Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 14-15.

Joab’s actions led to Absalom’s rebellion.  Joab thought he was acting in David’s interest when he convinced David to bring Absalom back from exile.  However, if he had not done so, Absalom would never have been able to set his rebellion in motion.  Even then, if Joab had not interceded with David to allow Absalom to come to his court, Absalom still would have been unable to gain traction for his rebellion.  So, while Joab thought he was doing what was best for David by reconciling him with Absalom, by doing so he allowed Absalom to set in motion his plot to usurp the throne.  One thing which is not clear to me is why Absalom attempted to usurp the throne.  If he had just waited for David to die, it seems likely he would have inherited the throne instead of Solomon.  Or, perhaps, he thought that David intended to choose Solomon.

In any case, Absalom’s actions in endearing himself to the people before he initiated his actual attempt to seize the throne gives us great warning against evil people who desire leadership roles.  Absalom put on a show and told people that he would have sided with them if he had the power to decide their case when they came to Jerusalem.  But, he never went to his father and offered his services to actually preside over such cases.  Rather than actually work to help people by taking on responsibilities, he told people that he would do what they wanted if he had the power.  If Absalom had asked David to give him authority to judge these cases, it seems likely that David would have done so.  This is a sign of a leader not to be trusted.  They are quick to tell everyone what is wrong with the current system, but make no effort to fix it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 14-15.

We know from other passages that David would have liked to reduce Joab’s influence (and that of Joab’s brother) over his policies.  Yet, when I read this passage, and a couple of others which describe Joab’s actions, Joab appears to have acted in David’s interest (or, at least, what Joab perceived to be David’s interest) in every occasion but one (and in that one, Joab appears to have acted in what he believed to be the kingdom’s interest).  In this case, Joab recognized that David was saddened by Absalom being exiled.  So, Joab took action to convince David to end Absalom’s exile.  Every time I have read this passage I have wondered at David’s hostility towards Joab and his brothers.  Then today, as I was trying to put this together I realized the answer.   While Joab did what he thought was best for David and his kingdom, and sometimes got David to do what Joab knew he wanted to do, he did not seek God’s guidance in deciding what those things were.  Take this incident as an example, Joab convinced David to bring Absalom back from exile because he knew that David desired to do so.  And Joab got David to not only bring Absalom back from exile, but to recognize him as his son, and heir, once more.  These two things led to Absalom plotting to take the throne by force.  Perhaps it was this sort of encouragement by Joab which led David to sin with Bathsheba in the first place.  It was certainly Joab’s willingness to carry out David’s commands, even when they were wrong, which led to David killing Uriah.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 14-15.

As I read today’s passage I find myself thinking about several questions.  First, I wonder when Absalom began plotting his coup.  Did he begin plotting as soon as King David called him back from exile?  It appears to me that Absalom had begun plotting a coup when he reached out to Joab to enlist Joab’s aid in being allowed to leave his own estate.  Which raises the question in my mind as to what degree Joab was aware of Absalom’s efforts to become king and to what degree he approved of them?  From there I wonder whether Joab would have thrown his support behind Absalom if Absalom had asked for it?  If the answer to that question is “yes”, then Absalom’s failure to ask for Joab’s support was his first mistake.  As I think about it, I conclude that Joab would not have thrown his support behind Absalom.  If Joab would have been willing to support Absalom’s coup, Absalom would not have needed to burn Joab’s fields to get Joab to listen to him.  In another vein, I wonder as I read this if Absalom plotted to overthrow his father because he blamed David for Amnon raping his sister, or perhaps just for David’s failure to punish Amnon for that rape.

The final point I want to touch on is not a question, but a thought about why Absalom failed.  Absalom has a strategy for getting the people to back him once he had overthrown his father.  The passage describes how he had ingratiated himself with the common people.  However, the description of what happened when David fled Jerusalem illustrates Absalom’s miscalculation.  I have already touched on Absalom’s failure to get Joab’s backing for his coup, but he apparently failed to gather support from any of the other power bases of the kingdom (If I remember I may compare how those power bases split differently when I read the passage about Solomon becoming king).   First the writer highlights how the elite soldiers of King David’s army remain loyal by pointing out how a unit of Philistine mercenaries went with David into exile.  Additionally, Absalom had failed to gather any support from among the priestly caste.  The whole account of Absalom’s coup indicates that while King David had done a good job of gaining the backing of those who controlled the levers of power in Israel, he had left the rest feeling left out.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.