Devoured By The Wood

Q: What does the Bible say about God's chastening?

The Bible teaches that God's chastening is a sign of His love and is meant to lead us to repentance and growth (Hebrews 12:6-8). The Bible highlights that God's chastening is a necessary aspect of His relationship with His children. Hebrews 12:6-8 reminds us that whom the Lord loves, He chastens, indicating that those who endure chastening are indeed His sons and daughters. This chastening serves multiple purposes: it reveals our need for God's grace, it humbles us, and leads us to repentance. The experience of sorrow over sin can aid in drawing us nearer to God, affirming our identity as His beloved children. Just as David experienced God's loving discipline, we too can trust that our trials and tribulations are working for our good, shaping us into the likeness of Christ.

Q: How do we know God's grace is effective in our lives?

God's grace is evidenced by the fruits of repentance and humility in our hearts (John 3:21). The effectiveness of God's grace in our lives can be seen in the transformative work He accomplishes within us. According to John 3:21, those who do the truth come to the light, showing that their deeds are wrought in God. When God's grace is at work, it leads to a heart that is humbled, producing genuine fruit such as love, joy, and repentance. This change is not merely external but profound, resulting in an internal transformation where we desire to follow Christ and confess Him. Therefore, if one sees a true change in their desires and actions, it is a strong indicator that they have experienced the grace of God.

Q: Why is repentance important for Christians?

Repentance is crucial as it reflects our relationship with God and our acknowledgment of His grace (2 Samuel 12:13). Repentance is an essential aspect of the Christian faith as it signifies a genuine turning away from sin and a turning towards God. In 2 Samuel 12:13, David's acknowledgment of his sin demonstrates a heart that understands the gravity of sin against God and the need for His mercy. For Christians, repentance not only involves confessing sin but also experiencing God's cleansing and restoration through Christ. It is a mark of humility and a recognition of our dependence on God's grace. In the process of sanctification, continual repentance helps keep our hearts tender before God, reminding us of the need for His grace in our daily lives.

Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 18. I want to look at the first half of the chapter, the first 17 verses, most of the verses there anyway, and this details the end of Absalom. He has rebelled against his father, committing a coup against him. willing and looking to take his father's life to take his throne. Now, one of the things that we notice here is that from the day that, at least from what we can tell, from the day that rebellion was formed in Absalom's heart, when he began to conceive this idea of assuming his father's throne from that day, whenever that happened, because it had been quite some time, to the time that we're looking at now, where he's now installing this plan to take his father's throne and to take his life and to make himself the king of Israel.

All this time, all this while, David has been chastened of the Lord. He's been under the chastening hand of the Lord for, this has been going on for at least a couple years, probably even longer than more than two years. This is probably three, four, five years that this has been going on that since Bathsheba. since David committed adultery with Bathsheba and took Uriah, her husband's life. And so he's been chastened all this time. And I would imagine he's been weakened by this. This is really weighed on David now, and he's probably more cautious and careful about what he thinks of himself, what he does, what he says, or doesn't do, or say, and this is probably, I could see how that would affect how he's dealt with Absalom, with all of Absalom's trials.

You know, you go back to when Absalom's sister Tamar, I believe her name is, and when she's raped by her brother, her half-brother Amnon, Absalom's sister, and he conceives to murder his half-brother Amnon for it, and then he executes this, and he flees, and David doesn't go after him, doesn't send any word after him, lets him go until Joab comes after David and says, you know, bring him back, bring him back. And he brings him back, but he doesn't talk to his son for what, a couple years? And so, I mean, this is going on now for quite some time. And we never see him, we never see the scriptures say that he addressed his son and the sin of his son in any way, in any way, maybe just by by not talking to him for a while, things like that. You know, just little things that suggest things, but he never really reconciled with his son and never really spoke to him about it.

