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From Eternity Past
were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or
cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so,
that when any man came nigh to do him obeisance, he put forth his
hand, and took him, and kissed him.”
Rebellion Grows Underground
Fomented by the prince, discontent with the government was fast
spreading. Absalom was generally regarded as heir to the kingdom,
and a desire was kindled that he might occupy the throne. “So Absalom
stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” Yet the king suspected nothing.
The princely state which Absalom had assumed was regarded by David
as intended to do honor to his court.
Absalom secretly sent picked men throughout the tribes to concert
measures for revolt. And now the cloak of religious devotion was
assumed to conceal his traitorous designs. Absalom said to the king,
“I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto
the Lord, in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at
Geshur, in Syria, saying, if the Lord shall bring me again indeed to
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Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.”
The fond father, comforted with this evidence of piety in his son,
dismissed him with his blessing. Absalom’s crowning act of hypocrisy
was designed not only to blind the king but to establish the confidence
of the people, and thus to lead them on to rebellion against the king
whom God had chosen.
Absalom set forth for Hebron, and with him “two hundred men
out of Jerusalem, that were called, and they went in their simplicity,
and they knew not anything.” These men went, little thinking that their
love for the son was leading them into rebellion against the father. At
Hebron, Absalom summoned Ahithophel, a man in high repute for
wisdom. Ahithophel’s support made the cause of Absalom appear
certain of success, attracting to his standard many influential men.
As the trumpet of revolt sounded, the prince’s spies throughout the
country spread the tidings that Absalom was king, and many of the
people gathered to him.