Well, good evening.
Turn with me in your Bible to 2 Samuel chapter 14.
If you're looking in one of the pew Bibles, it's page 264.
2 Samuel chapter 14.
As you're turning there, I wonder whether you've ever been in the middle of a messy family conflict.
Where people have said and done things that have hurt and offended and alienated each other.
Where relationships have broken down.
Some people don't even talk to each other anymore.
Or maybe you have a friend who's been in the middle of a messy conflict.
And you even just try to understand what caused the conflict in the first place.
And the story starts five years ago.
And then it's a whole mess.
Like a big twisted knot.
And there doesn't seem to be any clear way forward.
Or you're trying to figure out how do we move forward in a healthy and productive way.
Well, what we have at the beginning of this chapter is we're in the middle of a messy family conflict in King David's family.
We have a guilty child, Absalom, who has been estranged.
Actually living in exile.
Away from his grieving father, David, for three years now.
Now the background to the situation is chapter 13.
Which we read last week.
It's an ugly story.
A disturbing story.
David's oldest son, Amnon, sexually violated his half-sister, Tamar.
And then he didn't want anything to do with her.
And so Tamar fled to her brother Absalom's house.
Absalom was furious.
And two years later, Absalom conspired to murder Amnon.
Absalom then fled the country.
Back in Jerusalem, their father David wept.
Chapter 13, verse 37 says,
David mourned for his son, for Amnon who had died, day after day.
And Absalom fled and went to Geshur, that was outside in a different country.
He was there for three years.
Now verse 39 says,
The spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom because he was comforted about Amnon since he was dead.
Chapter 14, verse 1 says,
Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, David's friend and army commander, knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom.
Now these, the last verse of chapter 13 and the first verse of chapter 14 tell us something about David's attitude toward Absalom.
But these verses are actually, for a few reasons, they're quite difficult to translate.
There's actually three different ways that you could translate these verses.
And one way is the way it's translated right here,
which implies that David had a positive attitude toward Absalom.
Okay, basically David had mourned for his son who was killed.
He had been angry that Absalom killed him.
But, you know, three years had passed and David was sort of ready to move on.
And now he was missing his son, who he hadn't seen for three years.
And he longed to see Absalom again.
There are two problems, though, with this translation.
It's a possible translation.
But the two problems are, the verb that's translated, go out to, in verse 39,
he longed to go out to Absalom.
That word usually means to march out against someone.
It doesn't usually mean just to go visit someone.
It's used for an army marching out against someone most of the time.
Second, if David was feeling strongly positive toward Absalom,
what we see later in this chapter doesn't completely make sense.
So there are two other ways these verses could be translated.
One is that David is sort of neutral toward Absalom.
The spirit of the king, this is actually in the text,
the note at the bottom of the page,
the spirit of the king ceased to go out against Absalom
because he was comforted about Amnon.
Now, basically that means David was angry with Absalom
because he killed his brother.
But then he sort of got over his anger
and he didn't want to go out and attack him anymore.
But he started, he just started thinking about him.
And we don't really know what he was thinking,
but he was thinking about him.
And chapter 14, verse 1 would say the king's mind was on Absalom.
The third way to translate these verses
is that David is actually negative toward Absalom.
So it could be translated,
the spirit of the king determined to go out against Absalom.
His mind was against Absalom.
Now, these are complicated verses.
You can be a Hebrew scholar.
There's about five different words
that could be translated one way or the other.
That's why you come up with these three possible interpretations.
In the bigger context,
I think either the neutral or the negative interpretation
makes a little bit more sense.
But however you interpret these verses,
David is thinking about Absalom.
There's something that he's thinking about his son
who he hasn't seen for three years,
who's far away in another country
because he's ran away after he murdered his brother.
Absalom actually called all his brothers to a family party.
He went to King David and he said,
I want to throw a big party
and I want to invite all my brothers.
And David was like,
I don't know about this.
I know there's some bad blood between you and your brother Amnon.
And Absalom said,
oh, no, no, no, at least Amnon.
And David said,
well, all right, invite all of them.
Hopefully they'll all keep each other in check.
