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2 Samuel 12 - 15
2 Samuel Chapters 12-15, David’s Life Gets More Complicated
King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, she gets pregnant. He has her husband killed in battle and she gives birth to a baby boy. And, God, as you can imagine, is not pleased.
Nathan the prophet enters the scene to confront King David. Now you can’t confront a king head on. People in power get defensive very quickly and tend to make excuses for themselves, even more than the rest of us. Nathan tells David a story of a rich man who had many sheep and a poor man who had only one. Rather than taking one of his own sheep, the rich man took the poor man’s only sheep and killed it. Well, David was outraged over the selfishness of the rich man and declared, “The man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity” (verse 6).
Nathan replied, “You are the man!” He then spells out David’s punishment. Verse 10, “Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.” Not only will there be constant war and bloodshed, (three of his sons will die violently) but within David’s own family (his son Absalom) will take wives from David as David took Uriah’s (verse 11).
Now, to his credit, David didn’t rationalize, make excuses or downplay his sins. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord” (verse 13). Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”
David’s sin was public. As a representative of God’s people, it tarnished the reputation of God’s people in the eyes of their enemies. Because of this, “the son born to you will die” (verse 14).
Verse 15, “After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had born to David, and he became ill.” Why would God take the life of the innocent baby when it was David who sinned? And why would the baby be stricken and die when David’s sins were forgiven? Didn’t God say that the children should not be punished for the sins of their parents? Ezek. 18:20 says, “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”
I would think that it would be more just and appropriate for David to be punished in some way rather than the baby. Maybe being stricken with some embarrassing disease, especially one related to his sin. How about sexual impotency or a case of urinary incontinence? Perhaps, God thought that the David’s family was so dysfunctional such a toxic mess, that he wanted to spare the innocent one from being a part of it. Isa. 57: 1-2 says, “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from the evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”
The baby got sick, and David was distraught, fasting and praying for the baby’s healing. After the baby died, David’s servants were reluctant to give him the news out of fear that he would do something “desperate.” When David learned of the baby’s death, to the surprise of others, he washed up, put on clean clothes and went and worshipped God. When asked how he could eat he replied, “Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (verse 23). This last passage is used to support the idea of life after death. Others might argue that it simply means that he would die, just as the baby had.
David then went and comforted Bathsheba and in time she gave birth to another baby, named Solomon. Then God sent word to Nathan that the son was to be called Jedidiah. Jedidiah means “Beloved of God.” This was viewed as reassurance that Solomon would be David’s successor. So why do we call him Solomon? Jedidiah was a “second” name or “blessing” name. Perhaps it is similar to when royalty might have more than one name and even change their name when they rise up from prince to king. In Great Britain, Prince Albert took the name King George. In America we have nicknames. Richard is oftentimes called Dick; Robert is known as Bob.
Meanwhile, with all this drama at home, Joab, David’s military commander, was battling the Ammonites. He needed more troops, so he sent a message back to David to muster the army and come help. David led the troops this time (probably glad to move beyond the tragedies at home) and captured the Ammonite capital. Verse 30, “He took the crown from the head of their king-it’s weight was a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones-and it was placed on David’s head.” A talent was about 64 pounds, or 27 kilograms for our metric friends. There is no way you could have a 64-pound crown on your head. Just imagine wearing a crown of any size on your head. Every time you moved your head or bent over to tie your sandals it would fall off and awkwardly roll on the floor. That would be embarrassing. Attaching a chin strap would just look silly. One commentary suggested that it was placed on the head only for a second or two for a photo opportunity or was suspended symbolically above the throne.
After the battle with the Ammonites, the prisoners of war were put to work making bricks. During WW II 90% of the city of Minsk in Belarus was 90% destroyed. German POW’s were put to work after the war to help rebuild the city. It must have been tough work, but better than being shot.
David lived a life of high drama alternating between family tragedies and wars. “In the course of time” (Chapter 13:1) another family crisis arrives. One of David’s sons, Amnon, fell in love with Tamar, the sister of Absalom. Tamar was the daughter of David’s other wife, Maacah. You’re going to need an organizational chart to keep track of who is who in the Davidic family. The bottom line is that Amnon was half-brother to Tamar.
