Don’t Follow Absalom Blindly

King David was many things, but a good father was not one of them.  This fact is evident in how he raised Adonijah (to whom he never said “No!”), Amnon (who raped his own sister), and Absalom (who tried to kill his father, David).

After David sinned with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan announced, “the sword shall never depart from thine house” (2 Samuel 12:10).  Fulfilling this curse, Absalom led a revolt against David.

It began with Absalom sitting in front of David’s palace, daily criticizing him.  With this steady and unrelenting flow of negatives, “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel” (2 Samuel 15:6).  The Israelites became so infatuated with Absalom that they followed him even though they didn’t know what he actually stood for.  “They went in their simplicity and they knew not anything” (2 Samuel 15:11).  The result was that they took David (who had brought them genuine prosperity and national security) and drove him out.

But we can hardly blame these ignorant Israelites, for they didn’t have the advantages of today’s social media to help them know what was true.  Absalom wasn’t tweeting out his beliefs, and without Fox or CNN to inform them, how were the Israelites supposed to know what Absalom really believed?

But social media apparently doesn’t make a difference.  Millions follow charismatic or likeable leaders without knowing or understanding any part of their platform.  The New Testament explains that: “They heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:4-5).

And that: “Because they refused to love the truth God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).

Far too many today make the same mistake the Israelites did by turning against what brings them the protection, stability, and prosperity they enjoy— but now take for granted.

We have to be different.  We must seek the truth and then share it with those around us— even if doing so is difficult.  As the Apostle Paul urged, “reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel