1-2 Samuel Week Forty-Four: 2 Samuel 15:1-31

¹ Now it came about after this that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men as runners before him. ² Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate; and 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.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “See, your ^[a]claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king.” 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.” ⁵ And when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶ In this manner Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ Now it came about at the end of ^[b]forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron. ⁸ For 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.’” ⁹ The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ 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.’” ¹¹ Then two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem, who were invited and went ^[c]innocently, and they did not know anything. ¹² And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom.

¹³ Then a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are ^[d]with Absalom.” ¹⁴ David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵ Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” ¹⁶ So the king went out and all his household ^[e]with him. But the king left ten concubines to keep the house. ¹⁷ The king went out and all the people ^[f]with him, and they stopped at the last house. ¹⁸ Now all his servants passed on beside him, all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had come ^[g]with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

¹⁹ Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place. ²⁰ You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, while I go where I will? Return and take back your brothers; mercy and ^[h]truth be with you.” ²¹ But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.” ²² Therefore David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. ²³ While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people passed over. The king also passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.

²⁴ Now behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar came up until all the people had finished passing from the city. ²⁵ The king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then He will bring me back again and show me both it and His habitation. ²⁶ But if He should say thus, ‘I have no delight in you,’ behold, here I am, let Him do to me as seems good ^[i]to Him.” ²⁷ The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace and your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ See, I am going to wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ Therefore Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there.

³⁰ And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head was covered and he walked barefoot. Then all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they went. ³¹ Now someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.”

—2 Samuel 15:1-31

Sermon Outline

1. Take

2. Run

3. Pursue

References

Weekly Study Guide

Sometimes things don’t make sense. That’s just the way life works. None of us have all the answers. We regularly encounter dilemmas or challenges that we can only overcome through faith—trusting that, someday, the answers will be clearer. Oftentimes, those answers come to us later in life. Hindsight provides us with the wisdom and context to make sense of these earlier mysteries.

Other conundrums, meanwhile, require the insight of historical perspective before any measure of clarity is reached. That is one of the blessings of God including prophecy in scripture. It requires faith to believe, without us possessing all the answers. And that faith deepens our relationship with God. What prophecy also does is that it undergirds God’s credentials as being outside of time and in control of history itself. One of these challenging questions that require both exploration and faith involves what it means that the Davidic Covenant is eternal. This challenge of the eternality of the Davidic Covenant presents us with another opportunity to watch God work down through the corridors of time to bring about His will—and forces us to trust Him, even though we can’t yet see the endgame.

We are in the midst of discussing some additional questions that flow from our exploration of the Davidic Covenant. The first issue we covered was regarding how to understand this idea of an enduring house and dynasty that God promised to David. We discovered that this coming Kingdom that God promised to Israel is a future, literal, political, and physical reign of Christ on earth, where He will rule and reign for 1,000 years on the throne of David. The second question we raised flows from the first. If the throne of David is literal—and it clearly is—did Jesus, in fact, ever sit on David’s throne? In other words, has the Davidic Covenant already been fulfilled?

One reason why some people struggle to understand the nature and meaning of Jesus reigning on David’s throne is that the fulfillment of this promise has been so long in coming. But this just reveals a myopic view of history. God does not work on our timetable. God always brings about His will, in His way, in His timing. The same question was raised for some 1,900 years as many people had difficulty understanding how Israel could have a future in God’s plan and how God would be able to keep His promises to them when they had not existed as a nation since 70 A.D. These objections were silenced in 1948 when God reestablished Israel as a nation again. The same answer applies to this question of the Davidic throne. God promised David an enduring throne, one that would last forever. And for over 400 years following the time of David, this throne did endure. But what happened? Why did it cease? And what did this mean for the promise God made to David?

