Life of David: 25. The Real Absalom

This is lesson 25 in the Life of David series. It is found in 2 Samuel 14-15:12. The application worksheet discusses pride and how God feels about it.

Today we are learning about Absalom. He is the third son of King David. He was so handsome, that there wasn't anyone praised more for their good looks. He was perfect on the outside. He didn't have any blemishes on his skin. His hair was so heavy, he cut it at the end of every year. His hair was 200 shekels which means it weighed about 5 pounds.

Absalom had left Jerusalem when he had his brother Amnon killed. Absalom lived in Geshur for three years and he still hadn't seen his father, David. David missed him every day.

Joab was David's Army Commander. (2 Samuel 8:16) Joab was also David's nephew. (David's sister' son) He knew that David missed Absalom, so Joab sent a woman to see David and to tell him a riddle. David said he would help her and wouldn’t hurt her son or family. She told him that the story was about his son Absalom. And she told David that Joab was the one who had sent her and told her what to say.

David told Joab to go bring back Absalom. Joab thanked David and went and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. David said, “Let Absalom return to his own house, but I do not want to see him.”

Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years and didn’t see David. Absalom sent for Joab to ask him for help. But Joab didn’t go see Absalom. He didn’t go the second time Absalom sent for him either. Absalom told his servants to set Joab’s field of barley on fire. They did and Joab went to Absalom and asked him why they did that. Absalom said “Look, I sent for you, and you didn’t come. Get me in to see the king!”

Joab went to see the king and David called for Absalom. He bowed down to David when he saw him, and David kissed him.

After Absalom had been to see King David, Absalom took chariots and horses for himself to use. He also took 50 men to go before him. He wanted to look important and look like he was part of the kingdom.

Absalom would get up early in the morning and stand by the front gate of the city. Anyone that had an issue that they wanted to see the king about walked through the city gate. Absalom stood there and called to people. He asked them where they were from and then he would tell them that their case looked good and right. Then Absalom would tell them that there wasn't a deputy of the king available to hear their case that day.

Absalom added that if he was the judge, he would make sure everyone would be able to state their case and get justice. He did this to everyone that spoke to him and because of his sympathy, he 'stole the hearts of Israel'. The people believed that he truly would help them if he only had the power to.

The next chapter continues with Absalom’s lies next week.

The printables for David in this series are for an older age group than I usually post. Most of these lessons about David are not appropriate for early elementary. But David is a great study. So, as you can see from the above picture, there is a Q&A. This could be used with younger groups by using the answer sheet and just asking the questions for discussion. Each post in this series will have a maze and some type of puzzle. The additional application has thought questions about how the students can apply the lesson to their daily life. There are answer sheets for all worksheets except for the last application. Everyone will have a different set of answers. Click here to download.