But you think about David and his relationship with the Lord, and the Lord did speak to David. The Lord ministered to David's heart to restore David. He did deal with David. He did chasten David and David was benefited by that chastening. He heard and believed God.

God ministered repentance in David's heart, but that repentance was never ministered in Absalom's heart. Whatever David benefited from his own chastening, It never was communicated to Absalom, not in an effectual way. And I'm not saying that David never spoke to him. I don't know what David said to his children, especially to Absalom, in regards to this.

But Absalom was benefited from another's chastening. And really, that's true of us all, right? We see our siblings and other people have problems and make mistakes and the consequences for it, but we go and make the same mistakes ourselves. We still don't learn until we do the same things ourselves and suffer for them, but Absalom isn't helped.

But David, we see the Lord did, he loved David, and the Lord minister repentance to his heart. When the Gentiles, going into the New Testament here, when the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost, and they spake in tongues, and they exhibited signs that they had been filled with the Holy Ghost, they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, they were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and they believed on him. It was said, when the Jews came and stopped Peter and said, hey, we heard you went into a Gentile's house. What's going on here? And when he explained everything, it says, they said, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

When the Lord deals with the people, he gives repentance in their heart. And he blesses his people. It's a wonderful miracle of grace that we who believe him have all experienced. We've experienced that grace. We've been given repentance. The Lord turns our heart from loving this world and going the way of this world and how this world is. So there's a power there when the Lord ministers grace, but Absalom found no such repentance. There was nothing granted to Absalom. And yet David, whom the Lord loved, the Lord did minister repentance, did give David repentance, turned his heart.

We see that. He sinned. He had a hard heart about it. He was callous, unchanged. I don't know if his excuse was, well, I'm king, so I can do that. It's my kingdom. I feel like I could do that. And he did it. And then the Lord sent Nathan, and Nathan was given such grace that the Lord made that his word effectual to David. David saw it, right? He realized, wow, I have sinned against the Lord. I deserve death in this end. He confessed his sin and the Lord healed him. And the Lord told him, you're not gonna die for this sin, David. The Lord has put away your sin.

And so we see the effects of a new creature. And that really is a wonderful thing. Believers can fall grievously. They can fall into grievous sin. That's not the determining factor whether someone is a Christian or not, whether they're a child of God or not. You can't judge by the sin they fall into, but does the Lord chasten them, and does the Lord minister grace in their hearts so that they are drawn near to the Lord, that He does give them repentance, and they are made sorrowful and chastened, and you see fruits? When you see what the Lord does for them, that's really a mark, right? Because that's the effects of a new creature. They are humbled, they are brought low, they are chastened, and that is more of a mark than if they never fell or you never saw them sin, really. what's the fruit that the Lord works in his child, that humility, that love, that care, that brokenness and the contrite spirit, that's really the deciding factor. Otherwise, we're just looking at the flesh. And so here we see that with regard to David and we see the lack of it in Absalom. And so One of the things we see with chastisement is the child of God is brought to the feet of the Savior.

That's a good thing. When you are broken for your sin, when you're made contrite for your sin, when you hug up to the Lord, confessing your sin to Him, crying to Him, Have mercy, cleanse my heart, forgive me, Lord. When the Lord produces that fruit in you, and it's not fake, it's not put on for anybody, it's just between you and the Lord, that's a good thing. And so, that's what we see here. Listen to Hebrews 12. You can turn there if you like, but Hebrews 12, verse six through eight says, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth. every son whom he receiveth."

And so, that to me includes, from my own experience, even if you don't tie your chastening directly to some sin that you did, the reality is we're all chastened. We're all scourged because when we're born of Adam, we We make mistakes, we sin, we fall all the time, and there's a lot to be corrected.

We have attitudes and pride and arrogances and thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and it's just there by nature. We go the course of the world, and so the Lord scourges that from us. He brings us into ways that show us our infirmities, show us our weaknesses, show us our frailties, and cause us to see our need, a genuine understanding of our need of God's grace and mercy and forgiveness and keeping. And he does that in many ways through manifold temptations and trials.

