OK, let's turn back to 2 Samuel
15. 2 Samuel 15. I've entitled this
message, The Suffering King of Israel. The Suffering King of
Israel. And that's not a great feat of
innovation or creativity when you read through these passages.
Because that is an obvious thing here. King David of Israel, God's
anointed king, the man after God's own heart, the sweet psalmist
of Israel, the writer of many of the Psalms as he was inspired
by the Spirit of God, the sinner saved by grace, all of these
things. The great sinner saved by grace.
The great sinner saved by great grace. Greater grace, you might
say. Grace greater than our sins.
We sing that song. Here we see him suffering the
consequences of his own sin. And it doesn't let up. He suffered
those consequences here on earth throughout his life. And yet,
as I said last time, when you look at David and see him and
read about him according to the word of God, You're looking at
a man who is justified in the sight of God. You're looking
at a man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity in an amazing. That's
an amazing fact of grace, and it's not just a fact, not just
statistics. I mean, it's a reality. That
David is a man who was considered and counted truly righteous before
God and not based upon anything done by him or in him, it was
based totally upon the one who would come in time and suffer
in David's stead for his sins and pay that payment, that debt
that all of us owe to God's law and justice, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we look at the suffering
king of Israel, you have to understand this now. I can't say that I've
gone through these same things that David is going through in
his sorrow and his suffering, and you may not be able to. Some
of you may. When it comes to his children,
he lost a baby. His eldest son was murdered by
another son, and his other son that murdered his eldest son
is now in rebellion against him. Even though David at this point
in time doesn't know all about that, he learns it tonight in
these passages. And this sorrow must have tore
his heart out. I think about it over in 2 Samuel
19. Let me just read this to you
if I can find it. But this is Absalom after Absalom
was dead. And it says in verse 4 of 2 Samuel
19, it says, but the king covered his face. And the king cried
with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son. Now you know you have to enter
in somewhat to the sorrow of this man over his rebellious,
unbelieving son. It's an amazing thing. So here we see the suffering
king of Israel. What we're going to read tonight
is just the beginning of it. And it will never let up. And
so when you see the suffering king of Israel and David, you
know that he certainly is in this capacity, a type of Christ.
Because there was no suffering like the true king of spiritual
Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ went through in order to save
us from our sins. He was truly like David, but
even more than David. Because he's David's greater
son, he was truly a man of sorrows. He was truly acquainted with
grief. When we close tonight, we're going to sing, Man of Sorrows,
what a name for the Son of God who came. Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior. And
so we see that type here in David. We see a type and picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we study that type, I
want you to notice a couple of things. There are similarities
between David's sorrow and between the sorrow of our Lord. It has
to be, or David wouldn't be a type. But there are also some differences.
And many times we can see the glory, the greater glory of our
Savior, not just in the similarities of the type, but in the differences.
And I'll show you that. But let's look at 2 Samuel 15.
We'll read through the first few verses. We won't try to cover
the whole chapter, obviously. But it starts off with, first
of all, the story of Absalom's treachery. Absalom's treachery. As you recall, Absalom had connived
to have his half-brother Amnon murdered. He'd been banished,
literally, from Jerusalem, from Israel. And he had just been
brought back by David, his father. Joab urged David to bring Absalom
back. And you know that story. And
so Absalom has just had a measure of reconciliation with his father,
King David, and he's now back in Jerusalem. But there's a problem. The reconciliation is not a full
reconciliation because David wouldn't see Absalom for two
years, and then Joab got David to see Absalom, brought him in.
He got to see him. But Absalom's resentment toward
his father, along with his own pride and his own ambition, motivated
him to start a conspiracy to draw the people of Israel to
himself, to loyalty to himself and against his father, the rightful
king of Israel, the God-appointed and anointed king of Israel.
And so Absalom, the beloved son, He rebels against his father.
