>> Jen: Hello there, faithful listener. You've tuned in to season seven of the Bible explained podcast, so make sure to grab your cup of coffee, because today we are going to be discussing the book of Second Samuel. Well, good morning, faithful listeners. I hope that you all had a fantastic and wonderful and sunny weekend, which is what I actually had. We had a break in the weather and it was
gorgeous. Just such nice sunshiny weather with not a lot of humidity, which is very rare for, um, my area. We get very humid summers around here and very terrible winters. So Ohio, even though it's a wonderful state and I love it and I would never live anywhere else, sometimes the weather can get kind of extreme, but, uh, it was wonderful this past weekend and so I hope the weather was great for you guys. So tell me what you guys did over the
weekend. Tell me also what the weather was like and where you live and how you found the podcast. I really do love hearing from all of you guys. And you know, if you ever have a prayer quest, please, uh, share that with me also and I will write you down my little prayer journal, and I will pray for you for the week. I do have an announcement coming up, which once again, I am not quite ready to share it, but just know that there is going to be a big change to the podcast coming up in season
eight. I'm just going to share that with you guys right now, and all of that is in motion currently, so you can look forward to that. But let's go ahead and read 2 Samuel 18 today, verses one through 18. And I'm actually not going to give the story away today. Let's just go ahead and read it. I'll be reading from the web, as I always do. David counted the people who were with him and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
David sent the people out, a third part under the hand of Joab, a third part under the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of etai the Gittite. The king said to the people, I will also surely go out with you myself. But the people said, you shall not go out, for if we flee away, they will not care for us. Neither if half of us die, they will care for us. But you are worth 10,000 of us. Therefore, now it is better that you are ready to help us
out of the city. The king said to them, I will do what seems best to you. The king stood beside the gate and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king commanded all the captains concerning Absalom. So the people went out into the field against Israel and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. The people of Israel were struck
there before David's servants. And there was a great slaughter that day of 20,000 men. For the battle was spread over the surface of all the country. And the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Absalom happened to meet David's servants. Absalom was riding on his mule and the mule went under the thick bow of a great oak and his head caught hold of the oak and he was taken up between the sky and the earth. And the mule that was under him went on.
A certain man saw it and told Joab and said, behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak. Joab said to the man who told him, behold, you saw it. And why didn't you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a sash. The man said to Joab, though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand I still wouldn't stretch out my hand against the king's son for an hour hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Etai saying, beware that no
one touched the young man, Absalom. Otherwise, if I had dealt falsely against his life and there is no more hidden from the king, then you yourself would have set yourself against me. Then Joab said, I am not going to wait like this with you. He took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive. In the middle of the oak, ten young men who bore Joabs armor surrounded and struck Absalom and killed
him. Joab blew the trumpet and the people returned from pursuing after Israel for Joab held the people back. Then they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all of Israel fled, each one to his own tent. Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king's valley. For he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory. He called the
pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom's monument to this day. So firstly, please let me apologize for getting something wrong the other day. So what I said on Friday was that David only had about 700 men with him, which was true, because it did mention that David had those men with him. Those were the original men that were with David basically from the beginning when David was fleeing from Saul. Those 600 men were very loyal to David and traveled along with him.
But David had a lot of other people with him, which is stated right here in 2 Samuel 18, and later on, once again in 2 Samuel, either 19 or 20. It mentions that all of Judah, all of the tribe of Judah, was actually on David's side. So I don't know if all of the tribe of Judah was traveling with david. I don't know about that. But they showed up
for battle. So David probably had about 10,000 people with him who were about to go into battle against Absalom, because Absalom decided, against better judgment, to wage an all out war against his father. Absalom wanted the throne. He was trying to take it from David. He was doing all sorts of nefarious and terrible things. He was about to kill his own father. And Absalom decided to bring all of Israel together to wage
a war against David. So Absalom would have had tens of thousands of people who went out to battle with him. And David likely only had the tribe of Judah who was on his side, and that would have been about 10,000 people, most people think so. Sorry about getting the detail wrong the other day. David had a lot more soldiers than just 700 of them. He had all of the tribe of Judah, but still, that was not a ton of soldiers, because once again, Absalom had the rest of Israel on his side.
So it says that David counted the people who were with him, and he set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. So, yes, David did have several thousand men under his command. David sent the people out. A, ah, third part under the hand of Joab, a third part under the hand of Abishai, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai, the Gittite Ittai was mentioned just a couple chapters ago as one of the newer
recruits of David. But he was very loyal, it sounds like, and he was also a very good commander. So he proved his loyalty, and David ended up putting him almost on the same level as Joab right here. So Etai got to command a third part of all of the soldiers that David had. So the king says to his commanders and all of his soldiers and all of his people, he says, I will go out with you myself.