And then he says in Hebrews there, 12, seven and eight, if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Again, we've probably all seen and known people in various walks of life to some measure that at one time professed to believe on the Lord, but can go away from the Lord and leave that behind. And that's just a mark that, you know, You can't write them off forever, but certainly you can't give them any word of comfort either. Because what can you say if they turn from the Lord? They didn't endure the chastening, because I'm sure they were being chastened and saw things that tried their faith, that tempted them to think, this can't be right. The Lord wouldn't. If the Lord was real, this thing would never happen. Well, it does happen, because the Lord is able to keep his people even in the midst of things that don't make sense to us and confuse us.

But if you be without chastisement, whereof all our partakers then are ye bastards and not sons." Meaning you have no father. You have no known father in that case. And if God's your father, you're going to know your father because he's going to deal with you as a son or a daughter. And so if you're the Lord's chosen vessel, you're going to be chastened of the Lord and you're going to have repentance wrought in you.

And this will be seen, as John 3.21 says, but he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. And that's not a believer saying, well, I want to come into the light and show that my deeds are of God. I mean, you may say something like that at some point, but whether you realize it or not, you're going to be brought into the light. God's going to bring you into the light and reveal that God has done this in you.

That's the real power of John 3.21. If you're the Lord's, you're going to be called into the light. You're gonna be brought into the light, and it's gonna be made evident that God is your God, your Father, and that he's done this work in you. He's given you this life. And so, that's the testimony there. That faith in you lives. It's real.

And you follow Christ. You confess him and you follow him. Alright, now, what I want to show you here is just a few more examples of what the Lord teaches us in chastening. because we are coming out of this thing here, but let's see just a few more things before we close up with Absalom's death and see a picture of Christ there at the end. But when we look at David as an example of how the Lord chastens his children for their sin and what he teaches them in their chastening, we see that one of the first things the Lord is going to teach his child is that you may be, we may be confident the Lord.

You may be confident in the operation of God. It seems like this is it. It seems like my sins have caught up with me. The Lord's gonna get me now. I'm gonna be punished and cast into hell. There's times where it's that severe and you think it's over, but you may be confident that what the Lord is doing is for you're good. It's for a purpose, and it's for your good. It's not to destroy you. It's not to throw you into hell. It's for your good, actually. Chastening, as with any trial, as with any tribulation or temptation that we're brought into, all of it is according to purpose.

Just as we know from that well-known scripture, Romans 8, 28, that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to purpose, God's purpose. So it's going to work good for you. It's going to work good for the church, because even when the Lord deals with you, He makes you more honest and more sincere and more dedicated to him and to the church and to his people. And so it's good for the whole body. It's good.

And it accomplishes, when the Lord brings us through trials and temptations and difficulties and the manifold nature, the variety of them, it's according to purpose. And when the purpose is met, it'll be over. Now that means some things are short and some things are long term, but the Lord is able and you can trust Him. You can be confident in Him to keep you to the end. Look over at Romans chapter 5 on this specific thing. Romans 5, I'm mainly looking at verses 3 through 5, but I'm going to begin in verse 1.

Therefore, being justified by faith, we're justified by the blood of Christ. We're justified by the resurrection of Christ. God is testifying that Christ is his son and you are right for believing on him. just to believe on him. By faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. That's our hope, that God is not unjust to forget us. He has called us and he will come again just as he promised. And so you're going through these trials, you're walking by faith.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. And as I said, I'm likening, chastening to various trials and temptations and difficulties and afflictions and hardships and trying times. Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.

And so brethren, you that are the body of Christ, the Lord is working patience and experience and hope in you through these things. Otherwise, you wouldn't be enduring chastening if there wasn't something to endure. You're enduring it because it's working. Patience in you it's tea.

