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...the words, and so I just pray to the Holy Spirit that you would speak to our hearts and speak through me tonight, and I just pray that you would fill me as I preach tonight and show me what you want me to preach out of this story, dear God. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Now this is maybe a little more of an unusual sermon for me, but I wanted to show you this story in the Bible about Absalom. Now, I've heard this story preached in many different ways, and I've never really heard it quite preached this way that I'm going to preach it tonight. But I wanted first to start out by giving you the background of the story and getting into the story, and this story spans several chapters, and I'm just going to kind of go through it and skip a few things, but I want to show you this man's life, Absalom. Now, we start out the story in chapter 13, verse 1, we meet Absalom, and we find out that Absalom is one of David's sons. He's one of his oldest sons, in fact. I believe he's his third son. Now, Absalom has a sister named Tamar. Now, his father David, of course, has three different wives, which is totally wrong that he did that, but David had three wives. And so, one of his wives, her name was, I'm trying to remember which one it was, but it wasn't Bathsheba. I'm trying to remember which one it was, it's slipping my mind right now. But one of his wives, in particular, he had a son Absalom with, and then he also had this daughter Tamar that was Absalom's full-blooded sister. With a different wife, he had a son named Amnon, which was actually his oldest son. And so, Amnon was basically the half-brother of Tamar, and he was the half-brother of Absalom. Well, in the story here, Amnon is a wicked man, I mean, he's evil, and you'll see this throughout the story, but he is in love with his half-sister, which is against God's laws. It's not his full-blooded sister, but it's his half-sister nonetheless, and it's wicked, but he's just in love with his sister. But he says, you know what, I've been taught right, I've grown up in church, David, my father, is a great man of God, and so I'm not going to do anything, you know, I'm just going to keep this to myself. It's a wicked thought that I have, and I'm going to keep it to myself. But Amnon had a friend, we see in verse three, isn't that just what we talked about this morning? Amnon had a friend, of course, Jonadab, who influenced him wickedly, and gave him a plan, and told him that it was okay, and told him to do this wicked plan to force his own half-sister, Tamar. And so we just read the story, how he forced his half-sister, Tamar, he tricks her into coming to the house, and when he's done with what he does with her, he says that he hated her more than he loved her in the first place. He's just disgusted with her, he's disgusted with himself, and so he actually throws her out of the house. I mean, what a tragic story. Here's this nice young girl, this nice clean young virgin girl, defiled at the hands of Amnon, and then thrown out the door like some kind of a used piece of garbage, the door bolted after her, and just her life ruined. What a terrible story, isn't it a tragedy when you read this story? And I read it, and I'm just being honest with you, this is how I feel when I read this story. When I read verse number 22 in chapter number 13 where it says, And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon, neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. You know, I don't blame him, to be honest with you. I'm starting to hate the guy myself reading this story. And so I see Absalom, who's often demonized by a lot of preachers, and we're going to see later that he ends up becoming the bad guy. But at this point in the story, I'm thinking to myself, Absalom, I don't blame you. Look how your sister's been treated, look how your sister's been abused. And look at the righteous indignation that's welling up in Absalom, he's disgusted with his brother Amnon, and he hates him. And he says, I'm not going to say anything to him, good or bad, I'm just going to see what happens. Well, look at verse 22. I'm sorry, verse 21, it says, But when King David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. That's it. I mean, he just, he gets mad. That's it. No punishment, there's no kind of consequences for Amnon, David doesn't take care of the problem, he just gets angry. Well, look at verse number 26. I'm sorry, look at verse 23. I want to show you this first. It says he hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. And it came to pass after two full years. So here's Absalom just sitting around for two years waiting for something to happen, I mean, waiting for some kind of justice, waiting for something righteous to happen here in this situation. And it says, And it came to pass after two full years that Absalom had sheep shearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons. So two years go by, nothing happens. Well, what should have happened? Well, I was looking through the Bible, I was looking through the Mosaic law to see what should have happened, and turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 22. Deuteronomy chapter 22, let's see what God says about this type of an occurrence. Deuteronomy 22, and look at verse 25. All right, Deuteronomy 22, 25, the Bible reads, But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die, but in the damsel thou shalt do nothing, there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For as when a man ariseth against his neighbor and slayeth them, even so is this matter. So, basically, in cases like this, he says, if there's a girl and she's betrothed to somebody, she's engaged or she's married, then he says if somebody forces her, then that guy needs to be taken out and killed. And the woman, I mean, it's not her fault, she didn't do anything wrong. It's just like she's a victim. Well, then look at this, it says in verse number 28, For if a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her and lie with her, and may