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Day 133: Persevering in Trust
Chapter 15: Absalom's Plan to seize David Throne
David became king of Judah at Hebron when he was 23 years old. Six sons were born to David and his wives at Hebron. Absalom was the third son but David's son Daniel probably died in childhood since he is never mentioned again which made Absalom the second son in line for the throne after Amnon. David became king of Israel when he was 30 years old and took his family to Jerusalem after he conquered the city. In Jerusalem he had four sons by Bathsheba (1 Chr 3:5) and nine other sons by other wives. When the rape of Tamar occurred, David was probably at least 45 years old and he was at least 52 years old when Absalom began to formulate a plan to take his father's throne two years after the return from his three years of exile in Geshur. David has failed to discipline his sons because he loved them, but Absalom only sees David's failure to discipline not as love but as weakness.
2 Samuel 15:1-6 ~ Absalom's Intrigues
Absalom begins to use his position at court to ingratiate himself with the people of Israel. The flamboyant use of chariot and outriders is to remind whoever saw Absalom of his royal status as the crown prince of Israel and to encourage the people to think what a fine figure of a king he will make.
The city gate was where the marketplace was located, where official business was conducted, and where the leaders of the city met to hold court. The city gates of larger cities had several rooms where the city elders met to decide civil cases or where kings held audiences and heard petitions. Absalom is standout outside the city gate on the road to intercept Israelites with petitions and lawsuits.
Question: Why does Absalom ask what town and what tribe the man is from in Israel? Why is this significant?
Answer: He does not care about the Gentile residents of Israel who have legal cases and are provided the same protections under the Law; he only cares about Israelites. It is significant because it demonstrates he has no real interest in justice but in only securing influence for himself with Israelites who will support him and increase his influence with other Israelites
Absalom is telling all the petitioners that if he had supreme judicial authority that he would rule in their favor. He is acting like the typical politician enlisting support by flattering the people's special interests, promising to cut taxes, to increase their benefits, etc. He is also undermining confidence in David's government by telling the people "but not one of the king's deputies will listen to you" and that he would see that they had justice if he had the power. He has a sympatric audience with all the changes David is making in taking Israel from a loose confederation of tribes and forming, for the first time in Israel, a strong centralized government that imposes taxes and corvees as well as military conscription like their neighbor states and is imposing its authority over the tribal elders.
He is seducing the people with his kisses and treating every man like a brother/kinsman. Absalom's strategy is to win the hearts and minds of the people. The heart was considered to be the seat of intellect as well as the center of emotions and the true moral content of the person. Rather than simply winning the affection of the Israelites, Absalom "stole the hearts" of the people by duping their minds.
2 Samuel 15:7-12 ~ The Beginning of the Rebellion
The four years in Jerusalem plus the three years spent in Aramaean Geshur in exile means seven years had passed since Absalom murdered his brother Amnon. Jewish Biblical scholar Haim Gevaryahu proposes that the vow Absalom made is to offer an exculpatory sacrifice for the killing of his brother.
Absalom shrewdly enlists two hundred men to accompany him to fulfil his vow in Hebron. The two hundred men who accompanied Absalom to Hebron did not know his intentions, but their very presence with him encouraged others to assume Absalom has a large following and to encourage them to join the revolt. As for the two hundred their participation, innocent or not, will mark them as rebels. The offering of sacrifices outside of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem is problematic.
Question: Who is Ahithophel?
Answer: He is probably the same Ahithophel who is the father of David's commander Eliam, the father of Bathsheba, which would make him Bathsheba's grandfather and one of David's most trusted advisors.
2 Samuel 15:13-23 ~ David's Flight from Jerusalem
Hebron is only twenty miles south-southwest of Jerusalem. The danger of a sudden attack by Absalom's rebels makes the situation extremely serious. The question most commentators ask is did David lose his nerve in abandoning Jerusalem so quickly without a fight or was he sick and/or senile? Abandoning Jerusalem may simply have been good strategy on David's part. If he and his supporters came under siege in the city, he would lose the mobility of his army and would not be able to secure additional support. It was wiser to stay mobile and out of reach of Absalom's forces. David leaves the city by crossing the Kidron Valley to the east of the city. The Valley and its stream separate Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. It is twice mentioned that David left "on foot," emphasizing his hasty departure. The mention of ten of David's concubines being left behind in verse 16 looks ahead to the events in 2 Samuel 16:21-22.
