Importance of faithfulness
Answers
Explanation:
As I thought about those four scriptures it dawned on me that there was a story that seemed to touch on all those different aspects of faithfulness and loyalty.
It’s a story in the Bible about King David and his family and a time when faithfulness and loyalty were lacking in his family, but were found in an unexpected person; when an individual erred in planning evil which led to terrible consequences, however, the loyalty and faithfulness of a little known person helped to preserve the king and uphold his throne.
That story is found in 2 Samuel 15:17-23, but before I share it with you, I need to give you the context and catch you up on what’s happened. It’s a complicated story.
The relationship between King David and his son Absalom had been strained for five years, going back to a terrible incident involving one of David’s other sons Amnon committing a violent act against Absalom’s sister, Tamar.
When David failed to punish Amnon, Absalom had him killed and the strong bond that should have existed for life between father and son was frayed to the breaking point.
Absalom was heir to the throne—he was young, handsome and enormously ambitious but he didn’t want to have to wait to rule; perhaps because of anger over his father’s treatment, his desire for power, or the fear that his father might choose someone else.
Absalom developed an entourage of chariots, horses and runners to call attention to himself. He undermined his father’s authority by standing at the gate of Jerusalem and listening to everyone who came with a complaint and telling them, “Your claims are good and right, it’s too bad I’m not the judge of the land because I would give you justice.”
Of course, he said this without even investigating to see if their claims were valid.
David was a better military leader than he was a peace-time ruler. He was responsible for seeing that justice was administered, and he seems to have failed his judicial responsibility.
Meanwhile, for four years Absalom worked to build support by telling people what they wanted to hear and by doing so he stole the hearts of the people from his father (v. 6).
After four years, he lied to his dad and said he needed to go to the city of Hebron to worship and fulfill a vow he’d made. David trusted his son and told him to go ahead. What Absalom really was doing was being disloyal and unfaithful to his father the king, and going to stage a coup and to be declared king himself.
Hebron, which was 20 miles south of Jerusalem, had been the capital before David moved it to Jerusalem so Absalom was likely to find some people there who resented the loss of influence and prestige when the capital was moved. The conspiracy grew strong and Absalom’s followers kept increasing.
A messenger came to David and told him what was happening (v. 13). While the hearts of the Israelites were with Absalom, David was left with the paid help, the bureaucracy of Jerusalem.
The people were with Absalom, David had servants and mercenaries.
It didn’t look good for David, but his keen military instincts kicked in. He knew he had to flee for his life and was better suited to be in the open where he had freedom of movement.
He knew that only those who were faithful and loyal to him would take the risk of joining him in leaving Jerusalem and exposing themselves to danger.