May 19, 2014 – Monday

Start Time: 8:26 A.M.

End Time: 9:06 A.M.

Title: Absalom’s Conspiracy

Scripture: 2 Samuel 15:1 – 37

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.”  And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.”  Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel. At the end of four^[a] years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.^[b]’” The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron.  Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter.  While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing.

NOTES:

Ø God’s mercy and love is abundant even to those who ruined His trust multiple times, yet He continued to give them chances after chances to return and be reconciled with Him.  Absalom was forgiven by His father and was accepted yet after some time, he planned a conspiracy against his father.  God saw everything and He didn’t see Absalom as a threat instead He allowed Absalom’s conspiracy plan because it was Absalom’s choice.  Here we can see that we can never be a threat to God and whatever clever things we think we have come up with, God knows it and He has always prepared for whatever we planned against Him or His children. 

Ø God is teaching us that deception is a powerful tool and as children of God we need to know Him, the truth, so we may not be deceived.  Know that the enemy come disguise in good and great cover-ups.  We need to know the truth about the Lord so we may know how to expose the devil when he comes to us in disguise.  Absalom was very kindhearted, this is what he showed the people who got mesmerized with his deceitful character.  We need to arm ourselves with the truth and what’s real and of God’s Spirit that we may not fall into the devil’s trap.

→ A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”  Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee,or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.”  The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”  The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethitesand Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.  The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your people with you. May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness.”^[c] But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.” David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.

NOTES:

Ø God’s heart in David’s story here is shown as crushed and at times, God allows us to do as we please even if it crushes His heart because of His love for us.  David, left his palace because of what his son did.  He could have stayed and kept his throne but in reality here, david doesn’t want to fight against Absalom, his son.  And so he did what he thought the best solution, leave.  Sometimes, we put God in the same situation.  God loves us so much but we drive Him away from our lives or our hearts.  And God, out of His love for us, leaves.  Let us not drive our Lord away from our lives.

Ø God showed David that there are still people who continue to stay with him even though majority of the people already turned against him.  God will always find away to support us and encourage us especially in times when everything seems to be falling apart.  This Ittai the Gittite was a foreigner and just came to the city yesterday, david told him to stay and give his allegiance to Absalom so that he doesn’t need to be a wanderer, yet he told david that he would stay by his side.  Sometimes, what we think we are saving others from is actually putting them in harms way.  Ittai’s life could have been great under Adsalom yet he chose to be with David (we don’t know what the reason behind this but possibly he saw David’s kindness to him and of course, God wants david to know that he has support even from foreigners, giving strength to the truth that if a stranger stays with him, how much more God who knows him intimately, will stay with him forever!

 → The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness. Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city. Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in theLord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.” The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you understand? Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you, and also Abiathar’s son Jonathan. You and Abiathar return with your two sons. I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.  But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. Now David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Lord, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”  When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkitewas there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden to me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I will be your servant; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel’s advice. ³⁵ Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king’s palace. Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear.”  So Hushai, David’s confidant, arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.

NOTES:

Ø God is in control no matter what.  David was in a tragic situation; his son is revolting against him and he is forced to leave his own palace and on the run away from his son.  It was the worst situation a father could ever be in.  He doesn’t want to fight against his son yet he knows he may need to but instead of panicking and stressing himself out of this issue, he placed his full trust in God.  He left the palace, sad and even weeping while walking yet his heart is in the Lord.  That’s why he told Zadok and the levites to bring the ark of the Lord back to the city.  David was assured that God is in control and has greater plans than he could ever thought of so he made sure that the ark of God has a placed to stay.  He doesn’t want to subject it to a long travel like how it was before during moses time.  And God gave him a plan.  David told Hushai, his confidant to return to the city and infiltrate the kingdom from within by frustrating Ahithophel’s advises, absalom’s adviser.  Thank God for He is in control always.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus thank You for all the sacrifices You’ve done for us.  Thank You for Your love and mercy and grace that are new every morning and is poured out on us daily.  Lord thank You because despite of what our circumstances are, we can trust You to be in control.  Thank you because even if we are in a tragic situation or everything and everyone seems to be falling apart, You take things in Your hands and assured us that You are the God who manages everything in our lives.  Thank You because You are willing to sacrifice and even get Your heart crushed by us.  This is how much You love us Lord and I am sorry for everything I have done and mostly likely do in the future to hurt You or crush Your heart.  Show me ways Lord to avoid these things and become a pleasing aroma to You only and not Your pain.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!