The rebel prince, or, Lessons from the career of the young man Absalom

Front matter

Cibvavti of tongrtw.

«V. BSSSO

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Preface

This volume has grown out of a series of lectures, most of which were delivered to two different congregations. While some of the original branches have been pruned away, others have been added by growth and graft. The tree must now be judged by its fruits.

The record of Absalom's life in 2 Samuel xiii. — xix. is as

clear and concise as if written by the court-prophet Nathan.

It has no parallel to it in Chronicles, and stands alone as a

graphic piece of inspired Hebrew literature. In one view

it is a vivid biography of the young man Absalom, the

prodigal son of the Old Testament, who perished in his

sins. In another view it is a sacred tragedy, full of most

striking pictures of human nature, varied with deeply laid

plots, enriched by frequent changes of scene, and enlivened

by a great diversity of characters. For the study of the

motives, policies, principles, and characters of evil and

designing men, there are few portions of Scripture more

profitable. Rarely do seven chapters furnish such a group

of bold actors, such a record of great crimes against God 1* 5

6 PREFACE.

and men, and such signal divine judgments upon the wicked. In the Prince Absalom we see the accomplished demagogue and the ambitious politician ; in Ahithophel the wise but corrupt statesman ; in Amnon, Jonadab, and Shimei, three ' ' lewd fellows of the baser sort ; " in Ziba the shrewdness of an experienced swindler ; in Joab the deepest private revenge combined with an effective use of his great military talents for eminent public services, and these are abundantly able to supply all the dark deeds required in a vigorous, thrilling drama. Better men also appear, and it is worthy of notice that they are all upon the side of King David, who is the chief personage in the record. The priests — the church — did not abandon him in the time of his greatest national troubles. Unscrupulous as Joab was, his loyalty, duriDg Absalom's rebellion, was worthy of the greatest general under the Hebrew monarchy. Hushai gave his eloquence to the holy cause. Ittai was heroic in his patriotism, and poor Prince Mephibosheth, had he not been lame, might have carried his true allegiance into kindly rivalry with that of Barzillai and his neighbouring chieftains of Grilead.

Not a good, moral, godly man is named among those who engaged in Absalom's rebellion, unless the silence concerning the character of the incompetent Amasa is to be interpreted in his favour. The Prince seemed to depend upon a general ungodliness and hatred of David's piety then prevalent in the nation. The men, their spirit, their crafty designs, and their bold methods of gaining their ends, all tended to a great tragedy.

In a third view we have before us a solemn history. It

PREFACE. 7

presents us the record of a desperate attempt to dethrone David, revolutionize the nation, and destroy the theocracy. It is the chief one of all the movements which finally resulted in the separation of the ten tribes from the federal government. Absalom prepared the way for Jeroboam. No reader will fail to notice the hand of God in all this inspired history. He sustained his servant David in all his royal trials, and preserved the throne, the church, and the city of the great king, by a series of remarkable providences.

Nor do these three views exhaust the record. It is a striking picture of a family, deserving of close and frequent study. A father's sins are intensified in some of his children, and bring the sword into his own house. There are shown to us some of the plainest lessons upon family government, family trials, and family judgments. It is not only as a king that David is sorely afflicted, but as a father. Those who magnify his faults should justly remember his very great and very many trials. In no other part of his reign did he exhibit more wisdom, tenderness, and greatness in adversity.

It is our effort in this unpretending volume to draw some useful lessons for our guidance in the family, in society, in the church, and in the national government. We have also kept in view the gospel light afforded by these seven chapters, for in the depths of David's heart we see an illustration of the boundless love of Grod, and in his sorrows he stands as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It was the favour which the original lectures received from those who heard them, that prompted the author to

8 PREFACE.

commit them to the press, and the volume is now laid at the feet of Him who sits upon David's throne, for only with His blessing can it be of any service in securing a further allegiance to the King of kings.

W.M.B.

Trenton, New Jersey.

CHAPTER I. Birthplace and Boyhood

IVe learned to judge of men by their own deeds ; I do not make the accident of birth The standard of their merit.