He does it in bitter criticism. He criticizes his father. He
does it in pride. He does it in ingratitude, disobedience,
and he even uses religious hypocrisy. Someone said that Absalom not
only commits all of the kinds of sins that young men do, but
he does it under the show of being religious, under the show
of being a worshiper of the Lord. And so Absalom, when you read
these verses, you're going to see Absalom, in essence, could
be considered a type or a picture of Satan who brought about the
fall of man. Let's look at it. Verse 1, And
it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots
and horses and fifty men to run before him. He's gathering his
own troops. And you know, that's the way
it is when men become dissatisfied or discontent and they want their
way. What do they do? They start gathering
their troops. They start seeking out people
who will go with them, who they can make or either are discontented
as they are. And this is Absalom's treachery.
But one thing you can see here, this proves right offhand that
Absalom was not God's appointed heir to the throne. He was not
God's appointed king and he would never be, you see. Now, he had
already proclaimed himself king in his own mind. That's his goal.
We see as we go down through here, he wants David off the
throne and he wants to take the kingdom. Absalom was not God's
appointed heir. Solomon was. But he didn't want
that. So what does he do? The first
thing he does is he gathers horses and chariots and men. In other words, his trust is
not in the Lord. Remember, we read this a while
back, back over in Deuteronomy chapter 17, where God said that
the king should never trust in chariots and in horses. Trust
the Lord. The Psalms, Psalm 20 is one of
them, that says, put not your trust in horses. You see, that
was a symbol to man back then of power. And Absalom does the
first thing. that no king should ever do,
no godly king should ever do. Instead of trusting in the Lord
for power, for goodness, for wisdom, instead of leading the
people in submitting to the Lord, he trusts in chariots and horses.
He was lifted up with pride, the thirst for power. And he
certainly is a type of Satan here. Turn over to Isaiah chapter
14. You all are familiar with this. This is what happened to Satan,
who was called Lucifer. Lucifer in the beginning. And
Isaiah 14 tells us about it. He was lifted up with pride before
he caused the sin and fall of Adam. It says in Isaiah chapter
14, look at verse 12. It says, How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? And here's
how it happened. Now listen to how. For thou hast
said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven." Now Absalom is
saying, I'm going to ascend to the throne. Lucifer here, he
says, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will
sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of
the north. I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. And that's the same attitude
that Absalom has as he thirsts after in his ambition and pride
for his father's throne. Who put David on that throne? God did. Now, who was going to
take him off? Only God. And I thought about
that when we looked at David's history in dealing with King
Saul. David would never lift his finger
to take Saul off the throne. Because he knew that God put
him there and it was going to have to be God who removed him.
But Absalom doesn't see that. He has no respect for God. He
has no regard for the true and living God. And in essence, has
no regard for the throne of Israel and the ultimate purpose of that
throne, which was to bring in the true, eternal King, the Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, these issues. which
these men like Absalom are standing against. It's no different than
Cain when he stood against Abel. It's a denial of not only God's
sovereign right to put whoever he wants on the throne, but it's
also a denial of God's way of salvation by his grace through
Christ. Absalom had no regard for that.
It's the same attitude that Esau had when he gave up the birthright.
Because, you see, that represented the spiritual leadership of the
household and the perpetual line that would finally come out in
the Messiah. And he had no regard for it.
Absalom was the same way. He was just a man who was in
it for himself. And then look back at it. Well,
notice here in Isaiah 14 and verse 15. It says, "...yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit." That's
where every man that lifts himself up against God, against God's
sovereign rule, against God's way of salvation through Christ,
what's going to happen? They'll be brought down to the
pit, to hell. That's what it says. We'll look
back at 2 Samuel 15, look at verses 2 here. He says, verse
2, now listen to this, listen to the way Absalom operates.