Amnon was infatuated with Tamar so he pretended to be sick and asked David if he would send Tamar to visit him and bring him some food. David agreed and sent Tamar to him to feed him some bread. Chapter 13:11, “But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, ‘Come to bed with me, my sister.’” She protested, but he overpowered her and raped her (verse 14).
After he raped her, he discarded her, threw her out of the room. Absalom, who was half-brother to Amnon, wasn’t pleased and provided Tamar with housing, etc. When David heard what happened, “he was furious” and Absalom “hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar” (verse 22).
You’ll notice that David was angry, but he didn’t appear to do anything to punish Amnon. David’s own indiscretions may have shaken his confidence in his authority to rebuke Amnon. When David didn’t discipline Amnon, Absalom decided to step in.
I think there were times when David dreaded going home for fear of what bad news he might hear from one of his wives. Imagine David pulling up in his chariot, “Honey(s), I’m home.” There, in the doorway, are four wives with scowls on their faces, each wanting to be first to tell him of the terrible things that have been going on in his absence. It seems as if David couldn’t get away from conflicts, either at home or on the battlefield. And there may have been times when he was home, wishing he was on the battlefield.
Verse 23, “Two years later.” Absalom waited two years before he sought revenge on Amnon for his rape of Tamar. At a sheep shearing festival, Amnon, who was the heir apparent to the throne, was murdered on Absalom’s order. Of course, his attorney would call him a person of interest or a suspect in the killing. He had the motive. Not only revenge, but by having Amnon out of the way, Absalom would now be the heir to the throne. But in the meantime, he had to flee (verse 32). He headed off to Geshur and remained in exile for three years. Geshur is along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and in what is now called the Golan Heights, in the northern part of Israel. Geshur was an independent Aramean kingdom and the home of David’s wife, Maacah, who was the daughter of the king of Geshur. Absalom may have made plans for such a flight before the murder of Amnon. He also may have had a favorite uncle there who would help him.
In Chapter 14 we find Joab, David’s chief military officer, very concerned for the mental stability and effectiveness of King David. David was mourning the loss of two of his sons, one by homicide, the second by exile. Joab may have thought, “We need a full-time King and military leader. Unless David pulls out of this depression our nation is vulnerable to outside attack.” Joab hatched a plan. He hired a woman to pretend that she was a widow who had two sons and that one son had killed the other. The community then told her to turn over to them the guilty one. If she turned her son over to them, they may have executed him without a trial. An innocent man might have been killed. With his death, the family line would come to an end and the widow would have no one to take care of her.
What should David do? If he did nothing, an innocent man might be killed, and a widow would be helpless. Oftentimes, a leader must make tough decisions. When President Eisenhower was about to leave office, he gave president elect John Kennedy some advice. He said that you won’t get any easy problems to solve in the presidency. If there were easy answers, the problems would have been solved at a lower level.
King David told her that he would see to it that the son is not killed. Verse 11, “not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”
She then asks, verse 13, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God?” If you are willing to help my son, why don’t you do the same for your son?
Why didn’t David go after Absalom and charge him with the murder of Amnon? One reason might be that David didn’t want to lose two sons. Second, perhaps his lawyers may have advised him that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get a conviction. There were probably no witnesses to the killing. At the festival Absalom may have sat at the front table and remained in view of the festival goers during the entire time when the killing took place. Amnon could have been lured away from the group by the assassins and taken out to a secluded area where he had a dagger thrust between his ribs. There wouldn’t be enough evidence against Absalom to convict him. Today, there is always the presumption of innocence. This brings to mind a quote from the English jurist William Blackstone. He wrote in his Commentary on the Laws of England published in the 1760’s, “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffers.”
The woman planted the idea in David’s mind that he should bring Absalom back from exile to prevent a struggle for power once David dies. By now, several years have passed since the killing of Amnon and emotions have died down. David had what he wanted, the rationale to bring Absalom back from exile.
In verse 19, David suspects that Joab was the one who put this woman up to this meeting with him. Perhaps with a slight smile directed towards Joab, he says, “Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom” (verse 21).
David allowed Absolom to return, but on the condition that he must not be seen in his presence, and he had to live separately. He was sort of under house arrest. Offering him neither forgiveness nor restoration of his position. And his allowance was probably cut off, too. And his smartphone was taken away.