Because of this difficulty, some try to argue that the Messianic Kingdom somehow did come in 70 A.D. and that Jesus is currently reigning on David’s throne right now in Heaven. But this idea is completely foreign to scripture. In the New Testament, there are 59 references to David. Not one of them connects the present ministry of Christ with the Davidic throne. Presently, Christ is seated on the Father’s throne, but that is very different than being seated on the throne of David. The Father’s throne is Heavenly. The Davidic throne is earthly. Which brings us to our question, did Jesus ever sit on David’s throne, or is this Kingdom yet coming in the future? And how can we reconcile the present lack of a Davidic throne on earth with these promises?

Israel, as a kingdom, began officially when Saul became king. But, as we’ve seen, he was never God’s man. He was just a seat filler until the “man after God’s own heart” was ready. God installed David as king and promised him an eternal house. And there was, in fact, a descendant of David sitting on David’s throne for the next four centuries. But then that Davidic throne came to a temporary end. After Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in three stages (605, 597, and 586 B.C.), there were no more Davidic kings sitting on David’s throne. Why? It’s because David’s throne was no longer in existence. Israel had lost its sovereignty. They had been conquered—and outside of a couple of brief exceptions, Israel would not rule its own land again until 1948. God had warned His people way back before they even became a nation under Moses that if they persisted in rebelling against Him, He would take away their place and their nation as a consequence of their sin. And, under Nebuchadnezzar, He did just that.

We’ve mentioned this several times before, but it bears repeating. The fact that God keeps His promises extends beyond just promises of blessing. God also very clearly promised Israel consequences for breaking their covenant with God and rejecting Him. In Leviticus chapter 26, we are given a succinct snapshot of these promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. God told Israel that when they persisted in rejecting Him, He would punish them—first, through subjugation by their enemies, then (when they did not learn their lesson) by exile to a foreign land, and finally (when they still did not repent) by dispersion throughout the world. The “subjugation by their enemies” happened in cycle after cycle during the period of the Judges. However, Israel did not learn their lesson from this. When their sin continued, the next promised step of punishment was exile to a foreign land. This occurred beginning in 605 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took the people of Judah back to Babylon as captives. And since Israel still did not repent for their sin following this punishment, the final stage of curse was enacted in 70 A.D. through the Diaspora—when Israel was scattered across the known world and would not be a nation again until 1948. The reason there was no Davidic king or Davidic throne when Jesus was on earth is because these curses were in effect.

So, the line of Davidic kings lasted from David until the Babylonian Captivity, when Israel lost her sovereignty and the “Times of the Gentiles” began (Luke 21:24). There would be no one else from David’s line sitting on his throne until Messiah came. Why? Because of God’s promises. Yes, God promised an eternal house and dynasty for David, but He also promised these escalating consequences for Israel’s continued spiritual treason. There was a light at the end of this tunnel when Messiah arrived the first time. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven was “at hand”. It was available to them if they would repent. However, this offer of the Kingdom was rejected by Israel, and the offer was rescinded until a later generation of Israel would indeed repent and accept Jesus as Messiah. Thus, the lack of Davidic kings ruling over Israel continued—and continues today. So how can we make sense of this? Wasn’t the line of Davidic kings supposed to be forever? This is where the prophets come to our rescue.

The Davidic Covenant is revealed in plain language in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17, but it is also referenced many additional times in scripture. The prophets filled out the picture of what this covenant would entail, even revealing this period of an unoccupied throne. In Hosea 3:4-5, which was written long before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Captivity, we see that this period without a king was foretold by God.

“For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days” (emphasis added)

Also, in Amos chapter nine, the latter days are in focus, and in verse 11 God promises that “in that day” the Tabernacle of David would be restored. Again, this period of time, when there would be no throne of David on planet Earth, was not a surprise to God. It is all part of His plan. John Walvoord says of this idea: “According to this passage, therefore, it can be assumed that God, while permitting the throne to be empty, nevertheless assured it to David and his seed, prophesying Israel would return to the Lord, i.e., in the future millennial kingdom and resurrected David would be their king.” These promises by God in the prophets clearly foretold that there would be an interruption in David’s line and that it would not resume until the end times.

