Relevant Life

2Sa 18:7  There David’s men defeated Israel’s army, and the massacre was sizable that day-20,000 men.

2Sa 18:8  The fighting spread over the whole country. That day the woods devoured more people than the battle.

2Sa 18:9  Absalom happened to come face to face with some of David’s men. He was riding on a mule, and the mule went under the tangled branches of a large tree. Absalom’s head became caught in the tree. So he was left hanging in midair when the mule that was under him ran away.

2Sa 18:10  A man who saw this told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.”

2Sa 18:11  “What! You saw that!” Joab said to the man who told him. “Why didn’t you strike him to the ground? Then I would have felt obligated to give you four ounces of silver and a belt.”

2Sa 18:12  But the man told Joab, “Even if I felt the weight of 25 pounds of silver in my hand, I wouldn’t raise my hand against the king’s son. We heard the order the king gave you, Abishai, and Ittai: ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’

2Sa 18:13  If I had done something treacherous to him, would you have stood by me? Like everything else, it wouldn’t stay hidden from the king.”

2Sa 18:14  Then Joab said, “I shouldn’t waste time with you like this.” He took three sharp sticks and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while he was still alive in the tree.

2Sa 18:15  Then ten of Joab’s armorbearers surrounded Absalom, attacked him, and killed him.

2Sa 18:16  Joab blew the ram’s horn to stop their fighting, and the troops returned from pursuing Israel.

2Sa 18:17  They took Absalom, threw him into a huge pit in the forest, and piled a large heap of stones over him. Meanwhile, all Israel fled and went back to their homes.

Absalom was King David’s son who, through his arrogance, caused an uprising against his father. Absalom desired to be King and made himself a ruler. David had no choice but to fight back and put his Kingdom back together. His troops defeated Absalom’s troops. As David’s troops were marching in the forest; Absalom made eye contact with them. He became fearful and began to run away while riding his trusty mule. His mule ran into some thick trees which left Absolam stuck hanging for his life. It has been said that Absalom had long bushy hair. His vanity for his hair was one thing that caused his demise. 

Absalom ran in fear and ended up causing his untimely death. Fear has a way of leaving the wearer in a state of ignorance and despair. Fear does not have logic but is filled with illogical mindsets and ideologies. 

All around the globe, we see the masses crippled by a small lighting bug called FEAR. Like Absalom, the global fear has many stuck in a tree by their hair dangling and trying to gain footing from the ground. Decisions are being made out of fear. People are making unfactual statements due to fear. Putting down companies and churches in the hopes of calming their fears. Unfortunately, fear has a by-product called ignorance. Ignorance never solves problems but compounds them. Ignorance never gives answers or solutions but strikes out to those trying to do the right thing. Absalom could have given himself over to David’s soldiers and probably still be alive. Instead, he allowed fear, and then ignorance took over. His fear became his own snare.

Pro 29:25 (GW)  A person’s fear sets a trap for him, but one who trusts the LORD is safe.

As believers, we should never allow fear to control our circumstances. We have the greatest hope that the world could never understand unless they come to Jesus. Only the Perfect love of Jesus can cast out fear and ignorance. 

1Jn 4:17  God’s love has reached its goal in us. So we look ahead with confidence to the day of judgment. While we are in this world, we are exactly like him with regard to love.

1Jn 4:18  No fear exists where his love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn’t have perfect love.

1Jn 4:19  We love because God loved us first.

When we put our trust in Jesus then fear ceases to exist. With all that is going on in the world today, Christians need to stand up for truth and lead the fearful into the loving arms of our Lord. We should be the ones showing forth wisdom. We should be the ones demonstrating to the world God’s righteousness and deliverance. If we live in fear; we will miss out on God’s purpose during this time. Live without fear and live without ignorance.