It says, and Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way
of the gate. That's the main entrance into
the city. And it was so that when any man
that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, this is
what would happen. See, when men had differences,
they would come to the king for judgment. When that happened,
then Absalom called unto him and said, of what city art thou? And he said, thy servant is one
of the tribes of Israel. And the reason that was necessary
is because there were Gentiles there, too. We'll see that later
on. It says, And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are
good and right. Now, what was the first thing
he did? He told them what they wanted
to hear. Told them what they wanted to hear. See, your matters
are right and good. You have a just cause. Whether
or not what the king says doesn't matter. I'm telling you. I'm
Absalom. And he's saying, I'm telling
you, your matters are just and right. And he says, but there
is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. There's nobody,
the king hasn't appointed anybody to hear your case. And Absalom
said, moreover, oh, that I were made judge in the land. Now,
if I were the judge, if I were king, that every man which hath
any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice. I'd do it right. He's not doing
it right. I'd do it right. Is this anything new? Isn't this
the way of men in their discontent, when they don't want to bow to
God's revealed will in matters of providence and matters of
justice? And see what happens here, you're going to see later
on, it said, Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
He stole it. stole their hearts. Well, this is the beginning of
the process of stealing the hearts of the people in order that they
might make him king and remove the kingdom from David. You see
that in Satan. You see it in Adam in the fall.
He said, you shall be as gods. Adam lifted himself up and brought
the whole human race down in ruination. because he wanted
to stand on his own two feet. He wanted to act independently
of God. He said, I have the knowledge
and the power and the right to say what's good and what's not
good, what's evil. And notice how deceptive and
hypocritical and arrogant Absalom is. He acts as if he's a great
defender of justice. I would do right. That he can
judge matters greater than the king. You remember when Satan
approached Adam after God told Adam and Eve, he said, in the
day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, he said, in that day you shall surely die. That's God's
judgment. And then Satan come in, he said,
half God said, half God said, and what was Satan's judgment?
He said, oh, no, you shall not surely die. God's not telling
you the truth. And that's what Absalom is doing
to his father David. He's not going to do right. He's
not going to do justice. He won't even hear you. But if
I were king, if I were king, oh, you'd be satisfied then.
Look at verse 5. He says, And it was so that when
any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, to show him some
respect, he put forth his hand and took him, and he kissed him.
You know, it's common for the traitors to issue forth his kisses. It's like the Judas kiss, isn't
it? And it says in verse 6, And on this manner, in this way,
did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. And it shows
you something also, not only about Absalom, about men by nature. First of all, they fall, we by
nature, fall for those who are appealing in the outward appearance.
Absalom was a striking man. You know how it was described
back in the last chapter. He had a striking appearance.
And he made a great show and spoke pleasant words. You see,
he told them what they wanted to hear. That's what people are
looking for usually when they're looking for a church. They're
not looking for what they need to hear. They're looking for
what they want to hear. And I'm going to tell you, and
you know this is true, the worst thing that a man or a woman can
find here on this earth is a preacher who will tell them what they
by nature want to hear. You see, I know what you need
to hear because I know what I need to hear. I need to hear about
God's grace in Christ. I need to hear about how God
saves sinners like me. I don't need these lips of flattering
words crying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. As Jeremiah
said, healing the daughters of Israel slightly. It's like putting
a Band-Aid on a poisonous wound. It will not do. See, you don't
need to hear things like that. You don't, you know, people have
itching ears. What that means is they got something
they want to hear and they'll find a preacher somewhere who
will scratch the itch by telling them what they need to hear.
And that's what Absalom was doing here. Great swelling words, oh,
if I were king. And then look at verse 7. He
says, and it came to pass after 40 years. Now, that 40 years
there confuses a lot of people. And there's two views of that.
