Hope in Darkness

2 Samuel 14:30

Then he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field of fire.

As I look at the news and the Facebook feeds of many of my acquaintances (friend seems to close) I am saddened by the persistent childishness that is rampant in those not children. One individual noted that Facebook has simply brought the angst of high school behavior back to be relived by adults. Producing a generation unable to mature past the petty behaviors of youth. Then, as I am reading through David’s reign, I come across more insight into the nature of David’s rebellious son Absalom.

He was a beautiful man. Noble and regal. Thick black hair that flowed down his shoulders. God had given him a smooth voice that was easy to listen to and understanding eyes to perceive the hearts of others. These he used to advance himself. Always worried about himself, when he was unable to have children, he erected a monument to himself that he would not be forgotten. He takes vengeance on his brother for the rape of his sister. Having him murdered by his servants as everyone was eating and enjoying a meal. He fleas his father for fear of retaliation but in love his father brings him home. In pride he refuses to go to his father and waits for his father to call him. When this doesn’t happen, he decides that the commander of the armies of Israel would be the best messenger boy and tries to have him deliver a message. Joab sees the boy inside the man and refuses to be called and ordered around by him. Yet, the persistence of the boy continues.

This is where we enter the story. Absalom’s childish rage has him through a tantrum to get the attention of Joab and force Joab to deliver a message for him. This works and Absalom continues in his childishness until he leads the rebellion against his father and is then killed by Joab’s spear. The warning for absente fathers, adolescents refusing to mature, and wealthy boys with no fear of justice is apt for our current society as all of these are running amuck. Young men escaping justice on grounds of affluenza, middle aged men spending their time with video games and internet sites, and the majority of children raised outside of the home from their biological father. Nothing is new under the sun though.

This is not a new problem for humanity. Absalom shows us that such problems have always existed and persisted in the wake of God’s blessing of ease (Prov 30:9). Yet, the hope of Israel was not its ability to raise upstanding men. Nor was their hope in the next generation of nobleman or aristocrat. The hope of Israel was through the promise given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15, later narrowing and given to Abraham, and then given to David. The hope of Israel was Christ, the seed of the woman, the seed that would bless the whole world, and the offspring of David whose throne would be established forever. The hope of Israel was God’s promise of Christ. Absalom was a judgment on David for his sin. Such are the Absaloms we meet with today, but do not fear or lose heart, our hope is the same as Israel, Christ risen and coming again. As sad is the day is, our hope is Christ, and as such it can not be taken from us.  

As Awana starts, take the warning of Absalom to heart, if we don’t discipline the next generation to walk in his ways our days will be bitter, but that is only one side of this lesson. Our hope is in Christ and this hope is not overcome by inept parents or grandparents or spoiled children. Let us live in this hope and pass this hope on to the next generation that they might have hope in dark days.

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO