Every day when I'm gonna stand upon your word
And I pray that I, I may come to know you more
That you will guide me in every single step I take
That every day I can be a island to the world
Every day, it's who I live for
Every day, I'll follow after you
Every day, I'll walk with you my Lord
Every day when I'm gonna stand upon your word
And I pray that I, I may come to know you more
That you will guide me in every single step I take
That every day I can be a island to the world
Every day, it's who I live for
Every day, I'll follow after you
Every day, I'll walk with you my Lord
It's who I live for
Every day
It's who I live for
Every day
It's who I live for
Every day
It's who I live for
Every day
It's who I live for
Every day
It's who I live for
Every day
It's who I live for
Every day I'm following after you.
Every day I'm always in my love.
Every day.
Let's pray together in just a moment.
Good to see you.
Alright, before we do that, we're going to have a little bit of question and answer time.
Alright, you come up here and do this potion.
I didn't hear you say anything.
Alright, so you just look and pick out some.
Don't ask any questions.
Same poster, Bible fact poster.
I have candy.
Okay, before we do that though, we got our quiz on Sunday.
So you got the quiz, we got the quiz on Sunday.
We have additional copies that are three hole punched if you would like one for your binder.
This will come up again.
We're not done yet.
And so today we're going to do something a little bit different with the quiz.
Those of you who took the quiz and know a little bit about it already.
I'm going to, on the map up here, I'm going to describe one of the locations on the map.
And you're going to tell me which one it is.
We had the quiz, we looked at the map.
So now I'm going to describe one of the locations on the map.
And you're just going to tell me the name of it.
So that way you can remember.
So now I understand the teenagers and the adults have seen this.
And the kids have not.
So hang on, we're going to do Bible facts in a second.
So this lake is on the right side of the map.
On the east side of the promised land.
Go.
Okay, go.
The Dead Sea, that's right.
Okay, and this river goes north from there.
The Georgia River.
Those are probably the two easy ones, right?
So this one is on the furthest southeastward.
So down and to the right of Philistina.
Nope, it's right on the border.
Oh, it's right on the border.
Yeah, right on the border.
Anybody know where it is?
The weird one.
Starts from the Z.
That's right, Z.
Ziklag, that's right, Ziklag, okay.
This one is right in the middle, just below the hump.
Almost right in the middle of the promised land, just below the hump.
But in Israel, in the promised lands, not in Philistina.
Okay, I'll give you another clue.
This is where David defeated Goliath.
Nope, I put Goliath from the brough.
Go ahead, Shia.
Nope.
All right, it's Ilah.
Ilah.
What did I say?
Well, you didn't say Ilah in the previous year.
That's for sure.
I thought you said something over the next year.
You said something that's over the next year.
No, I said Ilah.
Okay, and then right across the border in Philistina, right across the border in Philistina, where
Goliath is from.
That is, yeah, that's correct.
Did you have that one?
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
20 miles, no, okay, eight miles south of Jerusalem.
Eight miles south of Jerusalem.
Go ahead.
That is Sethland, that's correct.
All this is in the promised land.
Apologize to the people who are online.
We're talking here, so this is required.
Okay, we'll do one more.
This one is so far north that eventually it is not considered part of the promised land,
and it's where there's a lot of mixed blood people that live.
Oh, that's all right.
Go.
Is that the other one?
Nope.
That's correct.
Samaria.
Samaria, that's correct.
Okay, so there's more of those places.
We could do more to learn the Lord.
You can get a couple of places today in the lesson, all right?
Okay, pick some up.
All right, what's the first one you picked out?
What is the longest word used in the Bible?
I didn't know that one.
Oh my goodness, you want me to pronounce that?
Yeah.
I can pronounce it.
It's mayher.
Talal poshbaz.
I can pronounce it. It's May-her-sholal-posh-baz.
Oh, that's not even English.
The Bible is not originally written in English. It's a name. So that's a future name.
Alright, give us another one that we might actually be able to guess.
How many times the word son is used in the Bible?
S-O-N?
Yeah.
Okay, how many times is the word son, S-O-N, used in the Bible?
400.
400? Then say, I or lower.
I.
600.
600?
600.
The word son, how many times is the word used in the Bible? S-O-N.
600?
Higher or lower?
Higher.
4000.
Lower than lower than 1000.
2000.
Lower than 2000.
1000.
1500.
Higher than what? You have to say what the number is. Higher than 1500.
1700.
What did you say, Tim?
1200.
No, 1200. She said higher than 1500.
1800?
2100.
It's almost 2000.
1900.
Higher than 1950.
1999.
Lower than 1999. The Prince would be proud.
1900.
1980.
Okay, give us one that we might actually be able to guess.
It was 1980.
1980.
Okay, give us one that we can actually get right.
It was 1980.
Okay, they're not going to get that one.
You're like 10 on the line.
No, I said 1980.
Listen, listen.
First John.
That is incorrect.
Second John.
Second John is correct.
He was either first or second.
Okay.
He gives number, guys.
All right.
Try it.
Jesus left.
Okay, what's the reference?
Oh, I need the reference.