Our starting point is one of king David's great unselfish sorrows. Had he been a usurper, or been impatient for the throne which Saul had forfeited, or revengeful toward the hunter after his life, he would have exulted when he heard of the death of the royal persecutor. But no : the fountains of his tenderness were opened, and the great deeps of his heart were broken up. Caesar wept when he heard that Pompey, his bitterest rival, was dead by other hands than his : with sincerer grief David lamented the fall of the mighty in Israel. Caesar, after conquering Pompey's sons, was honoured with the title, "Father of his country." David did not seek a victory over Saul's sons, and yet the people were ready to anoint him king over Judah, for he had long been the anointed of the Lord.

After he had vented his grief in tears and in song, he " inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah ? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go ? And he said, Unto Hebron."

That was no mean city. It was associated with ancient and sacred events. No city in Palestine so carries one back to the earliest patriarchal times. It seems to have been the first haunt of civilized men in the land ; so ancient that it was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. Under the oaks of that neighbourhood Abraham had often pitched his tent and raised his altar to the God who had sent him forth to sojourn in the land of promise, as in a strange country, and to join his example with that of our Lord, in teaching us to confess ourselves as strangers and pilgrims on the earth. There, among the olive-groves, had rambled Isaac, the child of promise, before he was chosen for the painful trial of his father's faith. There Sarah, the partner in Abraham's wanderings, and the partaker with him in the promises, had breathed her last, and thence she went to " a better country, that is an heavenly." There was the cave in which was laid the dust of so many of the patriarchs, in the hope of a glorious resurrection. "And from that day to this, it has so come to pass in the providence of God, that no nation or people has had possession of Machpelah, who would have been disposed to disturb the ashes of the illustrious dead within it." And there, doubtless, will rest in peace the dust of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, of Jacob and Leah, until God shall bid it rise. It was the only spot that the Father of the faithful ever owned, and no doubt, it will be held for his family until the last day.

Perhaps Joshua and Caleb visited it, when they Were honestly spying out the land, and from the neighbouring valley they carried back the goodly Eshcol grapes, as a most acceptable proof of the richness of the promised land. To Caleb, "one of the noblest spirits the nation ever produced," was given Hebron and the vicinity for his possession. It was the old Kirjath-Arba, where dwelt the Anakim, who were so great a terror to the false spies, and of whom they reported, " There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which came of the giants, and we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Giants or not, Caleb felt willing to encounter them, and as Moses had promised that " the land whereon his feet had trodden should be his inheritance, and his children's for ever," he asked it, saying, "If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out." He drove thence the three sons of Anak, and Hebron became his inheritance, "because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel."

Hebron was afterwards appointed as a residence for the Levites, and a city of refuge.* " No place

* " Hebron furnishes another refutation of the ancient fable about could have recalled more vividly the lessons of departed worth, and the victories of early faith, or abounded more in memorials of the blessedness of following the Lord. It was a token of God's kindness to David, that he directed him to make Hebron his head-quarters. And it was a further token of his goodness, that no sooner had David gone up to Hebron, than ' the men of Judah came and anointed him king over the house of Judah.' It was not all that God had promised, but it was a large instalment."

And now notice David's family. " David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, Nabal's wife (widow) the Carmelitef and his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household : and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron." He afterwards won back Michal, his first wife, to prove a source of unabated vexation. And yet others were added to the number of his wives. One of these was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, whose territory bordered on eastern Manasseh. His name suggests the three sons of Anak, expelled from Hebron by Caleb, one of whom was

the cities of refuge, that they were situated in conspicuous positions. Here it lies in this long valley, with no prospect in any direction except toward the southeast, and even that is not extensive." Thomson's Land and the Booh.

f Of the Carmel near to Hebron, where Saul was told, " Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he also hath rejected thee from being king." 1 Samuel, xv. xxv.

Talmai. Was the later Talmai a descendant of the Anakim ? If so, Absalom had in his veins the blood of the giants, and also retained something of their pugnacious disposition, for he was the son of Maacah. Why David sought the hand of this heathen princess we know not ; probably because the alliance seemed of importance to him, in making more permanent the royal power. It was public policy. " He does not appear to have been altogether above the prevalent feeling of the East, which measured the authority and dignity of a court by the rank and connections of the wives of the king." It is painful to record the fact of David's polygamy, but we do not make the fact. We simply state it, without exaggeration or apology.