And Absalom had him struck down
in the middle of a family party.
This is a mess.
Now, what we see in this chapter
is there are three people
who have a plan,
three men with a plan
to do something about this mess.
To deal with David, the grieving father,
and Absalom, the guilty son,
who are estranged from each other.
And Joab, who's the potential intermediary.
So each of them have a way
that they're responding to this situation.
We're going to look at each of their responses.
First Joab,
then David,
then Absalom.
And there's a proverb.
Proverbs 19, 21 says,
many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
And so tonight,
what I really want us to look at is
man's plans and God's purposes
in this chapter
in the middle of a messy time in David's life.
So first, let's read 14, 1 through 20.
This is the first plan.
Joab's plan.
And we'll see what's on Joab's mind.
Now, Joab, the son of Zeruiah,
knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom
or was on, his mind was on Absalom.
And Joab sent to Tekoa
and brought from there a wise woman
and said to her,
pretend to be a mourner.
Put on mourning garments.
Don't anoint yourself with oil,
but behave like a woman
who has been mourning many days for the dead.
Go to the king and speak this way to him.
So Joab put the words in her mouth.
When the woman of Tekoa came to the king,
she fell on her face to the ground
and paid homage and said,
save me, O king.
And the king said to her,
what is your trouble?
She answered, alas, I am a widow.
My husband is dead
and your servant had two sons
and they quarreled with one another in the field.
There was no one to separate them
and one struck the other and killed him.
And now the whole clan has risen against your servant
and they say, give up the man who struck his brother
that we may put him to death
for the life of his brother whom he killed.
And so they would destroy the air also.
Thus they would quench my coal that is left
and leave to my husband,
neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.
Then the king said to the woman,
go to your house
and I will give orders concerning you.
And the woman of Tekoa said to the king,
on me be the guilt, my lord, the king,
and on my father's house,
let the king and his throne be guiltless.
The king said, if anyone says anything to you,
bring him to me and he shall never touch you again.
Then she said, please let the king invoke the Lord,
your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more
and my son be not destroyed.
He said, as the Lord lives,
not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.
Then the woman said, please let your servant speak a word
to my lord, the king.
He said, speak.
And the woman said,
why then have you planned such a thing
against the people of God?
For in giving this decision,
the king convicts himself
in as much as the king does not bring
his banished one home again.
We must all die.
We are like water spilled on the ground,
which cannot be gathered up again,
but God will not take away life
and he devises means
so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
Now I have come to say this to my lord, the king,
because the people have made me afraid
and your servant thought,
I will speak to the king.
It may be that the king will perform
the request of his servant
for the king will hear
and deliver his servant
from the hand of the man
who would destroy me and my son together
from the heritage of God.
And your servant thought,
the word of my lord,
the king will set me at rest
for my lord,
the king is like the angel of God
to discern good and evil.
The Lord, your God be with you.
Then the king answered the woman,
do not hide from me anything I ask you.
And the woman said,
let my lord, the king speak.
The king said,
is the hand of Joab with you in all this?
The woman answered and said,
as surely as you live,
my lord, the king,
one cannot turn to the right hand
or to the left
from anything that my lord,
the king has said.
It was your servant, Joab,
who commanded me.
It was he who put all these words
in the mouth of your servant
in order to change the course of things.
Your servant, Joab, did this.
But my lord has wisdom
like the wisdom of the angel of God
to know all things that are on the earth.
So the first man with a plan is Joab.
Joab was the commander of David's army.
He was a clever man
with a clever plan
and who enlisted a clever woman
to be his ally.
Now you might ask,
what's motivating Joab?
It's not completely clear,
but Joab knew that David was getting old.
And Joab, most likely,
Joab was thinking ahead.
Joab's thinking,
okay, Amnon was David's firstborn.
Amnon's dead.
Absalom is now next in line.
Absalom was actually number three,
but we don't hear anything
about son number two.
For whatever reason,
son number two is also out of the picture.
So Absalom is now
the likely heir to the throne
because he's not the firstborn,
but the thirdborn, the closest.
And so Joab is thinking,
but wait a minute,
Absalom is living in another country.
David's getting old.
This has been the case for three years.
If David dies,
the heir to the throne
is in another country.
We're in for a civil war.
Civil war is not a good thing.
We have to do something about this.
It's also possible
that Joab favored Absalom
over some of David's other sons.
David hadn't punished Amnon
for his crime against Tamar.
And so Absalom stepped up
and did the dirty work.
And from what we know of Joab,
that kind of strong, hard-edged,
rough, decisive leader
might have appealed to him.
Now, whatever the reason,
Joab didn't like the status quo.
Joab wanted things to change.
That's what verse 20 says.
In order to change the course of things,
Joab hatched this plan.
Now, notice what this woman does
when she comes to David.
David, she presents herself to him
and she portrays herself
as being in the exact same situation as David.
I'm a parent.
I have two sons.
One of them killed the other.
And now some people want to kill the other son
and that would leave me all alone with no heir.
She says that.
Verse 7.
They would destroy the heir also
and our whole family would be wiped out.
So she portrays herself in a very similar situation
as David himself is in.
Now, it's interesting.
At first, David says,
okay, I'll think about it.
I'll let you know.
And she's not satisfied with that answer.
She says, oh, but oh, king, please.
Three times she presses the king for an answer.
She's extremely bold for a woman
who David doesn't even seem to know already
who comes for an audience before the king.
She's very bold.
And she finally gets David to swear an oath.
As the Lord lives,
not one hair of your son will fall to the ground.
And then she gets to her point.
Verse 13.
Why then have you planned such a thing
against the people of God?
For in giving this decision,
the king convicts himself
in as much as the king does not bring
his banished one home again.
Now, she doesn't name Absalom by name,
but it's very clear who she's talking about.
Absalom's been away for three years
and David is doing nothing to bring him home.
And it almost seems like the prophet Nathan, right?
In chapter 12, the prophet Nathan came to David
after David had sinned with Bathsheba
and had Bathsheba's husband killed.
And the prophet Nathan comes to David
and tells him a story
about a poor oppressed person
that arouses David's compassion
and righteous indignation,
but then implicates David in the process.
Nathan says to David, you are that man.
You are just like that rich man
who stole the poor man's one sheep
when he had plenty for himself.
So it seems like she's doing that, right?
She's telling another story
that draws David in and convicts him.
And David's convinced.
Verse 21.
Then the king said to Joab,
behold, now I grant this,
go bring back the young man Absalom.
So it seems like Joab's plan works,
but not quite.
You see, there's a problem
with the woman's story
that Joab put in her mouth.
In the woman's story,
she says there were two sons.
They went out in the field.
They got in a fight
and one of them killed the other.
In other words,
they weren't planning to,
they weren't planning to kill,
no one was planning to murder his brother.
They just got into a fight
and it happened.
It's manslaughter,
not premeditated murder.
And the law in Israel,
God's law in the Old Testament,
distinguished clearly between
manslaughter,
not premeditated killing,
and premeditated murder.
And premeditated murder
deserves a death penalty.
Manslaughter did not.
And there was a way to protect
the offender.
But in David's situation,
Absalom and Amnon were not in the field
getting in a fight.
Absalom threw a party,
deceived his brother into coming
and thinking that he was safe,
and then ordered his servants
to strike him down
in the middle of the party.
It was premeditated murder.
You see that there's not actually
a good parallel between the story
that the woman tells
and what actually happened
with Absalom.
Now you might say,
well, Absalom was killing someone
who deserved to die, right?
Amnon had committed
this horrible crime,
rape,
of his half-sister.
Now according to the law,
Amnon should have been exiled,
cut off from the Lord's people.
David had failed.
David had failed to execute justice.
And so you might say,
well, Absalom was taking matters
into his own hands,
trying to accomplish justice
when the legal system failed.
But you know,
remember earlier in 1 Samuel,
when David was on the run from Saul,
and Saul had done a lot of things.
Saul had tried to kill David many times.
David could have defended
killing the king and said,
it was in self-defense.
Saul had broken God's law.
Saul deserved to die.
But David said,
no, that's not my place.
That's God's responsibility
to judge Saul,
not mine.
