2 Samuel 14 (Part 1) Bible Study (Absalom Returns to Jerusalem) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Second Samuel chapter 14. And as you're turning there, I can't help but share what I read in my own personal reading this week. I'm in the book of Job, and there's a part where Job describes the majesty of God. And at the end of his his displaying of the glories of God, he says something that humbled me tremendously, and I pray that it will humble you. Not just humble you, but that it would excite you.

I encourage you at your own time to read Job 26, but at the end of 26, chapter 26, you don't have to turn there. Just listen to what Job has to say. He says in verse 14 of that chapter, behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him. And how small a whisper do we hear of him. Everything you know about God, everything that you see concerning God, his character, his power, his wisdom is but a whisper.

Just a whisper. Just a breath. Made me think, Lord, I want more than a whisper. And it made me realize that there's a day coming where it will be louder than a whisper, where we're gonna have his glory full force, and he will give us the necessary mind and body and heart and ability to register all that he is. So everything that you discover week by week, day by day, you're you're seeing through a glass dimly.

There is a time coming where you and I are gonna see it face to face, see him face to face. And so as we come to this chapter in second Samuel, let us discover the whispers of God's wisdom, his love, his power, his might, his grace, his compassion, his justice. And, Lord, we pray, but we pray again. This is this is our desire that we may know you. Lord, you are our shield, you are our glory, and you are the lifter of our heads.

And, God, you give us more joy than they when their grain and wine abound. Your word is our gold. It is our silver. They are jewels more precious than all of these things. And we ask, Lord, that as we come to this chapter, there will be a special grace upon the delivery of this word, and there'll be a special grace upon the study of it for every heart that is here open to receive what you have to say.

Might be wondering why I'm not down there and why I'm up here. It's just a brief technical thing before, we move on. We want to figure out how to handle that. Mike, Probably every week, you hear something from Bible study, but you also hear me say something about buzzing. Right?

So I don't wanna keep repeating myself. So we're gonna try to get to that buzzing issue, and until then, we're just gonna be up here for a bit. Let's come to second Samuel 14. In one chapter spanning over two years in real time, you and I have witnessed the lives of three of David's children never be the same, drastically and dramatically being altered forever, really. Tamar or Tamar, David's daughter was violated, tragically raped, and was robbed of her innocence.

David's eldest son, we studied him and we examined his life and realized that he was the one who violated his sister and was then murdered for his actions. And then from Tamar to Amnon, we come and we were introduced to a man named Absalom, and we looked at him and we realized that Absalom was the one who premeditated the assassination of his half brother Amnon and then fled into exile hoping to escape justice. And when we come to this chapter, we have to understand according to second Samuel thirteen thirty eight, three more years have passed since Amnon's death. That's a long time. But what we will realize at the opening of this chapter is that though three years have gone by, David's heart is still disoriented.

It is damaged. It is caught up in different meditations, imaginations, what ifs. And so this man is in shambles just as much as his home is. And so this is a dysfunctional family and it's only gonna get worse, unfortunately. And we get the impression of David's condition here in the first verse of chapter 14, and I want us to read it together.

Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom. This is the essence of the disturbance of of David's heart rather. It is for his son, Absalom. It is going out to him. There's a yearning for his son.

There's a longing for his son. And it makes you wonder that even though this atrocious act was committed, time does in fact heal. It does help us forget the weight and the sting of certain actions. And so David is is really in a place of discomfort and there's a level of of longing for someone that is a part of him though is not with him anymore. And he he wants to see some level of reconciliation happen.

He wants to see some kind of restoration happen. He wants his boy back in his presence. And if you think about it, if this is what this man wants, this father longs for, he has every authority to be able to send out messengers and call for Absalom to return from Geshur and to to be brought back, and to be brought back into the home, and brought back into his daily activities, and to just move on from life. He he has every ability to reassure him that he will embrace him and that he will bring him to the place where we can make this as normal as possible, but he doesn't. And the question is why?

And this is where the dilemma lies. Because David here is not just a father who has natural affections for his son, he is also a king who is called to uphold justice and to not play favorites and to pledge his allegiance and his loyalty to God and his law above all and above everyone else. This is the struggle of the man. And though David is in a very unique position who is upholding a very unique responsibility, This is a portrait of David's life in our study of second Samuel that will teach us and remind us how it is often very difficult to do the right thing. If you wanna know what we're gonna be studying tonight, it is that.

An honest look in the scriptures of how the Holy Spirit reminds us and prepares us that it's not always easy to do that which is right. And more than just telling us that, because many of us understand that already, the Holy Spirit will also, through this text, equip us to know how we can avoid the ensnarement and the traps that will try to keep us from pursuing that which is God honoring and will help us avoid mistakes that we will later regret because we fell into some form of deception that persuaded us to do that which was wrong thinking that it would bring about better results. Isn't it difficult to do that which we know is right in some cases? There's family dynamics. There's loyalty.

