The root of sinful choices is a mistrust in God

Introduction

Thank you

3rd time to teach this class

Appreciate the commitment that this class makes to the study of the word and to living out the community that the Bible calls us to

Terry is teaching through the convenants now and I know you just learned about the covenant with David

So he asked me to keep on the theme and just teach about a story in the life of David that I enjoy

Well, there about about 500 stories about David we could choose, but I was led to the story of Absalom, David’s son, who successfully takes the throne from David (for a short period of time). We will find this story in 2 Samuel, and we will mostly camp out in chapters 13-15.

What I am going to teach today is not actually the primary point of the text, but as I was reading this week, the story of Absalom just kept making me think about another lesson that Lance Ward taught me a couple months ago.

So, I want to use this story of Absalom to illustrate one point. There is only one major lesson I want you to take away today.

That is, the root of sinful choices, or choices that put us in rebellion of God’s will in our lives, the root of this is a mistrust in God. REPEAT.

General Notes

David had Uriah the Hittite killed, took Bathsheba to be his wife, what was the response from God (along with the death of his first born son from Bathsheba):

The New International Version Chapter 12

11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”

Introduced to two sons and a daughter of David in .

Introduction and Rape of Tamar

Introduced to two sons and a daughter of David in .

Ammon - Eldest in the family, heir apparent to the throne

Absalom - Becomes second in line to the throne, half brother to Ammon

Tamar - Beautiful sister of Absalom, half sister of Ammon......a virgin

Ammon becomes infatuated with Tamar, his half sister. For a number of reasons, including the law laid out in Leviticus, he can not marry her. But his desire for her overcomes him and he concocts a plan to get her to his house, get her alone, and then overpowers here.

As Tamar is being overpowered and feeling trapped, she pleads with Ammon, even tries to reason with him. She reasons that she will have no future, that he will have no future, that instead of this just ask for her hand, even though it is against the law it is better than this!

But he rapes her, then he makes her leave, wanting nothing to do with her. Her life is now in shambles, she puts ashes on her head, tears her royal robe, and she ends up living with her brother Absalom.

Absalom sees what is done, King David is told and he is angry, but it is his eldest son, the heir to the throne, and nothing is really done about it. Because the King didn’t act, nor could others.

So Absalom, waits for an opportunity to avenge his sister. Absalom takes this very personally, he eventually names his own daughter after Tamar.

Absalom’s Plot to Kill Ammon

So not even David’s sons are free to do whatever they want, Absalom had to be careful , he needed to deceive his father and not show that he desired to take revenge, less King David step in and stop him.

He waits two years, lets things die down, and then finds an opportunity.

Absalom hosts a festival for sheep shearing, which sounds to me like a time for a lot of men to get together, say they are shearing sheep, and drink wine and have a really good time (it is a modern day male fly fishing trip I’m sure). He asks King David to come with him, bring his servants, let’s have fun. I think he knew King David wouldn’t want to come.

So then he turns to King David and says, ok, well send Ammon and the rest of your sons in your place. King David is hesitant, but allows this to go on.

So now the plot is set, he is going to get Ammon and the rest of the King’s sons all in one place, he is going to get them drunk, and then he orders his servants to kill Ammon.

Absalom flees and returns

Now Absalom is very smart. He saw that there was no major consequence to Ammon for the rape of Tamar, and now he is second in line to the throne. But surely, something may be done to him, so he flees.........taking a step back to regroup.

He flees to Geshur, which is where his mother is from, to wait out the wrath of David.

After three years of exile from the royal court, Joab (David’s commander) becomes very worried about political succession. And he thinks that Absalom is probably the right son to succeed David, and he finds a creative way to convince David to allow him to come back to Jerusalem. But David did not allow him back into the royal court. He says he can come back to the city, live in his house, but wants nothing to do with him.

So now, you have a guy who has already sought revenge once, escaped justice, kicked off the succession line to the throne, and we know he is incredibly crafty..........and David brings him right into the heart of the Kingdom.......to be idle. And he thinks nothing wrong will happen here........

Absalom conspires to the throne

Now, Absalom is in Jerusalem for two years, growing restless I’m sure. And he sends twice to Joab (the commander of David’s army) to help him officially reconcile with David.

I can see Absalom just getting angrier and angrier, he is interacting with the people, making allies, he wants the throne, he needs to be reconciled to this father.

Joab really refuses to hear anything from Absalom, so Absalom does what any normal person would do, he sets Joab’s barley field on fire. Joab comes to address it and Absalom is like “you wouldn’t talk to me, so I set your field on fire.”

So he finally gets Joab’s attention and he asks for an audience with King David, he says to say to David, “if there is guilt in me, then let him kill me.” This is a reference to something that David had said to Jonathan when Saul was chasing him. He knew this logic would work with King David.

Absalom pretty much got what he needed, he got an appearance with the King, he was not killed, so he had no public guilt, the King ends up allowing him to have a chariot, men, fifty horses. All of a sudden he looks official, the text refers to him as handsome, he has five pounds of hair that has to be cut frequently, he is smart, and now he is very dangerous.

Question - To take over a kingdom, what do you need to accomplish it?

Resources

Loyalty of people

In insurrections across the world now, you normally hear about needing three things to make a coup happen (money, media, and military)

David had all of these things, Absalom needed to take them.........how does he do it? He has to erode the trust of the people in David.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

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,” 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.” 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.” 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. 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.

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. 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.’ ” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. 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!’ ” 11 With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. 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.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 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,” 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.” 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.” 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. 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.

Over four years, Absalom is sitting at the edge of the gates, waiting for people to come by, for his opportunity to speak to them. Absalom is slowly growing his alliances and the affections of the people for him over David. And he is being very smart, because he is not inciting as much of this deceit in the people inside the royal court or in Jerusalem proper, he is spreading it to the people outside the walls who are coming in, where there is already a bit of distrust.........he is making a Kingdom ready for himself, in secret to give himself time, not to get squashed out too soon, before he is ready.

Look at all of the half truths / deceitful lines we see in this text, can anyone point them out?

“Your claims are good and right.”

“There is no man designated by the king to hear you.” - We know this isn’t true because we have read stories earlier of instances where the King sees very ordinary people to hear their concerns.

“If I were the Judge in the land.....every man could come to me......I would give him justice.”

How is Absalom positioning himself with these people, people who come to the land with grievances.....

You have come from far away, the royal court isn’t even available, I am here early for you

I am here to listen

I am eager to right your wrongs

He is running a populist campaign!!!!!!!!!! Blaming the current administration for their wrongs in life, claiming He can make it right.

Is what he saying completely, 100% false and untrue? No! There is a sliver of truth in each of his statements. That is why it takes hold, it isn’t completely ridiculous, there is something there the people can hold on to, grasp, play into their fears. This is politics 101, being orchestrated by a very smart and very charismatic leader.

So what is the result of this strategy by Absalom, what did he gain as a result of this? He stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 2 Samuel 15:6

Absalom takes the throne

If you keep reading, you will find that Absalom is deceitful to his father, is allowed to leave Jerusalem, goes to Hebron in Israel and as he is on his way sends word to messengers to activate his coup.

He rallies some of the people who have been supporting him and he has himself named King in Hebron

He brings with him 200 men from Jerusalem, his numbers grow strong

When King David hears the word that the hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom, he makes a strategic move. He knows he can not defend the city so he retreats from Jerusalem. This leaves the door open for Absalom to march on Jerusalem and assume the throne.

Then, in we read this.

Then we see Absalom listen to a counselor who says “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

This is fulfilling the consequence that God spoke to King David after the whole ordeal with Uriah the Hittite and Bathsheba.

Stop here for a moment - (Show how this story illustrates clearly the main points)

Absalom is now on the throne because he eroded the trust the people had in their King.