So David's like I'm going to go out to battle with you. I'm going to come along and I'm going to fight right along beside you. But the commanders, they say, no, we don't want you to come out. They say, you shall not go out, because if we flee, they won't care about us, or even if half of us die, they won't care about us. But you being there, they're going to target you. So it would be better for us to go out without you. You go hide somewhere, because you are still needed
as the king of Israel. And David actually agrees. He says, all right, I will take your advice. I will stay out of this battle. It says, the king stood beside the gate and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. So David at this point, was staying on the other side of the Jordan river in this city called Mahanaime. So that is the gate they're talking about, probably the gate of the city. And David was standing beside it,
basically seeing off all of his soldiers. But before they go, David has one last command for all of them. It says, the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Etai, saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king commanded the captains concerning Absalom. So David told his three captains, do not hurt Absalom. Deal gently with him for my sake, is what he said. And every person heard that King David did not want Absalom dead. He
wanted him captured alive. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. It says, the people of Israel were struck there before David's servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of 20,000 men. So that just proves right there that Absalom had way more fighters under his command than David had, because 20,000 israeli men died in this battle, and David likely only had about 10,000 men under his command.
So David's men basically killed 2 people for every one man. That is how successful David's army was. But it mentions here that God was on David's side because it says that it was in the forest of Ephraim, which is where this battle took place. And it says that the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. So somehow God was using the forest to win the battle for David. And no one knows exactly what was
happening here, though there is some speculation. Some people think that it was wild animals that were also fighting on David's side. Some people think that the men were tripping and falling and getting hurt that way. But we don't know exactly what happened. We just know that this was a miracle, whatever was taking place here, the forest was devouring more people than the sword was devouring, devouring. So it says that Absalom happened to meet David's servants. So
Absalom is riding along on his mule. He's in the middle of this battle, this battle that Ahithophel in the last chapter told him not to do. Right. Ahithophel tried to convince Absalom to go a different route, which probably would have worked. But Absalom, because he was so prideful and so vain, he felt like he needed to be a warrior like his dad was. And so he decided to wage this battle against his dad and he's having a
massive defeat. But you can actually see how ignorant Absalom was in battle because he's taking a mule. A mule out in battle. That is not a common animal to go out into battle with. The typical animal would be the horse, like a trained horse that was ready for battle. But Absalom takes his mule out into battle, which was kind of interesting. So he's riding along on his mule and he actually comes
by David's servants. And so probably while fleeing from them, knowing that this battle he just waged was a massive failure, he flees and what happens is the mule went under a thick bow of a great oak and it says that his head caught hold of the oak and he was taken up between the sky and the earth and the mule that was under him went on. So the mule that Absalom is on is running through the forest and it slams Absalom against a big oak tree and somehow Absalom gets stuck on that tree from his
head. Now, a lot of people think that it was his hair, you know, because it said, ah, a couple chapters ago that Absalom's hair was very thick and really nice and it was a source of pride for him. So a lot of people think that it was his hair that got caught on this tree. But it doesn't say that in scripture. It just says that his head got caught. So people assume that it's the hare, though we don't know that
exactly. But Absalom is now hanging from this oak tree and the mule just keeps going, just leaves Absalom there as any animal would do. And it says that David's servants saw what happened. So they go back to Joab and they tell Joab everything they had just seen. They said we saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree. And Joab gets mad. He's like, you saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree and you didn't kill him. He's defenseless right
now. Why didn't you kill him? In fact, Joab goes so far to say, if you would have killed him, I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a sash. So he's like, I would have rewarded you really well if you would have gone and killed Absalom. So why didn't you do it? And maybe it's very possible that Joab had already told his men, if they see Absalom, to kill him, that he would reward them if they did. But the servant didn't want Joab's reward. In fact, the servant gets kind of Madden at Joab.
It says. The man says to Joab, if I would have received a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn't stretch out my hand against the king's son. I heard what the king told you to do. I heard him saying, beware that no one touched the young man, Absalom. And then he says, if I had dealt falsely against his life, and there is no matter hidden from the king, then you yourself would have, uh, set yourself against me. So he says,
I don't want your ten pieces of silver. Because when David finds out about this, because nothing is hidden from the king, you would have gotten me killed, Joab. And my life is more valuable to me than ten pieces of silver. And plus, I don't want to disobey the king, is what this man says. So Joab gets really impatient. He says, I'm not going to wait like this
with you. So he takes three darts in his hand. So three very sharp instruments, whether swords or whatever, and he thrusts them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the middle of the oakland. So Joab is watching Absalom just hanging there. He takes three sharp weapons and he plunges them through Absalom's heart. But the worst part was, Absalom was not dead yet, because Joab's servants had to finish the job. Because Absalom was just going to die very
slowly. At this point, Joab's servants, ten young men who bore Joab's armor, surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him. So the servants had to finish the job that Joab started. Now, some people wonder, was Joab right or wrong to kill Absalom? Quite honestly, Absalom did deserve to die. He was terrible in every aspect. He was trying to kill his own father. He was staging a coup against his own father. He caused division within Israel. He caused unrest in Israel.