He's right.
That is correct.
I need the reference.
Okay.
All right.
Okay, here we go.
Do one more.
One more.
I got one more candy bar.
Bailey, you're first hand.
I know this one.
It's from Psalms.
Nope, that's incorrect.
Psalms 119.
That is correct.
All right.
We'll do more.
That's it for today.
Thank you very much.
Let's pray together.
We'll sing one more song.
And then we'll let the priest and the leader go to the mat.
Okay.
Go pray now.
Here we go.
Okay.
All right.
We're going to pray, Carson.
Here we go.
Father in heaven, we praise you and thank you for this day and thank you for letting us
be in this place.
Thank you.
Thank you for letting us be in this place.
Thank you for letting us make study of your word and think of your word fun so that it's
not just over and over again repeating, even though it is probably the most important thing
that we can do with our time.
It's so valuable to us to grow as a people and to be with us when we really need help.
So we ask the Lord to help us to learn to intake your word better and that even means
when the kids go to their classes and we go to our worksheet, Lord, that we would do a
good job of absorbing what you're giving us today.
Thank you for those who work so that we can be here today.
It's quite a few of us.
Thank you for those who are overcoming illnesses and boy do we need this right these days.
Lord, there's a lot of things we pray for Aaron, pray for Ron, pray for others who are
experiencing it even now.
Charlie, I don't know what other names are called.
Lord, I pray for Jerry, who's going to go out with their neck and arms, older.
I pray Lord that you would just see us through.
I pray for Alicia with her headache.
I pray for the life's issues.
Tomorrow that we would be strong.
Everybody bringing in a great big truck and then bread at the same time.
Lord, we pray that we'll have the resource to help a lot of people and then you would
do that as a springboard so that their soul today.
I pray that we'll learn something about that today.
Thank you.
Okay, we have been looking at length at a certain period of time. It is when David
was ousted from, you two behave, both of you. I doubt it because I don't think he was there
when you started it. We've been looking at a period of time when David was ousted from Jerusalem
and Absalom took his place. We've looked at a number of characters. This is week four.
Now, we're going to bite off some kind of bigger pieces, if you will, because some of
the names that are left to be looked at are a pretty big deal in the story. Today's name,
as you can already see by looking at your worksheet, is Absalom. We know already that
Absalom was the guy. He was the son of David that tried to take over. That's who he was.
We've been following the period of time when he's going to take over. Now, we're actually
going to look at him as a person, how he got to be where he was, and how he ended up. If
you'll look right at the top, you'll see the number one, right on the top of your page
there, the number one. The reference there is 2 Samuel, as I've given you, 15, 1 to 12.
2 Samuel 15, 1 to 12. I'm going to read it, but it is not going to be greatly summarized
here, so just listen for the details. If you want to look at your paper and try to pick
out the details as I read, you can do that, and it'll go a little faster that way.
It came about after this that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and 50 men
as runners before him. Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate.
It happened that when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would
call to him and say, from what city are you? And he would say, your servant is from one
of the tribes of Israel. Then Absalom would say to him, see, your claims are good and
right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king. So basically, he was slandering
David's administration, saying there was nobody to listen to the cases. Verse 4, moreover,
Absalom would say, oh, that one would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has
any suit or cause could come to me, and I would give him justice. And it happened that
when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and
take hold of him and kiss him. So in other words, if somebody came and bowed in front
of Absalom, then he would reach out his hand and take a hold of him and kiss him. Verse
6, and in this manner, Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment.
So he kept cutting people off. Instead of them going to David, Absalom was taking care
of it. So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel. Now it came about at the
end of 40 years. Now that Hebrew translation there is rough. So there's a couple of older
texts that say it was four years and all the newer texts say 40. So we don't actually know
if it was four or 40 because there's some confusion. But even four years is a long time
to be cutting off David. And that's probably why 40 years is a really long time, right?
So we don't know for sure is the point. That Absalom said to the king, please let me go
and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron. And we'll talk about Hebron
before we're done. For your servant Shur in Aram, your servant, let me try this again.
Your servant vowed a vow while I was living at Geshur in Aram saying, if the Lord shall
indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. And the king said to
him, go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the
tribes of Israel saying, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say,
Absalom is king in Hebron. So there's people all over all the tribes who are going to declare
that Absalom is king in Hebron when the trumpet blows. Verse 11, then 200 men went with Absalom
from Jerusalem who were invited and went innocently. In other words, they didn't really know why
they were going and they did not know anything. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gielinite,
David's counselor from his city, Gielo, while he was offering the sacrifices. And the conspiracy
was strong for the people increased continually with Absalom. So as I said, we are looking
at that period of time actually when Absalom is taking over Jerusalem and David is out.
So really what I've written here for you is a summary of the tools that Absalom used to
become king. And it's not a full summary, but it's a couple of key things that he won
the people over with. So the first one starts with a C and is what?
I think the whole thing. What?
No, the whole thing I'm going to read. Oh, you think you got the whole thing. Let's
just do them one at a time though. The first one is what?
