The Rebellious Heart
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2 Samuel 15.1-12
2 Samuel 15.1
English Standard Version Chapter 15
15 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
After this- after what?
2 Samuel shares the story of king davids first son, and heir to the throne, Amnon. Amnon had taken his half sister, sister to Absalom, and had raped her. When Absalom found this out, scripture tells us he said nothing good or bad- for he hated Amnon.
One day, he called for all of king David’s sons to come to a celebration. At that party, he arranged for Amnon to be killed.
David’s anger and grief simmered down, and he and Absalom reconciled.
There is a hidden motive in ABSALOM”S ACTIONS>>>>
IN MURDERING Amnon, Absalom had taken out the heir to the throne of David. he had avenged his sisters abuse, but he took out the heir to the throne in doing so.
So, after this, 2 Samuel occurs.
ABsalom got a chariot and 50 men to run in front of him.
Make no mistake- soon after King David welcomed him back, Absalom began these actions with 2 intentions:
to incite rebellion among the people against King David.
to take the throne for himself.
When Israel demanded a king decades before, you may remember that Samuel had predicted the ways of the king:
11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
Interestingly, Absalom was not the first son of David to sport this look:
5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
In arranging this posse, ABsalom is laying claim to His Father’s throne- a treason against the king and a clear rebellion against God for David was the Lord’s anointed.
2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”
Absalom intercepted people bringing their legal disputes to the king.
3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.”
Absalom’s actions were intended to foster discontent against David among the people.
4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.”
I would give Him justice.… this was a subtle message that he could be a better king than King David was.
5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.
pay homage- people did this for kings, not heirs....
take hold of him....- Absalom would treat these folks like family, like he belonged with them, like they were the same.
the whole time he is plotting his course, planning his coup, and eyeing the throne. Which was rightly David’s.
6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
stole the hearts of the people of Israel.
Absalom stole the allegiance of the people, the trust of the people, from David by deception.
7 And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron.
Your bible may say forty years- it is four years. meaning that two years after the reconciliation of David and ABsalom is when this occurs.
Please let me go and pay my vow. The location of Hebron:
During the time of King David, Hebron served as his first capital city for seven and a half years. It was in Hebron that he was anointed king over the tribe of Judah. Later, he was anointed king over all of Israel in Hebron as well. Hebron was a significant location for David, as it was where many of his children were born and where he spent a crucial period solidifying his rule before moving the capital to Jerusalem.
Absalom says he is going for religious reasons- hiding his true and ulterior motive of stealing the throne.
8 For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the Lord.’ ”
The basis of his vow.
9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.
Why Hebron? The first place David settled after becoming king. He settled his people there. It would look good for Absalom.
The capital had been moved to Jerusalem after it was in Hebron for 7-8 years… the people woulld not only resent this fact, they would accept Absalom because it would bring back memories of David’s reign there for 7-8 years.
10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’ ”
His real intention.
11 With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing.
Prominent people asked to coffee, breakfast, dinner, tickets, etc., who Absalom could manipulate into supporting his revolt.
12 And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 15
Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David His presence with Absalom lends credence to the prince’s claim to the throne (see v. 31). It is unclear whether Ahithophel is aware of Absalom’s rebellion, but his presence would indicate to the onlookers that he supports Absalom
13 And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”
At this point, any other king would have sent and had Absalom killed. End of rebellion. Please get this point. David could have stopped this rebellion with few words, and slept the night away without thinking about it.
He does not. If you read through this chapter, and we willl not, you find that David packs his bags, gathers his family, and leaves the city of Jerusalem.
David had done this before. His predecessor, King Saul, had gone mad over David when he was a much younger anointed shepherd, and /David left the city and fled for years hiding in caves and eating unthinkables just to stay alive. He was given 2 opportunities to kill his pursuer- King Saul- and he frustrates all of his friends when he didn’t. why didn’t he kill his pursuer, King Saul?
Because king Saul was the Lord’s anointed. Even thought David was anointed at the time- he would not destroy the Lord’s anointed- he wouldn’t allow rebellion to be in his heart… he chose to wait on God to do His will instead of David doing his own will...hold that thought.
14 Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
David feels that his only option is to flee, suggesting Absalom enlisted the support of the military as well. If this is the case, the scope of the conspiracy is larger than the narrative suggests (see v. 12).