He's teaching you and he's leading you to himself and he's revealing himself to you in it And he's he's giving you a right heart and a right spirit He desires truth in the inward parts as David learned and so you're gonna know the truth in faith in in in the spirit now something David wrote in one of his Psalms during this time and He wrote, it's believed he wrote Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 when he was fleeing from Absalom, leaving Jerusalem and going out into the wilderness. But he says there, at the end of both those Psalms, I'm just gonna quote the one from verse five in Psalm 43, but it's the same thing at the end of both Psalms. He asks, why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God." This is a man who knows that he's being chastened of the Lord, but he's been given in the spirit hope in God, for I shall yet praise him. He's been given that confidence that the Lord loves me and gave himself for me and this is for my good. Who is the health of my countenance and my God?

And so the reason David isn't wrecked by how awful everything is going on around him is because of God. because God has spoken to him and revealed himself to David and drawn David nearer to him even in this horrible sin that he committed, the Lord still redeemed David and reconciled David to himself and restored David in grace and in mercy so that he trusts in God and is able to trust in God.

I mean, brethren, when we stumble and fall, who are you going to turn to? There's no one else to turn to but the Lord. No one can help you, no one can soothe your conscience, no one can say anything that's really gonna make you feel better. So all you can do is turn to the Lord, and we see that that's good.

That's exactly what the Lord calls you to do, just as he gave it to David, who committed a grievous, grievous sin. And yet, that's the faith and hope that the Lord worked in David. you may trust the Lord fully to work grace and peace in your heart to bring you through it and to restore you.

And when the work is done and the enemy is going too far, because the enemy will always go too far, the Lord will shut him down. And that's what we're going to see here with Absalom. It's coming time now where Absalom's going too far and Absalom's going to come to an end. Isaiah 42 verse 13 says, the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his enemies.

And so you that are God's child, meaning you that hope in him, who have no hope of righteousness but the true and living God, The Lord is gonna do good for you, and even when you're chastened, he's gonna provide for you, and it's gonna be good for you. It's not to destroy you and to throw you in hell. It's to turn you. It's to reveal truth in the inward parts in you. It's to humble you and to bring you near to God.

Even Job said it this way, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Job 13, 15. You can trust the Lord. Now, another lesson that we learn in chastening is that God will provide for and sustain his people. And he demonstrates this in providing for David. Remember, he promised David, you're not going to die, David. The Lord hath put away your sin. You know, you've confessed that you deserve to die. but the Lord's not going to take your life. He's provided for you, and he promised him that.

And so we've already seen recently how that Hushai providentially comes to David. He's gonna go with David, and the Lord just worked it out so that David said, look, you're too old, you're gonna be a burden, go back. And you can defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. If anybody can defeat his counsel, And he had just prayed, Lord, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. And the very next verse, if I'm remembering correctly, Hushai comes. And that's exactly what the Lord did. He turned Ahithophel, the wise, his counsel to foolishness. And even though it was, I mean, if you're just talking humanly speaking and you're looking at battle plans and how to do the right thing, Ahithophel's counsel was marvelous. It was perfect. It was the exact thing that would have destroyed David. And so the Lord destroyed it. The Lord showed his power and glory to turn it to foolishness so that Absalom did not follow Ahithophel's counsel.

And so, apparently a little bit more time's gone, and David is ready to reclaim his throne now. And so perhaps additional men from the realm came to David's aid, gathered themselves together to help buttress the army that was with David at that time, and they come together, and it just shows You should have listened to Ahithophel, but they didn't because God was in it to stop it. And that's why Ahithophel knew this is what's going to happen. They're going to come to your aid in time and to David's aid in time and we're going to lose.

Look at, yeah, okay, so let's look at 2 Samuel 18, verse one through five. Let's just read that. And David numbered the people that were with him and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai, which is Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite.