Some say in the original manuscript, it's not 40 years, it's four
years. And some of the manuscripts read
that way. But others say that the 40 years is not referring
back to the time that Absalom was in Jerusalem or back in Jerusalem. Obviously, that's not the case
because he hadn't been there 40 years. But it's referring
back all the way to the time that David was made king in Hebron. And I'll show you why that may
be significant. But it's really it's not an issue. In other words,
if it should be four years, it's not an error in God's word. It's
an error in translation by the translators. But either way,
if it reaches all the way back to Hebron when David was first
making, or if it's talking about just four years, we know there
was a time span here. But listen to what it says. It
came to pass after 40 years that Absalom said unto the king, I
pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto
the Lord. Where? In Hebron. So, in other
words, he's tracing, he's going all the way back, he's making
a, he's making, he said, I've made a religious vow to the Lord
in Hebron. And he says in verse 8 here,
he says, for thy servant vowed a vow while I abode in Gesher,
that's where his grandparents were, in Syria, saying, if the
Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve
the Lord. And the king said unto him, go in peace. So he arose
and went to Hebron. Now here's the religious hypocrisy
of Absalom. What's he been trying to do?
He's been trying to undermine the king. He's been trying to
criticize and put down the king. He stole the hearts of the people
of Israel. And now he got, and the king
didn't know it at this time. And so he goes, he said, well,
I, let me go to Hebron. Why are you going to Hebron?
I'm going to worship. I made a vow. Is that why he's
going? No. We'll learn that in the next
verses, but let me tell you something. There's no greater proof of a
satanic spirit in any individual when they dare to take the most
sacred things and use them for their selfish purposes. That's
a satanic spirit. And you can see that all over
the scripture. The passage that comes to mind immediately is
2 Corinthians chapter 11. where Paul told them that he
espoused them to one Savior, one Husband, Christ. He's our
only hope. He's our only stay. He's our
only assurance. We have no hope, no salvation
but Christ and Him crucified and risen again. He's the Husband
of His Bride, the Church. And there's no other. And we're
not to adulterate ourselves out. to any other Savior, any other
Lord. We have one Lord, one way of
salvation, one righteousness before God, one way of forgiveness,
Christ. And then he said, if they come
along preaching another Jesus by another spirit, another gospel,
he said, you don't listen to them, don't bear with them. And
they were amazed because these men who were doing that appeared
righteous outwardly. And he said in verse 13, he said,
well, marvel not. Because that's the way Satan
himself appears. He appears as a minister of righteousness,
but he's actually preaching the works of man, not the righteousness
of God in Christ. And that's the way Absalom was.
He was trying to steal the kingdom from his father, and he did it
under the gospel. Let me go to Hebron. That's where
he was going to begin gathering his armies. And he says, I need
to go there to worship God. That's satanic. You see, when
he spoke to the people, he was critical of the king. When he
spoke to the king, you know, he was religious and pious. You
know, sometimes, you know, none of us like to be criticized.
Do you? I don't like to be criticized.
Unless it's constructive criticism. And even then, I bow up at least
the first five minutes. But you know, if somebody's going
to criticize me, you know what I'd rather them do? I'd rather them
come to me, stand face to face, and do it. But they usually don't,
do they? I wonder why. I wonder why. I suspect it's their motive.
Because see, if they come to you and criticize you face to
face, usually, usually, then the matter stops. And they don't
achieve their goal. What would you think would happen
if Absalom had gone to David and said, you've got a problem
here. I want to tell you what it is and go at it. Well, Absalom
wouldn't have ended up in Hebron. He'd end up somewhere else. But
you see, this is the way it is. Look at verse 10. Here's his
real motive. But Absalom sent spies throughout
all the tribes of Israel, saying, as soon as you hear the sound
of the trumpet, then shall you say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. He's King in Hebrew. And with
Absalom went 200 men out of Jerusalem that were called, and they went
in their simplicity, and they knew not anything. In other words,
they were unaware of what all was going on. And that's usually
the way a lot of guys like this get a crowd, get a following.
