David Keeps At It
After
a while as king, David again unwittingly became involved in another spying episode,
this time with the Ammonites. David sent a delegation of envoys to the Ammonites,
who did not trust the ambassadors and thought they were spies. Given the history
of the two countries, it is easy to see why they came to that conclusion. When the
Israelites originally entered the Promised Land they sent spies into Ammonite territory
to invade them. Also David had shown his willingness to use spies in how he came
to take the throne. This shows that from ancient times, ambassadors have been accused
of spying and treated with mistrust (1 Chronicles 19:10-14 and also almost verbatim
in 2 Samuel 10:1-4).
In the course
of time, Nahash king of the Ammonites died, and his son succeeded him as king. David
thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed
kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning
his father.
When
David’s envoys came to Hanun in the land of the Ammonites to express sympathy to
him, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your
father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Haven’t his envoys come to
you only to explore and spy out the country and overthrow it?” So Hanun seized David’s
envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
Another
espionage plot involving David is recorded later, but this time, it was an internal
threat and betrayal from David’s third son Absalom. Absalom began by the use of
subversion, which is use of illegal
actions to undermine the military, economic, psychological, political strength,
or morale of a regime. He does this when he tells people that the his father, the
king, won’t see them and he wishes that he could help them, but claims he just is
not given the authority he needs to help. This undermines his father’s regime with
the people (2 Samuel 15:1-4).
In the course
of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to
run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading
to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the
king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He
would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” Then Absalom would
say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative
of the king to hear you.” And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge
in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would
see that they receive justice.”
Then, Absalom
continues his underhanded, secret coup by pretending to be humble and a mere servant
of the people. He did this because just undermining the king’s authority is not
enough for a full coup. He also has to become popular so that when he starts his
revolt the people would not only want to get rid of the current king, but would
also want to replace him with Absalom (2 Samuel 15:5-6).
Also,
whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his
hand, take hold of him and kiss him. Absalom behaved in this way toward all the
Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of
the people of Israel.
Absalom
continues to disenfranchise the people of the king and win them over for four years,
showing remarkable patience and fortitude. When he decided his subversion campaign
has been successful, he deceives his father into letting him travel to Hebron where
he sends secret messenger to his covert friends throughout the tribes to incite
a hostel coup against David. While he was in Hebron, Absalom also invited important
people within the government, including David’s councilor and persuaded them to
join his conspiracy (2 Samuel 15:7-12).
At
the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill
a vow I made to the LORD. While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made
this vow: ‘If the LORD takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
The
king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron.
Then
Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon
as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” Two
hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests
and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. While Absalom was offering
sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come
from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following
kept on increasing.
David
still had loyal subjects willing to spy for him. One such person told David of the
conspiracy, allowing him to escape (2 Samuel 15:13-14).
A
messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”
Then
David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee,
or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move
quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.”
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