Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: Game of Thrones
Post Topic: Mourning a Lost Son
Post in Thread: #21
Previous: Absalom’s Hair-raising Demise
Next: The King Measures His People
Scripture: 2 Samuel 19:1-8
Key Verses (but read entire passage):
2 Samuel 19:2-4
And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Observations
Context
- Previously, on Game of Thrones, Bible Edition:
- The rebellion of King David’s son Absalom finally came to a head with the battle in the woods of Ephraim.
- David’s seasoned warriors soundly defeated Absalom’s men of Israel.
- Bad Hair Day – Absalom’s massive head of hair had gotten caught in an oak tree, leaving him helpless.
- David had ordered his men to take Absalom alive. But David’s headstrong commander Joab defied the king. With his 10 shield-bearers, they drove spears through Absalom’s heart and threw his body in a pit.
David’s wailing, and his men’s response
- The king covered his face and was wailing for all to hear: “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
- The men slunk back into their base city of Mahanheim, demoralized by their king’s reaction to what should have been a great victory.
- The text compares the fighters’ reactions to those who are ashamed at having run from battle, which couldn’t be further from the truth of their heroism.
Joab Confronts the King
- Joab catches wind of David’s theatrics, and is not pleased with the king.
- He confronts the king, and gives David a tongue-lashing.
- “You love those who hate you, and hate those who love you.”
- “You’ve made it clear that your commanders and their men mean nothing to you.”
- “You’d be pleased if Absalom were alive and all of us dead.”
- “If you don’t encourage your men, not a one will be left by nightfall.”
- Wow!
- David listens to Joab and takes his place in the gateway of the city, and his men come to him.
Interpretation
Setting
The city of Mahanaim, in the province of Gibeon, on the east side of the Jordan River (present-day western Jordan). After David regains control of his emotions, he meets his men at the gates of the city. In ancient times, the city gates was the most important place in the city. Being the city entrance, it was the most vulnerable, and thus the most heavily guarded. But it also served as an important meeting place. A place for important transactions. A place for judgment, sometimes. And a place for public discourse.
Takeaways
This is a difficult passage to find clear takeaways. The two main characters in this scene are David and Joab. There are good and bad responses by both characters, as there are from you and me in every-day life. We’ll examine the positives and negatives from David and Joab below:
David
- The Good – unconditional love
- David’s unconditional love for his rebellious son is to be lauded. This is a picture of how Christ loves us in spite of our rebellious nature.
- David’s deep emotional response resonates deeply with us. It creates a natural gut-level takeaway when quickly reading the text.
- The bad – When diving deeper, what does the text emphasize? The impact of David’s outbursts
- The passage focuses more on the reaction of David’s men than on his mourning.
- Even before Joab’s speech, more is said about their reaction than about David.
- It was demoralizing to them to achieve a great victory, only to see their leader utterly distraught.
- David’s inability to control his emotion, while understandable, affected his men. As a leader, he exhibited zero concern about the impact of his outward display on those around him.
- Why the extreme reaction from David? (no right or wrong answer to this)
- Had he been clinging to an irrational hope for reconciliation with Absalom?
- Was David destroyed by the bitter pill of regret over the broken relationship? His poor parenting?
- To David’s credit, he didn’t react angrily to Joab’s rebuke. He recognized the truth at the heart of Joab’s words and pulled himself together.
Joab
- Joab showed courage in standing up to David and saying what needed to be said.
- However, his confrontation crossed the line into contempt. It was what David needed to hear, but it should have been delivered in a different manner.
Imagine
You’ve revered your great king as long as you can remember. Tales of his victories over giants, massive defeats of Philistines and other enemies accompanied your childhood. You saw firsthand his resolve against the Jebusites at Jerusalem, the Ammonites at Rabbah, and the expansion of the kingdom within the Promised Land.
His traitorous son Absalom had threatened all of that. David had fled hastily, far from the capital city he’d built. But you and the other men of Judah had rallied to the king’s side, with former enemies from Philistia joining forces. You’d remained loyal, even in retreat.
Finally, the tides have turned. You and your brother warriors have just won a resounding victory over the king’s greatest foe ever. Even in your exhaustion, the adrenaline flows. With other jubilant warriors, you hurry to Mahanaim, singing God’s praises. You’re sure David will have already heard the news. He’s known for his lavish celebrations.
But he doesn’t greet you at the gate. The city seems strangely quiet. Brothers-in-arms who’d already arrived lounge inside the city, their faces surprisingly long. Then you hear the wailing.
“What is that?”
Chins drop. One man simply points. You round the corner to the public square, and there is David. You think it’s David, anyway. His face is covered, so he doesn’t acknowledge you or your commander.
Instead, King David cries out, mourning Absalom. Treasonous Absalom.
Correlation
2 Samuel 12:16-24- Because of David’s trail of sins with Bathsheba, he is told by the prophet Nathan that the Lord will not allow their baby to live. When the baby becomes very sick, David mourns for a week and prays for the baby’s life to be spared, but to no avail. When he is finally informed that the child has passed, David gets to his feet, eats, and comforts Bathsheba.
Contrast this behavior with David’s response to Absalom’s death. In both cases, he had a good idea of what was about to happen. He has plenty of time to prepare for the worst. But in the first case, he was more conscious of the needs of the others around him, like his attendants and his wife. I’m sure his heart was broken just as much, if not more, at the loss of Bathsheba’s baby.
Application
Generic Applications
David completely lost control of his emotions until confronted by Joab. While emotional displays can be good for us, we also need to consider how it affects others. When in a leadership position, our emotional displays affect those we lead more than we realize.
How then, can we manage our emotions? Especially something as raw as grieving?
- We are made in God’s image, so He has emotions too. Emotions are a good thing. It’s losing control of them that can be destructive.
- Frail as we are, we can’t do it on our own. We must be in submission to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide our reactions.
- If we are able to lead, witness, and praise God, while not hiding our emotions, imagine how that could bless others who are facing their own challenges.
Personalize it
- Am I facing something difficult in my life? How can I prepare myself to handle the situation so that I can use my emotions to bless those around me?
- When I am given hard admonition like Joab gave David, am I able to glean the truth out of what I’m told without lashing out at the message-bearer?
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.