be found, then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife. Because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. So, God has two perspectives of this. He says, in cases like this, he's the number one, if she's already betrothed or already married, take that sucker out and kill him. The rapists deserve the death penalty, that's what the Bible says. There are a few crimes in the Bible that God determined as capital punishment. One of them is murder, one of them is rape, and another of them is homosexuality, and another of them is kidnapping. All the death penalty. And by the way, did you know that in this country, probably when you were coming up, death penalty was for kidnapping in this country, in the 1970s even. Death penalty for kidnapping a child. And, of course, that's all changed as we depart from the things of God, as we depart from the Bible. Now it's a slap on the wrist. Now he gets let out eight years later and does it to some other kid. But, back to 2 Samuel, you see how there's just no justice carried out? I mean, at least he could have been forced to marry the girl, or at least he could have been killed or punished or something, and here he's violated God's laws just grievously and no consequences. So here's Absalom for two years just fuming about this, just angry at the hypocrisy that he sees, the lack of justice that he sees carried out, and he's just getting madder and madder and more and more hateful. We'll look at verse number 26. The Bible reads here, Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. Remember we just read a little earlier, he was going to have the sheep shearers, and he wanted to invite the king and stuff, and the king said, No, I can't come, I'm busy. He said, If not, I pray thee, in verse 26, Let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with thee? But Absalom pressed him that he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. So he invites them to this big get-together where they have the sheep shearers, and they're going to kill the sheep and have a great meal. And in verse 28, the Bible says, Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine. So again, we see this guy, this guy that's a rapist, he's also a drinker, he's also a heavy drinker, of course. And they're saying, Wait until he's drunk. Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not, have not I commanded you? Be courageous and be valid. He says, Don't worry about the consequences, I told you to do it, you're not going to get in trouble. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule and fled. And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons, and there's not one of them left. Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth, and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent. And Jonadab, this is that slimy devil who's the one who told Amnon to do it in the first place. And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they had slain all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon only is dead. For by the appointment of Absalom, this had been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. Now therefore, let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead, for Amnon only is dead, but Absalom fled. So Absalom took off running. He executed vengeance on his half-brother, he had his servants kill him, and he ran off and took off. Now, obviously he shouldn't have taken things into his own hands, but at this point in the story, I'll tell you something. I'm right with Absalom while I'm reading this. I'm thinking to myself, Way to go, buddy. Good job, because at least you took care of what the king wouldn't take care of, what justice wouldn't take care of. Way to go, pal. And I don't really blame him, you know. Should he have done it? Probably not. But at the same time, I see where he's coming from here, because he's looking at just the phonies around him, he's looking at all the hypocrisy around him, and he's got the job done. Now look at verse number 37. It says, But Absalom fled, so he took off running, and went to Talmai the son of Amahud, king of Gedishe, and David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years. Now let me tell you something. Geshur is not in the land of Israel. Geshur is in the land of the heathen. So here's what I see. I see a young man, Absalom. I see a young man who really has a pretty good head on his shoulders about what's right and wrong. He really sees things pretty clearly about justice and right and wrong, but the problem is he has a weak leadership. He's got a weak father who's a compromiser because of his own sins in his life. And so what does he do? He grows up, and he goes to the world. That's what he does. And you'll see this around us today. Teenagers growing up, they grow up in a home where mom and dad are inconsistent. They grow up in a home where they're taught principles that are inconsistent, rules, dos and don'ts that are not consistent with the Bible, that are hypocritical. Whatever we do is okay, but if we don't do it, it's wrong. I remember when I was growing up, this is what was taught to me in churches. It was preached to me in churches that going to the movie theater was wrong. Yet those same people, the pastor, everybody, would have a DVD and a VCR. Well, they didn't have DVDs back then, but I'm so old, they didn't have DVDs. No, I'm just kidding. They would go home and watch the same thing on the VCR. And I remember just thinking to myself, get up and scream and yell and preach against going to the theater and watching the same movie in a VCR? And I'm just thinking to myself, this doesn't make any sense. You're inconsistent. It doesn't make any sense. And I see them get up and preach against something, and then they do something that's almost exactly the same. And I remember just the half-in, half-out Christianity that I grew up with. I remember just the watered-down churches that I went to. But I'm just kind of laid back, and this is right and this is wrong. But then, well, gray area here and there. And I remember just as a teenager