Absalom Returns - The Book of 2 Samuel

In this Bible Story, Joab convinces David to allow his son Absalom to return from exile. Absalom returns, not as a reformed or changed man, but more bitter than ever. This story is inspired by 2 Samuel 14. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is 2 Samuel 14:24 from the King James Version.

Episode 105: Joab, seeing David wishing for Absalom’s return but unwilling to get him himself, devised a scheme with a woman from Tekoa. The woman came to David as her king and told a sad tale of her two sons. David, realizing Joab’s hand in this, called him in and ordered him to bring back Absalom. But because of his ban from seeing his father David, he too began to nurse a hatred for him. Beginning to devising how he would take the throne from himself.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, And the king said, let him turn
to his own house and let him not see my face.
So Absalom returned to his own house and saw not
the king's face Second Samuel fourteen twenty four. Lord, through
the listening of Second Samuel, I now see you as

(00:22):
the god of closed doors. With this as my new viewpoint,
I pray that you continually give me the strength and
resolve to keep the door closed on unhealthy relationships that
you have allowed me to leave from the story of
my life. I declare that I have a keen eye

(00:42):
for the ones who desire to harbor harmful and wicked
thoughts against me and my future. Allow the gate keepers
in my life to help me recognize when people are
knocking on the door of my new season only to
wreak havoc and bring division and chaos. My life is
too precious to not guard the treasure that lies within me.

(01:05):
Thank you for giving me rich and refreshing relationships instead.
Thank you that when some relationships are unhealthy, you will
point them out and reclose the door again in Jesus name. Amen,
Thank you for making prayer a priority in your day.

(01:28):
To learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story,
brought to you by Bible in a Year dot.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Com, Absalom returns.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
In our last story, we peered into the difficult relationships
within David's family. One of David's sons, Amnon, raped his
half sister Tamar. As an act of revenge, Absalam, her
brother and VID's other son, murders him. Now, Absalom waits
and gesure, stewing in bitterness for his father's inaction. In

(02:09):
this story, Absalom will return from hiding after Joe ab
devised a way to convince David of his innocence, as
inspired by second Samuel.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. In our prior episode, we
learned how David's family began to unravel into chaos as
a consequence of his sin with Bathsheba and as a
direct result of the choice that he made to marry
many women. When his son Amnon raped his own sister Tamar,

(02:42):
Tamar sought refuge with David's son Absalom, who took revenge
and killed his brother Amnon. Absalom hated his father for
his failure to intervene and punish Amnon, and as he
lived in exile, Absolom planned for the day he would
return to punish his fither. Today, we'll hear of Absalom
coming out of hiding, aided by David's commander Joab, who

(03:06):
hopes to convince David to forgive his son.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Joab watched David's heart wrestle over his banished son Absalom.
David held his head low and had deep sighs of
disappointment when speaking of him. However, David was stubborn and
did not want to send for his son to return,
nor did he think Absalom deserved to return for what
he did. Joab felt the need to intervene somehow so

(03:33):
the sadness would stop. Furthermore, Joab felt a sense of
responsibility over Absalom, since he could quite possibly be king.
When David died, Joab sent for an actress from Takoah.
They met with her in secret and devised a plan
for her to meet with the king over a fake matter.
Joab coached her and what she should say. She would

(03:55):
weave a tale of her two sons in order to
pull at David's heart strings, and when the time was right,
she would try and convince David to allow Absalom to return.
So the woman dressed in all black as a widow
and mustered up convincing tears to present to David. She
walked into his presence and shouted, save me, Lord King.

(04:17):
David perked up, concerned with how frantic the woman was.
What happened, David asked, as he gestured for her to
take a seat. I am a widow. The woman began
to sniffle. My husband is dead and one of my
sons killed my other son over his inheritance. David folded
his arms and continued to listen to her. The whole

(04:38):
clan desires for me to give my son over to death.
That would leave me with no husband and no sons
to protect me. David leaned over and held her hand.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
Go back home.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
I will send word to help you. If anybody tries
to harm you, I will make sure they never lay
a hand on you. The woman smiled and placed her
hand on Dai and thanked him. She stood up, and
before walking out, she came back and said, Lord, please
allow me to ask one more thing.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Speak.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
David said, with a compassionate smile, if you would forgive
my son the blood of his brother. Why would you
not forgive your own, she asked. David leaned back in
his seat. He paused for a few moments, tapping his
foot on the floor. He looked at the woman, then
back at the door, then back at the woman again.

(05:32):
Come sit, he asked the woman, gesturing her to sit
down again. I need you to tell me the honest truth.
The woman nodded. Did Joab send for you to come
tell me these things? Immediately? The woman burst into tears.
This time they were real. She had been caught in
Joab's lie. She went to her knees and said, yes, Lord,

(05:56):
it was Joab. Please do not be angry with me.
He at every word in my mouth so that you
would reconsider bringing your son back home. You were truly
gifted with the wisdom of God. David sent her away
and did not hold the crime against her. It would
be a silly thing for him to hold her accountable
for Joab's conspiracy. David sent for Joab, and the man

(06:20):
entered in before David and sat down. The two of
them stared at one another for a few moments. David
was annoyed that Joab would go to such great lengths
to tell him what he already knew. David sighed and
rubbed his temple. Go and bring back Absalom, David ordered.