There is possible future altering things that if you do that which is right, it could potentially make you lose on so many fronts. And so there are many times where we come to intersections, moments where we try to come up with a plan where we can come as close as possible to that which God demands of us, at the same time minimizing as many consequences that would come about from doing that which God calls us to do. It's a temptation that you will know if you wanna follow Jesus and and abide by his word. It will eventually come in one way or another. And in David's case, he is sitting on his throne day after day, night after night, struggling of how to go about this.

Do I execute justice against my son? Or do I ignore justice and embrace my son? And we are told here that Joab picked up on this dilemma. Joab was a companion, a very close companion to David. He was his nephew.

He was his confidant. He was someone that was in close proximity to David twenty four seven really. And he was able to discern that David could not make a decision and that he felt stuck and he was in a very sticky situation. And so after learning about this, David is going to be introduced to a different person, and it's really a plan that Joab is gonna come up with. Let's read verse two.

And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. Go to the king and speak thus to him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. If you feel nervous that Joab is orchestrating something, you're justified in feeling a little uneasy.

Because we know Joab enough to realize that he's not the most spiritual among the roster of Israel's mighty men. Joab was intensely loyal to David. He loved David. He loved supporting him. He loved working for him.

But at the same time, this man was viciously motivated by self interests. And when you see Joab make certain decisions, you can't put your finger on it. You don't really know what's going on through his mind all the time. But we've seen again enough to realize that when Joab feels like something could potentially threaten him, he's willing to make dramatic decisions. And in this case here, we see that this man who does not have a high regard for the law, he already killed two people, or rather one at least that we know of, and he's gonna gonna kill somebody else very soon, without a cause.

And now we come here and we realize that he is speaking to a woman with no name, no identity, and is putting words in her mouth. What is he going to have her say on his behalf? Why is he even doing all of this? Well, one thing is for certain, knowing Joab, whatever is about to be shared from this woman is not gonna be in accordance to God's word, and we're gonna learn that very quickly. We have reason to be suspicious, and our suspicion will be proven true.

So if God's honor is not going to be the aim of Joab's scheme here, Again, why is he doing this? And here's the thing, we are not told. It's not explicitly clear why Joab is going to great lengths to now send somebody to send a message to David that has to do obviously based on first one with Absalom. Could it be that Joab understood that there is judgment looming his over his own head? He has blood on his own hands and maybe he's trying to in some way project through this situation some kind of conviction on David so that he would not return justice on him.

It could be. We don't know. Does Job foresee something with Absalom being far away, potentially brewing up some trouble and wanting to avoid something, and so he wants to try to bring about reconciliation as soon as possible. We already learned that when Absalom took his time, it's usually not a good thing because he's brewing something. Could that be the case here?

Again, we do not know why Joab is doing this, but as we will see, this man does not have the scriptures as a standard. Does not have God's law in mind and he's gonna try to convince David to do the same. So what's going to happen here? Well, before we look at the conversation between this woman and David, we have to understand that Joab is smart. He is intelligent.

I mean, he is the commander over the army, so he has some ability to strategize. Does this this ploy of having somebody come to David to deal with a certain issue with a story, because now she's about to present a story, reminds you of a past confrontation that David experienced. Think about it. What kind of messenger came to David at one point to try to provoke some kind of pronounced judgment on something? Nathan the prophet.

Nathan the prophet at one point came to David and he had this story that would try to invoke some kind of emotion, and then from there pronounce some kind of judgment, some kind of charge. And that is precisely what is about to happen. Nathan was successful in that. Perhaps Joab realized that Nathan was able to get something out of David through that method, and so he wants to now utilize the same tactic. I'm gonna have a woman and we're told here that she was very wise.

Right? She's a wise woman. I'm gonna dress her up in a certain way. I'm gonna give her a script and let's just see if something will happen to David's heart where he be he will be able to convict himself like he did when Nathan approached them. And this is a lesson already.

The fact that Job is imitating Nathan in some way is instructive for us concerning how we face spiritual warfare in some way. What do you mean? Well, the prophet again came to David with a parable and that would produce some kind of sense of justice for him to make some kind of a statement. Right? But here we see that Joab, on the other hand, will will use such a familiar means, but not to bring about righteousness.

It is to bring him to a point where he actually dismisses the law instead of coming to the law. This is not going to encourage him to overshadow that which God commands and to use a different kind of standard to make his decision concerning Absalom. And if that is true, then this is what we have to learn. That the enemy, our enemy, the enemy of your soul and mine, he often disguises himself and imitates what God has done or what God can do in order to disarm us in a way that would dupe us in one way or another. So this is a call for discernment, a discernment that David would unfortunately lack.

You and I have to understand that this woman was described again as wise. And depending on the context, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. You know what is the last time or where the last time we are told someone was wise? It was Jonadab. We were told that he was a crafty man in second Samuel 13.

It's the same word used here. Cunning, deceptive, persuasive, convincing. Joab knew exactly who to find to do the job. And you and I have to understand that we cannot be fooled by the way something or someone is packaged. We have to look beyond the surface.

