2 Samuel 15

2 Samuel 15In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate.

Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.” 4 And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.”

5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Beware of Those You Know2 Samuel 15 - 24

We are taught to worry about strangers“Don’t talk to strangers”

Yet it is often those we know, those closest to us, who do us harm

Stories of strangers committing crimes make headlines

We will study the story of David and his down fall…

When we examine his challengers…When we inspect names of enemies…

The names, for the most part, are recognizable

Chapter 15The first name is Absalom

Not some stranger from a foreign landDavid’s own son

He has a grudge to settle with his fatherAbsalom wants to embarrass his father

Chapter 16Ziba, a servant of Jonathan’s son

who came to David’s aidShimei, a man from Saul’s clan

comes out to curse David and pelt him with stones

Ahithophel, switched sides and became Absalom’s counselor

But Hushai stays behind to pretend to be on Absalom’s side to create

chaos within the ranks

Chapter 17Ahithophel

Sleep with your father’s concubines in broad daylight

Then go after David and kill himHushai

David is a great warriorAmass a great army or he will

take you down

Chapter 18

4 …So the king stood beside the gate while all the men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

Defeating Absalom is not easyIt is a no-win situation

If Absalom wins it is bad and if Absalom dies it is bad

Sadness fills the kings heart when he hears his son has died

Chapter 195 Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, “Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines.

6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead.

Chapter 20 Sheba: a trouble maker

Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted, “We have no share in David, no part in Jesse’s son! Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

Sheba is the strangerThe one we fear

And he creates plenty of trouble for David and his men

But like most troublemakers things did not end well for him

He lost his head

Chapter 21Famine

Chapter 22Song of praise

Chapter 23David’s mighty warriors

Chapter 24David takes a census

David sins and has to atone

We live, and have always lived, in a culture of fear and distrust

We distrust those we do not knowWe think we can trust those we know

Putting it all togetherWe do a real disservice to our

generation when we teach people to fear strangers

We are a very lonely generationAs a generation we live on media

with people we think we knowWe do not know or do not teach how

to vet people

Putting it all togetherKnow your family and your friends

Trust is earned not givenWe often live under the illusion of

knowing those close to usWe often assume that strangers are

inherently dangerous

Kidnapping statsStrangers 24%

Acquaintance 27%Relative 49%

Rape statsStranger 18%

Someone you know 82%60% of rapes occur to those 18 and under

Putting it all togetherWe may need to challenge our view

of strangersOf course there are dangerous

people out thereThere are many wonderful people

out there we have not metPeople we will never meet unless we

venture to say hello

SmileSay hello

Give someone a chance to prove themselves a friend