The six sons of David born in Hebron, were but half-brothers one to another. The son of Maacah was a goodly child, and to him was given a goodly name, full of meaning and of hope. The names given to Hebrew children were often expressive of their future character or career. If this was intended by the parents, it furnishes a clue to their expectations. The name Elisha signified "the salvation of God," and it foreshadowed the mission and character of him who bore it. Gideon was, indeed, "lie that bruises or breaks, or he that brings iniquity to an end." To a vigorous child was given the name of Deborah, the Bee. It was prophetic, for such she proved, having " honey for her friends and a sting for her foes." David's 2 name was fully realized, and not by his parents alone, for he was truly "beloved" by the nation and the church of his day, and "dear" to the heart of the godly through all ages. What prophecy and adaptation in the name given to the babe of Bethlehem ! Jesus, " for he shall save his people from their sins."

Yet many names seem to tell us of the disappointment and the crushed hopes of parents. Eve called her first-born Cain, — "possession" — as if in him she already possessed the promised one by whom the head of the serpent should be bruised. And yet she lived to see him a murderer. Solomon, probably, indulging the hope that his kingdom would be extended and made more glorious under the reign of his only royal son, called him Rehoboam, — one who enlarges, or sets the people at liberty, or lets the people breathe. But it was he who said, " I will add to your yoke ; my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins ; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." And the people seeking to breathe, took a wrong course. They rebelled, and Israel, instead of being enlarged, was rent for ever. The best of names cannot impart character, nor confer grace.

King David came to know the depths of this disappointment. He named his oldest son Amnon, "the faithful and true." A glaring misnomer, for he proved faithless to all morality, and false to a sister's love and honour. After being the victim of his baseness she painted him by saying, "Thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel." David's next son was named Chileab, "the perfection of his father," but either because of early death, or incompetency, the name was never realized in history.

But King David's sorest disappointment was in that brilliant, and most beloved son ; the real prince of the blood before Solomon ; the only one born of a royal mother. Hoping great things of him, and perhaps intending to make him the heir to the throne, he named him Absalom, "the father's peace," or "the father of peace." He proved anything but either, for he gave his father no peace, and in his manhood, allowed none to the nation while he lived. He was even at war with Jehovah, and perished as the enemy of God.

Of Absalom's boyhood we have no record. The scenery and sacred associations of Hebron could have had but a slight influence upon his character. Before he was seven years of age he was taken away from the city of his birth. The times of his childhood were those of war, when his father took the field and swept many a valley clear of enemies. He may have been old enough to share in the popular excitement caused by the siege of Jerusalem, about eighteen miles distant. Jle perhaps shouted in delight, when the tidings came that his father had taken the strong hold of Zion, and may

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have wished for the day to come, when he might lead armies to the shock of battle, and smite walled cities to the dust. It may have been a glad day for him, when his father removed from Hebron, and established his family, his court, and his throne in Jerusalem. Perhaps he stood on the housetop eagerly watching the splendid procession, marching with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet, when the ark of the Lord was brought into the city of David. Perhaps he wished himself one of the poor boys of the villages, after David had set the ark in its place, and while he was dealing out to all the people the choicest cakes and the best of wine, and when "David returned to bless his house," perhaps Absalom was one of the first to greet him, and beg some favour of an indulgent father.

The services connected with the bringing of the ark into the city were well adapted to make a most serious and lasting impression upon the mind of Absalom, even if he were but a child. Thirty thousand men of war were present. It was far more than a grand military parade for the display of the national strength. It was a glad and solemn act. Prayers and praises were offered and sung. A reviving influence must have been felt in all pious hearts. It was placing in the city the holiest symbol of God's presence. It was "bringing God into the capitol," and giving him an habitation. It was giving him a welcome with the public shouts of thankfulness, and as the whole multitude sang, "the magnificent volume of sound was, so to speak, the chariot of song, and the horses of song, that bore up this feeling to heaven, and made the service of the church below, a not unworthy echo of the service of the church above." Well does one say of this scene, " I have no notion of hearing, or of any man's ever having seen or heard anything so great, so solemn, so celestial, "on this side the gates of heaven."

Yet if it affected Absalom at all, it was not for any lasting good. He from a child rejected God from his own heart. He grieved the Holy Spirit. The soul of King David was exultant with joy, but there were those in his house who had a contempt for revivals of religion. Michal treated his religious fervour with a sarcastic sneer. If Absalom heard her reproach, it must >have produced a most hurtful effect. It was freezing every warm emotion that may have been kindled in his soul. Many a child has been injured and hardened in heart by hearing solemn things lightly spoken of, revivals ridiculed, and the earnest manifestations of religious joy treated with the sneers of contempt. Thus perhaps a day of grace passed unimproved by the child Absalom.

