10/18/2010 8:39:41 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My
Worship Time Focus: David’s son is slain
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Sam. 18:1-18
Message of the verses: “1 ¶
Then David numbered the people who were with him and set over them
commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent the people out, one third under
the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah,
Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the
king said to the people, "I myself will surely go out with you also."
3 But the people said, "You should
not go out; for if we indeed flee, they will not care about us; even if half of
us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us;
therefore now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city."
4 Then the king said to them,
"Whatever seems best to you I will do." So the king stood beside the
gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands. 5 The king charged Joab and Abishai and Ittai,
saying, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." And all
the people heard when the king charged all the commanders concerning Absalom.
6 Then the people went out into the
field against Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
7 The people of Israel were defeated
there before the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great,
20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was
spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day
than the sword devoured.
“9 ¶ Now Absalom happened to meet
the servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went
under the thick branches of a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak,
so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under
him kept going. 10 When a certain man
saw it, he told Joab and said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an
oak." 11 Then Joab said to the man
who had told him, "Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike
him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a
belt." 12 The man said to Joab,
"Even if I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would
not put out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged
you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ’Protect for me the young man Absalom!’
13 "Otherwise, if I had dealt
treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king),
then you yourself would have stood aloof." 14 Then Joab said, "I will not waste time
here with you." So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them
through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men who carried Joab’s
armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him. 16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the people
returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people. 17 They took Absalom and cast him into a deep
pit in the forest and erected over him a very great heap of stones. And all
Israel fled, each to his tent. 18 Now
Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a pillar which is in
the King’s Valley, for he said, "I have no son to preserve my name."
So he named the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s Monument
to this day.”
This
is a very sad story about a man who ended his life by hanging in a tree along
with Ahithophel who also ended his life by hanging in a tree. “"If a man has committed a sin worthy of
death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the
tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is
accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God
gives you as an inheritance.” (Ex.
21:22-23) “13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law,
having become a curse for us-for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS
ON A TREE.’” (Gal 3:13) The verse in Deuteronomy speaks of making
sure that no one is left overnight hanging on a tree and yet Judas was left
there until his enterers came out of him.
David
did not want his son killed and yet Joab disobeyed this order and had him
killed after he was found hanging in a tree.
Joab did not think that it was best for this man to live because of what
he had done, for he had killed his brother and now he was trying to kill his
father, he had taken over as king and ran David out of town, and he also slept
with the kings concubines in broad daylight.
Dr. Wiersbe points out that if David had one problem it was that he
pampered his sons too much. Dr. Wiersbe also points out that David was a man
after God’s heart and God had forgiven him for doing the same things that his
son had done. God in the person of His
Son came to earth to make sure of forgiveness for those who would accept Him as
their Savior even though they had all sinned and came short of the glory of
God.
Absalom
was proud of his hair as seen in an earlier chapter and now it was probably his
long hair that got caught in the tree and ended up killing him because he was
caught there in the tree.
Absalom
is said to have sons and yet here in this section it says he has no sons and
this must have been because they had died so Absalom erected a pillar so people
would remember him, however Proverbs 10:7 reads as follows: “The memory of the righteous is blessed, But
the name of the wicked will rot.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: In this section I want to point out something
that has come up in today’s Scripture and also in the commentary of Dr. Wiersbe
and that is the point that David had done exactly the same thing that Absalom
had done, killing a man, and then committing adultery and the Lord had forgiven
David, but it seems that Absalom was not forgiven. There is a belief that seems to be supported
by Scripture that Jesus died only for the elect and when you break down the
beliefs of Calvinism it is part of the acronym TULIP. Humanly speaking this is hard to believe, and
yet when one looks at why David was forgiven and Absalom was not, and I have to
believe that Absalom did not have a saving knowledge of the Lord to make the
assumption that I am about to make here.
If this is true that Absalom was lost then this supports the belief that
Christ died only for the elect of which David was surely one. This is an argument that will not be settled
here, but it is interesting to think about.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Continue
to trust the Lord to direct my path and to led me to people who need to hear
the Gospel, and hopefully will respond to it in a positive way.
2. Trust
the Lord to give me strength to flee from the wiles of the Devil.
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