They really don't know what's going on. They just hear some
things, and it says in verse 12, and Absalom sent for Ahithophel,
the Gilonite, David's counselor from his city, even from Gilo,
while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong,
for the people increased continually with Absalom." So there you have
it. Absalom caused much people to
rebel against King David. And I see a good type there of
Satan who brought much people down when he caused Adam to fall. the whole human race brought
into rebellion against God and His Christ through the fall of
Adam. And that continually increases
in the natural birth of fallen men and women. We were one with
Adam in the fall, ruined by the fall. And as a result of that,
we're all by nature born dead in trespasses and sins and grow
up in rebellion against God and His Christ. So what's the lesson
of this? Well, test the spirits. Don't
just listen to any man, no matter who they are, you test them by
the word of God. David was the king. He was the
only true king. He was God's anointed king. He
was king because God made him king. He wasn't going to be dethroned
until God dethroned him. And anybody who tried to do that
before them was simply denying the God of Israel, the Jehovah
God who saved sinners by grace. Anyone who tried to take David
off that throne, the voice of time, was denying Christ who
was to come through David, no matter how you look at it. And
David was king by God's grace and an unconditional covenant,
the king from whom Christ would spring. Well, look here in verse
13. Now, here we come to David's
suffering. David finds out that Absalom
has had himself ordained and appointed king of Hebron. It
says, And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts
of the men of Israel are after Absalom. They follow Absalom.
That's where David began in Hebron, you remember. And then he moved
the capital to Jerusalem. Now, look here. David flees Jerusalem. Look at verse 14. And David said
unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise
and let us flee, for we shall not else escape from Absalom,
make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring
evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword."
David flees Jerusalem. Now notice David as a type of
Christ. As we go through these last verses
here, notice the similarities and the difference. First of
all, you notice Absalom had carried, it says, all the people, but
there was still a remnant of people with David in Jerusalem.
And I see in that a type of our Savior, because Christ has always
had a remnant of people, chosen people, elect people, who were
given to him by the Father in the everlasting covenant of grace.
And though we fell in Adam and rebelled against God, we were
still with Christ as our representative, as our substitute and our surety
before the foundation of the world. Though we in ourselves
were alienated and enemies in our minds by wicked works, we
were with him in the eyes of God's justice and his law, the
everlasting covenant of grace. And notice here that David fled
his home. He fled Jerusalem not for himself,
but to spare the city. He didn't want the people to
be hurt in all this, so he fled. Now, Christ did not flee from
his home in heaven, but he left it. And you know what? He left
it not for himself, but for his people. That's why he was made
flesh and dwelt among us, that he might save us from our sins. That's why he walked this earth
in obedience to the law. That's why he was made sin, that
he might save us from our sins and that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. He didn't flee, but he left.
He left his home in glory, the song says. He knew what he was
going to face. He had not yet experienced it
in his humanity, his sinless humanity, but he knew what it
was going to take. Now you remember here too, and
never forget this, that what David is suffering over here
is ultimately a judgment for his own sin. You remember, look
back over in 2 Samuel chapter 12, 2 Samuel 12, and look at verse
10, where Nathan told him, Nathan the prophet, because of his sin,
now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house.
because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah
the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold,
I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house,
and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto
thy neighbors, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of
this son." You see, David is suffering the consequences of
his own sin. You see, David ultimately had
to leave Jerusalem because of his own sins. But now there is
a difference in our Savior, our David. Christ did not leave his
home in heaven because of his own sins, for he is not, was
not, and never can be a sinner. But Christ left his home because
of the sins of his people that became his as he was set apart
from everlasting to be our surety and as he was made sin for us.
You see, the demerit, the penalty of our sins was accounted to
him. But they were not his in that
he made them or he committed them. They became his because
they were charged, imputed, accounted to him. Look back at 2 Samuel
15 here. Look at verse 15. It says, And the king's servants
said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever
my lord the king shall appoint or choose. We're ready to go
with thee. And the king went forth and all his household after
him. And the king left ten women,
which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went
forth And all the people after him, and tarried or waited in
a place that was far off, and all his servants passed on beside
him. And all the Karathites, and the
Pelathites, and the Gittites, six hundred men, now these are
Gentiles, which came after him from Gath, passed on before the
king." They were David's personal bodyguard. What this is teaching
us is this. David's people went with him.
