ABUSING AUTHORITY

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In Christ, Mark

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David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. David sent the troops out—a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai, son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, "I myself will surely march out with you."

But the men said, "You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city."

The king answered, "I will do whatever seems best to you."

So the king stood beside the gate while all the men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 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.

The army marched into the field to fight Israel and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. There the army of Israel was defeated by David's men and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. The battle spread out over the whole countryside and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword.

Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair while the mule he was riding kept on going.

When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree."

Joab said to the man who had told him this, "What! You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior's belt."

But the man replied, "Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king's son. In our hearing, the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.' And if I had put my life in jeopardy — and nothing is hidden from the king — you would have kept your distance from me."

Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this for you." So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. And ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

Then Joab sounded the trumpet and the troops stopped pursuing Israel for Joab halted them. They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest, and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

During his lifetime, Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, "I have no son to carry on the memory of my name." He named the pillar after himself and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day.

2 Samuel 18:1-18

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The battle had been brewing for some time now.

Absalom had conspired against his father ever since he had been allowed back in Jerusalem after he killed his brother Amnon. And as his following among the Israelites grew, so did his power…a power that led him to go to Hebron and muster his supporters before setting his sights on Jerusalem. After hearing of Absalom’s betrayal, David and his people fled the holy city in advance of Absalom’s arrival.

After receiving counsel and choosing the guidance of Hushai over Ahithophel, Absalom assembled his forces and went after David, leaving war imminent after setting up camp nearby David and his forces.

And so we read where “David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds”. He then “sent the troops out — a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai, son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite” and said to his troops:

“I myself will surely march out with you”.

But we see where the men rejected David’s proposal saying:

“You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city."

David listened to the feedback from his men and he deferred to their judgment saying:

“I will do whatever seems best to you."

And so he “stood beside the gate” as his men “marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands” and gave specific orders to his commanders: Joab, Abishai, and Ittai:

“Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake."

The scriptures tell us that the order was given with such volume that “all the troops heard” it as well before the “army marched into the field to fight Israel and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.” There, “the army of Israel was defeated by David's men” and the “casualties that day were great” with 20,000 men dying on the battlefield. We read further where the “battle spread out over the whole countryside” to where “the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword”.

Okay, so what happened to Absalom? Where was he as his Israelite army was being defeated at the hands of David’s men?

Well, he definitely was in the vicinity of the battle because we see where he “happened to meet David's men” and as he fled from them on his mule, his hair got caught in the “thick branches of a large oak”, leaving him “hanging in midair”…helplessly dangling ”while the mule he was riding kept on going”.

We read where word of this quickly traveled to Joab, one of David’s three commanders, through one of David’s fighting men. As Joab hears the message, we see him respond in anger toward the messenger saying:

“What! You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior's belt."

Through his words, Joab showed that he had no intention of being obedient to his king’s command and as we’ll see, he would be far from gentle with Absalom. As for the messenger, he showed his absolute loyalty towards David as he told Joab:

“Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king's son. In our hearing, the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.' And if I had put my life in jeopardy — and nothing is hidden from the king — you would have kept your distance from me."

This man could see right through Joab and his flawed personality. For Joab had chastised the man for not killing Absalom but would have done anything but chastise him if he had gone ahead and killed Absalom. Rather, he would keep his distance from the man, ensuring he wouldn’t be seen as being complicit in any way.

In the end translation, Joab was self-centered, only concerned about himself.

For immediately after his conversation with the man, Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this for you" before taking “three javelins in his hand” and plunging them “into Absalom's heart” while he was “still alive in the oak tree”. And to add insult to proverbial injury, Joab’s act of execution was followed up by ten of his armor-bearers who “surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him” before throwing him into a “big pit in the forest” and piling a “large heap of rocks over him. Then, we read where “Joab sounded the trumpet” halting the troops’ pursuit of the Israelites who “fled to their homes”.

And so Absalom was dead, done in by his long hair which made him an easy target for Joab after he got stuck in the tree. But within Joab’s actions, we see a very disturbing disregard for David, the king he worked for…a disregard grounded in the abuse of power that had been granted to him by a higher authority (David).

Think about it.

Joab was only a commander because David had appointed him as such…and that appointment carried with it the obligation to follow and carry out the king’s orders without deviation or compromise. With the appointment, David delegated a certain amount of power and authority to Joab by merit of making him a commander but this power never was to exceed the king’s. Instead, Joab was to make judgments and decisions on the battlefield and elsewhere based on what was in the king’s best interest…and there was no doubt in this instance that David didn’t wish for Absalom to be killed. And so when Joab decided to plunge plunged his three javelins into Absalom’s heart, he clearly violated the king’s command and abused the power inherit to his position.

The scriptures also show us that Absalom abused his power as well. For “during his lifetime”, he “had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself”. He did so feeling he deserved it since he has no “son to carry on the memory of (his) name”. We’re even told he named the "the pillar after himself”…a pillar that is called “Absalom's Monument to this day”.

All this further reminded me of Saul who had gotten himself in trouble for the same reasons as Joab and Absalom…abusing the power that God had granted him as king through ignoring God’s commands and seeking to glorify himself. You’ll remember that he, like Absalom, even erected a monument in honor of himself at Carmel (1 Samuel 15:12).

This message challenges us to self examine how well we do with any authority that the Lord might grant in life.

For I wonder how God feels when parents abuse the authority granted them by mistreating and/or neglecting their children…children who were entrusted to their care by Lord?

Or how does God feel when elected or appointed officials abuse their governing power and mistreat or misrepresent the very people the Lord granted them the authority to rule over?

Or how does God feel when pastors or priests abuse the sacred power and trust given to them, supporting or participating in false teaching or abusing members of the flock the Lord placed in their care?

Or how does God feel when any person chooses to speak profanity, cursing and using His Name in vain…which essentially serves to make a mockery of the authority vested in that very Name?

And how does God feel when we abuse the power He sends us by way of the Holy Spirit (i.e. grieving the Spirit) or when we ignore the power and authority He sends to us through the Spirit by deciding that our way is better than His?

If we’re honest, I think we all can see where we have abused authority in life and probably have experienced someone else abusing their authority over us. It’s a big problem and this is why this message from God’s Word is so important. For when He grants anyone authority, He expects that it will be respected and used only as He intended it to be used.

For in the end translation, nothing we will ever do will be worth anything unless we do it through honoring the power and authority of God the Father and His Son Jesus…a power and authority often delegated to us to do their bidding here on earth. And as we carry out their orders, let us always do so in a way that glorifies and honors them, never ourselves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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