King. That is not correct. I'm sorry. It's not
king. So we stop on the first one. So what did Absalom use? What did he get? The first
thing he got. Was it like in verse 1? What?
A chariot. A chariot is correct. The verse 1 first said,
Now it came after this time that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses. And so he
got the chariot and he started going around. By the way, who rides in chariots?
Royalty. Right? The big guys. People with money. Chariots are very expensive. In fact,
they're not even made in country. Yeah. Well, that's later. Right? This was for war. This
was a tank. Right? So later they would raise some. You're right. The Romans did that. Okay.
And so then he took the job. Do you know the next one, Tim? Are you going to guess? We
take a stab at it? No, he's like, oh, sure. No, that is correct. It's judged or judgment.
Judging. That is correct. Okay. So Jay is next and it's judged, judging, judgment. Right?
So what he did was he became the judge. He, everybody that would come to Jerusalem looking
for David to decide or wherever David was to decide their troubles, he would step in
and he would do it every time he could. So he basically assumed the authority of the
king without being king. Okay. All right. And so then the next one, this one's tricky.
So I doubt, I doubt that you have it, but you might. Okay. So as people would come to him
and he would judge them, some of them would bow down before him, recognizing his authority
and he would what? R.O. Rule over it? Rule. No, he wasn't ruling because he was the king.
He wasn't the king. David was still the king. He was judging them. He was judging their
issues and telling, okay, this is who's right. And so on. Okay. What he would do is he would
reach out. Remember they would bow and prostrate themselves before him and he would take his
hand and he would reach out and grab them. Okay. So again, that's making a statement,
isn't it? If you saw president Trump on the podium talking, he's up giving a speech or
something or it doesn't matter. Any president, right? It was giving a speech. That's cool.
Isn't it? To see the president in person giving a speech. It's kind of neat. That's cool.
But if the president will look down in the crowd and picked you out, that's Alex. Hey,
hold up. Everybody stop. Stop the speech. And he came up and he grabbed you by the hand
or pulled you in for a hug. That's really something, right? That's what Absalom is doing.
He's interacting with them. In fact, he even goes so far. Not only does he reach out for
them, he starts with a K, kisses them. Right? So in other words, he, even though he's claiming
to be the judge and like he's royalty, right? He's kind of usurping David's authority. He
is reaching out for people and he is kissing them, showing that he is a brother to them,
showing that he is intimate with them. He's close to them. Right? And you can imagine
that every person that came to Jerusalem to hear their case couldn't get to David, but
got cut off by Absalom, then is treated with respect. Their case is heard. They got, they
get what they want. Right? Then he reaches out. If they bow before him and say thank
you, he reached out and touches them, gives them a kiss on the cheek. Right? Now, like
we're not kissing like boyfriend, girlfriend here. We're giving, gives them a kiss on the
cheek, right? A greeting of a kiss or kisses them on the head. You can imagine that at
that point in time he's got their vote. They didn't even see David. They've heard the stories
of how awesome David is. They know David has done great things, but this guy is for them.
Right? So now he's winning people over one at a time for years, winning people over.
He's also offending people when he, if people thought they were in the right and he's deciding
against them, but you can be sure that his decisions were very deliberate to make sure
that people liked him. Okay. And then you'll notice that it says four or 40 years. We're
not sure if he did it for four years or if he did it for 40 years, but we know he did
it for a long time. 40 years would be a really long time. Yes. The K is kissing. Okay. All
right. So that's how we get, he's in position now. He's got these people infiltrating the
crowds and when the trumpet blows, they're all going to tell he's king. Right? And so
that's how he gets in the position of assuming authority. Now David hears about it and things
go as we know they go. So we're not going to read the whole thing because we read some
of it before. In fact, we read the whole thing before two weeks ago. I think it was, but
we're going to read part of it again. So we're on number two. Now the book again was what?
Second Samuel. We got to drill that in our heads. We need that second Samuel over and
over again. It's second Samuel. Okay. And it's 1620 to 23 is all I'm going to read.
Okay. So we've already heard this before for those of you who are here, but for those who
are not or who have forgotten, we need it again. Absalom said to Ahithophel, so this
is, he's in Jerusalem now. David has fled Jerusalem. David is not sitting on the throne.
Technically he's still king, but he's not there anymore. And Absalom is there. And Absalom
said to Ahithophel, give your advice. What shall we do? And Ahithophel said to Absalom,
go into your father's concubines whom he has left to keep the house. And by go in, he means
have sex with them, sleep with them. Right? Whom he has left to keep the house. Then all
Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father. In other words, they
will realize you really have broken from David. The hands of all who are with you will all
be strengthened. All the people that have taken your side, they're going to get more
courageous because they realize you really are standing up to David. Verse 22 says, so
they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof and Absalom went into his father's concubines
in the sight of all Israel. Everybody knew that he's going in and sleeping with his father's
concubines. And the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one inquired
of the word of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel regarded by both David and Absalom.
You remember when we looked at Ahithophel's store, we realized that he just fell short
because his advice was like he consulted God, like he was getting it from God's word, but
it was not that he was actually getting it from God or God's word. Okay? So that was
second Samuel 16, 20 to 23. Now we're going to work our way down. So we know the person
we're talking about. We already studied him before. It starts with an A. It is Ahithophel.