We must be able to develop discernment through the truth of God's word and his Holy Spirit in us. And so here's here's the understanding, just because somebody quotes a few verses out of context, it doesn't mean they're right. Just because they hold a Bible. Just because their demeanor seems gentle and kind and compassionate and soft, It doesn't matter what kind of testimonies they even provide to try to validate their counsel or their belief. It doesn't mean they are from God.

It doesn't mean it is right. And so here we see something very familiar, a righteous man did this at one point, but now we have an unrighteous man borrowing the tactics of someone who was of God and is now going to persuade someone through very similar tactics to draw somebody away from God. Be very careful. The devil doesn't come to your front door with horns and a pitchfork and a tail. He can have his own evangelistic show on satellite television.

He can have awesome podcasts that reaches the world. They can come to our church and sit in our pews and amen bible studies and sing the same songs. Be very careful. Unfortunately, David is not careful with a pretender. She is a pretender.

So now, here's what we're gonna do. The next set of verses will show us the elements or at least some elements of deception that we must be aware of because, unfortunately, they are the very things that will direct a divided heart to make the wrong decision. Let's read from verse four. You with me? Verse four.

When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, save me oh king. And the king said to her, what is your trouble? She answered, alas I am a widow. My husband is dead. And your servant had two sons and they quarreled with one another in the field.

There was no one to separate them and one struck the other and killed him. And now the whole clan, other translations would say the whole family, has risen against your servant. And they say, give up the man who struck his brother that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed. And so they would destroy the air also thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth. Again, like Nathan's parable, Joab is very clever and here's how he's clever.

He is fabricating a story to be close enough to David's predicament so that when he does pronounce a judgment, he would indict himself. Yet, he makes it different enough for David not to be aroused in his suspicion. But instead of suspicion, there would be sympathy that would be stimulated based on the content of the case that is being presented. And so I want you, based on the verses that we just read, and I'm actually asking you and I'm gonna hear your answers, we'll hear it together. Based on this, remember, the strategy is let's come as close as possible to the real event that happened a few years ago, but let's let's separate ourselves enough so that David can't catch on.

What are some differences? We see the similarities. Right? But what are the differences here that are important to point out? And I'll tell you why they're important in in a moment.

What do you see here? You would have to have come the past few weeks to know what the real event was, but for those who have been here or know the story well, look at these three verses that we just read and think, what is different? Yeah. So we have the whole family asking for the one who slayed the brother to be put to justice. Right?

We don't have any indication that that was happening in David's family. Well, in the real event, were there two brothers at conflict? Now, the way this woman presents it was that there was a spontaneous combustion of some kind of tension and one brother killed the other on the spot. Is that what happened in real life? What happened in real life?

Premeditated. It was premeditated. That's important. So the woman already here is trying to soften the crime by making it seem as though it was it was just the heat of the moment. The heat of the moment.

Right? Somebody had their hand up. Yes. Yeah. Interesting.

Right? There were no witnesses. There was nobody who can intervene. There was no one who could step in. Sure.

What's the heartbreaking part about the story apart from the murder? She's a widow. She's a widow. She doesn't have a husband. So her only means of support are her sons.

One son is gone. She has one son left. And if they were to perform this execution, if capital punishment were to be done, she would lose her other son and she would be left alone, destitute and in danger. That's an interesting difference. And she even strategically uses the word heir.

I think that's to strike a chord in David's heart as well. Who will be the heir? My husband's name will disappear or vanish from the remnant of the earth. And so, here we see something that may be similar. A real murder took place, but it's vastly different than what David had to deal with.

Was Absalom David's only son? Was his his only son left? No. He had several sons. So was David's kingdom in jeopardy?

Was his dynasty going to go extinct? Even if Absalom was dealt with according to the law? No. But in this story, it's it's a pretty serious dilemma. But that dilemma is not parallel to the real thing and yet it's being presented for a reason.

And here's the thing, I was reading this, I was looking at this, I was studying this and I thought, here's how you can summarize the strategy of this woman at this point in one word, exaggeration. Exaggeration. She knows very well what David is dealing with. Joab made it known to her and yet they blow it out of proportion. The the fake story is blown out of proportion, and that is for a reason.

She is making David's problem seem larger and more drastic than it really is. And when she comes to do this, she is doing so in order to sway his heart and to convince him that if he does make the wrong decision in the estimation of Joab, then it will cost him very much. And so this is a this is a deliberate way of trying to overcome David with something that is not true. It's partly true, but it's not completely true. And we could even say that she is softening the brother's murder as something, again, as spontaneous when the facts are Absalom thought about it for two years.

From the moment that he heard that Tamar or Tamar was hurt, he knew he went into that mode of planning something to eliminate his brother. And here's the thing that you and I have to understand with this. Some people exaggerate innocently. Right? They're just prone to perceive things and to not recall them according to the actual proportion of of the issues.

And then there are other people who who do so intentionally. And those who do it intentionally usually do so in order to accomplish a selfish ambition that would require deceit in order to arrive there. And that goal can be anything from seeking sympathy from others or praise from others. And so they decorate something in order to pull on the heartstrings a little bit more or excite people a little bit more. And that may seem innocent to us, but it can go from there to anything as extreme as what we see here to try to persuade those in authority to make a judgment that will be in their favor even if it makes others pay a high price.

Embellishing the truth may seem harmless, but it can be deadly to the undiscerning. And it happens more often than we think. Doesn't it? We maybe caught ourselves doing it. One of the ways that I've seen it throughout the years of ministry, this is probably the most common way I've personally seen it, maybe you would not agree with me, but this is just me, is that when a case is presented or or when there's some issue or whatever is going on, it's usually backed up or it's usually introduced with the following.

So many said or saw or heard the same thing. The majority agree. There is a consensus. And then when you ask, okay, who? You get half a name out of the so many.

Out of the so many that are affected by it and so many that are disturbed by it and so many that have seen it, then you just investigate a little bit and it's really barely anybody. And so we we if we're not careful, we can go into that place where we try to make something seem more serious, more threatening, or maybe more successful, more popular than it really is, when in fact, that's not the case at all. And this is the thing that you have to understand, that if we're not careful, we can allow others stretch something to cloud our judgment. The second element here, apart from exaggeration, is something that you and I have to very much take into consideration. Let's go back to the introduction when she first stepped into the throne room.

She said, save me, oh king. And before that, she fell on her face to the ground. Now, how did she look based on the first few verses that we read? Did she come dressed up? Did she come with perfume, with makeup?

No. She didn't. Everything but. She was a mourner. She had mourning garments.

She didn't anoint herself with oil. She she was a mess. This is a costume. Right? And and with the costume came a character.

She comes in and she just falls to the ground. She's an older woman, and this is supposed to, from the beginning, cause David to be alarmed and to be shook. And the way she paints her words, the way she colors her circumstance is very very telling. I mean, look down here at verse seven again, and notice how she talks about her her future, the bleakness of her future. It says here, thus they would quench my coal that is left.

Like so poetic, so desperate. My life has been reduced to one little coal and it is ready to be extinguished unless you, oh king, intervene on my behalf. That's good. That's really good. And so, David is is is having his heart stirred by the sight, by the sound, by the actions, by the presentation.

And so what's happening here? Well, we talked about exaggeration and now we see that this woman is obviously trying to engage the emotions. To engage the emotions. You realize how powerful your feelings are, do you not? And I am not among those who condemn emotions.

They came from a good God for good pleasure. They are a gift. They add they add dimension to life. They accompany things. Right?

But like any good gift that comes from our heavenly father, it can be abused if it is not managed or supervised carefully. And that is exactly what is going to take place in David. The woman is exciting the faculties of his feelings so that he can do what? Make a conclusion based on his emotion while dismissing the facts of the matter. Ignore the facts, David.

The facts are is what we see here that she says concerning the clan. The clan, in accordance to the law, have the right to the demand for the brother who killed his brother to be put to death. That's that's the fact. That's the truth. But it was coded, and it was surrounded with this appeal to sentiment, and to compassion, and to all these different things so that he can ignore the facts.

Ignore what is demanded. And I think about how this is an operation today. If you if you really are honest, you know that when it comes to evil being tolerated, it often requires emotions to be manipulated. When evil wants to be tolerated, it often requires emotions to be manipulated. Think about all the wicked agendas that are being pushed on our culture today.

Listen closely. Listen closely and you realize that they are baseless arguments. They're not found in logic. They're not found in reason. They're not found in facts.

They're not found in data. It's emotional reasoning, has no legs to stand on. And yet, it is working with so many. And when you get people to think by what they feel, you can actually bring them to the point where they dismiss what is real. Get them to think by what they feel and they can even disregard what is real.

What is true? What is scientific? What is obvious? What is common sense? You're thinking, what's happening in our world?

Why are we seeing what we're seeing? Yeah. It's a great delusion according to Romans one. We're at the bottom of the barrel according according to God's passive judgment. Sure.

But in a practical sense, what we're seeing is the fruit of making your convictions based on your emotions. And depending on who is affected by that, it can have disastrous consequences. And in this case, I mean, I I hope you realize how serious this is because depending on what David does, it will affect the future of the nation. And so we see that this woman is persuading him. Persuading him with exaggeration, persuading him with emotional manipulation.

And if you and I are not careful to discern that these same tactics can be utilized on us, on a microscopic level or on a macro level, then we are bound to make silly decisions like David does. What will he end up doing after this facade? Verse eight, then the king said to the woman, go to your house and I will give orders concerning you. Without hesitation, he assures the woman that her guilty son will not be punished. Now here's the thing, we learned earlier that this woman was crafty and so she would not be satisfied with this general statement.

Because this is what he's essentially saying. Okay. Just go home and I'll and I'll let you know what I'm gonna do. Uh-uh. Not happening.

