“And the king gave this command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake, deal gently with young Absalom.” And all the troops heard the king give this order to his commanders. So the battle began in the forest of Ephraim, and the Israelite troops were beaten back by David’s men. There was a great slaughter that day, and 20,000 men laid down their lives. The battle raged all across the countryside, and more men died because of the forest than were killed by the sword. During the battle, Absalom happened to come upon some of David’s men. He tried to escape on his mule, but as he rode beneath the thick branches of a great tree, his hair got caught in the tree. His mule kept going and left him dangling in the air. One of David’s men saw what had happened and told Joab, “I saw Absalom dangling from a great tree.” “What?” Joab demanded. “You saw him there and didn’t kill him? I would have rewarded you with ten pieces of silver and a hero’s belt!” “I would not kill the king’s son for even a thousand pieces of silver,” the man replied to Joab. “We all heard the king say to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, please spare young Absalom.’ And if I had betrayed the king by killing his son—and the king would certainly find out who did it—you yourself would be the first to abandon me.” “Enough of this nonsense,” Joab said. Then he took three daggers and plunged them into Absalom’s heart as he dangled, still alive, in the great tree. Ten of Joab’s young armor bearers then surrounded Absalom and killed him. Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men returned from chasing the army of Israel. They threw Absalom’s body into a deep pit in the forest and piled a great heap of stones over it. And all Israel fled to their homes. During his lifetime, Absalom had built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and it is known as Absalom’s Monument to this day.”
2 Samuel 18:5-18 NLT
Absalom had many reasons to be angry with David, but none of them justified the fruit of that anger. For all of his posturing and his moral high ground against his father, at the end of the day, he was a rebel. He was a man who had decided that he was going to make things right according to his own design. Unlike his father before him, he decided to war against God’s anointed and ultimately came to a tragic end because of this. Instead of allowing God to bring the proper consequences to David, he decided to lean into his own power and understanding and take matters into his own hands. Perhaps he was right to avenge Tamar. And perhaps he was right that David was committing an injustice in the way in which he dealt with all of these things. But at the end of the day, to right the ship, he became a hypocrite. He committed atrocities in the name of morality. He openly slept with his father’s wives. He murdered Amnon . He committed treason. He usurped the throne. Much like an unsheared lamb, his life was ended by being caught in a thicket. He was ultimately hung in a tree. There he met the end of a criminal and murderer. There was no moral high ground to save him. Even the grace of his father wasn’t enough to save him from his descent. We should be careful of our actions. The ends rarely justify the means.
Absalom’s Rebellion: Absalom’s anger towards David led him to rebel against God’s anointed king, ultimately resulting in a tragic end.
Absalom’s Hypocrisy: Despite potentially justifiable grievances, Absalom’s actions, including sleeping with his father’s wives and committing murder, revealed his hypocrisy.
Consequences of Actions: Absalom’s story serves as a warning that the ends rarely justify the means, and even well-intentioned actions can lead to downfall.
JOSH McGARY.COM 