And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself. And the people answered, no, you won't. You're not going to go with us, because if we run away, if we flee, they ain't going after us. They're coming after you. They're going to go after you. It doesn't matter. Half of us could die, and they could care less. They're coming after you.

And so David, being humbled of the Lord, trusting that the Lord was in it, said, all right, I'll do what seems best to you. They loved him, and he And he yielded to their advice there. And so that's the third lesson. The Lord makes his child humble. He had humility. He is the king, but he had humility in the sense of just knowing, you know what? I'm not going to be ignorant here. I'm going to take your advice. You're right. What you're saying is right. And I'll stay back. And so he did. He stayed in the city. And then look at verse 5.

The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, the three commanders over the three brigades, saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captain's charge concerning Absalom." And I think we can all, as a parent, I get what David's saying, and as a parent I understand, but he should not be saying that about Absalom.

I mean, this man is doing great harm to the kingdom. He's going to take David's life if he could do it, and it will divide and cause war in the people. That may never accept Absalom. Uh, his rule of David did die. And so David's been made tender. But again, this I mean, again, we still we see this is a fault with David, really, and I get it as a parent.

You were very tender and compassionate toward our Children. I understand, but it's putting his his men their lives in danger. And so But let's just say this, well, why is it okay when the Lord is tender and compassionate to his children? If it's wrong, because I'm saying David shouldn't be tender toward Absalom, why is it okay when God is tender and compassionate toward his children? Well, because you and I and David, we can't change the heart of our children. We can't affect a new creature in them.

But the Lord can, and the Lord does. And when Christ gave His life for us, the part of the blessings, the spiritual blessings that are given to us in Christ, in that life, in that redemption, is that the Lord gives us His Spirit, and the Lord makes us new creatures. And the spirit reveals fruit, manifests the fruit of the spirit in us, love, and joy, and peace, and kindness, and goodness, and faith, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control, and long-suffering, and meekness. He works those fruits in his people, and we can't. Now, again, we should be kind, and gracious to people as God has been gracious to us. And I think that is the spirit we see in David. David's willing, even to his own hurt, to be kind and gentle to others, but the Lord is going to going to step in here.

And so that's really the thing, though, is that one thing we understand, because it's not just about saying nice verses and saying things of love and compassion, it's that the Lord makes his people new creatures. When he forgives, when he's compassionate, when he's merciful, to a sinner, it is, unless it's just to do good to his child that he does love, but in general, it's because he makes his child, I always, in this case, I want to be careful how I word that, but for his children, they're always made new creatures. They're always made new creatures. And so the Lord, but what I was trying to say is that sometimes even the wicked, the king, for example, the Lord can turn their heart to work good for his people. That's what I was trying to say if I wasn't clear on that. But the Lord makes his people new creatures.

That's why he's merciful and may be merciful to them in a way that we can't help our own children and neighbors. Though I think it's good to be kind and tender and gentle. It reminds me of the believing wife, whose husband's an unbeliever, Paul writes of. And he says, even by your humble and meek spirit, you're able to communicate something to them, so that if and when that day comes when the Lord does deal with them, they'll remember how the Lord gave you a peaceable and gentle spirit. And in that sense, that is a good fruit. But David's being, in this case, it seems to me, too lenient still with Absalom. And the difference is that God's able to change the heart.

We read that in Romans 5, 8-11, that God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God, by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." And so, those descriptive words there are defining that work that the Lord does in us. We receive that. Not just that it's given to us sovereignly and effectually, but there's a changed heart even that receives the Lord because he's given us a new heart and he gives us a new spirit and he's reconciled us to God. He's expelled the enmity that was in us.

He's driven it out. And so David can't work repentance in the heart of his son Absalom, but repentance is exactly what the Lord works in his child. And when he reconciles one of his children, when he forgives a child, he works repentance. And that's part of chasing a lot of times. And that breaking process. when we're hard and indifferent and cold and callous, he does that.

