"Now it came about at the end of forty years that Absalom said to the king, 'Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.'" ~2 Samuel 15:7 (NASB)
When the prophet Nathan confronted King David about his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah, he brought a heavy word from the LORD (12:10-11): “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.” The subsequent chapters, 13, 14 and 15 have begun that familial devolution. King David was growing comfortable in his role as a king. Perhaps these days were the ravages of a king growing older, and much more careless, or callous in his responsibilities as a leader of his people. David certainly does not resemble the energetic, decisive, fierce warrior of earlier days.
As we come to the sorry situation of his kids, Amnon, and Absalom, we begin to see the once mighty king resembling the second coming of the old priest, Eli, from the early chapters of 1 Samuel. Eli was a kindly, doddering older man who simply could not control his two wayward sons. It brought shame and defeat to Israel. And just like that, David is seemingly helpless as his own two sons look to repeat that earlier infamy. Amnon rapes his half sister Tamar, with David’s unwitting assistance. Amnon’s brother by another mother, Absalom, is not pleased with this crime. Tamar is his sister. He fumes and schemes for a full two years before springing a surprise assassination on his half-brother, once again, with an unsuspecting assist from his father, the king. Absalom gets his revenge for his sister. Amnon is dead. And David seems to be falling to pieces. The first Exile comes: Absalom flees Jerusalem and is in self-imposed exile for three years.
Chapter 14 tells of another parable told to the king with the weighty punch line. Nathan hit the king back in chapter 12. Here in chapter 14, it is the wise woman from Tekoa. She is put up to this tale by Joab. And she draws the king in with her story of woe. Her two sons, and the Cain and Abel-like murder of one of them by the hand of the other. David takes it in unsuspectingly. He offers mercy and protection for the murdering son, and just like that, he comes to the “You’re the man!” moment. He was concerned about a nameless murdering brother, and his own son was in exile under similar circumstances!
Absalom is recalled, and given the kiss of return, but he is still estranged from his father. Absalom putters around, nursing his bitterness for another two years. Seven years of separation from his father. And while he is frozen out, he begins to plot and scheme. He will become king. He will become king. He will become king! He builds up his military prowess with chariots and horses. Never mind that Israelite Kings were not supposed to do this. This is Absalom. He will become king. Never mind as well that the present king is still very much alive. He will become king.
At 15:7, quoted at the top of this blog entry, it says “at the end of forty years” Absalom requests permission to go to Hebron to pay some sacrificial vows. Again, David, clueless and hapless, says, “Okay.” Some Bible versions have “four years” here in v.7, but I think forty is the number. If it is indeed forty, then this would be King David’s last year on the throne. He would die soon. He is old. At the end of seven years from the rape of Tamar, Absalom has been seething and marinating in his pity, seemingly being prepared for his royal enthronement. At year forty of his father’s reign, he goes to Hebron, where not incidentally, his father was made king. He is looking for a repeat performance. Now, he will return to Jerusalem and seal the deal.
King David, who to this point has looked pathetic, now seems to find his royal groove. He does three things that remind us that David is still the David we have come to know. First, he decides that he will go into exile. He will not put Jerusalem through a siege or warfare. He packs his belongings, and heads east. Heading east throughout Scripture means going away from the presence of God. Think of Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden, and they head east of Eden. When Cain murders his brother Abel, he flees to the east. Much later, Judah will be exiled east to Babylon. Now, David heads east away from Jerusalem, the City of God, over the Kidron Valley, and up the Mount of Olives, and down towards the Jordan and the Dead Sea and the barren desert.
The second thing that David does that show his royal stuff, is that he refuses to take the Ark of God with him. He will not use God as a “good luck charm.” The Ark of God belongs in Jerusalem. If God will bring him back, God will indeed bring him back.
Thirdly, David makes plans for informers and plotters to undermine Absalom’s kingdom. David is still the expert strategist. He knows that Absalom is seizing the throne unjustly. He knows that the steps he is putting in place will be used of God to restore him if God so desires. David is patient and taking the initiative at the same time. Still a man after God's own heart. A wise king.
The thick irony of the whole episode is that this takes place in the fortieth year of David’s reign. Israel and Moses wandered forty years in the Wilderness before crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. Now, on this fortieth year, David is doing a massive reverse pilgrimage— East over the Jordan, and into the Wilderness.
This is where we leave David and Absalom. How will this Story end?
(Artwork: "The Pardon of Absalom" 18th century)