CHAPTER II. Absalom the Indulged Son

The faults kings do, Shine like the fiery beacon on a hill, For all to see, and seeing, tremble at.

Bad men often furnish good lessons. They reveal to us chapters on the worst side of human nature, so that we may read and be warned. If it be well to look a little into the depths of Satan, it may be even better to gaze down into the astounding depths of human nature, and see what depravities lie there, ready in every man, to break forth with volcanic fey, unless they be extinguished by the Spirit of God. Not Absalom's crimes, rebellion, and death alone, are lessons profitable for us in these our times, but from the home of his youth we may derive hints of errors to be avoided in the rearing of children. From certain facts we may get some insight into his early training.

VTe can pity King David in his disappointment, and in all the crushing grief that his favourite son caused him to endure. Vs'e can pity every parent whose child causes sorrow and shame in a kindly heart and a godly home. Especially painful is it to see the sons of some of the most moral and Christian parents turn out so wretchedly and disgracefully that we almost wonder whether they ever received at home any reproof, any instruction, any correction in righteousness. The family tree may be ancient, and renowned for its goodness, and yet much of the fruit may be so evil that it spreads contagion wherever it falls. And the doctrine is forced upon us that piety eannot be inherited by birth. "Grace does not run in the blood, but depravity does." The worst qualities of human nature, concealed or suppressed, or almost extinguished in the parents may appear in their children ; but the better qualities, and all the Christian virtues must come from above. Every child must be born of God, if there be a sure escape from the most deadly and disgraceful propensities of our common nature. The best instruction, alone, cannot purify the youthful heart. Unless the Dove descend from heaven, and abide upon the soul, the son of peace and of piety will not certainly be found in the home of a father who is as a priest in his house, and a mother who is as an holy prophetess, teaching and guiding her children. Why did Absalom prove so unworthy of his name, so unlike his father, and so fully bent upon a lawless and rebellious career? Why does any son of a pious parentage become heedless of holy precepts, and godly example? Whose fault is it?

The parents are often blamable in this matter. Eli's sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. The Bible lays bare this fault in the house of David. If it were possible we would cover it, as did the artist who painted the Macedonian emperor, and hid the scar upon his face. It was an honourable scar, memorable of victory, but still it disfigured the royal countenance. And the painter sketched the monarch, leaning upon his elbow, with .his fore-finger covering the scar. So it is with • that genuine charity which u covereth a multitude of sins." Instead of exposing the faults of others in scorn and ridicule, it lays over them the finger of love, except when truth and justice require them to be openly rebuked, But charity also "rejoiceth in the truth," and it spares not the faulty when we need to be warned. Inspiration has not hidden this dishonourable scar in the conduct of David. If we could, we would paint him with this flaw screened from view, by the sceptre which he so ably wielded as the best of kings. David's excellencies shine out so brilliantly, that he is like the sun hiding his spots by the dazzling glory of his brightness. It is only by the telescope of the Bible that we detect any dark spots upon the royal character.

Let it not be supposed that we are indulging in the spirit of irreverent criticism, and to guard us let the words of Dr. Kitto be quoted. "Now, the character of David is very dear to us, and he has ever been the object of our sympathy, our admiration, and our love. But truth is dearer to us than even the character of David; and we must not consent to call evil good, and to put darkness for light, because the evil was David's, and the darkness David's. If we were to set about to prove that all David did was right, and the best that could be done, we should not only contradict Scripture, but have work enough upon our hands. Far be it from us to claim for him, that which belongs to One only of all who ever walked the earth. Let us admit the errors and weaknesses of David, as they occur, and our task becomes easy, and his history becomes consistent and clear; but let us uphold him through good and evil, through 'the bitter and the sweet,' and we soon find ourselves 4 in wandering mazes lost,' and our perceptions of the broad landmarks between truth and error painfully disordered."

