II Samuel 18:1-19:8
Dear RTB’ers,
Today we see the end of Absalom and his rebellion. Now King David has lost both his first- and second-born sons. And neither one was a credit to his lineage. Carol and I watched a movie last night where a father had lost one of his sons to cancer. Very moving, but sad… Parents should not out-live their children.
Joab is the lead character in today’s reading. When we last read about Joab (three days ago), I had said “Joab is looking good. (That won’t always be so…!)” Today we see the beginnings of that other side of Joab. He had clearly heard from the king that Absalom was to be spared. Yet he took it upon himself to kill Absalom, then allowed his men to further maim the body (II Samuel 18:15). I suspect that Joab is taking out his own revenge on Absalom because of how he had been treated – having to answer Absalom’s every call and then having his field burned by Absalom’s people. But we also see a good side of Joab again, in confronting David as to his mourning Absalom’s death. Joab is a strong personality, firm in his resolve; David will have to deal with that!
Today we see the rebellion squelched. Tomorrow we’ll see the kingdom renewed.
Blessings!
See also: April 15 (2023) / II Samuel 16:15-20:26.