seeing the inconsistency, I saw right through it. And I said, I want nothing to do with this. And for a while, I was pretty rebellious. I wanted to go to the world. I wanted to go to Giescher and see what it was like over there. Because what I was seeing at home and what I was seeing in the house of God was not appealing to me because it wasn't real, because it was hypocrisy. And so we see this young man Absalom going to the world, turning to the world, turning away from the things of God, turning away from God's house, turning away from his own father that was righteous. Why? Because he saw the hypocrisy, because he saw the watered-down, half-in, half-out form of Christianity. And to see his parents. I wonder what we did wrong. I wonder what went wrong with Absalom. I mean, we had him in the Christian school, and we brought him to church. I don't know why he went off into the world. Maybe it's because you're so inconsistent with your rules. Maybe it's because you're so liberal that you don't even execute judgment straight out of the Bible on this wicked Amnon, and he's got to do it himself. Now, I see exactly what's going on with Absalom. I see why he went off into the world. Well, look what happens. The Bible says in verse number 39, And the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. Now, look if you would at chapter number 14, verse number 21. Now, we're going to skip a little part here where David longs. After three years, he starts feeling, Man, you know, my son Amnon's dead, but I really wish I could have Absalom back. He fled three years ago, and I'd like to rebuild that relationship. And in chapter 14, there's a story here that we'll not go into for sake of time where Joab pulls something here where he has a woman come and tells the king a story, and it goes on and on just to try to persuade the king to invite Absalom back. Well, look at verse number 21. The Bible says, And the king said unto Joab, Behold now I have done this thing. Go, therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. So he's saying go to Geshur and bring him back and tell him he's welcome back in our house. And that's still up to this point. I'm not really against Absalom. I mean, he's really a pretty good guy. He's not a bad guy. He loved his sister. He gives her a place to live after she gets thrown out of Amnon's house, and the door bolted. It says that he took her into his own house and took care of her after that. And he executed judgment. He runs away scared. He goes off into the world because he's just a little bit disillusioned with what's going on back at home. He comes back. They bring him back. But now we're going to see Absalom start to make a transition here, and we're going to see him start to really go bad and really go evil. Because remember, he's been spending time in the world. He's totally disillusioned with the things of God. But before I show you that, let me show you why all this is happening. Let me show you the real root of the problem. Flip back, if you would, to 2 Samuel. Let's see here. 2 Samuel chapter number 12. Just a few chapters back. 2 Samuel chapter number 12. Let's see why this is really happening. Now, in 2 Samuel chapter 11 is the story of David and Bathsheba. This is the story where King David is supposed to be off fighting. He's supposed to be off at battle, at war. And it was a time when kings go forth to war, but he decided he was going to stay home and just take it easy. And so he's up on his roof, just lazy, just bored, nothing to do. And he's walking around on his roof. He's looking and he sees through a window. He sees a beautiful woman taking a bath, Bathsheba. And he sends for this woman, this married woman, and says, bring her to me. And he has his servants go get her. Does this sound a little bit familiar? Does this sound kind of like what his son Amnon's doing? Think about it. I mean, think about this. So he sends and brings this married woman to his house, commits sin with her, commits adultery with her, and then he wants to try to cover it up. So what does he do? He calls her husband, Uriah, and says, hey, listen, you've been working hard out on the battlefield because he was out fighting for King David. He was one of his 33 mighty men, one of his 33 top military men. He brings him back and says, hey, listen, you've been working hard. Why don't you go home and spend some time with your family? Because this woman had become pregnant, Bathsheba, and so he wants to cover it up to make it seem like it was just between her and Uriah. And so he sends Uriah back to her house and says, here you go. And he wouldn't go back. And he says, no, no, I need to be in the battle. I need to be with the troops. I'm not going to do that. So King David hears that he doesn't go home. And he says, well, I've got to get him to go home to his house. So he brings him back, and he slips something in his drink and tries to get him drunk. And he gets him drunk, and he says, go home to your family. Spend some time with your family. I'm giving you a break. I'm giving you some time off. Again, he just goes back to the battlefield, goes back with the troops, and will not go back. So finally, David has to figure something out. He has to do something to cover up for himself, to save face. So what does he do? He says to Joab, the captain of the host, I want you to put Uriah in the hottest part of the battle. I mean, just right in the front where all the action is. And I want you to put him up there, and then just kind of everybody else just kind of retreat. So he's just kind of left there to fight everybody. And then, of course, this is what they did. Joab kind of obeyed that. What he did was he put him in a real hot part of the battle, and it doesn't really say that they fell back, but they just put him right in the front lines in a really bad situation, and he ended up getting killed. So in essence, David murdered this man, because he told them to put him here and allow him to be killed. And God later says that you killed him with the sword of the children of Ammon. He says, you know, when Nathan preaches to him, he says, you killed him by putting him there and letting them kill him. Well, look at chapter 12, verse number 1. It says, and the Lord sent Nathan unto David. This is after David has done this wicked sin of adultery and now murder. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said unto him, there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. And anyway, he goes on in this story, and he gives a parable. He says, there was a rich man, he has all these sheep, all this wealth, and there was a poor man who just had one sheep that was just a family pet. And he loved this sheep, and it said he actually, it ate at the table with him, it slept in his bed with him. I mean, this was his, I've never seen people have their dogs sleep in bed with them. But anyway, if you do, that's fine, but not me. But anyway, anyway, they got the sheep sleeping in bed with them. This is their family pet, this is the family dog. And so this rich man, and he's telling a parable, Nathan, this preacher is telling David this parable. He says, the rich man had a friend come over, and they wanted to eat a big meal. So he said, I don't want to kill one of my hundreds of sheep here. I think I'm just going to go next door and take their family sheep and kill that guy's sheep and eat it. And David is just listening to this story. And he thought it was a real story, he thought it was a true story. David is just becoming enraged, and he says, look at verse number five. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that has done this thing shall surely die. He said, that's so wicked and ungodly, take this man who killed their pet. I mean, that's all he did, I mean, he killed their pet, that's all. He said, take that guy out and kill him. And then look at this, and, this always cracks me up, because he's already dead. I mean, it doesn't really matter what you do to him now, but kill him and he shall restore the lamb fourfold. And give the other guy four lambs, because he did this thing and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. Can you imagine what he felt like? He just rips on this guy and says, that stinking piece of trash, take him out and kill him and make him pay four times. And he says, thou art the man. Well, at least David, being the man of God that he was, he realized, I'm wrong. He saw it now. He saw his wicked sin, he was wrong. And he wrote Psalm 51, if you want to go back and read that sometime. He wrote Psalm 51 after being confronted with Nathan. The prophet, look at verse number seven, thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. And he goes on to say, I've given you everything, I've given you this kingdom, I gave you everything that you have, I gave you your nice wife here. He says, if that wasn't enough, I would have given you whatever you asked me for. But he says, no, you had to take somebody else's stuff. And look what he says in verse number 11. Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. And I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor. And he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Now look, he tells him. This is the judgment that's going to happen out of your own house. There's going to be evil against you and is going to do a similar thing to you as you've done. You're going to get paid back with the same thing. And he says, but God has pardoned you because, of course, foreshadowing of the blood of Jesus Christ, he said God's pardoned you and you're not going to die for this. But he didn't say that he wasn't going to pay the fourfold, though. He said you're not going to die. But he paid four times for this. Let me tell you the four times that he paid. Number one, he paid because when Bathsheba's first son was born, the one that was pregnant, the one that this whole thing was about, died after seven days. That was lamb number one. Then Amnon dies. That's lamb number two. Remember Amnon got killed by Absalom? Later Absalom's going to die at lamb number three. And then in the book of First Kings, chapter number two, Adonijah's going to die. Four of his sons were killed. And you see, God doesn't mess around and he basically proclaimed the judgment out of his own mouth. He's going to pay fourfold and God says, okay, I'm going to kill your four oldest sons. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And he paid for it. So now you see why this is happening. You see why it's happening here? You see, this young man Absalom grows up and boy, his dad has done something similar. I wonder why that's why he even had maybe a soft spot for Amnon. I wonder if that's why he didn't punish him. I wonder if that's why he didn't carry out the judgment that he was supposed to carry out. You see, part of the reason why we as parents sometimes can't be as strict with our kids as we'd like to be, part of the reason is why a preacher can't get up and preach maybe like he wants to preach and just really just lay it out what's a sin and what's right and wrong. Because he's living in sin himself, that's why. Because we're living in sin ourselves, that's why. Because I'll tell you something and I'll say this to you. This is just something to take with you aside from the sermon. Any preacher who will not preach on sin, it's because he's living in sin, period. Just remember that statement. You remember that and you take that with you and you'll find that to be true every time. Any preacher who will not preach on sin is living in sin. Because he's living in it, that's why he won't preach on it. It's pretty hard to get up and preach against sin when you're doing something that's almost the same. Well, maybe it's not quite as bad. But boy, I'll tell you something. The only time you can get up and really preach on sin is if you're obeying, if you're keeping it. Otherwise you're a hypocrite. But that's the thing as parents. Don't dabble in sin. Don't be a compromiser. Because how are you going to teach your kids right and wrong? How are you going to judge your kids when you are dabbling in sin yourself? You're not going to and you're going