Right. So Ahithophel, and then he did something, started with an A, advised. And we have another
person starts with an A, Absalom, SWDC. What do you got? That is correct. That's exactly
what he did. He slept with David's concubines. Now that's interesting. It's bizarre, but
it was culturally accepted in the day to do a thing like that, to make it very clear that
you had taken over and you were ruling. Does anybody know why that is such an interesting
kind of fulfillment? I've given you the hint of the text on the page. I'm flipping back
to second Samuel chapter 12. Listen to this. Second Samuel chapter 12 verse 11 says, thus
says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household. And I
will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion. And he shall
lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed, you did it in secrecy. You did it secretly,
but I will do this thing before all Israel and under the sun. Do you know who's talking?
Anyone what I just read? Anybody want to take a stab at it? I was talking to David. He's
talking about David. He's telling David that he would be cursed, but who's talking? It's
Nathan, the prophet. This is the story of when Nathan confronted David after he killed Uriah
the Hittite, after he had him murdered so he could take his wife. Right? And God said
through Nathan, this is what's going to happen to you. And so now you fast forward. Who did
God use from David's household to sleep with David's wives? Epsilon. This is the fulfillment
of it. So on the surface, you got to ask yourself, okay, if God made it happen, if God caused
Epsilon to sleep with David's concubines, his extra wives, if God made that happen, then
how guilty is Epsilon? Well, still 100% guilty. He's still slept with his wives. He's still
sinned. Right? And so it happens in the Bible that we see that God causes people to do something
and then they do it and then he punishes them. And you say, that doesn't seem fair. That
doesn't seem right. How is that fair? If God causes somebody to do something or causes
some prophecies that it will happen and then causes the fulfillment to happen and then
that person does that and then they get punished for what they do, that doesn't seem fair.
Well, to understand, you have to understand the heart of Epsilon. Okay? And he didn't
come to be in the position to sleep with David's wives by a miracle or a wave of a magic wand.
He got there by, first of all, what we already looked at, a very specific, select plan to
subvert the authority of his father. He was very intentional about it. He got a chariot.
He cut people off who were coming to David to be judged. He reached out to them and kissed
them and told his spies to go all throughout the land and to proclaim him king when the
trumpet sounded. He was very intentional to come to this point. None of that had anything
to do with what God prophesied. God allowed him to do what he did, but he chose to take
all those steps and there's more, which we're going to look about in a second. Okay? So
now if you'll skip down to where it says three, see the big number three right there in the
middle, you see two clocks again. I used this last time and I kind of liked it, so I did
it again. Okay? And so the clock on the left, the arrow is going counterclockwise, which
means we're going to go back into Epsilon's history and the clock on the right is going
clockwise, which means we're going to go forward to see the end result. So by show of hands,
who wants to go backwards first and who wants to go forwards first? You want to go backwards
first? Raise your hand. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. That's a pretty
good number. Okay. I want to go forward first and see his end first. Raise your hand. Okay.
One, two, three, four. Okay. So the backwards have it. So we're going to go backwards first.
So that is the box on the left. Okay. So we're going to start, you know, they said, well,
got a story at the beginning. Let me tell you the story and start at the beginning.
Okay. So the reference is second Samuel. It is chapter three as you have it there. It
is verses two and three, second Samuel chapter three, verses two and three. Okay. And there
it's pretty straightforward. We're not going to read all of this. The whole thing is here,
but we're just going to read the two that we need. It says sons were born to David at
Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon by Ahenum, the Jezreelitis. And his second was Chilliab
by Abigail, the widow of Nabal. Remember her? She came up in the sermon this week. Okay.
So and Nabal was a Carmelite. And the third was Absalom, the son, Absalom, sorry, the
son of Makkah, the daughter of Talmiah, the king of Geshur. So this is the birth of Absalom.
So the very first thing you have there is he was, I'll give you the first two words.
He was born in, did anybody catch it? Hebron or Hebron. Okay. So he was born in H-E-B-R-O-N.
That's where he was born. That place plays a significant role. Okay. So Hebron or Hebron,
if you'll look at your map on the upper left hand corner of your worksheet, not the old
map, the new map that's on this page. Okay. You'll see an H right there. That's Hebron
or Hebron. Okay. And so that J is what on the map? Jerusalem. See I made it easy this
time. Going directly to the left, you see a Z. That is Ziklag. Going up in the middle
there, that's Elah Gath. So you know this map. Yes ma'am. I did not give you the words.
I forgot. I'll get them in one second. You're right. Thank you for catching that. Okay.
So on the map, that's where Hebron is. Now notice it's about 20 miles south of Jerusalem
and slightly west. That's where it's actually at. Not that far away really, right? And they
think that's where David built a castle and ruled from there a good part of the time.