Wherever he went, they went with him. And then that he's a type
of our Savior, because Christ's people also went with him. That's right. Not in our own
persons now, but in him representatively. We're one with Christ, who is
our substitute. God's elect both Jew and Gentile. And here's what I mean by that.
When he died, we died. We went with him. We weren't
there personally. But we were there in him as our
substitute and represent. We didn't take the wrath. He
took it for us, but we were with him. When he was buried, we were
buried with him. When he arose again the third
day, we arose with him. When he ascended, we ascended
with him. We're with him. And I'll tell you what, that's
our only hope of salvation now and forever, that we be with
Christ and that he be with us. Isn't that right? For without
him, There's nothing but damnation. If David had fled Jerusalem and
left the people there, what do you think Absalom would have
done to those who were loyal to David? He would have killed
every one of them. But you see, they went with David. They went
with the king. And Christ's people go with him.
They go with the king. Now, when we're born into this
world, naturally, we're alienated from him. We're unbelievers.
But he brings us to himself, like he brought these people
into Jerusalem. And Christ does so by the power
of his Spirit. We're with him. And we'll talk
a little bit more about that. But look at verse 19. Now, it
says, Then said the king to Ittai, the Gittite, Wherefore, why goest
thou also with us? He's talking to this man Ittai.
He's from Gaia. And he asked him. He hadn't been
with him very long. And David said, Well, why do
you go with us? He says, return to thy place and abide with the
king, for thou art a stranger, a foreigner, and also an exile.
Whereas thou camest but yesterday, and been there very long, should
I this day make thee go up and down with us? Seen I go, whither
I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren, mercy and
truth be with thee." And listen, it says, And Etai answered the
king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth,
surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in
death or life, even there also will thy servant be. And David
said to Etai, Go and pass over. And Etai, the Gittite, passed
over. and all his men and all the little
ones that were with him. The loyalty of Ittei. It reminds
me of this fact that the true people of Christ will follow
him. He said that. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and they follow me. Another, they won't follow.
You remember when the multitudes left our Savior and he turned
to his disciples and he said, will you go away also? And Peter,
speaking for the disciples, he said, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We've got you know what? The
one thing that binds all of us who know Christ together, not
one thing, but one of the main things that binds us together
in fellowship is we've got no one else to go to. We've got
no place else to go. There's no life anywhere else.
There's no wisdom, there's no goodness, there's no grace, there's
no mercy, there's no righteousness anywhere else but in Christ.
And this also reminds us of the Lord who, in his experience of
suffering, told his disciples, you might wonder here, well,
why did David say, well, come on, go in? And he said, go back.
Well, David is a man now. And as I said, there's some differences
here in our Savior. And David didn't know. He wasn't
omnipotent and omniscient like our Savior was. Our Lord knew
his people, and they know him. But here David says, well, he's
thinking, well, I'm going to a place where I might be killed.
I don't know what's going on. I don't want you killed with
me. And I thought about this with our Lord in his experience
of suffering. I told his disciples, he said
in John chapter 13 in the upper room, you remember he told him
this. He said, little children, yet a little while I'm with you,
you shall seek me. And as I said unto the Jews,
whether I go, you cannot come. You can't go with me. What is
he talking about there? He's talking about their personal
experience with him. They can't go to the cross with
him. Only he by himself could go to the cross because, you
see, he's the Savior. We're the same. We're with him
as he's our substitute and our representative. But you can't
go with him personally in your experience. Only he could save
his people from their sin. It wasn't a cooperation here.
It wasn't Christ plus anything or anyone. He had to walk the
winepress of suffering alone. Why? Because he's to have the
preeminence. He's the only one who can. He's the God-man. It says, by himself suffered
for our sins. By his one offering. He had to
do that by himself. And he did. And he has the preeminence. But you listen to me now. He
did it by himself. But he didn't do it for himself.
