1 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. – 2 Samuel 15:1-6 ESV
There are a lot of things that could be said about Absalom - many of them negative. But he was anything but impatient. He spent two years plotting his revenge against Amnon. After successfully orchestrating the execution of his half-brother, Absalom spent another three years living in self-imposed exile in Geshur, patiently waiting to see how and when his father would respond. When David finally agreed to allow his fugitive son to return, Absalom spent another two years under house arrest because his father refused to either pardon or punish him.
As chapter 15 reveals, Absalom ended up biding his time for another four years, quietly and patiently plotting his next move. Absalom was anything but an impulsive hothead; he was calculating and resolute by nature, always planning and plotting his next move with careful precision. Even during his years of exile and excommunication, Absalom was far from idle. As he waited, he used the time to his advantage, carefully crafting his next move.
After spending two years under house arrest in Jerusalem but banned from his father’s presence, Absalom managed to get a meeting with the king. Pressured by Joab, David agreed to meet with his son and ended up restoring him to favor. Once back in his father’s good graces and with his rights and privileges as a son of the king restored, Absalom got busy and put the next phase of his plan into action. He had become well aware of a flaw in his father’s leadership abilities and had personally experienced David’s predilection for procrastination and inaction. He had also been the beneficiary of David’s reluctance to enact justice as God’s appointed judge of Israel. This young man had wasted no time in assessing his father’s weaknesses and plotting his next move.
As he made his way around the capital of Jerusalem, interfacing with the people of Israel, he became more convinced that his father‘s flaws could be exploited to his own advantage. Absalom was an ambitious young man who had shown his willingness to take matters into his own hands. When David had done nothing to punish Amnon for his rape of Tamar, Absalom had stepped in. When Joab refused to respond to his repeated requests for an audience with David, he got Joab’s attention by having his barley fields set on fire. Absalom was a doer. He was driven and determined, and when he saw the chink in David’s armor, he determined to strike a blow.
But Absalom was also cunning and clever and would have made a great politician. He didn’t personally attack David or expose his weaknesses to the press; he simply began a quiet campaign to win over the hearts of the people. He slowly and subtly sowed seeds of doubt regarding David’s leadership over them and his love for them. It all began with a carefully crafted and perfectly implemented publicity campaign. He had been out of sight for years, so he needed to repair his image among the people. To them, he was the rebellious son of the king who had been exiled for murdering his own kin. He was the prodigal son who had been allowed to return home but was treated like a stranger. As he walked around the city, he was likely the object of stares and quiet whispers.
So, to rehabilitate his damaged image, Absalom implemented a strategic plan to alter his public persona. It didn’t hurt that he was good-looking.
Now Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot. – 2 Samuel 14:25 NLT
He was also a family man.
He had three sons and one daughter. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she was very beautiful. – 2 Samuel 14:27 NLT
Now, all he needed was the trappings of success. So he bought himself some wheels and an entourage.
Absalom bought a chariot and horses, and he hired fifty bodyguards to run ahead of him. – 2 Samuel 15:1 NLT
Next, he took his show on the road, and what a sight he made each morning when he arrived at the city gate. Nobody would have missed his arrival or wondered who he was. This was Absalom, son of the king. He was handsome, obviously successful, and, on top of that, he was a man of the people. Absalom knew that the key to successfully running the nation was to win the hearts of the people. So, he devised a plan to do just that. His strategy of going to the city gate each morning was brilliant. It was at the city gate that all business was conducted and justice was dispensed. The people would gather there to have their disputes mediated and complaints heard. As king, David was to have his appointed judges and rulers ready to hear from his people and assist them in arbitrating their disputes and legal problems. But evidently, David had been lax in providing the judgment and justice a growing city required, leaving the people dissatisfied with his leadership. The crowds gathered each day, expecting justice, but walked away with their expectations unmet. But the ever-observant Absalom saw an opportunity and exploited the situation.