So she persists for David to make his settlement more accurate. Look at verse nine, and the woman of Tekoa said to the king, on me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house let the king and his throne be guiltless. The king said in verse 10, if anyone says anything to you, bring him to me and he shall never touch you again. So she's not satisfied. David gives a more defined resolution in verse 10 and she's still not satisfied.

I'm not leaving with that. I'm not I'm not going back. I need something more concrete. And so again, look at verse 11. Then she said, please let the king invoke the Lord your God that the avenger of blood kill no more and my son be not destroyed.

It's like, I need you now to make an oath. I'm appealing to a higher court, a heavenly court, and I'm asking you now to invoke the name of the Lord because there's nothing more binding than that. And to to let me know for certain that my son will not be handed over to the law. What does the ruler of Israel do? He said, as the Lord lives, not one hair of your sons shall fall to the ground.

David, you're in trouble. Without him realizing, he compounded his conviction, his own conviction, his own condemnation. And he backed himself up in a corner, and guess what? He won't be able to escape unless he's willing to be blasphemous and dishonor his oath to God. He's stuck.

He can't go anywhere from here, especially because the Lord's name is now involved. And once the woman saw that David was committed to this case, she turns the table. And like Nathan, who at the right time said, you are the man, she is now going to reveal what this is really all about. So look at verse 12. Then the woman said, please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.

He said, speak. I'd be nervous. And the woman said, why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision, the king convicts himself in as much as the king does not bring his banished one home again. You know what I find so disturbing about this?

Because as much as this is the woman who's standing and facing off with David, it's really Joab. And what I find so disturbing about this whole ordeal is that Joab is going to great lengths to make sure that David is convicted. Like, wouldn't you think you would do that with Absalom instead? Who's the real guilty one in all of this? It's Absalom.

And up to this point, three years have gone by, there's no repentance, no remorse, no regret, no shame, no embarrassment, nothing. This man is hiding away in his pride waiting for a red carpet to roll out for him to come back into his palace. And yet Job is doing all of this to make an innocent man in this situation feel guilty and to repent, so to speak. And when you see this, you have to understand that we should not expect anything more from somebody who does not have a submission to the scriptures. When you do not view the world the way God calls you to view the world, you will have a distorted understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

Is that not true? And when I looked at this, when I looked at Joab's behavior, I I thought of the verse that is there before Proverbs chapter 30. The last verse of Proverbs 29 reads this, an unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. An unjust man, somebody who's guilty, somebody who's a sinner, somebody who's a rebel, that kind of a person is an abomination to the righteous. But the one whose way is straight and honorable and on the narrow path and in perpetual agreement to the word of God is actually an abomination to the wicked.

So that same righteous indignation that you sense concerning sin and injustice and corruption, those same feelings though justified are experienced in the hearts of those who are evil towards those who are right. There's such a perversion that occurs when we abandon God. Everything gets messed up. And Joab here is proving to be such a man. He can look at somebody like David and instead of encouraging to do right, challenge him to do wrong and then to even indict him if he doesn't.

So David is is hearing this from this messenger, this actress, this lady with no name. And how do you know that Joab based on the verses were that were just read, how do you know that Joab is not a person who has regard for the scriptures? Look carefully. Specifically at verse 13. What stands out to you?

What is the subject of David's guilt apparently? But more specifically, it's it's right there in the wording of of the woman. Very good. Why have you planned such a thing against the people of God? You know what he should have said if it was true?

Against the law of God. No such thing. So in Joab's mind, here's here's a problem. David, if you do not bring Absalom back, this will affect the morale of the nation and potentially the future of this nation. And so what is pumping through Joab's veins is purely political.

It's not about righteousness. It's not about God's standard. It's not about what he asked for concerning us. It's about what will happen to the people. So this this is not a person who who has any mindfulness of God's demands.

And that's where you get in trouble. Listen. Hey, do you wanna be protected from being deceived? Do You wanna be protected from making stupid decisions in life? Can I can I suggest something to you?

Don't seek the counsel of people who don't tremble at God's word. And I know that there are general things that you can seek even unbelieving people for, but when it comes to doing that which is right, I I highly recommend not going to a person who does not ordain their lives under every precept found in this book from Genesis to Revelation. Just throw that out there. What will happen to the people of God? Well, here's my main concern.

What will happen to God and my relationship with God and his name and his honor? That's a righteous man. That's a righteous woman. That's somebody who will protect themselves from pitfalls in life that they could have easily skipped over. They had just trusted in the wisdom of God.

And in verse 14, this woman goes from trying to point out the offense here to bringing objective observations into the whole predicament. And this is what she does. Look at verse 14. We must all die. She's still talking to David.

We are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, but God will not take away life and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. So she's continuing to make her case more convincing. She's trying to drive this thing home, and she says three important things. Here's the first thing that she says. We must all die.

We are like water spilled on the ground. What do you think she means by that? Kind of, but you're close. Life is short, David. Life is like spilling water and not only is it short, once it's over, it's over.

