Sarah
2 Samuel 14
This happened after Absalom killed his older brother Amnon.
Absalom had run away to Geshur, and he had been hiding there for several years.
King David didn’t say much about it on the outside.
But deep down…
he really missed his son.
Joab noticed it.
Joab probably thought:
“The old man may not be saying anything, but deep down, he really wants this boy back. I’d better figure out a way to get these two—father and son—to see each other.”
So Joab sent for a very clever woman from Tekoa.
He said to her:
“Here’s what you do.
Put on mourning clothes. Don’t put any oil on your face. Make yourself look like you’ve been mourning for a long time.
Then go see the king and tell him a story.”
The woman did exactly what Joab told her.
She came before King David, fell down before him, and said:
“Your Majesty, please help me!”
David asked:
“What’s wrong?”
She said:
“I had two sons. One day they got into a fight out in the field.
There was nobody there to stop them.
One of them struck the other and killed him.
Now the whole family is demanding:
‘Hand over the one who killed his brother! Let us kill him and pay him back for the life he took!’
But he is my only son now.
If they kill him too, my whole family will be wiped out.
It will be like putting out the last burning coal in the fire.
There will be nothing left.”
David said:
“Go home. I will take care of this.”
But the woman said:
“My king, if there is any guilt, let it fall on me and my father’s family. You and your throne are innocent.
Please save my son.”
David replied:
“Fine. Anyone who is troubling you, bring him to me. I will make sure he never bothers you again.”
The woman immediately saw her opportunity.
She said:
“My king, if you are willing to save my son, then why won’t you bring back your own son—the one who has been living in exile?”
David’s heart sank.
He knew exactly where this was going.
The woman continued:
“We all have to die someday.
Our lives are like water poured out on the ground—you can’t gather it back up again.
God doesn’t want to simply take people away and abandon them forever.
He makes a way for those who have been driven away to come back.”
Then she got to the real point.
“My king, I came here because I know you are wise.
You have the wisdom of an angel of God.
You can understand what is happening throughout the land.”
David listened carefully.
Something didn’t feel right.
So he asked her:
“Let me ask you something.
Don’t hide anything from me.
Was Joab behind all this?”
The woman knew she had been caught.
She answered:
“My king, you are right.
It was Joab who sent me.
He told me exactly what to say.
He did this because he wanted to help you bring this matter between you and your son to an end.”
David was silent for a moment.
Finally, he said:
“All right.
Go and bring Absalom back.”
Joab was thrilled.
He bowed before the king and thanked him.
Then he went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
But David said:
“Let him go to his own house.
He is not to see me.”
And just like that…
Absalom was back in Jerusalem, but father and son still weren’t really reconciled.
Absalom — The Handsome Prince
The Bible makes a special point about Absalom’s appearance.
The guy was good-looking.
From the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, there was no physical defect in him.
And his hair?
Man, that hair was something else.
He only cut it once a year because it got so heavy.
When they weighed the hair he cut off, it came to about two hundred shekels according to the royal standard.
That was a lot of hair!
Absalom also had three sons and one daughter.
His daughter was named Tamar.
And she was beautiful too.
But here’s the problem:
Absalom had been back in Jerusalem for two whole years, and he still hadn’t seen his father.
Two years!
The father and son were just stuck like that.
Absalom was probably carrying a lot of frustration inside.
So he went to Joab and said:
“Go talk to my father.
I want to see the king.”
But Joab wouldn’t come.
Absalom sent for him a second time.
Joab still wouldn’t come.
Absalom probably thought:
“Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play this?”
Then he came up with a pretty extreme idea.
He told his servants:
“Look.
Joab has a field next to mine, and there’s barley growing in it.
Go burn it!”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Whoosh!
Joab’s barley field went up in flames.
Joab came running straight to Absalom’s house.
He was furious.
“What is wrong with you?!
Why did you burn my field?”
Absalom said:
“I sent for you twice, and you wouldn’t come.
I wanted you to go to my father and ask him:
‘Why did you bring me back from Geshur?
I might as well have stayed there.’
Now I want to see the king.
And if I am guilty, then let him kill me.”
Joab finally understood.
This boy really wanted to see his father.
So Joab went to King David and told him what Absalom had said.
David finally said:
“All right.
Bring him to me.”
Absalom came before the king.
He bowed down before his father.
And then…
David kissed Absalom.
Finally, father and son were together again.
For the moment, it looked like everything was okay.
But brothers and sisters, pay attention here…
Things may have looked good on the outside, but the real trouble was just beginning.
Because Absalom had come home…
but inside his heart,
the wounds, the ambition, and the desire for the throne were already growing.
And the storm that was coming…
was going to get bigger and bigger.