Do Not Join The Wrong Side
Good Morning,
Absalom had some problems with his dad. We are not about to say David was perfect, but he was not only the father, but the king. David had led the nation to prosperity, peace, and stability spiritually, as well as socially.
ONE BITTER PERSON, Absalom, plotted and labored until he created a split among the people. No one had any complaints; no one was suffering or doing without. There was no reason for their unrest; they were simply listening to a critic and perhaps focusing on their own difficulties now and then. No one always agrees with leadership, but there had been no better life than they had enjoyed under David.
You can read the slow corrupt dealings of Absalom, but I will focus on the end.
2 Samuel 18:7 “Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.”
Among the tragic loss of life was the leader himself, hanging in a tree (probably by his long hair), visited by Joab and his men.
2 Samuel 18:15 “And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him."
Twenty thousand men were killed in that battle all because they followed a bitter critic.
I would not share the names and events of the past decades, but I certainly could. One bitter, jealous, or envious person got an idea, and for whatever reason, folks joined in their cause. I could take you to the drug-using children, the broken marriages, babies born out of wedlock, the families out of church, and the unsaved grandchildren with no one teaching them the things of God. Oh, the sorrow is great when one jumps on the train of bitter and envious people.
"... and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men."
We speak often of the young people who need to be careful which friends they choose, but I can assure you that the choices of parents’ friends can be far more devastating.
The book of Hebrews says that bitterness defiles many. Bitterness is not simply a personal vice, it affects others also.
Many frustrated couples kept trying until a third person came along and a marriage died. Many a church member would have continued serving in their church for years, but then a critic came along and their service ended.
Absalom’s story is not dead, but has been multiplied over and over on job sites, in churches, and in homes. Honestly, there is no way to eliminate these critics of the blessed. The decision of who you will follow and where you will end up must be made by each individual.
Pastor