If I spill water here on the carpet, you would think I'm a man meant to try to put it back in the cup. And so it's a combination of not only is life short, it it it's end is unexpected and once it's over, you can't redo what you need to redo or what you hope to redo. And in the context, what she is suggesting is, David, reconcile before it's too late. Make sure you mend this thing before the grave calls you or the grave calls him. And then you look back and you think, I wish I had done something.

And so she's she's appealing to the brevity of life and our unannounced expiration date, and how we should do what we need to do to be able to make sure that we are at peace with all men, and that when God does call us home, we don't look back and have any regrets. I think that's a powerful point. But then, she says something else. The second thing is, God does not take away life. Consider the context, but God will not take away life.

What do you think she means by that? It's a little harder to interpret. Here's what I believe that it means, that the Lord does not prefer judgment as his primary answer to wrong. That the Lord does not, as his first step, desire to execute or to eliminate or to shut the door for mercy to be experienced first. And in this case, what she's saying in light of Absalom is, listen, if God really wanted to punish Absalom, he would have done it already.

He would have just struck him down. He would have sent a plague into his very body. He would have just had him killed, but Absalom is still alive. And so up to this point, we have two arguments being made. Right?

Life is short, it's brief. Why don't you reconcile before it's too late? It could also mean this, look, in the same way that a cup is poured out into the dirt and you can't gather it up again, Amnon's dead. Amnon's gone. And so even if you do punish Absalom, is that gonna bring Amnon back?

That's not gonna bring Amnon back. And God doesn't take away life. That's not his his primary desire or his ambition in dealing with those who are in sin, and that's closely tied into her final case, her final point being made. And what is that? And he, being God, devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.

That's a beautiful point. Is it not? In other words, God has provided a system, a sacrificial system in order to give the sinner an opportunity to experience forgiveness, and grace, and restoration. Instead of remaining banished and in exile from his presence. And so this final point is very clear.

God has done what he could to initiate reconciliation and to swing his arms open wide for the sinner to come. And if God, David, is willing to do that, why aren't you? Why aren't you? You can just imagine the weight. You can imagine the crushing conviction that this man is feeling.

And so all in all, this is all being said so that David could urgently and mercifully bring Absalom home. I might disappoint you at this point, but you have to stick around to see what I'm about to say and prove it. As kind and as compassionate, as warm and fuzzy, all of this may seem, there are a couple of things wrong with this picture of forgiveness. What are they? What would you say?

What's that? There are consequences. Yes. No repentance, that is one for certain. Well, let me ask it this way to to try to just steer us in the right direction.

Many have referenced that verse, verse 14, especially the last part as a gospel gem hidden and tucked in an old covenant text, which is true because it points to God's alter means of bringing the banished one back to his presence. And that means is the man Christ Jesus. That that's the foreshadowing here. There has been a device. There has been a plan that God has ordained from eternity past, and it is that through the Son, those who have been pushed out because of their sin can now be brought back into fellowship with the Holy One.

And as as we look at this, we realize that's wonderful. That's true. That's it's a wonderful way of of trying to persuade the hearts of those who are lost to realize they can be found. But here's the problem. Does God compromise his law in order to reconcile us?

He doesn't. And this is why this is important. This is a gospel truth. You have many people who believe the way God forgives is that he just brushes things under the carpet. He says, you know what, I'm just gonna take your sins and throw them in the sea of forgetfulness.

We're not gonna have to deal with it. Let me just wink. Let's just start over. Let's just turn over a new leaf. Let's just forget it ever happened.

That's not how God forgives. And a popular preacher once said, and I looked it up just to make sure if it's still up there, and it's still up there. So it's still a public thing, and as as pastors who especially deal with the truth and have to protect people from those ideas that are not true, I have to tell you this. There's a popular pastor, maybe you've heard this, who said something along the lines of that, God broke his law in the name of love. Did you hear it?

God broke his law in the name of love. And the idea there is that, I'm guessing, because it wasn't clarified. So you're leaving me to speculate with such a strong strong commentary of the the gospel. That God performed some kind of injustice against the son in order to find a way to forgive all of us and to restore us unto himself. God didn't break his law to display his love.

He satisfied the law. That's the gospel. The wisdom of the cross is that justice and mercy kissed, and that God could uphold his holiness, while at the same time extend his mercy and neither of those attributes were ever compromised one bit. So God did not suspend his justice in order to seem more loving to sinners. No.

He satisfied his wrath in order for us to experience his loving kindness. That's the idea. And so to hear what this woman has to say is partly true. That there has been a plan provided, a means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast, but not at the expense of the law being ignored or neglected or worse, violated. And so we see here that no moral code was ever ever ever deleted in order to win our pardon.

No. He was able to satisfy his justice while swinging the door of mercy wide open for us to come right in. But one might object and this is where I want you to be equipped. Well, that that sounds nice, but is it really fair for the son of God to be killed on behalf of those who have sinned themselves and have a record of their own to deal with? Is that really just for God to send his son into place the sin of the world from Adam up to the final person who will live before it all ends?