And the people of Israel must have been happy with Absalom’s return, especially the young women. He was something of a rock star with a “handsome appearance” and gorgeous hair. Absalom could have made a fortune selling hair care products on television. Hair, back then, was a sign of vigor. Kings would oftentimes be portrayed with abundant locks, while baldness was a disgrace. We see this in I Kings 2:23 where young people mocked the prophet Elisha because he was bald. “As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”
In the late 16th century in England, many members of the royal family and aristocrats wore large wigs as a status symbol and to mask the baldness that was caused by an epidemic of syphilis. The word “bigwig” was coined to describe the snobs who could afford the largest wigs.
Another advantage of wearing a wig was controlling lice. The people would shave their hair off to get rid of lice and wear a wig in its place. If the lice made their way onto the wigs, they could be boiled to kill the lice. The wig wearing fad died out when a tax on hair powder was introduced.
Absalom spent three years in Geshur and two years in Jerusalem before seeing his father. During that time, he had three sons and a daughter (verse 28). The names of these children aren’t given. This suggests that they may have died very young. In some cultures, with high rates of infant mortality, parents don’t name a child until they feel comfortable that the child will survive. To name a child too soon, and he dies, then the name can’t be used again. Some Jewish groups reveal the name of a baby boy on the eighth day, the day of his circumcision.
Absalom grew increasingly frustrated by not being able to see David. In time, he told Joab that if he couldn’t see his father, he should have stayed in Geshur or be killed (verse 32). Joab then went to David and arranged for a face-to-face visit. At their meeting, David kissed Absalom, signifying his forgiveness and reconciliation.
Chapter 15 begins with the term, “in the course of time.” “In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.” This is exactly what God told the Israelites not to do, acquire a lot of horses (have a large standing army), along with lots of wives (foreign wives bring foreign gods into Israel) and lots of wealth (a heavy burden of taxes ). (Deut. 17:16-17).
Now we see Absalom laying the groundwork for a coup against King David. All those years in exile and house arrest gave him time to brood and to plot revenge against David. With Amon out of the way, all that stood between him, and the throne was King David. He goes around in his chariot projecting himself as the defender and friend of the common man. He engaged in a campaign tour to win the hearts and minds of the common people. Hearing the concerns of the people, he replied, (verse 3), “Your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you. If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.” This sounds like the campaigning promise of a presidential candidate.
The result of the campaign by Absalom was,
verse 6, “He stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” He might have been on the front cover of magazines as the sexiest man in Israel, like Nick Nolte.
Oh, but time isn’t always kind to the young and the handsome as seen in the second photo of Nolte.
After a four-year campaign for the hearts of the people, Absalom was ready to make his move to take the throne of Israel. Verse 10, “Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’”
Why would he make his capital in Hebron? Perhaps there were some who resented the fact that the capital was moved from Hebron to Jerusalem. To move the capital back to Hebron would be an economic boost for the area. Boarded up businesses would be brought back to life.
Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem, King David got word that “the hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom” (verse 13). David’s poll numbers had plummeted. The people seem to want a younger leader, they want Absalom. David gives the order, “Come, we must flee” (verse 14). Among those fleeing with David were 600 Gittites who were Philistine soldiers who had joined David’s personal military force. They were his private army for security. The religious leaders, including Zadok the high priest, were also with David, as was the ark (verse 24).
David then had second thoughts about having taken the ark from the capital. He knew that it wouldn’t guarantee him safety and that it really belonged in Jerusalem. He ordered that it be returned (verse 25). He also told Zadok to remain in Jerusalem and serve as a spy for him. Later Zadok would help bring Solomon to the throne and officiate at Solomon's coronation.
David arrived at the Mount of Olives and was told that Ahithophel, a trusted counselor to David, was among the conspirators with Absalom (verse 31). David prayed that God would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness” (verse 31).
David also ran into Hushai, the Arkite at the Mount of Olives. He was old and not well suited for the rigors of being on the run with David. So, David suggested that he return to Jerusalem (verse 34) and to spy on Absalom and to use the priests as a communications channel (verse 36).
When I was in Belarus, I was told that the priests of the churches were used by the Secret Police to gain information on the activities of the people in their parish.
Things haven’t changed much. Just like Absalom, politicians rely on charisma, charm, and outward appearances and promise whatever the people want to hear.