He did it for his people. He did it as a representative
of his people. It says here, all that were with
him passed over. The Bible says, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Over in the book
of Revelation, chapter 17, it speaks of The beast and the 10
evil kings who will make war with the lamb. Listen to what
it says in verse 17 or verse 14. It said these shall make
war with the lamb and the lamb shall overcome them for he is
the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and they that are with
him are called and chosen and faithful. You see, the key is to be with
him. To be with him. And then look at verse 23, and
we'll close with this verse. It says, And all the country
wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over, the king
also himself. Now, where were they passing
over? He passed over the brook Kidron, or Kydron. Most pronunciations
are Kidron. And all the people passed over
toward the way of the wilderness. If you're not familiar with the
brook Kidron, turn to John chapter 18. The brook Kidron separated the
city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. And in John chapter 18, after
our Lord had finished instructing his disciples in the upper room
and was making his way to the Mount of Olives where he would
begin the experience in his sinless humanity of suffering in the
Garden of Gethsemane. And it says in verse 1 of John
chapter 18, when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with
his disciples over the brook Sidron. That's the same brook,
the brook Kidron, that David passed over with his people.
Here's the Lord going through, going over, the brook Kidron
with his disciples, where was a garden into the which he entered
and his disciples?" And then it says, "...Judas also, which
betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oft times resorted
there with his disciples." And you know the rest of the story.
This is where Judas came with the men and he said, whom do
you seek? They said, we seek Jesus of Nazareth,
and he said, I am, and they fell back, and he said, take me, let
these go. That's the substitutionary work
of our Savior. We passed over the book Kidron.
The name Kidron means dark. The name Kidron is a place, is
symbolic of a place of suffering, of rejection, having to do with
being cast down. judged, rejected. Some people
use the term as to cause to mourn. That's what Kidron means. And
as you see David back here in 2 Samuel 15, passing over the
brook Kidron, what's happening? You see the suffering King of
Israel passing through this time of suffering, this time of darkness,
this time of rejection, being cast down and judged and this
time of mourning with all his people." And here we see a beautiful
type of our Savior passing over Kidron into the Garden of Gethsemane
with his disciples, for he is our suffering King. David left
the city and went across the brook for the safety of the city.
Christ went across that brook into the Garden of Gethsemane
on the way to his cross. for the safety of the heavenly
city, Jerusalem, whose inhabitants are the people of God. Christ,
having been rejected by his people, and he was, crossed over to Gethsemane
on the way to his ultimate suffering. He retraced the steps of David
in his rejection, this man of sorrows who was acquainted with
grief, this black brook and dark valley all led to the wilderness
for David. It led to the cross for our Savior. David left Jerusalem to avoid
the wrath of his own son, but not so with our Lord. Christ
left Jerusalem to meet head-on with the wrath of his Father
at Calvary for the sins of his people. He went there, passing
through this valley of suffering, this brook of suffering, This
garden of suffering to the ultimate suffering, the obedience unto
death of the cross to make an end of sin, to finish the transgression
and bring in everlasting righteousness for his people. David's people wept when he crossed
over. They knew what they were losing.
When Christ crossed over Kidron into Gethsemane. He really was the only one who
knew what was really before him, the suffering that he would endure
for our sins. The disciples, they had some
idea of the wrath and the anger and the ire of the religious
majority, the religious leaders, but only Christ knew full well,
the scripture says in Hebrews chapter 12, that he He suffered the shame and the
contradiction of men, the shame of the cross for the joy that
was set before him. David here, and this is a great
difference, he had no joy here in doing this. He went into the
wilderness and later on he returns in victory. But it's a victory
that leads on this earth to his ultimate suffering. Oh, Absalom,
Absalom, my son, my son. But you know, when Christ went
across Kidron into Gethsemane and on his way to the cross,
he had a joy set before him. And that joy was the glory of
his father and the salvation of all his people. Aren't you
glad that our Savior passed through the brook Kidron? Aren't you
glad that he is the suffering King of Israel? Because his suffering
is our victory. His suffering is our redemption. His suffering is our forgiveness.
His suffering is our righteousness before God. Amen.