All right. But this is where he had a bunch of kids and one of those kids was Absalom
and that's where he got his start. So he was born in Hebron. Real quick, we're going to
skip back up and get the one that Holly caught that I forgot to give you the words for. Under
second Samuel 12, 11 to 12, it says D and then the word starts with P and ends with
T. David, what is the word? Starts with P and ends with T. Punt. No. Not put. Way too
long for put. Okay. So Absalom slept with all David's wives in broad daylight in front
of all Israel and that was David's starts with P ends with T. Punishment. That's correct.
Okay. So that text was mind you, it was a prophecy when Nathan told it. It hadn't happened
yet but now in the story that we're reading, it is David's punishment for having Uriah
the Hittite killed and taking Uriah the Hittite's wife while he was still alive. Also the baby
died. That was terrible. Okay. All right. Now we're back in the box. We've gone back
in time again. Second Samuel 3, it was a little disorienting forward in time, back in time,
but we got it. Second Samuel 3, 2 to 3 was born in Hebron. Okay. Then you see a reference
there. Second Samuel 13, 21 to 39. I'm going to try my best to not have to read all of
this text just because it's kind of a long piece, but I'm going to kind of summarize
and you'll see what's happening. Okay. So second Samuel 13, beginning of verse 21. So
this is going to be a story from Absalom's life. We're in the back of, we're looking
at Absalom's life. Okay. So verse 21 says, now when King David heard of all these matters,
he was very angry, but Absalom did not speak to Amnon. So that's his, basically his older
brother, right? Did not speak to Amnon either good or bad for Absalom hated Amnon because
he had violated his sister Tamar. So we got this guy Amnon who does not figure in the
story when David is ousted from Jerusalem. He's not in the story. He's in Absalom's
backstory, like the, his, um, creation story, if you will. It's when he starts to get, come
into his own, when he starts to do things. Right. And he hates Amnon because Amnon raped
Tamar. Factual story. Okay. Side note that may, that story might actually be our text
for this coming Sunday. I feel like I've been praying about it. Okay. So it came about after
two full years. So two years passed, he hates Amnon because Amnon raped Tamar, his sister.
And by the way, Tamar is living in Absalom's house at this time. So in other words, he
sees her every day and every day she is broken because she was raped. She'll never be married.
She'll never have a husband. She'll never have legitimate children, right? At least
probably not. There's a possibility David could arrange something, but the odds are
she won't and she's broken. She was raped. And so he sees her every day and for two full
years Absalaam, after that time had passed, Absalom had sheep sheers in Baal Hazor, which
is near Ephraim and Absalom invited all of the king's sons. So he says, all of us sons
are going to go out to the sheep shearing. And you'll recall from the sheep shearing,
we talked about that on Sunday, that the sheep shearing is like a big party, right? Everybody's
getting rich. Everybody's drinking it up. They're eating it up. They're really enjoying
themselves. And so inviting the king's sons to come out to the Absalom came to the king
and said, behold, now your servant has sheep sheers. Please let the king and his servants
go with your servant. But the king said to Absalom, no, my son, we should not all go
lest we be burdensome to you. Although he urged him, he would not go, but blessed him.
Then Absalom said, if not, please let my brother Amnon, who is he? He's the guy that raped
Tamar that Absalom hates, go with us. And the king said to him, why should he go with
you? But when Absalom urged him, he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. David
didn't go, but all the king's sons are now going. Absalom commanded his servants saying,
see now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, so he's a little bit drunk, and when
I say to you, strike Amnon, then put him to death. Do not fear, have not I myself commanded
you? Be courageous and be valiant. Okay? So that plan is carried out. They kill him. Then
a report comes back to David, forward in this text, a report comes back to David that all
of his sons have been killed. And David's like, Absalom killed all my sons? Ah! Right?
Except then the actual report comes back and says, no, no, no, not all of your sons, just
Amnon. Okay? Verse 34, do I need 33? Yep, I think so. Right, so 33, the person that's
giving the message says, now therefore do not let my lord the king take the report to
heart, namely all the king's son are dead, for only Amnon is dead. And then in 34 it
says, now Absalom had fled, and the young man who was the watchman raised his eyes and
looked and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the
mountain. And Jonah dab said to the king, behold, the king's sons have come according
to your servant's word, so it happened. And it came about as soon as he had finished speaking,
that behold, the king's sons came and lifted their voices and they all wept. And also the
king and all of his servants wept very bitterly. Now Absalom fled, listen, listen to this,
Absalom fled and went to Talmii, the son of Amahud, the king of Geshur. That's where
Absalom fled to. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom had fled and gone
to Geshur and was there three years and the heart of the king David longed to go out to
Absalom for he was comforted concerning Amnon since he was dead. So what was David's reaction
to his son Amnon being killed overall? He was okay with it. Remember, he was very angry
when he found out that Tamar was raped, but he couldn't really have him put to death.
Now he didn't have him put to death, so probably he would have preferred he would not have
been put to death, but he was okay with it. He wasn't too upset about that. And he was
really mourning Absalom fleeing out of country. So go back up to your map for a second. It's
up in the right hand corner up here. You know this map a little bit, okay? And you'll notice
that I've marked on your map Geshur, which is a region. That's that big kind of blob.
