109 – Absalom’s Defeat
II Samuel 17:24 – 19:8
The Lord caused Absalom to ignore Ahithophel’s advice, even though it was better. So Absalom said, “We’ll follow the advice of Hushai.”
When Ahithophel heard this, he knew that David would win the war. So he went to his hometown, set his affairs in order, and hung himself.
Because of Hushai’s advice, David was prepared for war by the time Absalom had gathered a large army and chased after him. People of that area had given him supplies and Joab had organized the army.
David laid out a plan of action to fight the army of Absalom. He said to his men, “I’ll lead you into battle.”
They said, “No! Stay in the city. If one of us dies, no one will care. Half of us could die, and no one would even notice. But you’re worth 10,000 soldiers. Stay in the city.”
So the king stood beside the gate while his troops marched out. He said to Joab, loud enough so everyone could hear, “For my sake, be merciful with my son, Absalom.”
David’s army marched into battle and defeated the army of Israel. It turned into a slaughter, with over 20,000 men dead.
Absalom was riding away from the battle on a mule. Suddenly his hair got caught in the branches of a large tree. It pulled him off the mule, and he was left hanging in midair. Some of David’s men saw him hanging there, and went and told Joab.
He said, “What? You saw him hanging there, and you didn’t kill him? I would’ve paid you ten pieces of silver if you had killed him!”
They said, “We wouldn’t kill the king’s son even if you gave us 1,000 pieces of silver. We heard what he said. He wants us to spare his son. If we had killed him, the king would find out about it … and you’d let us take the blame.”
Joab said, “I’m wasting my time talking to you!” He took three spears and went to where Absalom was hanging. He and several of his guards surrounded Absalom and killed him.
Joab then blew the ram’s horn, and his troops stopped chasing the army of Israel. Absalom was taken down from the tree and thrown into a large pit. With that, all the men of Israel went home.
A young man said to Joab, “I’ll run and tell the king how the Lord has given him victory.”
Joab said, “No, I’ll send someone else.” So he then sent another runner.
The young man begged Joab to let him run as well. Finally, he was given permission to go. The young man ran, but he was faster than the other runner and got to the king first.
David was sitting just inside the gate, waiting for news of the battle. A watchman on the wall called down and told him a runner was coming.
As the young man got close, the watchman called down to David that another runner was coming. The young man bowed before the king and said, “The battle went well. You’ve won! The Lord has given you victory.”
David said, “What about Absalom? Is he alive?”
“I don’t know. I heard a lot of noise, but I didn’t know what that was about.”
“Stand over there and wait.”
The second runner came up and said, “I have good news. God has given you victory today.”
David said, “What about Absalom? Is he alive?”
The runner said, “May all of your enemies end up like him.”