to have an Absalom grow up for a child. Well, let's get back to the story of Absalom though now that we see a little bit of the background where this came from. Look if you would at chapter 14 again. Look at verse number 25. The Bible says, I'm sorry, verse 25. But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. He's a good looking guy. And from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he pulled his head, now let me define the word pulled for you. Pull. P-O-L-L. It's a word that is used like when they would pull sheep. And what it means is like a buzz cut. I mean it's like the type of haircut, similar to the haircut that I have, similar to the haircut that Brother McCoy has. It's just a short haircut. It's like zzz. That's pulling. It's like when you do it with sheep, when you shear them. Well, and just a side note, in the book of Leviticus when the Bible talks about priests and what they should wear and what they should do, he says they shouldn't be completely bald. They shouldn't have long hair. He said they should pull their heads. They should have short hair. That's why I have the haircut that I have right now. But look at this. When he pulled his head, so this is when he gets his haircut, I mean he gets a short haircut. It's absolute. And when he pulled his head, for it was at every year's end that he pulled it. Okay? So he's getting a haircut once a year. At the end of the year, whether he needs it or not, he gets a haircut. And it says because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he pulled it. He weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels after the king's weight. Now, I'll admit to you, I have no idea how much that is. And I'm, you know, you can look in books and it'll tell you, but I don't really know how much that is. And so, but just the fact that he's weighing it and just the fact that we're talking about how heavy it was, that's a lot of hair. Okay? So basically this guy was kind of a pretty boy, and he decided, you know what? I've been in geisha for a while. I've been in the world for about three years. And there's really no record that he was growing his hair out before this time. But he's disillusioned with church. He sees the hypocrisy. It's a big joke. I mean, look at the pastor himself. David has been into sin. And so he says, you know what? I'm going to go hang out in geisha. He comes back and says, you know what? I think I'm just going to grow out my hair nice and long. And I'll cut it once a year just because it's so heavy and just so I don't get split ends. So I'm going to pull it once a year. But he says, I'm going to grow it out long. I'm going to keep it long. See the rebellion? And this is the first time that I start to depart from Absalom. Up to the story now, I'm just thinking, man, poor Absalom. This guy's a good guy if he would just get the right leadership, if he would just get in the right situation. But now he's starting to lose me because he's spent three years in the world now. And now he's starting to say, you know, I'm going to grow my hair out long. And it says, and unto Absalom there were born three sons. This is verse 27. And one daughter whose name was Tamar. So he named his daughter Tamar after his sister. See, he loved his sister. She was a woman of a fair countenance. So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face. Therefore Absalom sent for Joab to have him sent for the king. He says, I want to see, you know, why'd he bring me back? Does my dad want to see me? So he wants to see his dad. And so he sent for Joab. And the Bible says in verse 29, but he would not come to him. And when he's sent again the second time, he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants, see Joab's field is near mine and he has Bali there. Go and set it on fire. So he tells his servants, go set Joab's Bali field on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house and said unto him, wherefore has thy servant set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab, behold I sent unto thee saying, come hither that I may send thee to the king's. I sent for you twice and you wouldn't come. And you just, you bring me back here and I'm ostracized and I'm put on my own here. And if you brought me back, I want to see my dad, I want to see the king's, so I set your field on fire. You see just the destructive behavior. You see just the vandalism, the destructive behavior, the rebellious spirit. He's got long hair. He's going to do what he wants to do. He's going to hurt other people. And remember Joab was the guy that was pulling for him back in chapter 14. That's the guy that even got him back into the country. He's turned on his own friends here, turning on Joab. Well, look if you would at 2 Samuel 15 one. And it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him. So he starts assembling an army. He starts getting ready, he's going to fight, he's going to fight against his own dad. He's going to overthrow the kingdom and take over the kingdom for himself. And in these verses here, and I'll just tell you this story, but if you read this in chapter 15, basically he says that he stood at the king's gate and every time anybody would come to see the king, he would kind of get to him first and say, oh boy, what do you need? And they'd say, oh man, I'm having this problem. I need the king to intercede for me here. And he says, you know what? It's really a bummer, but the king does not have time for you. And he says, blah, blah, blah. And he said, tell me all about it. And they tell him all about the problem. And he'd say, oh man, you know what? You are so right. And I just, I wish I was in charge, you know, I wish I could take care of this for you, but unfortunately, and he says every guy that came to him, you know what he'd do? He says every guy that would come to him and try to shake his hand, you know what he'd do? He'd come up to him and he'd kiss him on the cheek, okay? Every guy that would come there, you know, he'd just put out his hand and shake his hand. He'd take him out of the hand and pull him in and