Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 169
2S
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S am u el – K I N G S
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refused to come. So Absalom said to his servants, “Go and set fire to Joab’s
barley field, the field next to mine.” So they set his field on fire, as Absalom
had commanded.
Then Joab came to Absalom at his house and demanded, “Why did your
servants set my field on fire?”
And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he
brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well
have stayed there. Let me see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything,
then let him kill me.”
So Joab told the king what Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, who came and bowed low before the king, and the king
kissed him.
After this, Absalom bought a chariot and horses, and he hired fifty bodyguards to run ahead of him. He got up early every morning and went out to
the gate of the city. When people brought a case to the king for judgment,
Absalom would ask where in Israel they were from, and they would tell
him their tribe. Then Absalom would say, “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!”
When people tried to bow before him, Absalom wouldn’t let them. Instead, he took them by the hand and kissed them. Absalom did this with
everyone who came to the king for judgment, and so he stole the hearts
of all the people of Israel.
After four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron to
offer a sacrifice to the Lord and fulfill a vow I made to him. For while
your servant was at Geshur in Aram, I promised to sacrifice to the Lord
in Hebron if he would bring me back to Jerusalem.”
“All right,” the king told him. “Go and fulfill your vow.”
So Absalom went to Hebron. But while he was there, he sent secret
messengers to all the tribes of Israel to stir up a rebellion against the king.
“As soon as you hear the ram’s horn,” his message read, “you are to say,
‘Absalom has been crowned king in Hebron.’” He took 200 men from Je
rusalem with him as guests, but they knew nothing of his intentions. While
Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel, one of David’s
counselors who lived in Giloh. Soon many others also joined Absalom,
and the conspiracy gained momentum.
A messenger soon arrived in Jerusalem to tell David, “All Israel has joined
Absalom in a conspiracy against you!”
“Then we must flee at once, or it will be too late!” David urged his men.