, is gathering men from all over Israel to march with him while David, in Mahanaim, is mustering his forces. David divides his men into thirds with Joab in command of one group, Abishai (Joab's brother) in command of a second, and Ittai commanding the third. David says: "I myself will surely march out with you," but they tell him "no." In part, they're protecting him because he's no kid anymore, and his best fighting days are behind him. But secondly, they don't want him to have to face Absalom. David could never kill his son, but Absalom could and would kill David. Neither outcome is good. So David yields to their advice, saying "whatever you think best," and watches them go from the city gates. As a parting command, David tells Joab and the other two commanders, "for my sake, be gentle with my son Absalom," and all the men hear this.

II Samuel 18:6: The battle with Israel is fought in the Forest of Ephraim. a rough wilderness area, perhaps wooded, but not in the way we think of the redwoods or other thick stands of trees. It was rocky, and hilly, not a flat terrain suited to battle. And the terrain worked to Absalom's disadvantage. If he'd taken Ahitophel's advice, he'd have stayed in Jerusalem, and sent 12,000 top troops out to chase down and kill David. But he took Hushai's advice to lead at least double that number of men himself. And flattered that he was a warrior equal to his father (now that David is no longer young), Absalom can't resist the challenge. David's men rout the opposition and the number killed is high: 20,000 men. The text tells us "as many were killed by the forest as the battle." Absalom, riding his mule, turns around to see David's men following him, and just at that moment, his mule goes under an oak tree. Because he wasn't watching, Absalom doesn't duck and is snared by a branch, while the mule dashes on, leaving him hanging by his hair. Some of Joab's men come upon him, and one dashes back to tell Joab what he'd seen. Joab wants to know why he didn't finish Absalom off. But the soldier says "you couldn't pay me enough to do it; remember what the king said?" But Joab, ever the ruthless military man and always loyal to David, goes after Absalom, stabs him three times as he hangs from the tree, and 10 of his men then make sure he's dead. They throw him in a pit and pile stones over it. And then we read "During his lifetime, Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought 'I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.' He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day." (II Sam. 18:18.) In II Sam. 14, after Absalom is brought back to Jerusalem from his exile in Geshur, we read that he has a daughter named Tamar and three sons, none of whom is named. Apparently, they died in early childhood, hence his desire to have a stone monument with his name on it. Ironically, there was a pile of stones over his "grave," too. Saul had also erected a monument to himself, but we never read of David even piling a few stones on top of each other as a memorial of himself; instead, his deeds live on, and his future son, Jesus the Messiah, is the best remembrance of David we have.

II Samuel 18:19: David's defeat of Absalom also quashes the rebellion, but from his reaction to Absalom's death, it appears to his men as if he's ashamed of them and their fighting for him. He mourns Absalom with a grief that is deep and overwhelming. He must have known that Absalom would be killed, but the news, carried by a Cushite runner, doesn't please him.

II Samuel 19: Joab, hearing of the king's loud grief and seeing his prostration over his son's death, is furious. He goes to David and tells him that either he congratulates the men on their victory, or more trouble will fall on him than he's ever experienced before. Joab says "you love those who hate you and hate those who love you," (v. 6), and David takes Joab's advice. He goes to the city gate and watches the men parade in review, saluting them and we assume, thanking them for the victory. Then he prepares to return to Jerusalem; he's still king.

II Samuel 19:10: Israel is in confusion. There's no CNN live reports from the battlefield to let everyone from Dan to Beersheba know that Absalom is dead. When the news reaches the far corners of Israel, there's discussion about who's king. Some remember all that David did to defeat the Philistines; many recall that he expanded Israel's borders. But they'd been swept off their feet by a smooth-talking rebel, and now they are feeling a bit down. Remember, Absalom had worked for at least 4 years to turn the tide his direction, and people had begun to think of him as king. Eventually, however, the country solidifies behind David once more ("he won over all the hearts of Judah"), and he goes as far as the Jordan. There he makes a ceremonial crossing, welcomed by his own tribe's elders, and he's returned to Jerusalem. But all is not well. It takes David's appointment of Amasa, formerly Absalom's general, to command his forces in Joab's place, and Amasa's persuasive work, to regain the support of all the tribes. This division between Judah and Israel is made permanent after Solomon's death. The kingdom splits into two parts: Judah in the south (two tribes) and Israel in the north (10 tribes). They are never reunited.

II Samuel 19:15: There are one or two curious incidents about David's return: the first is that Shimei (remember him, the stone-tossing, curse-throwing Benjamite in II Sam. 16?) wants David's forgiveness for his unkind words as David was fleeing Jerusalem. Abishai, Joab's brother, wants to kill him (as he'd suggested once before), but David tells Shimei "You shall not die," and walks on. Then Mephibosheth, disheveled as if in mourning, comes to greet David. He's the son of Jonathan whose servant Ziba had gone to David with supplies (II Sam. 16), telling David that Mephibosheth was in Jerusalem thinking he'd get the throne as Saul's grandson. David asks him why he stayed behind; Mephibosheth tells David he'd wanted to go, but because he was lame, he couldn't march out with them. He'd had to wait for a donkey which his servant had taken. David was convinced of Mephibosheth's sincerity, and said he's split the property he'd given to Ziba with him. But Mephibosheth said "let him keep it." He was just glad to have the king back.

