The Absalom Conspiracy

TALK ABOUT ingratitude: David’s son Absalom, who’d fled to his grandfather’s kingdom of Geshur, returned to Jerusalem after a two-year exile and apparently began scheming to remove David from the throne as soon as he came home. We discuss the ploy by Absalom’s cousin, David’s nephew Joab, to return the king’s oldest surviving son to Jerusalem, and how Absalom forced Joab to meet with him and arrange his reconciliation with David. Once Absalom had regained David’s trust, he set about undermining his father’s authority, winning over the hearts of Israel through shrewd political campaigning in the gate of the city.  David, upon (finally!) realizing that he was in mortal danger, abandoned Jerusalem—not from fear, but to spare the city and its people from the destruction of a siege. We also talk about David’s flight from the city. His route, across the Kidron Valley toward the Jordan River, foreshadowed the path of Jesus from Jerusalem to the Crucifixion on the summit of the Mount of Olives.