kiss him on the cheek. You know, he's just buddying up to these people, just really laying it on thick. Some long-haired guy kissing people on the cheek. But anyway, the point is, he was just trying to steal the hearts of the men of Israel, he said. Well, in verse number 10, the Bible says, But Absalom sent spies, this is chapter 15, verse 10, But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebrew. So he says, look, he sends out spies to all these people he's been buttering up to, and he says, we're going to blow a trumpet, and as soon as you hear the trumpet, we're just going to rally, we're going to make me the king in the city of Hebron, where David used to reign before he reigned in Jerusalem, he reigned in the city of Hebron, it was the old capital, then Hebron from the word Hebrew, you know, from Abraham, Hebrew, Hebron, and he says, we're going to blow the trumpet and say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. Well, David hears about this, and David finds out, you know what, he wants to overthrow you, he wants to take over, and by the way, the whole country's on his side. And so David says, you know what, I'm not going to fight against my son, I'm not going to attack him, I'm not going to fight this, this is what has to be, they all want him, fine. He takes all his most loyal servants, he takes his army, his generals and everything, and he crosses the book Cai-Dron out of Jerusalem, and it's interesting to note this is exactly the same brook that Jesus crossed into the Garden of Gethsemane right before he was crucified. But here he is, David, he takes all his men, and they're weeping, they're upset, they're sad, and they just vacate the palace. And then they just cross the book for Cai-Dron and leave Jerusalem, and just without a fight left. Well, Absalom marches with his men into town in Jerusalem. He goes into the palace, he marches into the palace, and there were ten concubines there that David had left to keep the house. And these ten concubines, they were basically his not-wives, but pretty much the same thing, except he wasn't married to them. And so these ten women are there, and so Absalom takes these ten women, he sets up a tent on top of the palace where everybody can see a big tent, and he goes in the tent and defiles his dad's ten concubines in front of the whole nation in this tent. Just causing people to just be scared to death that he would desecrate his father in this way, that they would either have to decide, we're either going to be 100% with Absalom, or we're going to be 100% with David, because this is getting serious. And so what happened, he did that wicked thing which was prophesied by Nathan. David's outside of Jerusalem. He's with his men, they're camped, they're in tents, they have a military camp set up. And I'm going to have to skip a lot of this for the sake of time, the story, but they said David sends some spies into town, Ahimeas and his brother, and they come into town, and they hear what's going on, and they're listening to plans. David has a man on the inside to try to influence what they do, and finally goes back and forth, and Absalom and his men decide that they're going to send the whole, we're just going to gather the whole armies of Israel, and we're going to just go attack David and his men and just kill them all, and just destroy them. And so that's what they did. They pack up, they get ready for this battle, they're going to cross Kidron, and they are going to fight David and get rid of him for good. He gets all of Israel with him, Absalom gets all of his men with him. Well, look if you would at chapter number 18. This is where we get into the actual battle that's going to take place. So here it is, Absalom, he's got all his men, he's got the whole nation of Israel. David's got his most trained men, his best fighters, his loyal army that's with him. They're camped out in the wilderness, Absalom's coming from Jerusalem with all the armies of Israel. And look if you would at verse number 5. The battle's about to start, David is probably a much better warrior than Absalom. I mean, he's been fighting battles since David and Goliath. He's been this great warrior throughout. Absalom's never fought a battle or anything like that, but here they are, they're making plans, they're having the camp. David is with his two generals, they're going to divide into three groups. Ittai, the Gittite, who's a Philistine man who had joined the nation of Israel. And then you've got on this side, you've got Joab, the son of Jeruiah, which is David's general, the captain of the host, and himself. And they've got these three groups, they're going to be the three captains. He's in the huddle with his two generals. Here's what he says in verse number 5, 2 Samuel 18, 5. And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai. Abishai was David's brother-in-law that was in charge of his particular third of the group. Saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. He says, look, we're fighting this battle, we're trying to take the kingdom back, we're trying to save our own lives, we're trying to get things back. But he says, you know, can you just take it easy on Absalom, because I love my son Absalom. I still think that maybe there's still hope for my son Absalom. So can you please just deal gently with the young man for my sake? And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. The Bible says, everybody heard David say that, hey, take it easy on Absalom. Look at verse 6. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim. So it's in a very thick forest, these dense trees, where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David. So the servants of David are just winning this battle, they're just destroying the children of Israel, because these are hardened men of war. They fought so many battles with David against the Ammonites and against the Philistines and others. And the Bible says, and there was there a great slaughter that day of 20,000 men. For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country, and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. And Absalom met the servants of David, and Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak. And his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth. Isn't God this kind of poetic justice there? Oh, you want to grow your hair out long, Absalom? You want to be pretty and look like a woman and grow out long hair and be a rebellious punk? And what happened, he's riding on his mule, he's riding to battle, and what happens is his hair gets stuck in a tree. And he's ripped off the mule, and he's hanging from the tree by his long, shaggy hair, caught in the tree. And it says he was taken up between the heaven and the earth, and the mule that was under him went away, so the mule keeps on walking. And he's just hanging from the tree by his hair. The mule takes off. And a certain man saw it and told Joab and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. And Joab said unto the man that told him, And behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? And I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle. And the man said unto Joab, See, Joab's got hard feelings about his forearm getting burnt out. And it says, And behold, thou sawest him, why didst thou smite him to the ground? And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son for an hour hearing. The king charged thee an abishai and ateyai, saying, Beware that none touched the young man Absalom. Otherwise I should have brought falsehood against my own life. For there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me. Then said Joab, I may not carry best of these. Just shut up. You're wasting my time. Leave me alone. He says, I may not carry best with thee. And he took three darts in the sand. This is Joab. He did Joab take three darts in the sand, and he went and found Absalom hanging in that tree. And it says he thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men that bared Joab's arm were compassed about and smote Absalom and slew him. And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people. They took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled every one to his tent. And on and on you see the aftermath of this battle. They pick up the pieces. Everybody goes home. You know, their leader's gone. Everybody goes home. Everybody goes back to their tents. David comes back to Jerusalem. Look at verse number 32, though. We'll see the end of this tragic story of the life of Absalom. And the king said unto Cushai, Is the young man Absalom safe? This is when he's just finding out the battle's over. The messenger Cushai comes and tells him what's going on in the battle. He tells him, We won the battle. It's over. You're the king. But he says, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushai answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt be as that young man is. He's basically saying, He's dead. And the king was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. So he's crying. He's upset. And as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son. But what a tragic story, isn't it? What a terrible story this young man's life. But I'm going to tell you something. I think that there's Absaloms all over. Because I'll tell you something, I see our generation, I see my young generation, and those maybe a little younger than me, a little older than me, I see a generation of Absalom. You see the long-haired punks? You see the young man that's disillusioned with Christianity, disillusioned with church, he's disillusioned with fundamentalism. So what's he do? He goes off to the world. He goes out and lives like hell. He grows his hair long and shaggy. He rebels against his parents. He rebels against everything he's taught. He rebels against church. He rebels against God. And where do we find Absalom in the story? This man who's been let down by his leaders? Absalom who's been let down by his dad who wouldn't draw a line in the sand and say, right is right and wrong is wrong for me, for you, for him, not for anybody. It's right and wrong. No, with David, it was a lot of talk, but it was a big gray area with what's right and wrong. And it was a man who was let down by his justice system, a man who was let down by his church, a young man, a young man who was let down by his mom and dad, who was let down by his pastor, who was let down because they would not be a righteous nation. They just let sin go. They let everything go. They were inconsistent. And I see this young man just say, nuts to this. Forget church. I'm going to go to Gishor. I'm going to go live like the world. And then I'm going to come back and I'm going to be in charge. I'm going to do what I want to do. Well, I tell you what, this man, Absalom, could have been a great guy. That's the way I read this story. He could have been a great guy. He could have been some, I mean, he had zeal. He had ambition. He had brains. He had all this stuff going for him. He was full righteousness. He just loved people. He loved his sister, but his leaders let him down. And so where do we find Absalom? We find him in the story hanging from a tree by his hair. And the Bible says he's hanging between heaven and earth. Here he is. He's hanging in the balance between, I think heaven represents living for God. I think it represents a saved, godly Christian that he could have been. He could have been a saved, godly, born again Christian on his way to heaven, living for God, a great man for God. And he's hanging between the earth, which I think represents just worldliness. It represents hell. It represents hell that's in the center of the earth. Hell that he's going to go to because he didn't get saved because it was all a joke to him. And he's hanging in the balances. And what happens? He's just killed. He's thrown aside. And I'm going to tell you something. I think that this generation that we're seeing of Absalom, I think it's because of weak leadership in this country. I think it's because of weak leadership in churches. I think it's because of weak leadership in the home. And it's so easy for us to