29 March | EVERYONE
«So we will come upon him in some place where he may be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as one.» 2 Samuel 17:12
There, deep in the Jordan riverbed, the blue of the water reflected his rage. With a greedy mind, his long hair disheveled by memories, Absalom, seated on a stone, seized with fury, breathed the oxygen of his vengeance that had accompanied him to Geshur, the domain of his maternal grandfather, Talmai.
Absalom remained in exile in Geshur after murdering his brother Amnon, who had raped his sister Tamar. The consequences of David’s sin were now manifest in the lives of his children. The king lived surrounded by concubines, and although in the culture of those days such behavior was acceptable, God never approved of polygamy. The effects on the families in which this type of behavior was practiced were always sad, not to say tragic.
After three years of exile in Geshur, Absalom returned because of Joab’s political machinations, but he did so with a heart full of pride and rebellion, and with the insane obsession of seizing power, to overthrow his own father. To complete the picture, he took the advice of shrewd advisors, one of whom, Hushai, suggested to him how to kill King David and his men, as described in the verse above.
The years of his old age were sad for David. He tasted firsthand the pain of being swept away by his passions. Absalom was killed after hanging from a tree by the hair and being pierced by enemy darts.
A sad ending, which teaches us the lesson that the family is the nucleus where love should be engendered among its members. Children follow their parents’ example. The fruits of not following God’s counsel appear sooner or later.
Take Action
Think carefully about every step you take in life, especially the big decisions that will mark your future. The consequences can be unpredictable and stay with you for the rest of your days.