What I Noticed Today (2 Samuel 15-16)
2 Samuel 15
Absalom rebels.
In verses 1-6, David’s son, Absalom, began his quest for power.
- He began to gather followers and even sat at the city gate, intercepting people with grievances suggesting their claims were legitimate, but the king had no one to hear them, but if he were made a judge, he would hear them.
Note: The city gate was traditionally where the elders gathered, so it seems unlikely that Absalom’s activity would go on unnoticed day-after-day. If the elders did know what was going on did they ever say anything to David? If they did say something to David, why in the world didn’t he do something about it?
In verses 7-12, Absalom deceived David, making an excuse to go to Hebron to fulfill a vow.
- Absalom gathered his band of followers in Hebron. Two hundred other men followed along, unaware of Absalom’s intentions. Absalom began offering sacrifices and sent for David’s advisor Ahithophel.
In verses 13-23, an informer came and told David what Absalom was doing in Hebron.
- When David heard of this, he gathered up his servants and fled from Jerusalem in fear of Absalom.
- Six hundred men came with David as they marched out of the city including Ittai the Gittite (from Gath in Philistia) who swore allegiance to David.
Note: This is the same David that killed Goliath and conquered Israel’s enemies, and he can’t handle his impudent son?
In verses 24-29, Zadok, and Abiathar, Levite priests, were carrying the Ark of God out of the city.
- David told them to return with their families and take the Ark back to Jerusalem.
- David also told them he would wait in the wilderness until he got word from them that it was safe to return.
In verses 30—37, David traveled to the Mount of Olives.
- David was told that his advisor, Ahithophel, had joined up with Absalom.
- David prayed the Lord would turn the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness.
- David created a small network of spies to keep track of Absalom. One of the spies, Hushai, arrived back in Jerusalem just as Absalom arrived. Hushai’s task was to counteract the advice of Ahithophel, who had already aligned himself with Absalom.
2 Samuel 16
Ziba helps David, and Shimei curses David.
In verses 1-4, Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, met David with a gift of food and donkeys for transportation.
- He told David that Mephibosheth had stayed in Jerusalem in hopes of regaining his grandfather, Saul’ ss, kingdom.
Note: There is so much lying and conniving going on here. We don’t know if what Ziba said is true or not. If so, Mephibosheth had turned against the one man who had reached out to restore, protect, and care for him.
Regardless,
- David believed Ziba, so he turnedMephibosheth’s estate over to Ziba.
In verses 5-14, when David arrived in Bahurim (east of the Mount of Olives), a man named Shimei (a member ofSaul’ ss tribe) saw David.
- He cursed David and threw stones at him, accusing him of orchestrating or participating in the murder of Saul. David’s bodyguard, Abishai, asked permission to kill Shimei, but David said no, thinking the Lord may have told Shimei to curse him.
In verses 15-23, Absalom arrived in Jerusalem.
- Hushai met up with Absalom and, when questioned, said his loyalty would be with the one the Lord and the people of Israel had chosen.
- Absalom asked Ahithophel what he should do. Ahithophel told Absalom to sleep with his father David’s concubines to demonstrate his superiority in hopes of getting others to join his cause.
Note: Sleeping with the king’s concubines was an indication of the succession of leadership.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- Because David never dealt with Absalom killing Amnon, he now has to deal with him as an insurrectionist. Absalom used his charm, his good looks, and his charisma to flatter and lie to build a following of loyal supporters. Rather than dealing with Absalom early in his quest for power, David allowed him to grow stronger and stronger until he had to flee his own capital city.
- In this passage, we see very clearly how a situation within a family can grow out of control when it isn’t dealt with immediately. Not controlling his own family impacted not just their lives but also the lives of the people of Israel.
- The same is true for us today. Whether it is the family or our businesses, the failure of a leader to deal decisively with issues always makes the situation worse.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