15 And the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.”
It is worth noting David’s attitude at this time. We conveniently find it in Psalm 3
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
1 O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah
3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah
Rebellion. What causes it? Why does it exist?
How could the son of David have this in his heart towards his father? questions abound.
why did rebellion start in God’s kingdom?
1 Getting on his high horse one day, Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, along with a few Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—
2 rebelled against Moses. He had with him 250 leaders of the congregation of Israel, prominent men with positions in the Council.
3 They came as a group and confronted Moses and Aaron, saying, “You’ve overstepped yourself. This entire community is holy and God is in their midst. So why do you act like you’re running the whole show?”
4 On hearing this, Moses threw himself facedown on the ground.
5 Then he addressed Korah and his gang: “In the morning God will make clear who is on his side, who is holy. God will take his stand with the one he chooses.
6 “Now, Korah, here’s what I want you, you and your gang, to do: Tomorrow, take censers.
7 In the presence of God, put fire in them and then incense. Then we’ll see who is holy, see whom God chooses. Sons of Levi, you’ve overstepped yourselves!”
8 Moses continued with Korah, “Listen well now, sons of Levi.
9 Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has selected you out of the congregation of Israel to bring you near him to serve in the ministries of The Dwelling of God, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?
10 He has brought you and all your brother Levites into his inner circle, and now you’re grasping for the priesthood, too.
11 It’s God you’ve ganged up against, not us. What do you have against Aaron that you’re bad-mouthing him?”
12 Moses then ordered Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, to appear, but they said, “We’re not coming.
13 Isn’t it enough that you yanked us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you keep trying to boss us around!
14 Face it, you haven’t produced: You haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, you haven’t given us the promised inheritance of fields and vineyards. You’d have to poke our eyes out to keep us from seeing what’s going on. Forget it, we’re not coming.”
15 Moses’ temper blazed white-hot. He said to God, “Don’t accept their Grain-Offering. I haven’t taken so much as a single donkey from them; I haven’t hurt a single hair of their heads.”
16 Moses said to Korah, “Bring your people before God tomorrow. Appear there with them and Aaron.
17 Have each man bring his censer filled with incense and present it to God—all 250 censers. And you and Aaron do the same, bring your censers.”
18 So they all did it. They brought their censers filled with fire and incense and stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron did the same.
19 It was Korah and his gang against Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The entire community could see the Glory of God.
20 God said to Moses and Aaron,
21 “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I can finish them off and be done with them.”
22 They threw themselves on their faces and said, “O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?”
23 God spoke to Moses:
24 “Speak to the community. Tell them, Back off from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram. The leaders of Israel followed him.
26 He then spoke to the community: “Back off from the tents of these bad men; don’t touch a thing that belongs to them lest you be carried off on the flood of their sins.”
27 So they all backed away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram by now had come out and were standing at the entrance to their tents with their wives, children, and babies.
28 Moses continued to address the community: “This is how you’ll know that it was God who sent me to do all these things and that it wasn’t anything I cooked up on my own.
29 If these men die a natural death like all the rest of us, you’ll know that it wasn’t God who sent me.
30 But if God does something unprecedented—if the ground opens up and swallows the lot of them and they are pitched alive into Sheol—then you’ll know that these men have been insolent with God.”
31 The words were hardly out of his mouth when the Earth split open.
32 Earth opened its mouth and in one gulp swallowed them down, the men and their families, all the human beings connected with Korah, along with everything they owned.
33 And that was the end of them, pitched alive into Sheol. The Earth closed up over them and that was the last the community heard of them.
34 At the sound of their cries everyone around ran for dear life, shouting, “We’re about to be swallowed up alive!”
35 Then God sent lightning. The fire cremated the 250 men who were offering the incense.
Why did rebellion exist? It always did.
Adam and Eve
Satan himself
Demas
Judas
Rebellion has always existed. It is in the human heart.
It’s in our DNA. Easton and webbed toes.
How do you deal with it?
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
The Reaction To Rebellion Is Jesus
The Reaction To Rebellion Is Jesus
pastors, plotters, and David’s. walk away.
The Antidote to Rebellion Is Jesus
The Antidote to Rebellion Is Jesus
Rebellers. You can’t see it yourself. It’s there, but it’s dormant.
all we like sheep have gone astray.
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of people? The shadow? NO!!!
God does. He made the antidote.