Absalom went out of his way to ensure that his daily arrival at the gate would not go unnoticed. His chariot and entourage were hard to miss. He also ensured that the people saw him as not only a person of power and influence but as a man who cared about their needs. The text tells us, “When people brought a case to the king for judgment, Absalom would ask where in Israel they were from…” (2 Samuel 15:2 NLT). He portrayed himself as a man of the people, who cared as much about them as he did about their needs. This well-dressed and powerful young prince would patiently listen to their problems and assure them, “You’ve really got a strong case here! It’s too bad the king doesn’t have anyone to hear it. I wish I were the judge. Then everyone could bring their cases to me for judgment, and I would give them justice!” (2 Samuel 15:3-4 NLT).
Like the serpent in the garden, Absalom sowed seeds of doubt and led the people to question David’s care and concern for their needs. Without attacking his father directly, Absalom subtly undermined his credibility with the people. After all, Absalom was there at the gate, talking, listening, assuring, and promising to do what David had failed to do – provide the people with justice. Absalom’s actions left the people wondering why David had never come to the gate. Was he too busy to take care of his people? Was he too good to show up at the gate and listen to the problems facing the citizens of his kingdom?
Absalom was sly and crafty, and he was coldly calculating in all that he did. When the people began to see him as someone who cared and who might be willing to assist them with their needs, they treated him with honor and respect, bowing down before him. But when the people fawned over Absalom, he did the unthinkable and unexpected. Rather than allow the people to honor him as some kind of dignitary, he embraced them in his arms, treating them as his equals. Every move he made was premeditated and designed to produce a predetermined plan, and his ploy worked.
Absalom did this with everyone who came to the king for judgment, and so he stole the hearts of all the people of Israel. – 2 Samuel 15:6 NLT
An interesting side note in all of this is found in the book of Deuteronomy. It contains a somewhat obscure law regarding what to do with a rebellious son. The fascinating thing about this law is the location where it was to be enacted: At the city gate.
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” – Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ESV
Absalom was not a drunkard or a glutton, but he was a murderer. Not only that, he was guilty of plotting the overthrow of his father’s kingdom, and he was doing so at the place of judgment: The city gate. He was blatantly using the seat of justice to plot an unjust and unsanctioned overthrow of the king. The stubborn and rebellious son was sowing the seeds of doubt that would later blossom into the fruit of revolution. And he chose to do it at the city gate, the very place where he should have been judged for his crime against Amnon. Had David performed his kingly duties and purged the evil from his household and kingdom, Absalom’s plans to replace his father as king would have never happened.
Once again, David’s failure to act decisively comes back to haunt him. But this entire scenario raises another question. Why was it so easy for Absalom to win over the hearts of the people? Had they become disgruntled and disenchanted with all of David’s well-publicized moral failings? There is little doubt that rumors had spread regarding David’s affair with Bathsheba. Most likely, the news of Uriah’s death had spread and the questions regarding the circumstances surrounding his death would have been many. The whole situation with Amnon and Tamar would not have gone unnoticed by the people of Jerusalem. The murder of the king’s son by his brother would have been headline news. And the very fact that Absalom had been allowed to return without any repercussions would have been fodder for the rumor mill.
There is also the likelihood that David was too busy with the affairs of the state to effectively listen to and address the needs of his people. It was probably about this same time that David became engrossed with the construction of his palace. He was also devising plans for the future construction of a temple in which to house the Ark of the Covenant. David was a busy man but had he become too distracted to care for his own people? It must not be overlooked that God had told David, “Shepherd my people Israel” (2 Samuel 5:2). But somewhere along the way, David had begun to neglect his primary responsibility and, in doing so, he lost the respect of his sheep. They had wandered and were easy prey for someone as crafty and cunning as Absalom. David had left a void that Absalom was more than willing to fill. The sheep were hungry for justice and Absalom was prepared to feed them from his own hand and turn their hearts away from David.
David had one job to do: Shepherd the sheep of Israel. But he had become too busy with the affairs of the state to care for the well-being of God’s flock. He had not even managed to properly shepherd his own family, allowing incest and murder to go unpunished and unresolved. But God has strong feelings about shepherds who fail to perform their roles.
“What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost.” – Ezekiel 34:2-4 NLT
David was going to learn a painful lesson that would cost him dearly. His failure to shepherd well, by fulfilling his responsibilities as a father and a king, would not go unpunished. God would hold him accountable.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