So David didn't do that.
David didn't take matters
into his own hands.
Absalom did.
And Absalom went one step farther.
He didn't just get Amnon
thrown out of the country.
He struck him down.
Premeditated murder.
You see,
the problem with Joab's plan
is that Joab doesn't reckon
with the wrong
that Absalom did.
It's a complicated story.
There's lots of details here,
but this is the problem
with Joab's story.
He doesn't face
the depth of the wrong
that Absalom did.
He wants to twist David's arm
to bring Absalom back home,
but he doesn't actually
go to the king and say,
what should the king do
with his son
who murdered his brother
in cold blood?
That's a hard question,
but he completely
avoids that question.
But it's a necessary question
for David to deal with.
Now,
so this is the first plan.
Now, if you're,
maybe you,
Lord willing,
you will never be
in this same kind of situation
as Joab was, right?
But maybe you're
in Joab's position, right?
Joab is trying to reconcile
a guilty son
and a grieving father.
He's trying to be a mediator
in the midst of an ugly,
messy conflict.
And maybe you haven't,
maybe you,
now or later in the future,
maybe you will have
an opportunity
to help some people
who are in the midst
of a messy conflict.
And maybe you really want
to see these people
be at peace with each other
and be reconciled
like Joab wanted.
But sometimes you might
be tempted
to twist their arm
or just say,
can you just forget the past
and just come together again
and go on into the future?
And you know,
sometimes,
you know,
sometimes people make a mountain
out of a molehill.
And you know what?
They just need to leave
the molehill behind
and forget about it,
forgive and forget
and go into the future.
But sometimes there is
a mountain of sin
and guilt
and wrongdoing
that needs to be faced
before a relationship
can truly be reconciled
and go on into the future.
So that's why Joab's plan fails.
Because it doesn't address
the reality
and the depth
of Absalom's sin.
And so what we see
with Joab's plan
is that the reality
and depth of sin
needs to be dealt with
in order for true
reconciliation to happen.
Okay.
Going on.
Let's read
starting at verse 22.
So David says,
bring Absalom back.
And Joab fell on his face
to the ground
and paid homage
and blessed the king.
Joab said,
today your servant knows
I have found favor
in your sight,
my lord the king,
and that the king
has granted the request
of his servant.
So Joab arose
and went to Geshur
and brought Absalom
to Jerusalem.
Now here's where we see
that Joab's plan
doesn't actually work.
Verse 24.
And the king said,
let him dwell apart
in his own house.
He is not to come
into my presence.
So Absalom lived apart
in his own house
and did not come
into the king's presence.
You see,
this is why
in verse 1
David wasn't only
feeling positive
toward Absalom
because Absalom
comes back to Jerusalem
and David says,
okay, he can be in Jerusalem
but I don't want
to see his face.
And for two whole years
they live in the same city
and David refuses
to see his son's face.
David's strategy
is avoidance.
Now the problem
with David's strategy
is pretty obvious.
You bring your son
back from exile.
He's living
in the same city
with you.
You refuse
to talk to him.
If Joab's concern
was there might
be a civil war
if the heir
is out of town,
well, if the heir
isn't talking
to his father,
that's not really
much better.
The problem
with David's plan,
David neither
treats Absalom
as a murderer
who deserves
to be punished
nor
as an innocent
person
whose actions
were justified
in the absence
of
rightfully
executed justice
by the proper
authorities.
So David
doesn't confront
or rebuke
or punish Absalom.
Neither
does he
justify
or pronounce
Absalom righteous
nor does he
forgive him
or restore him
or reconcile
with him.
He does none
of these things.
He just
avoids him
and says,
I don't want
to talk with him.
I don't want
to see him.
I don't want
to deal with this.
Okay,
you've twisted
my arm.
I'll bring him
home.
I can't quite
argue with your
story.
But his heart
hasn't changed.
And the reality
is David
needs to do
one or the
other.
Either Absalom
is innocent
and David
should say
Absalom
was innocent.
I don't
think that's
right.
But that's
right.
David needs
to either
say Absalom
was innocent
and what he
did was okay
and he should
be restored.