We don't make a new creature, but the Lord does that. Therefore, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature. Old things, old ways of religion, old thoughts and old manners of dealing with people are put away and all things are become new. There's a hope and a confidence and a trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so David was turned, but Absalom will not be turned, and his end is fast approaching.

All right, so let's get back to our text, chapter 18, 2 Samuel 18, verse 6 through 8. So the people went out into the field against Israel. All right, so this would be David's people, went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim. the wood of Ephraim, where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of 20,000 men. For the battle was there, now listen to this verse eight, the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country, and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

The wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. And, you know, you think, what is this, like a magical forest here? Like, what's going on? What do you mean the wood devoured more people than the sword devoured? Well, first of all, one thing that's a takeaway here is just how quickly life is gone.

It just suddenly things turned. Absalom thinks he has the upper hand, everything's in his favor, and then suddenly it's not. And men that went out to fight that day did not go home that day. They died that day. And it just shows us how the battle is the Lord's. And pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. And so many souls came to Many lives, many bodies fell that day in the warfare. But verse eight is interesting, and I believe that it has a peculiar reference to Absalom. To Absalom. Maybe I didn't read this carefully, but back in verse three, they said of David, thou art worth 10,000 of us. David, you're not going out with us to the battle because you're equal to 10,000 of us. That's the worth of David to the rest of the army.

Have you ever played chess? In chess, one of the weakest pieces is the king. But he's the most valuable piece. If you lose the king, that's it. You can lose the queen. You can lose a rook. You can lose both rooks and knights and bishops, pawns. But it's over once the king is down. So that's the end of it.

Well, in that sense, it has the greatest worth. It's an infinite worth in that sense of the battle. Well, how much was Absalom worth to the rebellion? He was everything. Like he was everything to the rebellion once Absalom was done. The rebellion was over, like completely, 100%, unequivocally over.

Because there was no one else that wanted the throne. There was no one else that could have stepped up and said, well, I'll take the throne. Because they really didn't have a problem with David. It's just that David was older. Absalom was his son. He did woo their hearts. And so they were behind Absalom, right? A lot of Israel were behind him. But it wasn't like they had any reason to get rid of David. It just seemed like that was the thing to do. And so once Absalom was gone, the enemy had no more voice, had nothing more to say to David. The rebellion, the chastening, the whole thing comes to a complete end at that point. And so it's possible that the Lord ensured that many men died just going into the woods that day rather than in the battle by the sword.

It's a mysterious verse, right? It's a mysterious verse in the sense that, especially if it's referring to the worth of Absalom, right? That it devoured many more men that day when Absalom goes down. So look at verse nine, which speaks to Absalom being taken.

And Absalom met the servants of David, and Absalom rode upon a mule. And the mule went under the thick bows of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak. And he was taken up between the heaven and the earth, and the mule that was under him went away. And so here's Absalom, beautiful Absalom with his gorgeous, heavy, beautiful hair.

And I don't know if his hair got tangled up. Probably he just rode into like a branch that caught it in an angle or something like that and just lifted him up and he was stuck. And you figure he's got armor on and he's heavy and he can't, you know, pull himself up enough to get out from the mess that he's in there, so he can't free himself, and no one's there to free him.

There's no one there to get him out of that situation. And so here he is hanging, suspended between heaven and earth, and his life is fading away quickly like sands in an hourglass, just dripping through real fast at the very, very end there. And he has no habitation prepared for him in heaven. He has nothing prepared for him in heaven and he's soon going to be cut down and his life taken from the earth.

And this is the case of every man in the world born of Adam. This is the case that we think we have it all together and then suddenly we don't. Suddenly we come to an end and we're the one hanging on the tree dying in our own sin and in our own death.