Can we say that that is right? How would you answer that? Because that's a common question. Isn't that good? Can I tell you the reason?

Can I tell you the answer? It's in one verse and it's one of my favorite statements that Jesus ever made while walking on the earth. John 10 verse 18. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

Then he goes on to say that he has the authority to lay it down, and he has the authority to bring it right up again. Glory to Jesus Christ. I volunteer my life. I willingly lay down my life. I like Isaac Isaac, the greater Isaac, carry the wood willingly up to that mountain and lay myself down on that altar, and willingly open myself up to the dagger of God to pierce me, so that atonement can be made.

You realize that Isaac was not nine years old when he was being led by the father to go up into those mountains of Moriah. He had to be old enough to carry the wood. And if he was old enough to carry the wood and have a conversation with his father with an important observation how there's there's obviously a sacrifice missing, then he also had the strength and the independence to roll off that altar once he realized that he is the sacrifice. But he didn't. He silently and submissively stayed in place.

That's Christ. Yeah. We can make a case that it is unjust for somebody to be kicking and screaming, being pulled by a judge, though perfect, to pay for those who are imperfect. But what do you do with somebody who says, a body you have prepared for me? This is why I've come.

Him saying that I've come to be a ransom for many. Not to be served, but to serve. What do you do when the sun enters into our world with the sole purpose of dying? And so we see here that there's something very questionable about how the mercy of God is interpreted. And secondly, we see something else and our brother mentioned it.

There is no repentance in all of this. There is no call for Absalom to realize he's wrong and to admit there's no confession, there's no remorse, there there is no conversation about this, there's no rebuke, nothing. What Joab is saying is just bring him back. Let's just avoid potential problems here. And just bring him back and let's just move on with all this.

The longer he stays out there, the the more things can come about and let's just cut it and let's just let's just deal with this. And not deal with it the way that we should deal with it. And there is no evidence from this moment on that Absalom ever does share any kind of sense of guilt. He's able to just move on like it's nothing. And though, listen, you and I are all called to forgive from the heart.

You know that. Right? Every single one of us are called to forgive from our heart, but reconciliation is contingent upon repentance. I know that might shock you, but it is true. And if you want New Testament evidence for that, go to Luke 17 on your own time and realize that when Jesus talks about restoring a brother who sins multiple times a day, he includes a word that Luke really likes in his gospel account.

It's the word repent. If somebody repents and you rebuke him and he realizes it's wrong and vows to turn away from that wrong, then you can embrace them again. Do you know why repentance is important for reconciliation? There are many reasons why and here's one of them. Because someone who is in the wrong and wants to hold on to their wrong must learn that they cannot enjoy holy relationships without forsaking corruption first.

That is true for between two parties and that is true even on a local church level when somebody refuses to repent. The ultimate punishment of somebody who refuses to repent in a local church setting is that they are excommunicated. Because in God's wisdom, he will not allow in his love for his child to think that they can claim the privileges of the holy people of God while placing your address in Satan's territory. Just can't. You gotta pick one or the other.

And in hoping that once they go out into the world and they are released into the world, realizing how cold and cruel and ugly it really is, they would then come back and the church should be ready to embrace them again. So we do a disservice to the sanctification of people if we are willing to continually reconcile with them void of repentance. It's actually more harmful than it is anything else. And what you see here is that reconciliation without repentance additionally is a recipe for repeated offense. Can I say that one more time?

Reconciliation without repentance is a recipe for repeated, not just repeated, but even growing offense. And so there is a responsibility and not to satisfy an itch of the flesh because you and I believer have to be ready even multiple times a day according to the words of Jesus. That if somebody repents that you say, you have my you have my love, you have my fellowship, you have my attention. At the same time, if someone refuses to, then you have an obligation to refrain from giving access to that person the way they would want while also wanting their sin. And here's a prime example if we forsake that kind of wisdom.

It's in second Samuel 14. Look at verse 33. Look at how this chapter ends. We're not gonna be able to obviously finish this unless you wanna stay till, like, 11:30, but we're not gonna do that. In second Samuel fourteen thirty three, notice what happens.

Then Joab went to the king and told him and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom. That's a problem. That's a problem. This is extremely problematic because Absalom with all of this was still in an unrepented state.

And the father here gives him a kiss of approval. A kiss of pardon really. And that kiss permitted Absalom to have full range access to the world and the life that he knew before he was banished. And you know what you see in a very few short verses after this happened? Go to chapter 15 and look at verse six.

Thus, Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment, so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Do you know what happened? Do you know what's going to happen? Civil war is gonna break out. Civil war is going to break out and it had it happened because David was deceived in thinking that reconciliation without rebuke, reconciliation without repentance would bring some kind of peace.