He caused so many problems. Not to mention that he was a rapist. He went and raped his father's concubines, you know, women who probably had children with King David, which is very disgusting. He did that. He was a murderer. I mean, he was a nasty guy. By every standard of the Old Testament law, he deserved to die. But that was not Joab's call to make, I think, because Joab was under the leadership of
King David. Now, I think that Absalom probably would have died either way, even if Joab had not killed him, because it was clearly stated in the last chapter that God had rejected Absalom and actually intended evil for Absalom, is what it said. So Absalom was going to die one way or the other. But I don't think it was right for Joab to do it, because Joab was making himself out to be a judge of
Israel above King David. King David was supposed to be the judge, even if he was super soft on his kids, which he always was. David was the king. He was the leader. And so Joab is making the same decision, actually, that caused Absalom to fall just a couple chapters ago when Absalom decided to kill his brother
Amnon for raping his sister Tamar. When David did nothing about that situation, which was wrong of David in every way, but Absalom decided to make himself the judge and kill Amnon for what he had done. And now Joab is making the same exact mistake. He is deciding to be the judge in this situation. Now. David honestly probably should have
put Absalom to death. And I can understand why David was hesitant to do that, because Absalom was his own son, you know, and I can't imagine any parent being able to do that, you know, so I can't judge David too harshly in this situation, but it's very clear that David was just a terrible, terrible disciplinarian, and he was pretty bad at parenting in general. So David should have honestly put Absalom to death, but Joab decided to
do that himself. So Joab kills Absalom, and it says that, Joab blows the horn to tell people that the battle is over with. So Israel, who is on Absalom's side, retreats, flees from the situation, and all of David's men come back home. It says that they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. So that is how they treated Absalom's body. They buried him very quickly and they put a whole bunch of stones over his
body. But to finish out something that Absalom did, this is the only notable thing, apparently, that Absalom did. Here's what it says now. Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar which is in the king's valley. For he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory. He called the pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom's monument to this day. And that is the only notable
thing Absalom did. He made a monument to himself and he says, I have no child to, you know, make my name go on. So I am going to make a monument for myself. And he called it after himself. This just shows more of, you know, Absalom's just insane vanity, right, for enacting a monument in dedication to himself. Now, the thing was, was that Absalom did
have children. And it's very possible that either the children died, the three sons that he had either died, or Absalom was so vain that he made any excuse he could that maybe his kids aren't good enough to carry on the family name or something in order to erect this, uh, monument for himself that he really wanted. So, yeah, there's that. That is what Absalom did in his lifetime.
Now, I do want to point your guys attention to a verse from the Old Testament law that mentions people who hang on a tree. This is, uh, deuteronomy 21 23. I'm not going to read the whole verse, just this small little part here. It says, for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Now, the Greek will say, who is hanged on a tree is accursed of God. And most versions will translate it as hung on a
tree. Now, of course, a lot of people take this verse and apply it to Jesus who hung on the tree and took the curse, uh, of God for us, which of course, that is part of prophecy. But traditionally, people who hang on a tree are cursed of God, is what it says in the Old Testament. And so Absalom was literally, literally hanging on a tree by his neck or his hair or whatever, by his head.
He was accursed of goddesse. So according to jewish tradition, Absalom is one of the few Jews who does not make it into heaven, which is very interesting. And that is because he was cursed by hanging in a tree. And from this we can also gain some context that Absalom probably was not saved, but I'll get into that more once we hear about David's response to hearing about the death of Absalom on Wednesday. Guys, I hope you enjoyed today's episode and you found it
interesting. I really liked talking about it. I liked hearing Absalom's story and really delving into his character and just who he was as a person and also David's consistency with not disciplining his kids. And shockingly this is not the last time we're gonna hear about that. Scripture is super consistent that David did not discipline his kids and honestly I think that this story is a warning to parents that disciplining your kids is actually a very good
thing. Guys, I will see you all tomorrow for an episode from the book of Romans. I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your day and I will see you 06:00 a.m. or whenever you choose to wake up and listen. Happy listening and God blessed. I.