(06:40):
Joab's eyes lit up. He could have sworn David would
imprison him for lying. Thank you, my Lord, Joab said,
he may come back to the land, but he may
not enter into my presence. David said, and just like that,
Joab left to go return Absalom. Absalom tri rodded back

(07:00):
into Jerusalem with the son to his back. People could
not help but marvel at Absalom as he rode back
into the city, for there was no man more handsome
in all of Israel. His physique was chiseled and unscarred
from war. He had long, thick hair that rested on
his muscular shoulders. Absalom returned with his three sons and

(07:21):
one daughter. He and his family dwelled in Jerusalem for
two years, without ever seeing David. In passing. Absalom dwelled
in his house of bitterness. Even though he was back
in Jerusalem, he still felt like an exile. He would
scoff often at his father's incompetent ruling and fantasize about
what it would be like to be king. He heard

(07:44):
rumors of his younger half brother Solomon perhaps being the
heir to the throne. The thought vexed him. Absalom desired
to see the king, so he sent for Joab to
set up a meeting. However, Joab knew better than to
speak with Absalom, so he ignored his messages. Absalom sent
for Joab a second time. Still there was no reply. Finally,

(08:07):
he had his servants venture out into Joab's farm and
burn one of his fields to the ground. The flames
were a reminder to Joab that Absalom was capable of
hideous evils and he was to be feared. Joab finally
came to Absalom, enraged and a bit afraid. Why would
you burn down my field, Joab yelled. Absalom sat in

(08:32):
his courtyard, casually, paying no attention to Joab's rage. I
sent for you, and you did not reply, Absalom said,
matter of factly, I would not have come out of
exile if I knew I wasn't going to be able
to be in the palace with my father. Joab gulped,
seeing a twinge of madness in Absalom's eyes, Take me

(08:54):
to him if he finds me guilty, then he shall
kill me. Joab did as he wished and brought Absalom
to David. David watched as his son approached the gates.
He was reminded of how Saul once exiled him into
the wilderness. What a tragic feeling it was to feel
cast off from your family and country. David welled up

(09:15):
with grief as his son drew closer and closer. Before
Absalom could walk any further, David ran to him and
embraced him. He kissed Absalom on the neck and hugged him.
Tears ran down David's cheeks, but Absalom remained motionless. No
amount of affection or conversation was going to change Absalom's mind.

(09:37):
He was going to kill his father.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Today's passage opens with Absalom in exile, banished by his
father for killing his half brother am Not. But joe Ab,
David's trusted commander, could sense the King's sadness beneath the
anger at his son was a desire to reckon, but
it was a very complicated situation. So Joeab comes up
with a plant. He hires a woman to pretend to

(10:08):
be someone else, a widow with a dilemma of her own.
Joeab gives her all the words to say to David,
and much like Nathan did when he confronted David for
his sin with Bathsheba, the woman's story fools David into
thinking he's ruling on someone else's situation when it actually
gives him clarity for his own. The woman tells David

(10:28):
she's a widow and one of her sons has killed
the other for the inheritance. Her clan is demanding that
she hand over the killer so he could be executed
for his crime, but this would leave her childless and
without a provider. David has compassion on the woman and
her situation. He tells her to return home and promises
that nothing bad will happen to her or her son.

(10:51):
The woman then asks David why he would forgive her
son but not his own, whom he has banished. Then
she says this second Samuel fourteen, verse fourteen, we must
all die. We are like waters spilled on the ground
which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not
take away life, and he devises means so that the

(11:12):
banished one will not remain an outcast. Her words were
a reminder of God's mercies, and surely David was reminded
that God had forgiven him of his great sin, And
though she would not have known it at the time,
there was also a foreshadowing of the links to which
God would go to forgive each of us who are outcast,

(11:35):
banished from God's presence. But because of his love and grace,
God reached out to us and brought us to himself
and reconciled to us, and with us because of the cross,
the Bible tells us that we can be reconciled to God.
David then asked her if Joebb had put her up
to this, and she confessed. The King sent her home

(11:56):
and called for joeb At last, David relented a lite
out Absalom to return to Israel, but he still wanted
nothing to do with him, so his son and the
king lived apart for two years. They never saw each other.
For all of his wisdom, strength of character, and commitment
to the Lord, David's attitude toward his son did not

(12:17):
reflect the forgiving, patient heart of God. Allowing Absalom to return,
but keeping him away at arm's length was even more
injurious than the banishment It was a constant reminder to
Absalom that his father did not accept him. How blessed
we are, how grace we are that God, our Father
does not treat us this way as his children. Absalom

(12:40):
grew tired of being separated from David, and he knew
that if he were to be king, he would have
to get back into the palace. So he sent for Joeab,
who ignored the call twice, until finally Absalom set Jacob's
feels on fire to get his attention. I can only
imagine the dread in Joeab's heart as he realized that

(13:00):
the man who might be king one day was capable
of such harsh and extreme actions just to get his way.
Unable to ignore him, joe Eb arranged for Absalom to
return to the palace, and now at last, David received
him with open arms and a kiss. But the damage
was done, and Absalom had no love for his father.

(13:22):
His heart was filled with ambition, bitterness, and hate. A
deadly commendation. Dear God, through Jesus, our Lord, we thank
you that while we were outcast and banished far from you,
that you, as a loving father, sent your son Jesus
to welcome us into your arms as we come to you.
We come to you so often like prodigals, and like

(13:45):
the father, you welcome us home. Thank you for your
love and for your son Jesus, who makes this reconciliation
and restoration possible. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download Theprey dot com

(14:06):
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