You would think that this gesture would humble such a man and overwhelm him, but instead, he's gonna bring more harm than he ever did before. And instead, not only is he going to rip a nation into shreds, he's gonna destroy himself. So you see, we don't do people favors when we give them access to the fellowship that the Bible allows us to enjoy when we come together with the same cause and the same fight. We don't do people service when we say, you can hold on to your sin and still have all of this. Not only are you gonna bring more harm to the context of your life, but to that very person that you're trying to help.

Because Absalom is gonna end up dying unrepentant. So you see, in the same way that God does not bend justice to bring us to himself, he also does not excuse unrepentance for reconciliation sake. So everything about what this woman of Tekoa is saying, flags, flags, flags. It sounds good. It's very heart moving, but it's not completely true.

And here's the problem. In verse 18, after she continues and concludes her whole spiel, then the king answered the woman, do not hide from me anything I ask you. And the woman said, let my lord the king speak. The king said, is the hand of Joab with you in all of this? So some kind of fog was lifted and he was able to realize I mean, it makes you wonder, this is twice now it happened.

Right? You had Nathan come with a parable like story and then you it ended up pulling something out of you and then you get yourself in trouble. And now this woman comes and she he probably figured out this is not fictitious most likely and so now he's wondering, there's somebody behind the scenes here. And he says, is Joab behind all this? The woman answered and said, Asurely as you live, the lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said.

It was your servant Joab who commanded me. It is he put all these words in the mouth of your servant. In order to change the course of things, your servant Jo Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all these things that are on the earth. Like, I would say the same thing probably if I realized that, oh, I got caught.

You're like the angel of God. You're so wise. You're so amazing. Here's here's the thing. We can praise David for his discernment, but I can't do that.

You know why? Because I think his questioning was too late. David, you should ask those questions before. You should have put aside your feelings. You should have put aside your subjective issues and reasonings and thoughts and investigated and waited.

And see, you and I, in this day, we we are called to such wisdom, so happy that pastor Daniel read about wisdom in Proverbs four. I think this is the beauty of bible studies like this. It's extremely practical for day to day life. And we are living in a day of exaggeration, we are living in a day of an emotional tornado. And it's gonna demand us to make decisions about our convictions, about who we fellowship with, about what where we go, what we do, what we say, what we don't say.

And we will get ourselves in trouble unless we apply the wisdom of God's word to be our shield and to be our filter in this world. And so I look at David here and he asked the question, but he he's already stuck. He can't get out of it. He invoked the name of God and so he has to go through with it. It.

And so be reminded believer in this place that stories like this have been given to preserve us from similar mistakes. And that when it does come to a point in life where you have to make the right decision, as difficult as it may seem, realize that in those moments of dilemma where you are pondering what I should do, that the enemy is right there to tempt you to make the wrong decision. He'll put fear in you. He'll convince you that God's law seems inconsiderate and overwhelming. He'll try to persuade you that if you do it this way, which violates God's law, it will protect your future and it will cause less problems.

And so in those moments, just come to the word of God. And and in those moments where the word of God gives you the clear answer, trust in what God had said. If David would have taken care of Absalom, there wouldn't have been a civil war. If David had taken care of Absalom, if he had at least confronted him, potentially there would have been repentance and then David wouldn't have to woe himself. Absalom, Absalom, oh my son, and wish that you had died instead of him perhaps because you you have an idea of where he went after he died.

So here's the final thought I'm giving to you on this Friday night. At all times, in everything, no matter how difficult it may seem to do that which is right, do it. God's word is true, and the result of obedience is always better than what you think might come if you just do it your way. Trust in the Lord. He will lead you.

He will reward you. He will bless you in all things at all times. Amen? Let's pray together. Lord, we we humble ourselves tonight.

And though there's so much meat in this chapter, we trust that what you desire to speak to our hearts has been accomplished. Lord, with all of our weaknesses, we pray that what has been presented and studied and discussed together would indeed affect us. And, Lord, we even pray that for those who will have to face difficulty in doing the right thing, that this study will come to mind. This example in your eternal word would surface in the forefront of our thinking. And that we would be encouraged to know and equipped to know that this has happened before with many men and women of God and you have prescribed us exactly what we need in order to avoid the worst outcomes.

And Lord, even though we can't see the outcome of our obedience, help us believe you. And may your honor be our reward more than anything else. Lord, we ask for discernment in this age, discernment in our lives. We ask that you even help us not fall into the trap of decorating our truths with falsehood so that it can be more appealing or convincing, but we pray that we would not give into our emotions to determine what is right and what is wrong. And we ask, Lord, that you would give us the hunger for the word of God that would help us be able to see past the surface of all the the showmanship around us.

And so, Lord, we give you glory tonight for this study. We are moved to worship you because this is your wisdom given to us, and we are privileged to be adorned with these things that will help us glorify you tomorrow and the day after for the rest of our lives. Lord, receive our praise because it will be a praise of thanksgiving for the feast that second Samuel 14 has been to us tonight. We bless you now. In Jesus' name we do.

Amen. Amen. Shall we stand and give God glory?