Bible Lesson: Parables Of The Old
Testament: A Woman Of Tekoa Tells The King A Parable.
Spoken By: A Woman Of Tekoa.
Location: Jerusalem.
Bible Text:
II Samuel 14:1-33 NLT (Joab
Arranges for Absalom’s Return)
1 Joab realized how much the king
longed to see Absalom.
2 So he sent for . He said to her,
“Pretend you are in mourning; wear mourning clothes and don’t put
on lotions. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a
long time.
3 Then go to the king and tell him
the story I am about to tell you.” Then Joab told her what to say.
4 When the woman from Tekoa
approached the king, she bowed with her face to the ground in deep
respect and cried out, “O king! Help me!”
5 “What’s the trouble?” the
king asked. “Alas, I am a widow!” she replied. “My husband is
dead.
6 My two sons had a fight out in
the field. And since no one was there to stop it, one of them was
killed.
7 Now the rest of the family is
demanding, ‘Let us have your son. We will execute him for murdering
his brother. He doesn’t deserve to inherit his family’s
property.’ They want to extinguish the only coal I have left, and
my husband’s name and family will disappear from the face of the
earth.”
8 “Leave it to me,” the king
told her. “Go home, and I’ll see to it that no one touches him.”
9 “Oh, thank you, my lord the
king,” the woman from Tekoa replied. “If you are criticized for
helping me, let the blame fall on me and on my father’s house, and
let the king and his throne be innocent.”
10 “If anyone objects,” the king
said, “bring him to me. I can assure you he will never harm you
again!”
11 Then she said, “Please swear
to me by The Lord your God that you won’t let anyone take vengeance
against my son. I want no more bloodshed.” “As surely as The Lord
lives,” he replied, “not a hair on your son’s head will be
disturbed!”
12 “Please allow me to ask one
more thing of my lord the king,” she said. “Go ahead and speak,”
he responded.
13 She replied, “Why don’t
you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for
me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you
have refused to bring home your own banished son.
14 All of us must die eventually.
Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be
gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, He
devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him.
15 “I have come to plead with
my lord the king because people have threatened me. I said to myself,
‘Perhaps the king will listen to me
16 and rescue us from those who
would cut us off from the inheritance God has given us.
17 Yes, my lord the king will
give us peace of mind again.’ I know that you are like an angel of
God in discerning good from evil. May The Lord your God be with you.”
18 “I must
know one thing,” the king replied, “and tell me The Truth.”
“Yes, my lord the king,” she responded.
19 “Did Joab put you up to
this?” And the woman replied, “My lord the king, how can I deny
it? Nobody can hide anything from you. Yes, Joab sent me and told me
what to say.
20 He did it to place the matter
before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of
God, and you understand everything that happens among us!”
21 So the king sent for Joab and
told him, “All right, go and bring back the young man Absalom.”
22 Joab bowed with his face to the
ground in deep respect and said, “At last I know that I have gained
your approval, my lord the king, for you have granted me this
request!”
23 Then Joab went to Geshur and
brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
24 But the king gave this order:
“Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my
presence.” So Absalom did not see the king.
(Absalom
Reconciled to David)
25 Now Absalom was praised as the
most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot.
26 He cut his hair only once a year,
and then only because it was so heavy. When he weighed it out, it
came to five pounds!
27 He had three sons and one
daughter. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she was very
beautiful.
28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for
two years, but he never got to see the king.
29 Then Absalom sent for Joab to ask
him to intercede for him, but Joab refused to come. Absalom sent for
him a second time, but again Joab refused to come.
30 So Absalom said to his servants,
“Go and set fire to Joab’s barley field, the field next to mine.”
So they set his field on fire, as Absalom had commanded.
31 Then Joab came to Absalom at his
house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”
32 And Absalom replied, “Because I
wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he
didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me
see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything, then let him kill
me.”
33 So Joab told the king what
Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, who came and
bowed low before the king, and the king kissed him.
The Players:
The Woman Of
Tekoa: II Samuel 14:2 KJV "a woman from Tekoa who
had a reputation for great wisdom."
Joab:
Captain of the host of (General of) King Davids army.
Absalom: A
third son of David by Maachah, she was a daughter of one Geshur a
Talmai King (Syrian district.).
What was the rift
between King David and his son Absalom?
Absalom had a
sister by the name of Tamar, who had been raped by a half brother
(Amnon).
Absalom, in
revenge, killed Amnon (II Samuel 13:1-38), and ran to his
grandfather's courtyard at Geshur, there he remained for some three
years.
Joab knew that
David was angry with Absalom, and his killing of his eldest son, his
heir apparent, so he devised a parable, and a ways and mean to trap
David to reunite with his son Absalom.
He could not give
the parable himself, he knew that would not work, so he employed the
woman of Tekoa, to do It for him.
But, King David was
not a fool, he said to the woman....
II Samuel
14:18,19 NLT
18 “I must
know one thing,” the king replied, “and tell me The Truth.”
“Yes, my lord the king,” she responded.
19 “Did Joab put you up to this?”
And the woman replied, “My lord the king, how can I deny it? Nobody
can hide anything from you. Yes, Joab sent me and told me what to
say.
King David kept his
word, and Absalom was brought back to Jerusalem, but he was not to
come near the king.
II Samuel 14:24
NLT
“...the king gave this order:
“Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my
presence.” So Absalom did not see the king.
This went on for
two years, and finally Absalom made an effort to reach Joab, he
wished to have him make a way for him to see the king, but Joab would
not respond to his repeated calls.
II Samuel 14:30-33
NLT
30 So Absalom said to his servants,
“Go and set fire to Joab’s barley field, the field next to mine.”
So they set his field on fire, as Absalom had commanded.
31 Then Joab came to Absalom at his
house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”
32 And Absalom replied, “Because I
wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he
didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me
see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything, then let him kill
me.”
33 So Joab told the king what
Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, who came and
bowed low before the king, and the king kissed him.
King David had
forgiven his son, but there was no sign that Absalom ever showed any
remorse for what he had done.
Absalom, tried to over throw his father, by befriending everyone who entered the city's gate.
Eventually he was successful (II Samuel 19:10- Absalom was anointed as king).
The hosts of Absalom confronted the followers of David, and a battle ensued at The woods of Gilead (Ephraim).
Absalom's men were routed, and he, himself fled the scene, but in doing so his long hair became caught in the branches of a terebinth tree, leaving him dangling at the mercy of the pursuing Joab.
Joab, slew him there. (II Samuel 15-18).