And this is it for him because a man in David's army, I'm not going to read it all, but a man in David's army sees him and goes and reports it to Joab. And Joab was like, well, why didn't you kill him? And he's like, no, I ain't going to do that. We heard David say, be kind to him. And I'm not going to take my life in my hand. And Joab was like, I'd have given you 10 pieces of silver. He said, you could have given me 1,000 pieces of silver. I ain't doing it. I'm not going to take his hand because even you would speak against me when it came to David of what I did. And so verse 14, then said, Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. In other words, I don't have time for this. I got to go deal with Absalom. So he rides off, taking three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

And 10 young men that bear Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom and slew him. and Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people." Again, Absalom is a high-value target. Once he was removed, the rebellion was over, so he's worth at least 10,000 men. If David was worth 10,000, he's worth at least 10,000, if not more, to the rebellion.

And they took Absalom, cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled, every man, every one, to his tent." All those that were with Absalom got to their tent, which, if you ever notice in Scripture, I think it's every time, if not at least most every time, when it speaks of Israel going to their tent, it's usually a bad thing. Like, it's over. I think there's problems there in the land in that sense. And so, all right, verse eight, it's this mysterious verse, right?

And the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Well, what if on that tree another man, hung on that tree. What if there was a substitute for Absalom? Well, if there was a substitute for Absalom, then Absalom would have been delivered from that death. Even David, his father, in verse 33 at the very end says, Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God, I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son. Now, David really probably shouldn't be talking like that, but what it's saying there is that had Absalom a substitute, he wouldn't have been the one to die on the tree that day.

And that's what I mean, that there's something very mysterious about the language in this passage, because for the believer, though we are rebels against God, though we have sinned against God and rebelled against Him and come against Him, substitute, the Son of God came in the likeness of our flesh and he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross, a shameful death, a horrible, painful death, the death of the cross. He hung on that tree for his brethren as their substitute, taking their place, giving his life in the room instead of his people. Absalom was slain, it said afterwards, by 10 young men.

And I couldn't help but think about the picture there of the law. When we speak of the law, we first usually don't think of the 600 plus commandments, but we think of it all taken up in those 10 commandments. What we are to God and what we are to do to our neighbor, right? And if you've broken one commandment, you've broken them all. And so if we stand before God in our own righteousness, we'll be slain by the Ten Commandments, right? We won't stand before God in righteousness Because we're breakers of the law. We're all condemned under the law. We can't save ourselves or deliver ourselves by the law. So in those 10 young men, it's symbolical of the 10 commandments. It's symbolical of the law.

To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, thy strength, thy might, thy everything. Love the Lord. And the second is like unto it, love thy neighbor as thyself. The only way we keep that commandment, the only way that we love the Lord in spirit and in truth and worship Him, the only way we are any good to anybody, honestly, in loving them, is in Jesus Christ, is in the life and the light and the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. he took the place of his people, he bore the sin of his people so that he was slain to satisfy the law, to justify us before the law, to make us righteous before the true and living God. And so he died on the tree in the place of his people so that all who believe in him are righteous, have their sins put away by the blood, the washing of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is of much greater value than us all. He is of infinite worth beyond any of us.

The wood devoured many more that day. And think about what it says of us, that is, by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. In that sense, That wood, right, that tree, that tree that we were forbidden to eat from, that fruit, we ate it in Adam and were devoured.

But the Lord Jesus Christ has triumphed gloriously on the tree for his people, brethren. It's a beautiful thing. And we read in the scriptures that if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, the death of Christ, We shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, right? How am I planted together in the likeness of my Lord's death? Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. We live in him.

The Lord may chasten us because we're sons and daughters, and he gives us the life, the grace of our Lord who endured suffering for his people, and by him we live and know the Father and are reconciled to him. It's beautiful. It's all wonderful because of what Christ does for us. So I pray the Lord give that to you clearly in your heart to see the beauty of Christ there and our need of him and what he does

Devoured By The Wood

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's chastening?

How do we know God's grace is effective in our lives?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

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Devoured By The Wood

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's chastening?

How do we know God's grace is effective in our lives?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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