In 1920, the first presidential election where women had the right to vote, the Republican Party nominated a little-known former newspaper editor and Senator by the name of Warren G. Harding. He was described as genial and handsome and was one of the earlier politicians to use modern advertising technology. But he is remembered by historians as among the very worse presidents. This brings to mind the prophet Samuel’s advice, that we do not look at the outward man, but look at their hearts. 1 Sam. 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”
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Why Study the Bible?
Don’t many consider the Bible to be just a book of myths? Why do we read the Bible rather than the sacred literature of other religions?
How do we know that it is from God? How do we know that what we have today is an accurate translation from the original? Is the Bible complete or have there been some books that have been lost?
We should be able to answer these questions, and there are answers! So start here!
Answers to Common Bible Questions
Lent is a six week period of spiritual devotion starting on Ash Wednesday and ending at Easter. Those who observe Lent usually give up something for Lent. Some might give up coffee, or soda pop, or alcohol, or chocolate. May I suggest that you give up something that will really impress God and make this season of Lent one of the most memorable and meaningful seasons of your life? May I suggest that if you are giving up something, why not give up some of the acts of our sinful nature mentioned in Gal. 5:19? Why don’t we give up lying about others? Do you think you can give up the hate you feel towards others? How about envy, can we work on putting envy aside this year? How about giving up on the naïve idea that all pastors are mature Christian leaders whose word should always be accepted, rather than wolfs in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15). How about giving up the idea that everyone in church is a real Christian (Matt 7:21-23). How about giving up your desire to seek revenge on those who have hurt you (Matt 18:21-22)? If you are insecure and feel threatened when you see the success of others in ministry, how about giving up efforts to hinder others who have been called to minister (Rom 12:4-8)? Of course it is easier to give up something like chocolate, etc. and make yourself feel like you are doing something that is pleasing to God. If you are not willing to give up unchristian behavior, might I suggest something that will really please God this Lent? Give up all evidence of your profession of Christian faith, such as books, pictures and jewelry. Don’t talk about God, Jesus or the Church. I think God would appreciate it if you would stop giving HIM a bad name by the way you live. Let’s give up what hinders our witness and become a better ambassador for Christ (2 Cor 5:20) this Lenten season.
In Matthew 2:1-2 is says that the magi saw "His star in the east." What was this star that guided these men to Jesus? Some have suggested that it could have been a comet, an asteroid, or perhaps a meteor or an especially bright star. The problem with these suggestions is that these physical things either quickly move across the sky and then disappear or are too far away to provide directions with any precision. It would be hard to get directions from such objects. The "star" had to move constantly or intermittently at the same pace as the magi. Then it says that it hovered over the house where Mary and Joseph had moved to with Jesus. It hardly sounds like a comet or meteor or a star as we know them. Can you think of another time that people in the Bible were guided by some form of light? How about the time when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt? He didn't have a global positioning system with him. He did have a pillar of fire that led him at night (Ex 13:21-22). We see this light in Solomon's Temple (2 Chron 7:1-3) and when the Jews were about to go into Babylonian captivity, we see it leaving the Temple (Ezek 9-11). In the New Testament we see it at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:9) at His transfiguration (Matt 17:5) and His ascension (Acts 1:9). What exactly was this guiding light? The word "star" can also be translated as "radiance." It appears that it was this "radiance" that guided Moses and the magi. The Jews call this the "Shekinah", a physical manifestation of the glory of God in the form of a supernatural radiance. This, I believe, is what the Star of Bethlehem was.
Imagine that you are the pastor of a church. A young married couple is having some difficulties in their relationship and they seek counsel from you. On Monday the wife comes in to give her assessment of their marriage. What do you think she will say? She might say that she is a hardworking, caring and supportive wife and that it is her husband who is the neglectful, insensitive brute and the source of all problems in the marriage. You feel so sorry for this wife and when you see her husband in the hallway, you think to yourself, "What a jerk." On Friday the husband comes in and gives his assessment of the marriage. He tells you that he is hard working and very generous and that she is the major problem in the relationship. As the pastor, you are wondering if they both are talking about the same marriage. Each person tells you what makes them look best and their spouse the worst. Where is the truth? The truth is probably somewhere in between Proverbs 18:17 says, "The first to present his case seems right, til another comes forward and questions him." There are conflicts in all relationships, between spouses, parents and children, employees and employers. When you hear one side of a story, don’t assume that what you hear is the complete truth. And don’t pass on to someone else what you have heard. Probably, at least some of what you heard is untrue to gain your support in a conflict.