Remember, the point of this message today is to make sure you learn one thing. That at the root of our choice to sin, or to rebel against God’s will in our lives, is to mistrust God. It is to mistrust our King.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

So I want you to see how Absalom accomplished this. How did he get the people of Israel, God’s people, to mistrust the King that God had ordained for them. A King after God’s own heart.

Over four years, Absalom is sitting at the edge of the gates, waiting for people to come by, for his opportunity to speak to them. Absalom is slowly growing his alliances and the affections of the people for him over David. And he is being very smart, because he is not inciting as much of this deceit in the people inside the royal court or in Jerusalem proper, he is spreading it to the people outside the walls who are coming in, where there is already a bit of distrust.........he is making a Kingdom ready for himself, in secret to give himself time, not to get squashed out too soon, before he is ready.

Steps () - Open up to 5:2-6

Got their attention - made them begin to question something they knew to be true - Absalom has chariot and runners in front of him. Jerusalem’s terrain makes no sense to have chariots running around. This all for show and to draw attention to himself.

He stands BESIDE the WAY to the gate (). See next to the gates of the city is where people would come from legal rulings and to seek judgment from the King. Absalom places himself in a strategic position to intercept these people on their way to the city. They know where they are supposed to go for this guidance, but they see the flash, and they stop on their way to talk to the wrong person. And the people address themselves to him as “your servant”.

Draws attention to something that you can’t have - Verse 2 - He would get there early in the morning, probably before the official court would open. If these people were seeking justice or a ruling right then, they couldn’t have it, and he pointed that out.

Minimizes the original command and it’s consequence - Verse 3 - “See, your claims are good and right.” The people knew they were to come to the King for this wisdom, and with this he is slowly minimizing that need. How silly is it for you to even think you need to come to the King for something like this?

Makes a false claim - Further in verse 3 - “There is no man designated by the King to hear you.” This is just a false claim, we just read earlier in 2 Samuel where King David is personally hearing to concerns of very ordinary people in his Kingdom.

Gets you to evaluate a situation on what you can see right in front of you now and offers a new solution to your problem. A solution that seems appealing. - Verse 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.”

You can’t trust the King to tell you what is right or wrong, or to judge fairly, come to me, put your trust in me, I will be your judge.

He was right in front of them, telling them lies, but how easy is it to trust those that we can see with our eyes, in our own terms, with an approach that pleases us, that caters to us.

At the end of this process, your trust is now in someone other than the King. In this situation, the people of Israel gave their hearts to a smooth talking, cunning, charismatic leader. Absalom over a four year time frame was setting up his own Kingdom within the Kingdom that God had given to David.

Remember, the people of Israel had witnesses nothing short of miracles since David became King. God had blessed Israel in ways that these people never could have imagined under the faithful leadership of David.

And yet, because they allowed their trust to be put in someone other than their King, their hearts were stolen, and just like that, Absalom is now on the throne and their allegiance is to him.

Absalom

The root of your choice to sin, to rebel against God’s will, starts with your mistrust in your God, your King.

General Notes

The Story of the Fall - We have seen this before

Question - Does this tactic seem familiar to you? The tactic that Absalom uses to create his own Kingdom? Where is the first place in the Bible you can remember this tactic being used?

Read

English Standard Version Chapter 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Quick aside - Where was Adam while this was happening? I will tell you, I bet the guy was out fly fishing.

Let’s watch how the serpent uses the same tactic to try to create his own Kingdom.....

How does he get Eve’s attention and start to get her to question something she knows to be true? - Verse 1 - Satan plays dumb and asks a pointed question - “Did God actually say, you shall not eat of ANY tree of the garden?”

Draws attention to something you can’t have - In verse 2, because of how the serpent asks the question in verse 1, it gets Eve to focus on what she can’t do verses what she can do. See how she responds, “God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden”

Minimizes the original command and its consequences - As verse 2 continues, Eve on her own starts to minimize the original command because she changes it slightly. What does she say in verse 2 that is different from God’s original command? God says, do not eat. She says, “neither shall you touch it.” God says “you will surely die.” She says “lest you die”.

