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Chapter 18: The End of the Civil War
2 Samuel 18:1-8 ~ David's Victory over Absalom's Army
For a second time the soldiers tell David he is too valuable to Israel for him to risk his life. It was earlier in his career as king, after David was almost killed in the battle with the Philistines, that his soldiers made him swear to give up accompanying them into battle (2 Sam 21:15-17). David's men understand that David will be the target of the rebels and his death will decide the battle.
David divides his army into three parts. Two of David's commanders are his nephews Joab and Abishai but the third is Ittai the Philistine from Gath.
Question: What is David's one request to his three commanders?
Answer: Not to harm Absalom if he is captured.
The location of the Forest of Ephraim is unknown. That the "forest claimed more victims than the sword" probably means many of the wounded were not immediately killed but died of their wounds, hidden in the thick growth of the forest. There is also a suggestion of God's intervention in the battle on behalf of David's army, with the forest taking an active part in the defeat of the rebel soldiers.
2 Samuel 18:9-18 ~ The Death of Absalom
Scenes from the Life of Absalom
Absalom has long, thick hair (2 Sam 14:26). He apparently either lost his helmet or was only wearing a crown so he could be identified by his men by his great mane of hair. You may recall that he was very proud of his hair (2 Sam 14:26). As he was riding fast on his mule through a thickly forested area, his hair was flying out around his head and got caught in the low branches of an oak tree, pulling him off his mule. It was God's providence at work that Absalom was caught up in the tree, unable to free himself and completely vulnerable to the enemy. It was his pride in his long hair that was his undoing.
There are six symbolic aspects of Absalom's death (six is the symbolic number of rebellion in Scripture):
- Absalom was deprived of the mule, the mount of royalty, as he will now be deprived of the kingdom he sought to usurp (2 Sam 18:9).
- He is wounded in the heart by Joab's darts as he wounded the heart of his father in his disloyalty (2 Sam 18:14).
- The three darts may also represent his three crimes: killing his brother, rebelling against his father, and sexually abusing his father's concubines (2 Sam 13:29; 15:10; 16:22).
- The number ten in Scripture usually represents divine order. The ten warriors who killed Absalom may represent divine will in the defeat and death of Absalom and the re-establishment of divine order through the death of the usurper (2 Sam 18:15).
- He, who sought to "steal the hearts" of the Israelites (2 Sam 15:6), now dies in the "heart" of the tree (2 Sam 18:14).
- He died as one accursed by God, hanging in a tree (Dt 21:22-23; 2 Sam 18:9, 14-15).
Question: What curse is associated with the death of someone hanging from a tree? See Dt 21:22-23; quote the passage.
Answer: A man who dies hanging from a tree is said to be accursed by God: If a man guilty of a capital offence is to be put to death, and you hang him from a tree, his body must not remain on the tree overnight; you must bury him the same day, since anyone hanged is a curse of God, and you must not bring pollution on the soil which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage
(Dt 21:22-23).
Question: Why didn't the soldier who reported Absalom's whereabouts to Joab take the initiative to kill Absalom?
Answer: He heard the king's command not to harm the king's son and knew there would be consequences if he ignored David's command. He also didn't trust Joab to intercede for him.
Joab struck Absalom in the heart with three metal-tipped throwing sticks and his men finished him off. Absalom died, hanging from the tree.
Throwing Absalom's body into a pit instead of giving him a proper burial was a sign of contempt. The only memory of him will not be an honorable grave in the tomb of his forefathers but the pillar he erected to himself (18:18).
Question: After killing Absalom, why did Joab sound the trumpet to stop his men from pursuing the rebels?
Answer: With Absalom dead there is no reason for the civil war to continue with Israelite killing Israelite.
2 Samuel 18:18 ~ Now, during his lifetime, Absalom had made and erected a pillar to himself, which is in the Valley of the King. "I have no son," he said, "to preserve the memory of my name." He gave his own name to the pillar, and today it is still called Absalom's Monument.
2 Samuel 14:27 records that Absalom had three sons and one daughter. The pillar must have been erected either prior to the birth of his sons or they did not survive infancy, which may be why the sons are unnamed but his daughter's name is recorded. When the inspired writer composed this history, the monument was still standing.
2 Samuel 18:19-32 ~ David's Bitter Victory
The young chief priest, Ahimaaz son of Zadok, is anxious to bring David what he considers the "good news" that he is victorious. The bearer of the news of victory is generously rewarded, but Joab understands that this will be a bitter victory for David since he has lost his son and tells the young man there will be no reward. He may also be trying to protect the young man since David has executed messengers in the past (2 Sam 1:2-16; 4:5-12). Instead, Joab sends a Cushite mercenary to give David the news both of the victory and his son's death. When Ahimaaz still insists on carrying the news of victory to David, Joab lets him go. His insistence may be because he wants the bearer of the news of victory to be an Israelite instead of a Gentile. You will recall that Ahimaaz son of Zadok has served David faithful as one of his spies in Jerusalem and with his kinsman Jonathan carried the warning to David that he needed to cross the Jordan before the rebel army caught up with David and his men on the west side of the river (2 Sam 17:17-22).
Cities in the ancient world often had two gates, one after another, which were connected by a short fortified passageway. David was sitting between the two gates anxiously waiting for news from the battle. He interprets a lone messenger as a sign of good news since a group of soldiers would signal a retreat and defeat.
The detailed account of the two runners allows the narrator to focus attention on David's reaction to the new of the death of his son. Ahimaaz enthusiastically delivers news of the victory, but all David cares about is his son. Ahimaaz loses courage and is evasive about the fate of Absalom. The Cushite (from a region south of Egypt) soldier's reply to David's question is a little indirect but still unambiguous. Refusing to say Absalom's name, he declares that the "young man" and the other rebels are dead. In spite of what his son did to him, David loved Absalom dearly and he is now overcome with grief at the news of his death.
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A Daily Defense
DAY 136 Justification “By Faith Alone”
CHALLENGE:“Catholicism rejects justification by faith alone and thus the biblical truth about salvation.”
DEFENSE:While the “faith alone” formula is not commonly used in Catholic circles, it can be given an acceptable meaning.
The Catholic Church agrees that you do not have to do good works to enter a state of justification. It teaches that “none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification” (Council of Trent, Decree on Justification 8).
When we repent and are justified, God puts the virtue of charity (supernatural love of God and neighbor) into our hearts (CCC 1991). This virtue makes supernaturally good works possible, so these flow from justification. “Good works—a Christian life lived in faith, hope and love—follow justification and are its fruits. When the justified live in Christ and act in the grace they receive, they bring forth, in biblical terms, good fruit” (JD 37).
Thus Paul refers to “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). Catholic theologians have held that if this is how faith is understood, then the formula “by faith alone” has an acceptable meaning.
Benedict XVI said: “Luther’s phrase ‘faith alone’ is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. . . . So it is that in the Letter to the Galatians, in which he primarily developed his teaching on justification, St. Paul speaks of faith that works through love” (General Audience, Nov. 19, 2008).
While the formula can have an acceptable meaning, this doesn’t mean it’s a good or natural expression of the Bible’s teaching. It is not the language of Scripture. Paul never uses this phrase.
The only time it does appear in Scripture, it is rejected (“a man is justified by works and not by faith alone”; James 2:24).
Faith separated from charity is not enough to save: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Demons have purely intellectual faith, or agreement with the truths of theology: “Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19, emphasis added).
The fact that “faith” is often used to mean intellectual assent rather than “faith working through love,” and the fact that the “faith alone” formula is rejected the one time that it is used in Scripture, means we need to be careful, because the formula is very easy to misunderstand.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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