Or he needs
to say Absalom
was guilty
and Absalom
needs to be
punished.
And then
figure out
how to
punish him.
But David
doesn't want
to do
either.
But Absalom
is not
neither
innocent
nor guilty.
He's one
or the
other.
And David
as his
father
needs to
deal with
that.
You know
in the very
beginning of
the Bible
there's a
story about
two brothers.
One who
kills the
other.
Cain
who kills
Abel.
And what
we see in
that story
is we see
the Lord
goes to
Cain.
And the
Lord goes
to Cain
very much
like he
went to
Adam in
the garden.
And the
Lord goes
to Cain
and says
where is
Abel
your brother?
Cain
says I
don't know
am I
my brother's
keeper?
And God
says to
Cain
what have
you
done?
And Cain
doesn't
repent.
So Cain
lives the
rest of
his life
in exile.
Cain
lives the
rest of
his life
as a
fugitive
and wanderer
on the
earth
outside
of God's
kingdom.
But you
see that's
how God
dealt with
Cain.
God went
to Cain
the guilty
party and
God said
what have
you done?
David
didn't do
that to
Absalom.
He didn't
say Absalom
what have
you done?
He just
ignores him
out of his
own indecision
and cowardice.
Now again
maybe
maybe you
might
find yourself
in David's
situation
someday.
Lord willing
it will
never be
the same
circumstances.
Maybe you're
a grieving
parent
distressed
over some
wrong that
your child
has committed.
And you know
you either need
to say to
your child
what you
did was
right
even though
other people
are saying
it was
wrong
or you
need to
say what
you did
was wrong
and this
is the
consequence.
But avoiding
just refusing
to do any
of those
refusing to
take a
stand or
just giving
a child
the cold
shoulder
and refusing
to talk
with them
won't make
any progress.
The same
thing if
you're a
Christian
and if
you've been
offended
by a
brother or
sister in
Christ.
Say there's
somebody else
in the
church
somebody else
who's a
Christian
and they've
done something
wrong to
you.
You have
two choices.
You either
need to
overlook the
wrong and
forgive
and continue
to relate to
that person
as a
brother or
sister in
Christ.
And Proverbs
says often
that's a wise
course of
action.
Proverbs 19
11 says
good sense
makes one
slow to
anger and
it is a
person's
glory to
overlook an
offense.
So that's
one option
is overlook
and forgive
and continue
in fellowship
with that
person.
The second
option is
maybe the
offense is
serious enough
that you
shouldn't
just
overlook
it.
And in
that case
you should
find a
way to
confront
the other
person.
And there's
Bible verses
that talk about
how to do
that.
That you
first attempt
to do it
privately
and if you
need help
you bring
one or two
others along.
It's a good
opportunity to
seek out some
wisdom from
a pastor or
a mature
Christian.
Right?
if you need
someone to
come with
you.
Right?
Sometimes
offenses are
serious enough
that they
should not
be overlooked
and in
that case
we need
to lovingly
confront
and rebuke
and then
be willing
to extend
forgiveness
when someone
recognizes
they're wrong.
But sometimes
what we do
as believers
is we do
neither.
We don't
really overlook
and forgive
and we don't
confront.
We just
avoid the
other person.
And say
I don't
want to
talk to
them.
I don't
want to
deal with
them.
I don't
want to
confront
them
because
that's
too
messy.
But I
can't
overlook
it and
I'm going
to hold
a grudge
in my
heart.
And we
stay in
this middle
place like
David.
That's a
bad place
to be.
And the
Bible says
go one way
or the
other.
Overlook
and forgive
or confront
and gently
lovingly
rebuke
and then
listen and
be willing
to extend
forgiveness
by the
grace of
God.
All right.
So that's
the second
plan.
David's
plan that
also fails.
Let's read
the rest of
the chapter.
We'll see
Absalom's
plan.
We've seen
Joab's
plan,
David's
plan.
Now we
see
Absalom's
plan.
Verse 25.
Now in
all Israel
there was
no one so
much to
be praised
for his
handsome
appearance
as
Absalom.
From the
sole of
his foot
to the
crown of
his head
there was
no
blemish
in him.
And when
he cut
the hair
of his
head,
for at
the end
of every
year he
used to
cut it,
when it
was heavy
on him
he cut
it,
he weighed
the hair
of his
head,
200
shekels
by the
king's
weight.
There were
born to
Absalom
three sons
and one
daughter
whose name
was Tamar.
She was
a beautiful
woman.
So Absalom
lived two
full years
in Jerusalem
without coming
into the
king's
presence.
Then Absalom
sent for
Joab
to send
him to
the king
but Joab
would not
come to
him.
And he
sent a
second time
but Joab
would not
come.
Then he
said to
his
servants
see Joab's
field is
next to
mine,
he's got
barley
there,
go and
set it
on fire.
So Absalom's
servants
set the
field on
fire.
Then Joab
arose and
went to
Absalom at
his house
and said
to him
why have
your
servants
set my
field on
fire?
Absalom
answered Joab
behold I
sent word
to you
come here
that I
may send
you to
the king
and ask
why have
I come
from
Geshur?
It would
be better
for me
to be
there
still.
Now
therefore
let me
go into
the presence
of the
king
and if
there
is
guilt
in
me
let him
put
me
to
death.
Then
Joab
went to
the king
and told
him
and he
summoned
Absalom
so he
came
to
the king
and bowed
himself
Well verse
25-27
it's a
little
interlude
it basically
shows us
that Absalom
was big
on outward
image
and little
on inner
substance
it talks
about
he was
extremely
handsome
he had
amazing
hair
a long
haired
dude
he had
a growing
family
that's all
it says
nothing about
his moral
or spiritual
character
and the
implication
is
there's
not much
good
to say
about
that
now
verse
29-33
we see
Absalom's
plan
Absalom's
plan
is
force
the
issue
understandably
Absalom's
fed up
with how
David's
treating
him
you know
you called
me back
from exile
and then
you don't
even want
to talk
to me
what's
going
on
so he
calls
Joab
doesn't
answer
his phone
calls
so he
lights
Joab's
field
on fire
and then
Joab
hooks up
the phone
right away
Absalom
says
let's do
this one
way or
the other
let me
go into
the presence
of the
king
and either
I'm guilty
or I'm
not
but then
we see
the result
in verse
33
Absalom
comes
into
the
king
and
he
bows
down
like
a
servant
in the
king's
household
and the
king
kisses
Absalom
and that's
it
nothing
else
happens
if you
read the
next
chapter
read the
next chapter
what Absalom
does is he
goes out and
conspires to
become king
himself
I mean
isn't it
odd
when Absalom
and David
first see each
other after
five years
there's no
weeping
after
pressuring
David to
allow him
to organize
his family
party and
then killing
his brother
in the middle
of it
there's no
sorrow
no repentance
on Absalom's
part
no confession
of sin
after not
speaking to
his son
for five
years
David has
no words
of wisdom
no words
of correction
after five
years of
non-communication
there's no
talking about
what the
future of
their relationship
might look
like
no words
of blessing
no words
of hope
no words
of pain
no words
of rebuke
you see
what this
was
was a
fake
reconciliation
that doesn't
last
it doesn't
even last
into the
next
paragraph
now contrast
this scene
with
two examples
in the Bible
of real
reconciliation
between people
who had really
hurt and
offended each
other
so first
think of
Joseph
and his
brothers
Joseph's
brothers
had sold
him into
slavery
they almost
killed him
at the last
moment they
thought better
of that
but they
left him
for dead
they sold
him into
slavery
and sent
him into
exile
sent him
to a
foreign
country
where they
hoped to
never see
him again
that's a
pretty
I mean
you know
this wasn't
just
somebody
called me
a bad
name
on the
playground
Joseph
had been
sold into
slavery
right
his
brothers
come
before
him
what
does
their
reconciliation
look like
what does
their
meeting
look like
well first
his
brothers
expressed
regret
over their
past
actions
and resolve
to chart
a different
course going
forward
they express
repentance
and Joseph
showers them
with assurance
of his love
with generous
hospitality
throws a big
party and has
a big meal
with them
and he speaks
words of
confidence in
