“The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “‘Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.”’ And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.”
~ 2 Samuel 18:5
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you follow the instructions of your dad and/or ma as to how he, she or they want you to do your chores? Do you follow the instructions of your teacher as to how he or she wants you to do an assignment? Do you follow the instructions of your coach as to how he or she wants you to catch a ball? Do you think that it is important that a kid listens to and does what his or her dad and/or ma instructs him or her to do? Do you think that it is important that a kid listens to and does what his or her teacher instructs him or her to do? Do you think that it is important that a kid listens to and does what his or her coach instructs him or her to do? Do you think that you know more than your dad or ma? Do you think that you know more than your teacher? Do you think that you know more than your coach? Why do you think that it is important that you do what your dad and/or ma instructs you to do? Why do you think that it is important that you do what your teacher instructs you to do? Why do you think that it is important that you do what your coach instructs you to do? Are you an Absalom?
Absaloms have dads. David was the dad of the Absalom who is written about in 2 Samuel 18. When Absalom was a kid – which was almost 3000 years ago, Absalom more than likely got whatever he wanted. When Absalom got older, Absalom believed that he knew more than his dad. Absalom had an entourage of cohorts who decided that they wanted him to be their leader and king to replace having his dad as their leader and king. Because his kid and the gaggle of followers who were fawning all over his kid were creating a real headache among God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, David finally decided that he had to do something about his recalcitrant kid. David mustered together an army of soldiers and chose Joab, Abishai and Ittai to be his army’s commanders. Before his army left the city of Jerusalem for Gilead – a town that was located on the east side of the Jordon River, to fight his kid and his kid’s pack of hanger-ons, David gave his three commanders one final directive. Verse 5 says that “The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “‘Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.”’ And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.” David made it very clear to each one of his three commanders that he did not want his kid hurt or killed in the battle. All of David’s soldiers heard David’s final instruction to their three commanders to not to hurt or kill his kid even though by this time David’s kid was really, really detested by all of David’s supporters.
Absalom was a vain kid. Absalom probably was a good-looking dude. Absalom thought that he was it with his long hair. Absalom thought that he was such a big deal that he had a rock monument erected for him. When David’s soldiers began to kill Absalom’s soldiers – with 20,000 of Absalom’s guys dying because an egotistical kid did not respect his dad, Absalom rode off on a mule to escape being killed by his dad’s soldiers. When the mule that he was riding went under an oak tree, Absalom’s long hair became entangled in the oak tree’s branches leaving Absalom dangling in the air while the mule that he was riding kept running. When a soldier in David’s army spotted Absalom dangling by his long hair in the branches of an oak tree, the soldier found Joab – one of David’s army commanders, to tell Joab what he had seen. Because he had heard what David had told his commanders – which was that David did want his kid hurt or killed, the soldier refused Joab’s order to kill Absalom. Joab then took three javelins and drove each javelin through Absalom’s heart – murdering Absalom as he was dangling by his hair from the oak tree’s branches. After Joab had Absalom’s body thrown into a pit that he found in the forest, Joab covered Absalom’s body with a huge pile of rocks. When David realized what had happened to his kid, David cried uncontrollably wishing that he had been the one to die instead of his kid. Your grandmaa and grandpaa over thirty years ago heard in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church that is in Aberdeen, South Dakota a series of deeper life messages on the Esther Book. The deeper life speaker was Don McKaughn. During one of the evening services, Don McKaughn pointed at where your grandpaa was sitting and said ‘if you say that you are a Christian, why aren’t you acting like one?’ Don McKaughn did not know your grandpaa at this time. Your grandpaa knows now that God was Who was pointing at him and saying . . . your grandpaa six or so years later was living in Bolivia where your grandmaa and grandpaa were assigned to the Bolivia South American Mission field missionary team. One of the couples who was on the South America Mission field missionary team had a missionary friend from Brazil visit them. This visitor was in Bolivia over a Wednesday evening. The South America Mission field team missionaries on Wednesday evenings would get together for a devotional and prayer time. The visitor was asked to share during the devotional time. The visitor’s name was Paul McKaughn. Paul McKaughn spoke about an easy chair that was in the living room of the house where he grew up in as a kid that no one would ever sit in except his dad. Paul saw his dad living his life for God’s sake. Paul and everyone else in his family saw the easy chair as a holy place where a man of God would sit when he was home. Paul was a missionary with OC International – which is the mission agency that your grandmaa and grandpaa are now members. Paul has been the President of IFMA (Independent Foreign Mission Agencies) for years. Paul has retained a relationship with OC International. Your grandpaa has been able to tell Paul how his dad’s words influenced his life. Your grandpaa believes that God has favored Paul because of Paul’s respect for his dad.
2 Samuel 18 (451)