Absalom, Difficult Childhood

ABSALOM – Difficult Childhood

Absalom [AB-suh-lum; “father of peace”] was one of David’s best-loved sons. Despite good looks and many gifts, however, Absalom was not a good man.

We see the seeds of Absalom’s destruction in his response to the rape of his sister, Tamar, by a half-brother Amnon (2 Sam. 13). When Absalom learned what had happened, he advised Tamar to keep quiet, and He took her into his home. Even though Absalom named a daughter after Tamar, he was hardly sensitive to the anguish of the distraught young woman.

What Absalom was sensitive to was the insult. While he pretended to be friends with Amnon, Absalom hated him. Two years after the rape, Absalom engineered Amnon’s death and fled Israel.

Some time later, David permitted Absalom to return. Once in Jerusalem, Absalom began an active campaign to win the allegiance of the northern tribes and of some of David’s advisers. Absalom’s campaign was successful, and David’s son threw the nation into a bitter civil war. Absalom was killed in the final battle of the war. But thousands of others lost their lives because of this bitter young man’s ambition.

David handled the situation poorly, yet that does not excuse Absalom for what he did. His hatred of Amnon, his pretense, his murder of his half-brother, and his rebellion against his father were Absalom’s responsibility alone.

Today our society seems too quick to excuse. Pleas that people had a difficult childhood or that someone had harmed them is presented to excuse them of their crimes. Yet, two wrongs still do not make a right. Whatever others may have done to us never releases us from the obligation to do what is right and good.

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