God's providential
purposes as you
meant this for
evil but God
meant it for
good
and so
and they
embraced
they spoke
they wept
the brothers
repented and
Joseph forgave
and then they
celebrated
together
that's real
reconciliation
or Jacob
and Esau
Jacob had
stolen Esau's
blessing
deceived
his father
to steal
from his
brother
and they
hadn't seen
each other
in years
and finally
they're coming
to meet each
other
and Jacob
sees
Esau
coming
and he
sends
gifts
and messengers
ahead to
Esau
to express
his good
will
and he
bows to
the ground
seven times
and then Esau
runs to him
and embraced
him and fell
on his neck
and kissed
him and they
wept and Jacob
said I've seen
your face
it's like seeing
the face of
God
because you
have accepted
me
you see
that's what
real
reconciliation
real repentance
real forgiveness
and real joy
looks like
between people
who've really
hurt each
other in the
past
that doesn't
happen here
the plans of
these three men
all fell
short
but you
see the
Lord has
a purpose
there's a
very interesting
verse
in the middle
of the woman's
speech
in verse
14
and she
says we
must all
die
we are like
water spilled
on the
ground
which cannot
be gathered
up again
but God
will not
but God
does not
wish to
take away
life
he devises
means
so that the
banished one
will not
remain an
outcast
you see the
Bible is a
story of
God
devising
means
so that the
banished one
may not
remain an
outcast
the Bible
is a story
of God
finding a
way to
resolve
the mother
of all
conflicts
in the
beginning of
the Bible
we were
banished
from the
garden
of Eden
from the
place of
God's
presence
and his
provision
because
we put
ourselves
in the
center of
the universe
instead of
God
we disobeyed
him
and we
were sent
out of the
garden
banished
and there
was a
flaming sword
at the
gate
flashing back
and forth
guarding the
way to the
tree of
life
we are
all guilty
children
and God
is rightly
grieved
and justly
indignant
because of
our sin
and all
the plans
of man
will never
succeed
to bring a
true reconciliation
between
humanity
and God
but the
message of
the Bible
is God
has made
a way
God
has devised
a means
that we
might be
truly
reconciled
to him
not just
sending
a prophet
or a
wise person
but coming
to earth
himself
pursuing
us with
his undeserved
kindness
in order to
bring us
to repentance
taking the
guilt of
our sin
upon himself
so that we
might receive
forgiveness
and justification
you see
God's
answer
is the
cross
you see
in the
cross
we see
the reality
and depth
of our
sin
what
Joab
and Absalom
didn't face
we see
how terrible
our sin
is that
the son
of God
had to
die
as a
sacrifice
in our
place
to take
our
punishment
and bear
our
guilt
but we
also see
that that
price
has been
paid
and the
book of
Hebrews
says
there's a
new
and living
way
open for
us to
enter
freely
into the
presence
of God
and be
welcomed
and be
delighted
in
and be
received
and reconciled
forever
we're
going to
celebrate
the
Lord's
supper
tonight
and that's
what
this is a
picture of
what the
Lord Jesus
Christ did
to reconcile
us to
God
that when
we take
the bread
and drink
the cup
we remember
Jesus Christ's
body was
broken
and his
blood
was spilled
in his
death on
the cross
so that
our sins
might be
paid for
so if we
repent
and believe
in Jesus
turn to
him
we can be
washed clean
and we can
be welcomed
into his
presence as
his beloved
children
with no
reserve
so let's
pray as we
prepare to
come to the
Lord's table
Lord we
thank you
that where
all the
plans of
men and
women
have
failed
that you
sent your
son into
this world
to reconcile
us to
yourself
to pay the
price for
our sin
the price
that we
could never
pay
and to
make a way
for us to
come into
your presence
forgiven
and free
your beloved
sons and
daughters
Lord
as we
prepare to
eat this
bread and
drink this
cup
to remember
you
may you
feed us
by your
holy spirit
and strengthen
us to be
agents of your
reconciliation and
messengers of
that reconciliation
in this world
in Christ's name
we pray
amen
merciful
🎵
to be
one
faithful