II Samuel 19:31: Barzillai, the generous man who'd fed David and his troops while in Mahanaim, also travels with David to the Jordan, and David urges him to cross and live at the palace with him. But Barzillai refuses saying he's too old to taste food or enjoy music, and he'd prefer that David give his son Kimham these honors. And so David does. Barzillai is a wonderful character - one who's in and out of scripture's record in only a few verses, but whose actions and words have a lasting impact. He's a man more concerned with giving than getting. David needed far more of those kind of followers.

II Samuel 19:41: Sure enough, David is greeted with both jubilation and complaints as he returns to Jerusalem. It is Judah's men who escort David back, and now Israel's leaders are jealous. A shouting match ensues, the people of Judah claiming that David is one of their own, a descendant of Judah as they are. "It's nothing more," they protest, adding "why are you angry about this?" Again, it's a sign of the disunity which will tear the kingdom apart in another 50 or 60 years.

II Samuel 20: Sheba enters the picture; he's variously called a troublemaker and a scoundrel. Whatever label is applied, he's not supporting David. In fact, he begins to criticize David and some of the unhappy people of Israel (remember the shouting match at the river) throw in their lot with Sheba. The men of Judah remain loyal to David. When David gets to the palace, he isolates the 10 concubines that Absalom had slept with, putting them in permanent seclusion. It's not their fault, but as pawns in a larger game, they're exiled even while in Jerusalem, never to be part of David's life again.

II Samuel 20:4: David gives Amasa, his general, an assignment to gather up the men of Judah. David's trying to solidify the support he has, and tells Amasa to get them to him in three days. Amasa takes longer than three days. David then asks Abishai, Joab's brother, to go after Sheba. So off went Joab, Abishai and the troops, hoping to prevent the spread of another rebellion by capturing Sheba. Amasa meets them at Gibeon, thinking "I'll join the army as commander again, and we'll pursue this campaign together." But Joab has other ideas. Remember how Joab reacted to David's appointing Abner commander over the army (II Sam. 3)? Joab stabbed Abner while making a gesture of greeting. He does the same to Amasa. Joab is intensely jealous of his position. He's loyal to David, but loyal to himself, too, and he is obviously angry at being replaced. Why had David replaced Joab with Amasa? First, it was political. He'd put Amasa into his army just as he had Abner to cement pieces of the kingdom. And secondly, David resents Joab's murder of Absalom. It represented, to David, disobeying a direct order. He'd told Joab, Abishai and Ittai, in the men's hearing, to be gentle with Absalom. Joab's stabbing of Absalom constituted insubordination, and David was not having it. Perhaps he hadn't reckoned with Joab's ruthlessness The earlier incident had shown that David couldn't control Joab, and this simply confirms it. And after killing Amasa, listen to one of Joab's men: "Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!" This is an entirely military call - or is it? Amasa's men were there, leaderless. Their inclination would have been to fight to revenge his death. But this call for unity comes just in time, and they all fall in with Joab. But on another level, it might appear that Joab has more than military ambition: "whoever is for Joab" comes before "whoever is for David."

II Samuel 20:13: After Amasa's body is covered decently, the men follow Joab in their pursuit of Sheba. The newest rebel had been gathering followers, and Joab and David's men caught up with him at Abel Beth Maacah. A northern city, it was fortified and walled, so Joab's men began to build a siege ramp in order to defeat it and take Sheba. Then a wise woman called to Joab asking for a word with him. She tells him that her city is a peaceful one, and that it would be a shame to destroy it when all they really care about is Sheba. So Joab said, "give me Sheba, and we'll leave your city alone." The woman replies, "his head will be thrown over the wall," and it was. Joab and his men returned to Jerusalem, victorious over another traitor bent on bringing David down.

II Samuel 20:23: in these final verses, we're given a list of leaders in David's restored administration. These are equivalent to the President's cabinet today. What it suggests is that David's back to business as usual. And note that Joab is listed as the general of the army. He is a man to keep your eye on; it's certain his death will not be natural.

Next time: Jan. 3 when we return, we'll finish up this book. In a sense, the final chapters, 21-24, are outside the narrative that we've completed. They're incidents that are sprinkled throughout David's reign, and here, each one gets a focus. They are out of the chronological order, but because of their interest, are appended to the book. And two chapters contain poetry - final words of David. We read of the death of David in the early chapters of I Kings; they form a transition between David's reign and the beginning of Solomon's.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

Let's close in prayer.