So the little blob at the bottom, that is the Dead Sea. Then there's the Jordan River
going up with Jericho up there at the top, Jerusalem to the left. And then you see that
whole big region, that's Geshur. And Talmii is king of Geshur. And Talmii is who to Absalom.
He went and hid there. Who is he? Remember the first verse we read in chapter 3? He would
be grandpa. That's grandpa. He ran to grandpa's house. So, and that's on your paper by the
way. There's a G there for he ran to grandpa's house. He fled to his grandpa, okay? The king
of Geshur, which is problematic because he's the king of Geshur. He's got armies, he's
got money, he's got fortresses, right? And this is not easy land to navigate by the way.
It's heavily forested. You can't take an army through easily. And so he ran there and David
is sad. He lost his son Absalom. It's bad he lost his son Amnon, but Amnon raped Tamar,
so it's kind of like I can deal with that. But now he lost his son Absalom and he's very
upset. It's not good. Okay? And so we're right there under that. It says, we got quite a
bit here. All right. So the first part, it says, I'll give you the first word. It says
he arranged, this is under 2 Samuel 13, 21 to 39, he arranged, what did he arrange? Perfect.
That's word perfect. The murder of Amnon who raped his sister Tamar. Now they were kind
of like half sisters. Amnon was a half sister to Tamar anyway. Half brother, I mean. She
was his half sister. Amnon. A-M-N-O-N. It's basically like it sounds. So Absalom arranged
the murder. Now he didn't do it himself. He got him to the festival, got him a little
bit drunk and then had his young men kill him. But he arranged his murder. Okay? And
then he fled to his grandpa. And I put Hebron, but that's not actually right. It should be
Geshur. So change that to a G and make it Geshur. Fled to his grandpa in Geshur. It
should be Geshur. G-E-S-H-U-R. Did everybody get it? So he fled to his grandpa in Geshur.
Okay? And then a period of time passed, three years. Okay? Now in 2 Samuel 14, very short
passage that we'll read, verses 21 to 23, it says, Then the king said to Joab. Now Joab
is a character in our timeframe. So far I have dodged him because he's got, we'll probably
have to do him over two weeks. He really has a great story. A long story. And he's really
well known and really has a lot of impact in David's history. Go ahead and take a second
and turn it off, Larry. Sorry. Just go ahead and turn it off. You don't have to cover it
up. Stuff happens. Okay. Then, So the king said to Joab, behold now, I will surely do
this thing. Go therefore and bring back the young man Absalom. And Joab fell on his face
to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king. And Joab said, today your servant
knows that I have found favor in your sight, O my Lord, the king, in that the king has
performed the request of his servant. So basically what happened is Joab had a wise woman come
to David and pretend that her last son was going to be killed. And she said, please,
you know, award me that my son will not be killed. Even though he did something wrong,
they will not be killed. And David said, okay, I word it to you. Your son will not be killed
even though he did something wrong. And then she said, but why does the king put away his
own son? And she asked about Absalom. And David right away figured out that she was
manipulating him. And he figured out that Joab was behind it. And then he calls Joab
and those verses I just read to you, he grants Joab's petition, even though Joab tried to
trick him. Okay. And so then we have Joab, what? Plotted. Joab plotted to, nope, the
D is David. The word I used was convince. He plotted to convince David. Okay. And then
the story goes on. Absalom is brought back. I'm not going to read the whole text in the
interest of time. You can read all this on your own study a little bit more if you want.
He's brought back, but he's not allowed to go see David. He's not allowed to go see David.
And he's back for two years before he would ever have a chance to see the face of his
father again. Okay. And so the words there are Absalom and house arrest. It's two years
Absalom under house arrest. So here's what happens in the story. He can't get to David.
He can't get a message through to David. He can't talk to David. So he reaches out to
Joab who is David's key general and he begs Joab for a meeting. Joab refuses him. He doesn't
answer at all. He just, you know, uh, go straight to voicemail every time, straight to voicemail,
straight to voicemail. So guess what Amnon does or Absalom does? What? Nope. He stays
there. He's not giving up. In fact, he's going, he wants to be king someday. He burns Joab's
fields. That's the next things. He burns his fields. He's like, well, you won't listen
to me. You're not answering. So he goes out and he burns all of his crops. Isn't that
crazy? That tells you something about his heart. So then Joab goes to David and tells
him what happened. And David said, okay, bring him in. Finally, after two years, he burns
Joab's fields. You think this grown man needs a spanking to say the least. And he brings
him in and said, right, he brings him in and David bows over, he grabs him, bows over,
takes him in his hand and he kisses him and he welcomes him back home. And the last thing
on the background is he's kissed by David. Now, before we go fast forward on the clock,
two things I want you to notice there. Who brought Absalom back to Jerusalem? David did.
His dad. He loved him. Right? You always see good in your kids and you always want good
to come out. Even though he knew that he had arranged the murder of Amnon, but he kind
of excused that because Amnon kind of was a jerk and he did rape his sister, half sister.
Right? And so David excused the whole thing. And then Absalom to get an audience with Joab
burns Joab's fields and David brings him in and falls on him and kisses him. So it's David.
