“And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel” (2 Samuel 15:1-6).
Introduction
Life was not going to get any easier for David for he was about to face a period of rebellion, and would be forced into exile by his son Absalom. It is obvious that David did not foresee any of this when he failed to deal with the issues that paved the way for what was to happen to him and all the people Israel.
Chariots
Absalom now sets in motion his plan to remove his father from power. Because of the way he goes about this, it seems likely that he had been planning for it for some time for it is not a spur of the moment conspiracy against David. Absalom arrives in Jerusalem with his own private army. Like many politicians today Absalom came with his own party bus to attract attention to himself and his cause. The circus had come to town and produced the desired effect, and so the people were quickly and easily fooled by his charismatic approach to politics. Absalom, the proud man he was, rode into Jerusalem with chariots and horses, whereas his father only rode a donkey. “The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon” (1 Kings 1:33). The prophet Samuel had warned the people that this would happen, “This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots” (1 Samuel 8:11). The reason behind all the razzmatazz was to make the people think that he was going to be the next king one day and sought to curry favour with them, but they did not know just how soon that day would be. The people would not have accepted Absalom if he had simply dethroned David, but with a little time and patience he could skilfully manipulate them into thinking he would be a better ruler than their present king.
Controversies
For several years before he made his move against his father, Absalom would get up very early in the morning to meet with those who had a problem. Such zealousness was out of character for him, but because of his desire to rule Israel he had to force himself to appear concerned for the welfare of the people. It was usual in those days for minor personal problems, lawsuits and complaints to be dealt with by judges who sat at the city gate. It seems that difficult cases would go before the king for judgement on the matter, and it is these that Absalom dealt with himself, for he wanted to appear to be kingly. As with any group of people with grudges against others or the state, they quickly become noisy and argumentative as they speak of their grievances. This was the perfect situation for Absalom to get involved in, for he could both stir up the people into thinking they were being treated unfairly by the government and states that it was going to be much better when he becomes king. Also David had instituted a centralised government in Jerusalem and effectively swept away the old tribal laws and rights that had been in place up until then, this may not have sat too well with some of the tribes of Israel.
Absalom always told them that their cases were good and just so that they would believe that he was on their side. We know that he had no real concern for anyone else but himself and would be a burden to them once he came to the throne. This is exactly the same tactic our own politicians use when they meet people on the street. They promise that it will be much better for them if they are elected to government, but their compassionate words are only a trick to win votes. Absalom told them that no one in government, including David, was qualified or had enough time to deal with their problems. Basically he was stating that the leaders were ignoring the concerns and complaints of the common people while they lived it up in the palace. If they came to believe that David’s government was inefficient then they would be eager for a charge. This was obviously an outrageous lie, for Scripture has already shown us that David was willing to listen to people’s complaints and worries (2 Samuel 14).
Cleverness
Absalom was very clever not to state that he wanted to be made king, instead he said that he would love to be made a judge. How could he be a righteous judge anyway? Was he not a murderer who had never been brought to justice? Had he not recently burnt a man’s field and never even been reprimanded for it? It was he rather than the king who was not qualified to judge the people, for at least David had repented and was willing to take his punishment, instead Absalom had never shown the slightest regret or remorse for his actions. He also endeared himself to people by asking where they were from and appearing concerned about the needs of their city. Since the people coming to Jerusalem from other regions would hear about the great plans being drawn up and the resources being collected for the building of the temple, Absalom could use the situation to make them think that their problems were not important to the king compared with the mammoth task before him.
His clever approach stole the hearts of the people, for though he only spoke of becoming a judge, they saw him as someone who would make a great leader. By the time he forced David out of office he would have the support of the majority in Jerusalem. This support would not be won through righteousness but by political trickery and double-speak. Our text tells us that he committed another crime against the state, for he “stole” their hearts. This reveals that he did not win their hearts by legitimate means, but through evil tactics literally robbed them of their power to think logically. The people had unwittingly bought into Absalom’s plan to oust David and take the throne of Israel himself.
Conclusion
Everything about Absalom was wrong but nobody seemed to care, instead they loved, honoured and idolised him. He was on the threshold of realising his dreams. Since we know that it took several years to achieve this, we wonder why David or his government had not noticed what was happening. Were they simply ignoring Absalom’s activity as he gathered public support and hoping it would fizzle away to nothing?
© 21/6/2010