It is not to be left unnoticed that we are here looking into an exile (albeit temporary) for David, in the context of our examination of the over-arching promise by God that has been the catalyst for this entire study. The book of Jeremiah informs a people that are nearing a time of exile and foreign subjugation to not lose heart or forget the covenant faithfulness of their God. Their God has delivered a solemn promise, saying “When the time for them to be rescued comes… I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. I will deliver you from captivity. Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them. But they will be subject to the Lord their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them” (30:8-9). Ironically, or perhaps not ironically, as has become very clear by our trek through the Scriptures, it is King David---the very one to whom is made reference by the term “Davidic ruler”---is himself going into exile. He is, in a way, going under foreign subjugation. Why? Because, like Israel itself, he had taken his eyes off of his God. Because, like Israel itself, he had forgotten his purpose. He had begun to treat the people of Israel as if they were there for him, rather than remembering his role and that he was there to be a servant to God’s people.
How could he serve them best? By being a testimony of what it looked like to be a light to the surrounding nations and so reflect the glory, into the world, of the God Who had anointed him and delivered him a kingdom. How could he do that if he was oppressing his own people, taking their wives, and killing them? How could he do that if he was showing favoritism to his own son and not executing what justice demanded? How could he do that if he allowed the relationship with another son to deteriorate to the point that that son could feel the need to turn the people against his father and take the kingdom for himself? David had become a king for himself and for his own glory, rather than for his people, for the world, and for the glory of Israel’s God. This was David’s idolatry, and it had earned him an exile.
This exile that David was experiencing had several of the marks of the curses promised in Deuteronomy. We read that “As David was going up the Mount of Olives, he was weeping as he went; his head was covered and his feet were bare. All the people who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went up” (2 Samuel 15:30). Does this not sound like the way that slaves would be carried off by a conquering foe? Do we find this paralleled in Deuteronomy? There we read of “hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty” (28:48a). David, with all of his riches, was fleeing Jerusalem with nothing. In fact, this is evidenced by the fact that shortly thereafter, “Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth… had a couple of donkeys that were saddled, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred raisin cakes, a hundred baskets of summer fruit, and a container of wine” (16:1b), so as to provide for the king and his people during their journey into exile.
In the midst of the travel of his travail, David, having begun to recognize where his faults had been and what it was that had brought him to this horrible predicament, begins to strategize. He has already sent the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, for good reason, and implores God to turn the advice of one of his chief advisers, Ahithophel, who was now supporting and advising Absalom, into foolishness. In addition, he employed the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, to serve as his spies within Jerusalem. As David begins to remember the God of Israel and His faithfulness, he also begins to be fully cognizant of the exilic nature of what is happening to him, and vice versa. No doubt this experience is going to serve him well, if in fact God does restore him to the throne, which at this point, was certainly not a foregone conclusion. Remember, even if David is removed from the throne, the promise is that God would make a dynasty of his house, which he could very well do through Absalom, who, at this point, has carried out a successful rebellion and insurrection without shedding any blood.
In considering that, we once again make note of the strategy which might very well have been being employed by Absalom. Absalom has, quite possibly, positioned himself as a new Moses, leading a new exodus for Israel, with a delivery from a new Pharaoh, that being David, who had become an oppressor in Israel. Remember, Israel began to suffer oppression in Egypt when a Pharaoh came to power that did not know Joseph. Naturally, it was not so much that he did not know Joseph, as that he had forgotten what had been wrought on behalf of Egypt, with Egypt gaining an empire, through the power and deliverance of the God of Joseph and Israel. In making his case, Absalom could certainly point to David’s less than just actions and point out that David had forgotten the faithful, powerful, delivering, kingdom giving God of Israel---the very God that had delivered him from Saul and from his own time of exile and oppression.
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