AP

2 Samuel 14:28-30  Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king’s face. Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come. Then he said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. 

King David’s third son, Absalom, was a very complex personality.  His heart was a constant battleground between good and evil.  He had organised the killing of his oldest half-brother, Amnon to avenge Amnon’s raping Absalom’s sister Tamar, and also because their father David had failed to pursue justice on behalf of the violated girl.

This action was understandable, and to some extent commendable; but the fact that by doing so he also advanced his own place in line for the throne calls his real motivation into question.  It also broke his father’s heart leading to a painful 5 year alienation.  David’s faithful servant, Joab, had risked his reputation, perhaps even his life, to effect a move towards reconciliation after 3 of these years by managing to gain permission for Absalom to return to Jerusalem from exile, but David still refused to see his banished son face-to-face.  Absalom pressed Joab to complete the process – a good thing – but when Joab refused (perhaps fearing David’s displeasure), the impetuous, self-seeking Absalom vented his anger on this innocent, well-meaning servant by destroying his barley crop – a spiteful thing.  Yes, Absalom (a diminutive of ‘Abi-shalom’, ‘my father is peace’) had many good points in his favour.  W. W. Davies points these out: “His charming manners, his personal beauty, his ingratiating ways, together with his love of pomp and royal pretensions, captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning.” But, sadly, his narcissism and very selfish ambitions were his ultimate downfall.

He loved David dearly, and his father loved him dearly (cf Chapter 19:1-4), but there were flaws in the character of each that robbed them both of a close, satisfying father-son relationship that would lead to a God-honouring outcome.  Do we ever let pride, self-interest, or a failure to do what is just, deprive us of God’s blessing, peace, and our usefulness to him?

– Bruce Christian