Give it to Holly. She'll figure it out. You need help? She'll figure it out.
There you go. You got it down anyway. Maybe not. Just hand it to Holly so she can turn
it off. She's right behind you. Just give it to Holly.
Should be able to turn the volume up. He was trying to turn it down though. There you got
it. Okay, good. You just need a little help. That's all. No big deal. Okay. So then notice
that David reaches out and kisses Absalom. Anybody notice the significance there? We're
at the point in the story where Absalom is in Jerusalem and the very next day Absalom
starts sitting at the gate very early and receiving people in David's stead and does
it for years. So to betray David. Yep. Yeah. Why is it so significant that David reached
out and kissed him? Why is that? Doesn't that ring a bell? Say it again. Absalom. Yeah.
That's what Absalom starts to do. He says, David reached out and kissed me and he's like,
he says, I could be welcomed back. I feel like if I didn't have an agenda, right? If
my heart wasn't cold as stone, I feel like I'm welcome back to my house. David loves
me. David cares me. So that he learned from David how to make people feel like they were
cared for and he starts doing it with everybody in David's place. See it? And then he does
that for years and then he becomes king for a day basically. Okay. All right. So we're
going to go forward in time and finish him off. Second Samuel 18 verses six to nine.
You don't need a lot. Okay. You're going to see the end of Absalom. 18, second Samuel
18, six to nine. The people went out into the field against Israel and the battle took
place in the forest of Ephraim. Okay. So on your map, I have marked the forest of Ephraim
for you. It's over there in Gishur. How do you say it? Gishur. It's over there in Gishur.
Okay. So I marked it for you. Bad terrain. Dangerous forest. Not forest like if you go
walking in the woods out here at the park. Okay. This is a gnarled mess of sharp edges
and broken terrain. Dangerous, dangerous terrain. You'd never want to take an army through there
if you didn't have to. Okay. All right. 18, six. Then the people went out in the field
against Israel and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. And the people of Israel
were defeated there before the servants of David. And the slaughter there that day was
great. 20,000 men. For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside and the
forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Now Absalom happened to
meet the servants of David for Absalom was riding on his mule and the mule went under
the thick branches of a great oak and his head caught fast in the oak. So he was left
hanging between heaven and earth while the mule that was under him kept going. Okay.
So there's your little picture of Absalom hanging in the tree there. Interesting side
note by the way, historically Absalom only cut his hair once a year. Do you know how
much the hair on your head weighs? Does anybody know off the top of your head? Yours is more
than most, but it isn't as much as you think. The average person is 1.4 ounces. Hair doesn't
weigh much. You shave yourself completely bald, put it on there. The average person
is 1.4. Now you have more hair, long hair, right? Face hair. The ads are probably more.
So you'd be on the high end of average, right? So you might be three ounces at most. It's
not much. His was said to weigh considerably more than that. The Bible says it weighed
200 shekels. A shekel is 0.4 ounces. That means he had 80 ounces of hair. That's five
pounds. That is 30 times as much as we have. Right? But it also says he was beautiful.
His face didn't have a blemish on it. He was incredible to look at. Right? But he had all
this hair and he got caught in the tree by his hair. Okay. So right there, the B in 6-9
is what? Battle. That's right. And the battle took place in the F-O-E. Yes. Forest of Ephraim.
Ephraim was a tribe and that forest was named after them. And he was hung by hair. H-B-H.
Now that sounds funny but it's very real. Yes. I know. It's there on purpose because
we're out of time right now so we're moving fast. That's why it's in blue. If you can
read it. What was the question? Hung by hair. Okay. Alright. How many men died? You should
have it. 20,000 men died. And the next sentence is the forest claimed more than the sword.
Okay. Over in verse 14, same chapter. I know we're out of time. Stick with me.
Then Joab said, I will not waste time here with you, talking to the messenger that brought
him the news that Absalom was hanging in a tree by his hair. So Joab took three spears
in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst
of the oak. Three spears. You know what's even crazier than that? The next verse. But
we won't read it yet. Okay. Okay. So the next part says, Joab stabbed him three spears
in heart. Okay. And then the next verse says, and 10 young men who carried Joab's armor
gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him. You understand what that means? He wasn't
dead. Joab stabbed him in the heart with three spears and he wasn't dead. Yeah, he probably
wasn't literally in the, I mean, it was in his center, right? Near his heart. There was
no X-rays. Okay. So 10 young men killed him. Okay. And then it says, then Joab blew the
trumpet and the people returned for pursuing Israel for Joab restrained the people. There's
no reason to kill all these people that were following Absalom anymore because Absalom
is dead. They took Absalom and they cast him into a deep pit in the forest and erected
over him a very great heap of stones and all Israel fled each to his tent. Okay. And so
that's a pit under, can you read it? A huge pile of stones. There you go. All right. And
that is the end of Absalom, but you have one set of blanks left on the page. Do you see
it? Right above where? Yes. Right above Amy in the bow. That's like an arm there is on
the bow and that's an arrow above it. So the book is all right. And the reference is 1714
and it says then Absalom and all the men of Israel said the council of Husha'el the archaic
is better than the council of Ahithophel. You remember this? Listen to this part for
the Lord had ordained to thwart the good council of Ahithophel. And then this is the part that
we didn't hone in on then in order that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom. It was
God's intention to bring this man to ruin and he did it in the most brilliant way. You
ever hear the old saying the bigger you are the harder you fall? Who made Absalom big?
