2 Samuel 14
I once had a professor say that “Sin is the great complicator of life.” We this vividly in this chapter full of ironies.
Joab knows that, while David cannot openly forgive Absalom - for that would be to admit his own fault - David also secretly mourns the absence of his son (1). So Joab recruits a “woman from Tekoa” (2) - where Amos would eventually hale from (Amos 1:1) - who will plead with the king for justice. She does just this, and then entraps David in his own words (3-17).
David knows this plan is of Joab; he knows his general too well (18). And so he affirms Joab and permits him to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem (19-22). The irony here is while Absalom returns, he is not welcomed into the king’s presence for “two full years” (28). Two years, present in the city, but not present with his father or presumably the family. Without forgiveness and justice, David keeps Absalom caught in some kind of purgatory. This is massively ironic, for this is exactly how David himself seemed to have been raised: as the black sheep of the family, mostly likely the child born to the unfaithful concubine in Judges 19:2. Why else would Jesse not have him present when Samuel chose the next king (1 Samuel 16)?
We should also note that this is the same Joab that David should have punished when he murdered Abner (see chapter 3), just as he punished his own men who killed Ish-bosheth (2 Sam. 4:5-12). And this is the same Absalom who was brought up by David alongside Amnon, who raped Absalom’s sister (chapter 13).
Perhaps to honor her, perhaps as a sign to his father, Absalom has a daughter, whom he names “Tamar” (27). Joab too keeps Absalom at a safe distance, but Absalom finally gets his attention (30-31).
And by the end of the chapter, Joab has gotten Absalom an audience with his father. What is striking - again - is that there are tears, but no justice, no forgiveness (33). The can of sin simply gets kicked down the road . . .
. . . which means that festering resentments will bubble up into rebellion and civil war in the near future.
“Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” -John Owen
Share this post