BOLD Daily Devotional: Deceit is Destructive

All right.

So this evening we are going to be covering 2 Samuel chapter 15.

2 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

And in this chapter, we are seeing Absalom's rebellion play out.

Now, just as a recap over the last few chapters, Absalom's brother, David's son, Amnon, violates their sister Tamar.

And this is Absalom's full-blooded sister.

And he does not appreciate it.

And he takes it upon himself to get revenge for Tamar on Amnon.

And he kills, he has his brother killed.

And David is distraught, of course, and then Absalom flees.

And then in chapter 14, we see that after a few years have passed, David is grieving for his son Absalom.

And he instructs his servant to go back, get Absalom from his grandfather's house, and bring him back to David's house.

And so that's what happens.

And he stays there at his house for a few months, having been brought back into the city, but never actually seeing David.

So finally he gets the audience with his father.

And when he gets the audience with his father, they reconcile, they kiss each other, everything seems hunky-dory.

Well, we see, as Dr.

Anderson mentioned yesterday, the sword continues.

So because of David's sin with Bathsheba, there is a sword that continues to go throughout the house of David.

And so not only do we see Amnon's deception, not only did we see Absalom's revenge by killing his brother, but we also see Absalom's deception.

So in chapter 15, Absalom's hatred began with Tamar's defilement, and he hates both Amnon and David.

Why does he hate David?

Because we don't see where David actually ever took any action against Amnon, no disciplinary action whatsoever, not a communication, no verbalizing his opinions or anything outside of it saying that David was angry.

We don't see him reprimanding Amnon for violating his sister.

And that would make you feel some type of way as a brother, right?

Your father doesn't say anything to your brother that hurts your sister.

We don't see David addressing this issue at all.

So Absalom's hatred began with Tamar's defilement, both towards Amnon for the defilement and towards David for not addressing the issue.

So in 14, David showed mercy to Absalom and invited him to come back home even after he killed his brother three years ago.

Now, Absalom rejects the gifts that he received from his father and sets out to deceive everyone and rebel against his father, the king.

Imagine how long he had been stewing over this, ever since he had been gone, right?

His deception was premeditated.

And so he knew that as soon as he got the opportunity to come back home to his father, he had a plan in place.

So he began to hang around the city gate to steal the people's affection.

He told them what they wanted to hear.

It was deception.

And for four years he hung around the city gates, talking to the people, talking to the people, putting his face before the people, telling them the sweet word, you know, whispering sweet nothings in their ear.

So they became loyal to him.

And after four years, he finally decided that it was time for him to have his revenge against David, just like he had against his brother.

So he lies to his father and he tells them that he is going to honor God.

He's going to thank God for bringing him back to Jerusalem, allowing him to come back home.

And so not only did he lie to his father, he broke God into it.

Now you're lying on the father.

The first act of deception that we see in the Bible is the serpent in the Garden of Eden, right?

Deceit is destructive.

And in Proverbs chapter 12, verse 22, it explains that lying lips are detestable to the Lord.

Proverbs 12:22

And so we know that both Amnon and Absalom were not found pleasing in God's sight because they both chose deception.

Absalom's deceit stems from his desire for revenge.

And so he has clearly been stewing over this for years, years, ever since his sister was defiled, ever since his father turned a blind eye.

Deuteronomy 32, 35 shows the Lord saying that vengeance is mine.

I will repay.

Vengeance is mine, leave it to me.

Romans 12, 9 instructs us not to avenge ourselves, but to leave room for God's wrath.

And so Absalom did not consult God about anything, about anything that happened, nothing that happened to Tamar.

And he took it upon himself to get revenge.

I'm going to act accordingly because I don't believe, I don't trust God enough to understand that this is something that He will fight for me.

He will fight this battle on behalf of my sister.

I'm going to cry out to you, God.

He didn't do that.

He took it upon himself to make sure that he got revenge.

So he let his anger fester.

And what happens when you let anger fester?

It turns into bitterness.

And now your actions start to come out.

It turned him into him seeking to deceive his father to take over the kingdom.

And not only did it stop there, he incited all the tribes of Israel to participate in his rebellion.

He pulled other people into his mist.

He had meditated on this for so long, he had stood it up within himself that he decided that he was going to turn the entirety of Israel against his father.

We are supposed to trust in God's justice.

Do not bring other people into your mist.

Ephesians 4:26 says, be angry, but sin not.

Ephesians 4:26

There's this thing called righteous anger.

You can be angry.

It's okay to be angry.

You can have that emotion.

But what do you do with those feelings?

It's what you do with those feelings that really matters.

You cry out to God, you turn to God, you let Him know that you're angry.

You let Him know that you're frustrated.

You let Him know that people hurt you.

You let Him know that what was done to you was not right.

And then you say, Lord, please, on my behalf, help, help me take care of this, take care of this situation.

I leave it in your hands.

He didn't do that.

He decided to turn the people of God against His Father, the man that he chose to put on the throne.

Be angry, but sin not.

So Absalom allowed himself to be used for evil.

And I say aloud because he continued to make those choices.

His revenge and deception became a lifestyle, following in the footsteps of the great deceiver.

David, Amnon, and Absalom all had opportunities to turn away from their wicked ways.

When David forgave Absalom for killing his brother in chapter 14, when he brought him back into the city of Jerusalem when he kissed him, he had an opportunity for a whole new slave.

But what did he do?

He decided to implement his plan of deception.

Because he wanted revenge.

He was bitter because of what his father didn't do.

He was bitter because of what his brother did.

He even named his daughter Tamar.

To hold on to something that strong, to where you're going to make sure that everybody remembers what happened to you.

He carried that.

He carried that into the future.

So let's take a page out of Absalom's book.

Let not the sun go down on your wrath.

Be angry, but sin not.

Don't carry that anger into the next day.

Don't carry that anger into the next week.

Don't carry that anger into the next month, the year.

I know so there are a lot of people's stories I've heard over the years.

And we can be guilty of it.

It's very easy to be guilty of it.

That you have been angry with someone or you know, whomever, because of something that happened a long time ago.

It is perfectly fine to forgive and lay that down because that bitterness eats you alive.

We see exactly what it did to Absalom.

Give the enemy no place.

We should give the enemy no place.

But as Dr.

Anderson was saying, the sword continues.

And so, even though we know that we have a choice, even though we know that there's grace, even though that we know that vengeance is the Lord's, it was already spoken over the house of David that the sword will continue because of David's disobedience, because of what David did, because of his sin.

And so from the beginning, we know that David had a choice, which means we all have a choice from the beginning.

Our choices will affect people around us.

Our choices will affect our families.

That's where generational curses come from.

If we are willing and obedient to follow the voice of the Father and not that of our flesh, to not fall into bitterness, to not fall into anger, to not fall into wrath, to not fall into deception, he will carry you through.

If any one of them had chosen to forgive, if any one of them had chosen to turn from their wicked ways, then maybe there could have been a different result.

So this is about bitterness, this is about anger, this is about deception, this is about revenge.

And unfortunately, none of them decided to turn away from the temptation of evil.

And so I implore us to remember this, to use this as an example, and know that, yeah, vengeance is the Lord's.

Let not your heart grow weary in well-doing.

It's okay to be the one that does the right thing, it's okay to be the one that forgives.

It's okay to move to be the one to move past other people's shortcomings because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

You help your fellow brothers, sisters who have fallen, get back up again, dust them off, and say we're all gonna get to through this together.

Give the enemy no place, and I'll end there.