Nope. Nope. David was part and parcel. God was part and parcel, but who did it? He did
it. He did it himself. He got a chariot. He put 50 men before him. He paid spies. He connived.
He judged the judgments of Israel. He didn't let people go to David to hear their cases.
He did it himself. He reached out for men. He kissed them on the head or on the face.
He did all of that so that he could elevate himself and he did. And he was beautiful.
He was a beautiful man with five pounds of hair. He was an incredible individual. And
where did he wind up? Hanging in a tree. It's an interesting parallel there, isn't there?
Was Jesus beautiful? Now the Bible says Jesus was not beautiful. Did Jesus have amazing
hair? No. Was there any reason that anybody should specifically listen to Jesus over some
other preacher or teacher? No. There wasn't. And Jesus wound up hanging on a tree. See
the parallel? So if a man should build himself up to become everything he's ever dreamed,
but if a man should submit to the Lord Jesus Christ who has already paid for his sins,
God will not bring him to calamity. It's a great story and it's the end of Absalom.
And then David goes back to Jerusalem and rules for quite a while and many other great
stories. So that concludes our study of Absalom. Notice that I have given you a couple of details
there in the middle about Hebron. Hebron is a really well-known place in the Bible. It's
where he was born. It's 20 miles south of Jerusalem. David was anointed king there.
When Samuel anointed David king the final time, it was in Hebron. It was a hilltop city.
So it overlooked all the land around it. It is the city in which God gave Abraham the
covenant. Not the only time he gave him a covenant. He gave him more than one, but that
time he gave it in Hebron. It was also called Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron. And there's
a cave there which is called, listen please, which is called the Cave of Machpila and buried
in it. Sarah is buried in the Cave of Machpila. Who else is buried there? Sarah and her husband,
Abraham and their son, Isaac. We're doing good. And Isaac's son, the better one, one
of the twins. Jacob, the liar, the deceiver. But his name gets changed to Israel. And then
his two wives, two of his wives, right? Jacob's wives. Okay, we did really good. Okay, let's
ask a couple questions then. We'll take three minutes and ask questions. You guys ready?
Where's my candy? Is my candy not in here? Okay, we'll just have to keep track of who
gets candy because it's not in here. It's in the cafeteria. All right. Okay, real quick.
Tashan, what was the name of the forest in which the battle was fought? Alex knows it
without the paper. Yes, the Forest of Bifrim. Okay, you get candy, sir. Congratulations.
Okay. How did Joab attempt to kill Absalom Haley? That's right, very good. Okay. How
did Absalom kill or arrange to have killed Amnon, Hannah? The paper says that he arranged
him. The murderer doesn't say how, but I said how. Do you remember how? Oh, thank you very
much. Well, take a stab at it. Can somebody help her? How did he arrange to have him killed?
Try to kill. If you get it, I'll give candy to you and her. Yeah, just a little bit more.
Okay, I'll go with that. Yeah, at the sheep shearing party, festival, whatever. Oh, I
missed her. Okay. I tried to hit her on the top of the head and I missed. All right. Okay.
How many years was Absalom under house arrest, Natalie? How many years was Absalom under
house arrest? Are you guessing? Two is correct. You all stop deflecting the candy. It's like
going right to the person. You're getting it all over the place. Okay. Alex, in which
city was Absalom born? Next time, let the person answer themselves. All right. So let's
have a really hard one for you. Yeah. He's still a, he's still a teen. He's an adult,
but he's still a teen. Okay. Okay. What, what was the first thing that a Hithafil advised
Absalom to do after he took charge? Yep. David's concubines. That's right. Okay. Did I get
all the teenagers in the room? All right, we're going to pray together.
Food in the cafeteria. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this time. Thank
you for the stories that we had. I don't want to be a person like Absalom. I don't want
to build myself up. I surely couldn't have that kind of hair. I don't know how that would
be possible. I can't look like that. And I don't want to learn how to manipulate people
to get them to like me. I just want to be me serving you and you get the glory and you
work your will and your kingdom come and your will be done here on the earth. Help us as
we go out and take the truths of these things, but not just the truth, but to absorb them.
The discipline is Bible intake that we absorb them so that like in a month or a year, we're
making some kind of a decision. We can remember that we could make the decision in a way that
will build us up, lift us up, make us better, make us great. Even maybe cut somebody off
or Jif or cheat, cheat somebody. And we can remember Absalom and that that is not the
kind of heart that we're supposed to have. We can remember David and his heart was merciful
even toward his murderous sons and he wanted to be merciful. And we also realize that that
kind of mercy leads to a dangerous place. And so Lord help us be godly, help us be wise,
help us be discerning, to make good choices and to always follow you. We pray all this
day. Amen.