Gospel Reflections #1096: Consumed by what you think is right

2 Samuel 13:38 ‘Absalom fled to Geshur and remained there for three years.’

This passage depicts Absalom—who had murdered his half-brother Amnon—living in exile to escape the pursuit of his father, King David.

This is a significant verse marking the beginning of the ‘three-year gap’ that proved to be the decisive blow to the breakdown of King David’s family.

Geshur was a small Aramean kingdom located in the north-east of Israel (near the present-day Golan Heights).

Absalom’s mother, Maacah, was the daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur.

In other words, Absalom sought political asylum at his mother’s family home (with his grandfather).

As Geshur was an independent state, even King David, the supreme ruler, ran the risk of provoking an international incident if he attempted to forcibly bring back a prince who had fled to a foreign country.

King David had previously committed a grave sin by taking Bathsheba, the wife of his subordinate Uriah, and causing Uriah’s death in battle.

At that time, the prophet Nathan had pronounced God’s judgement upon him: ‘The sword shall never depart from your house.’

The series of tragedies—in which his eldest son Amnon defiled his sister Tamar, and his third son Absalom, enraged by this, assassinated Amnon—was precisely the result of David’s own past sins being passed down to his children’s generation in the worst possible way.

When Amnon committed his crime, David was angry, but out of leniency towards his eldest son, he imposed no legal punishment whatsoever.

This unreasonable ‘silence’ on David’s part was what led Absalom to harbour a desire for revenge and to devise a plan to assassinate his brother, convinced that ‘he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands’.

And during the ‘three years’ that Absalom was in exile, David neither expressed anger towards him nor summoned him back to admonish him for his sin; he merely put off dealing with the problem and continued to ignore it. The following verse 39 states: ‘Once David had come to terms with Amnon’s death, his heart began to yearn for Absalom.’

Although David loved Absalom and longed to see him, he was torn between his duty as king (regarding the crime of murder) and his paternal affection, and thus refused to take action himself.

This ‘three-year estrangement’ deeply wounded Absalom’s heart and caused his distrust of his father, the king, to grow.

This would later become the decisive trigger for Absalom to launch a ‘rebellion against King David’ that engulfed the entire nation.

Even today, parent-child relationships can be complex and difficult.

Perhaps David, rather than seeking help from God, was fixated solely on the heavy burden of the consequences of his own sin.

When we do not know what to do or how to proceed, we should first seek God’s help, entrust the matter to Him, and then take that first step.

Even so, the situation may continue to worsen; yet, if we fix our eyes on the fact that God is with us, we can take that first step towards facing reality with peace in our hearts.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.