Many of the prophets foretold of this coming Kingdom and described the surety with which God will set His King on the throne of David. Through Isaiah, God foretold that out of the stump of Jesse, God would raise up a new branch that would reign forever (Isa 11:1). Picture David’s line as a majestic tree cut off in the middle when Judah was taken into captivity and David’s line no longer had a throne to rule on. The picture that God then gives is of a new branch growing out of that seemingly dead stump and blossoming into a Kingdom that would reign forever and ever. That seemingly dead stump prefigures the time when it appeared the Davidic kingly line was lost.

Of this theme, Jeremiah goes on to say,

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness” (Jer 23:5-6).

Isaiah then says: “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel” (Isa 4:2). In Jeremiah 33:14-17 we see again this “Branch” mentioned, but the passage ends with the definitive statement: “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.” Even though the tree was cut off, and all that remained was a stump, God always keeps His promises. This new branch will fulfill that promise and will restore David’s throne.

And in one of the most familiar Old Testament messianic prophecies, we see so clearly that Messiah will be born a human, He will reign over a literal, political government on the throne of David, and that His reign will never end.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isa 9:6-7).

Just because the people of Israel were under a time of punishment did not mean that the royal line of David was dead. God clearly promised that it would be revived and the promise to David will be fulfilled in our Messiah Jesus when He returns. So, no, the Davidic Covenant has not yet been fulfilled. Messiah has yet to sit on David’s throne. As scripture clearly states, this will not happen until the last days—when, Israel repents, Messiah returns, and He sets up His Kingdom which begins with a thousand-year reign on this earth, and continues on throughout eternity.

Discussion Questions

1. What does loyalty mean to you? What is an example of loyalty in your life that inspires you?

2. What was Absalom’s plan at the beginning of chapter 15? How would you evaluate Absalom’s strategy? Why do you think his schemes were effective? What recent events would have contributed to Absalom’s frustration and disillusionment with his father? What was the purpose of Absalom going to Hebron to make his move and spark his rebellion? What had happened in Hebron before? What do all these events reveal about Absalom’s character?

3. What do you think David would have been feeling as he descended the temple mount and ascended the Mount of Olives? What events in David’s past might make him mistakenly think that this overthrow of his kingdom was from God? What promises from God would counter this thinking? Why do you think David seemingly forgot about these promises from God? How does David’s reaction to Absalom’s betrayal reflect his current level of trust in God? Why do you think God allowed this rebellion to happen to David?

4. Where do you see people using Absalom’s subtle, manipulating approach today? How can we guard against engaging in this kind of thing ourselves?  In what ways do you think David might have felt responsible for Absalom’s rebellion? Where do you see people taking on this kind of misplaced responsibility in your world?

5. If you were in David’s shoes, how would you have handled Absalom’s rebellion? How did David use the many conflicts in his life to strengthen his faith? How might we do the same? Have you ever made the promise of Ittai to your Lord and Master? What would it be like for you to pray and commit to 2 Samuel 15:21? Where do you need to trust God more—even when things don’t make sense on the surface?

Going Deeper

1. How would you evaluate David’s tactics in handling Absalom’s rebellion? What does this episode reveal about his leadership skills? About his parenting skills? About how he deals with conflict? How would you apply David’s strategies to crises you face in your own life?

2. What does it say about people that they became disillusioned with Israel’s greatest king and so easily fell for Absalom’s ploys? What are some of the reasons this might have happened? Absalom committed treason under the guise of worship. Where might we see people (perhaps even ourselves) putting forth merely an appearance of worship today? Do you think Absalom thought his spirituality and worship was legitimate? Where might we see this illegitimate worship today?

Transformational Activity

Worship

Because David was so prolific in the psalms he wrote, we often are gifted with a glimpse into his heart of worship as he encounters these difficult seasons of life. Take some time this week to read through some of the psalms that these events inspired and join with David in worship for God’s provision and protection in your life (Ps 3, 41, 61, 62, 63).