What is the false claim the serpent then makes in verse 4? “You will not surely die.” Not only is this false, but completely takes the consequence of death out of the equation.

Finally, the serpent gets Eve to evaluate the situation with what is right in front of her verses what God has instructed of her. She is given a solution that is appealing to her. Verse 5-6. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired and make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Adam and Eve had been the “very good work” of all creation. They had taken part in all that God delighted in, they had all they could need and they chose to sin because they allowed themselves to start doubting their trust in God. They chose to trust the one in front of them instead.

How to combat this?

We live in a world where we are surrounded by rebellion from God, we are in a state of sin.

And we know that the consequence of sin is death.

Yet we can’t overcome sin, we can’t overcome the consequence of death on our own. We need help to save us from this utter hopelessness of life in sin.

We desperately need a savior, says:

English Standard Version Psalm 121

1  I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

2  My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

And we know that God did send us a savior, let’s go back to Genesis and you can see that he was planning on saving us as soon as we failed, read as God is punishing the serpent:

English Standard Version Chapter 3

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

This is the very first mention of the gospel in scripture.....right in the garden

The offspring on the woman(us / humanity) would have their heel struck, would be crippled by sin, by all those who follow in this alternative Kingdom of rebellion against God.

But the offspring of the woman would also bring a savior, someone who would bruise the serpent’s head. Another way to say this is someone who would crush the serpent’s head.

Right there, in , in the garden, we hear about Christ. Who will conquer sin, conquer the consequence of death, who will redeem the people who TRUST IN HIM.

The root of our sin, of our rebellion against God, is a mistrust in God.

If we really believe this, if we know this to be true, if God truly is the creator of the heavens and the earth, if he truly knew right there in the Garden that even though we have failed, he will love us and redeem us in a way that we could never imagine, how can we put our trust in anything else?

Application

This week you are going to leave here, you are going to be walking down the road in the midst of a fallen world. Your trust in God will be challenged by people like Absalom every day, people who are BESIDE the WAY, but not on THE WAY. People trying to get you to come to the left or the right, people trying to get you off the path that leads to Christ, to your King.

Just like the serpent said, “Did God really say....” you will hear things like:

Did God really say you shouldn’t lust, you know that is impossible, it doesn’t hurt to look

Did God really say he loved us and that He is good, that can’t be, look at all of the tragedy in the world. If he is real, he must be weak.

Did God really say that the Church is the body of Christ, that all parts are necessary? That can’t be, I know lots of people who don’t go to Church who are much better people than people I have seen in Church before.

You don’t have to stand for the truth, especially when the truth goes against the objectives of “insert your political party preference.”

Why in the world would you give your money to the Church, that won’t do anything for you, but think about how much better life would be if you had a second house.

You know that this can’t be the living word of God, it was written by men, a long time ago.

Don’t worry they say, I know what is right and wrong, I’m right here in front of you, you can trust me. Eat this apple, Give me your hearts, Now make me your King. Eat this apple.

It is going to happen, your trust in God will be challenged, there is a great answer to every single one of these questions. Your trust doesn’t have to falter.

When you are walking down the road, trying to understand what is right, how you should act, what you should do. Are you going to stop when you see Absalom on the side of the road? No! You keep walking, set your eyes on that which is in front of you, do not lose focus, and you walk through those gates and you ask your King.

If you are In Christ, you have direct access to God the Father, you don’t even have to wait until He opens court for the day.

Follow your King, follow Christ, do not go to the left or the right as you walk down that road, when you do, change direction, repent, and get your eyes back on Him.

This is why we read the word, this is why we pray, this is why we surround ourselves with a body of beleivers that we call the Church. This is why we surrender to His will.

Absaloms are all around

The root of our choice to sin against God is when we begin to mistrust God

Homework - Your homework assignment this week is to pray that God would reveal to you clearly those moments when someone is causing you to mistrust Him. And that He would provide you help, that He would give you wisdom in that time, and that you would have the strength not to fight on your own, but to surrender to the will of your King, your Lord, Jesus Christ.