look at Absalom when we see him in the grocery store, when we see him knocking on doors, and when we see Absalom at school and at church and say, you rebellious punk. But you know what? Maybe Absalom is just a little bit disillusioned by all the fake Christianity. Maybe he's just a little disillusioned by the sin and the compromise that he sees mom and dad doing. Maybe he's just a little disillusioned by his liberal, weak, lame church. That's the truth, my friend. I remember when I was growing up, you know what I was looking for? I was looking for something real. Just as a teenager, I went to this church, I went to that church. I can tell you something. There was a time in my life when I was pretty rebellious. I was a little bit of an Absalom. And I'll tell you something. There was a time in my life when I was 15 years old, I literally went to some kind of a church or a youth group seven days a week. I mean, I remember on Sunday morning and Sunday night, I went to church with my parents. On Monday night, I went to this non-nominational Bible study thing. On Tuesday night, I went to this Baptist church, had a small group Bible study, a different Baptist church for teenagers. On Wednesday night, I went to a Wednesday night church. On Thursday night, I went to a different youth group. I thought out. I was looking for a Baptist youth group that met on Thursday nights instead of Wednesday night. Because they all met on Wednesday night. I went on Thursday nights. I could go on Wednesday night and Thursday night. And then on Friday night, I'd always have some kind of a youth activity between the three or four churches I was going to. And then Saturday, there'd be some kind of a youth activity going on and on and on. And I was just looking for something. I was looking for the truth. I had a zeal for God, but I just wasn't finding it. I just wasn't seeing it. And thanks be to God, a couple years later, I got in a good church that gave me a little bit of direction. They gave me a little bit of a more clear picture of what's right and what's wrong. Of what I was doing with my life. Something that's real. And listen to me, my friend. This once a week Christianity stuff, this little come on Sunday morning and maybe if you're a good Christian, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and check it off and pick up the Bible and read it for two minutes a day. Look, that stuff, young people see through that lame kind of Christianity. They see through the compromise. Young people and teenagers and absolums of this world who have great potential for God, they see it and they just see it and it's a joke. It's a joke to them because it's not real. You see, teenagers and young people are looking for something that's real. I was looking for something that was real. I know all kinds of people who are looking for something that's real and they don't find it. And so what do they do? They go to the world. They say nuts to it. What am I trying to say with this sermon? You know, instead of just hating Absalom, instead of just criticizing Absalom, maybe we should try to show Absalom something that's real. I mean, I'm talking about our own kids that we have and I'm talking about just the absolums of this world. Let's make this a church that's real. Like, what you see is what you get. It's not some kind of a phony facade thing. It's not some kind of a thing where, well, you know, we preach like that, but good night. Sometimes I don't understand. People are so disillusioned with their leaders. I remember when I first started this church, there were people in this church that were like, I got up and I was just preaching against the television and just rip on it. And people in the church thought that I had a television. And I'm thinking, I said, didn't you hear me preaching against it? And they're like, but you listen to music, right? You know, they thought I listened to rock music. Didn't you hear me preach against it and say that it's wicked as hell? And didn't you hear me get up and scream and yell about it? That they literally just thought that, you know, I just preach against it. I preach against it. That's preaching. But surely, you know, back in the bedroom there's a television. I mean, good night. I mean, that's the day we're living in. Because we're living in a day of just phony hypocrisy. Look, my friend, I don't know what you're going to do. I don't know what anybody else is going to do. I don't know what any other church is doing, but I want to be real. If I'm going to get up and be a preacher, man, I'm going to eat, breathe, and sleep this book. If I'm going to be a preacher, I'm going to live the holiness that I'm trying to preach. And, you know, it's not just for preachers. It's for you, Dad. It's for Mom. It's for Dad. It's for everybody to say, I'm not going to be some kind of a hypocrite. I'm not going to be half in, half out. I'm not going to have one set of rules for my kids and, well, do as I say and not as I do. You know, I'm going to live it. I'm going to lead the way. I'm not going to pick and choose which commands I want to obey and which ones I don't obey because I don't want to produce an absolom of my three sons here. I don't want to let them down and have them grow up and go to the world because the world is more real than I am. Because the world's real. They're real wicked. They're real ungodly. And they're real. I mean, what you see is what you get. You look at them. They're wicked. It's vile. It's sinful. And that's what you get. And it's real. You come to church, it all looks good, and it's phony. And they say, well, I might as well just have the real thing. Well, look, if I'm going to go to church and have Christian rock, might as well just have real rock music. You know, if I'm going to have some kind of a cleaned up rock music at church, I might as well just go with the full-blown rock music of the world because I want something that's real. I want something that's cold or hot. You see, there are types of people in this world who like cold and hot, who like on and off, who like heaven, hell.