The Cherethities and Pelethites are Philistine mercenaries who served as David's royal bodyguard and whose families David rescued from the Amalekites (2 Sam 30:1, 14). The Gittites are citizens of the Philistine city of Gath who are now vassals of Israel. David may have won their loyalty when he was a young outlaw in the service of the king of Gath ( 1 Sam 27; 29). Ittai is probably the Gittite commander.
Question: What is ironic about those who remain loyal to David in the face of the rebellion?
Answer: The irony is that David's Gentile allies that have remained loyal to him while, with the exception of most of his servants and close relatives, the Israelites have abandoned him for Absalom.
Abiathar placed at David's service
2 Samuel 15:24-29 ~ David leaves the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem
Zadok and Abiathar are chief priests who are the descendants of Aaron, Israel's first High Priest. You may recall that Abiathar was the sole survivor of the massacre of the chief priests at Nob (1 Sam 22:18-23). Considering the difficulty David had in bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and the danger the Ark could face on the battlefield, it is understandable that he wants to leave the Ark in Jerusalem. David also places his destiny in the hands of God, as has always been his practice in difficult times in his life.
2 Samuel 15:30-37 ~ David's Spy in Jerusalem
David's retreating men were a pitiful sight to behold. Everyone is weeping and their covered heads are an expression of their grief. David walking in bare feet may be a sign of penance in accepting everything that is happening as part of God's judgment for his sins. When he probably thought things couldn't get any worse, David is informed that his trusted friend and advisor, Ahithophel, has betrayed him and joined the conspirators. David immediately cries out to God to turn his former friend's advice to Absalom into folly. It is a petition God will grant.
As David nears the summit of the Mount of Olives near a shrine to Yahweh he sees a dear friend (also see 1 Chr 27:33 and 1 Kng 4:16). Hushai has covered his head with dirt as a sign of mourning. The Archite clan of which Hushai is a member was part of the tribe of Benjamin and lived in the area southwest of Bethel (Josh 16:2). Hushai is identified as a "Friend/Companion of the king," which was an official title and may mean something like "privy councilor" as it was used in the Egyptian court (see 1 Chr 27:33). He wants to accompany David, but the king refuses to take him, probably because he is elderly and cannot keep up with the march; hence David's statement to his friend: you will be a burden to me.
Question: How does David suggest that Hushai might better serve him?
Answer: He asks Hushai to return to Jerusalem, to offer his services to Absalom, to be his spy, and to send him information.
CHALLENGE:“A perfect God could create a world he didn’t have to keep fixing. It would be able to run without periodic miracles.”
DEFENSE:This misunderstands the natures of the universe, of miracles, and of God.
The only reason the universe exists at a particular moment in time is that God sustains it. “What comes forth from nothing would return to nothing if it were left to itself and not conserved in being by the Creator. Having created the cosmos, God continues to create it, by maintaining it in existence. Conservation is a continuous creation” (John Paul II, General Audience, May 7, 1986; CCC 301). Ongoing divine intervention is therefore a given. The question is what form the intervention takes.
God could arrange the universe so that his interventions (direct or through secondary causes) always operate according to the regular patterns that humans refer to as the “laws” of nature. Or he could arrange it so some of his interventions deviate from these regular patterns, so that humans regard them with wonder (Latin, miraculum).
This is what miracles are. They are not efforts to fix a universe that has broken down like a machine. They are simply divine interventions that depart from the regular patterns we see in the world. “The word ‘miracle’ indicates . . . the extraordinary aspect of those events in the eyes of those who saw them” (John Paul II, General Audience, Nov. 11, 1987).
How God performs his interventions is up to him. We should not think of the universe as if it were a labor-saving device that God should interact with as little as possible. Humans value labor saving devices because we have limited resources. God does not have limited resources, and so he has no need to save labor. For an omnipotent God, every action is equally easy. No action can deplete the infinite (unlimited) power he has. It is thus a matter of God’s choice if he wants to interact with the world in ways that are obvious or non-obvious.
Even humans create devices that require overt intervention on our part (e.g., video games). If we do this for our purposes, God can do the same for his. One of those purposes is helping us realize that God both exists and interacts with the world. Miracles make that clear.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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