We quote also from another writer,* words which may apply to many Christians of our own times. " David's slips were like the temporary retiring of the gallant soldier, when fagged and weary, he is driven back for a few moments by superior numbers, but as soon as he has recovered his breath, dashes on undaunted to the conflict. * * With all his slips and falls, there was something in the demeanour of David that showed him to be

* Rev. W. G. Blaikie, in his "David, King of Israel; London/ from which some of the thoughts in this chapter are taken.

cast in another mould from that of other men. He was habitually aiming at a higher standard, and upheld by the consciousness of a higher strength; he was ever and anon directing his view to the secret place of the Most High, taking hold of him as his covenant God, and labouring to draw from him the inspiration and the strength of a nobler life than that of ordinary men."

And once more, as Bengel says, " A swan, plying equally both feet gains upon the water, however turbulent ; so David's spirit with all his faults struggled through every difficulty in one general direction. This consoles me about many a disaster, yea, and fault of God's true servants at present."

Have you not been struck by the remarkable fact, that while David was so admirable a governor in the kingdom, he- was so unsuccessful a ruler in his own house ? He had a splendid management of public affairs. He could plan and execute great enterprises in the state and in the church, in the camp and in the court. He was faithful on the throne as the representative of Jehovah, seeking his counsel, and carrying out his will. In this respect, especially, he was " the man after God's own heart ;" the very king who best fulfilled his purposes in the theocracy. But when he came down from that throne into the sphere of home, he did not so ably fill the father's chair. He could hardly have said, " My own dear quiet home, the Eden of my heart," for in this "Paradise of childhood," he found too much eating of the forbidden fruit, because he gave too much indulgence to his children.

And you ask, why did God permit this ? Why was not this model of a king, also the model of a father? It is not the royal example that we need, so much as the paternal example, and why do we not find it in the father of Absalom ? Few kings will read the pattern set before them, and it seems to be thrown away ; but millions of parents read of his family government, and why should they not find everything there for imitation ?

Aye, these millions of fathers do have his example, not for imitation, but for warning. Let us not throw it away. We need both examples. Very often when the good are speaking to us with gentle voice, and persuasive entreaty, we heed them not. We do not see the dangers that lie before us. But when a faulty example roars and thunders its warnings in our ears, we are moved with fear to shun the errors into which others have fallen. When we know the very rock upon which a noble ship struck and shattered the strongest beams, we will not be so likely to run the risk of wrecking upon it.

And now look at some of the influences in the home of king David, which must have had their effect upon Absalom. We learn their existence and power by inference, but inference is often as strong as the plainest statement of fact. We are judging the tree by its fruits ; the mode of cultivating the field by the harvest which is reaped.

First, there was polygamy — one of the sins, that even in our goodly land casts its pestilential shadow, and fills a part of it with abominations which we must not tolerate. The whole force of our laws, our morality, and our common Christianity ought now to be set righteously against it, for it is possible that it may be taken up before long by those who make politics their trade, and a party question be raised whether our laws shall be executed among the Mormons ? And then it must be very delicately handled in the pulpit, and by the religious press, or the charge may be brought against us, that we are preaching politics, and meddling with party affairs ! or we must contend for the right to declare the whole truth on purely moral questions. Let us " cry aloud, and spare not," while we have free opportunity.

Polygamy in David's house may have been a far less heinous thing than in the home of many a heathen king. Its evils may have been greatly modified, yet God's disapproval and punishment fell upon it. It brought a train of calamities upon the house, and the heart of the king of Israel, carrying a terrible retribution upon the nation. In his home there must have been sad confusion, no unity in principles and plans, in rules and methods, in teachings and in prayers. He was in every sense "unequally yoked with unbelievers." And Absalom must have found enough of rule along with too much misrule. Instead of the "republic of home," he doubtless found maternal anarchy of the wildest sort, and scenes of jealousy and deeply plotted revenge, that trained him early to be a student of dark envies and grudges, as well as a plotter of conspiracies, and the cool perpetrator of crafty wickedness. At home, when not under his father's eye, he may have been schooled in the arts of intrigue, and in the policies of demagogism and of rebellion, in which he is an adept when he first makes his appearance in history. Is it ever true now, that one parent teaches a child those cunning arts, by which he may disobey the commands, or escape the penalties uttered by the other ? Do parents now ever disagree in their methods of managing their children ? Does one make light of the religion which the other imparts ? If so, what wonder if a son of theirs prove more of an Absalom, than an Isaac, or a Timothy ! -