2Sa 15:16-17 | KingComments | STEP | When David gets the message that everyone in Israel is with Absalom, all that remains for him is to flee. The man who felled Goliath flees for his son. It does not seem brave, but it is still wisdom to flee now. David bows down under the discipline of God. It is not written that way, but his attitude shows it. Here in David we see a picture of the spirit of Israel’s remnant in the last days, when the antichrist is in charge. When God-fearing people suffer, it is their desire that their suffering be shared as little as possible by others. We see that here with David. He flees out of love for the city. It explicitly states that he is leaving the city “on foot”. It shows his humiliation and at the same time it shows his identification with his followers, whom he does not wish to hurry forward in his run. Absalom possesses horses and he makes use of them. It is the world upside down ( ). His run seems to be a loss, but from this moment on there is an upward trend in David’s life. With God, winning is always through loss. We see David taking the lead again. He behaves royally again. The fact that he leaves ten concubines to take care of the house, seems to be a somewhat naive action. If he has thought that Absalom will leave them alone, he will be deceived. Absalom will, according to the word of Nathan ( ), engage in horrible, open fornication with these concubines ( ). His servants stand behind him, and also his whole house and all the people. Further there are “all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites” and six hundred Gittites. The Cherethites and the Pelethites and the Gittites are all Philistines. Except a remnant, the whole people of Israel are unfaithful to David, but from the uncircumcised nations there are those who follow him. From this we can learn for ourselves that if we follow the Lord Jesus, we cannot have high thoughts about our origin. On his flight from Absalom, David wrote Psalm 3 ( ). He also wrote Psalm 41 then, where he most probably speaks about Ahithophel in . This verse is applied by the evangelist John to Judas ( ), who is also a picture of the antichrist. With Ahithophel it is mainly his intelligence that we see as a characteristic of the antichrist. In his time his counsel was accepted as the word of God ( ).

‏ 2 Samuel 15:16-17

David Flees From Absalom

When David gets the message that everyone in Israel is with Absalom, all that remains for him is to flee. The man who felled Goliath flees for his son. It does not seem brave, but it is still wisdom to flee now. David bows down under the discipline of God. It is not written that way, but his attitude shows it. Here in David we see a picture of the spirit of Israel’s remnant in the last days, when the antichrist is in charge.

When God-fearing people suffer, it is their desire that their suffering be shared as little as possible by others. We see that here with David. He flees out of love for the city. It explicitly states that he is leaving the city “on foot”. It shows his humiliation and at the same time it shows his identification with his followers, whom he does not wish to hurry forward in his run. Absalom possesses horses and he makes use of them. It is the world upside down (Ecc 10:7).

His run seems to be a loss, but from this moment on there is an upward trend in David’s life. With God, winning is always through loss. We see David taking the lead again. He behaves royally again.

The fact that he leaves ten concubines to take care of the house, seems to be a somewhat naive action. If he has thought that Absalom will leave them alone, he will be deceived. Absalom will, according to the word of Nathan (2Sam 12:11-12), engage in horrible, open fornication with these concubines (2Sam 16:21-22).

His servants stand behind him, and also his whole house and all the people. Further there are “all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites” and six hundred Gittites. The Cherethites and the Pelethites and the Gittites are all Philistines. Except a remnant, the whole people of Israel are unfaithful to David, but from the uncircumcised nations there are those who follow him. From this we can learn for ourselves that if we follow the Lord Jesus, we cannot have high thoughts about our origin.

On his flight from Absalom, David wrote Psalm 3 (Psa 3:1). He also wrote Psalm 41 then, where he most probably speaks about Ahithophel in 2Sam 15:9. This verse is applied by the evangelist John to Judas (Jn 13:18), who is also a picture of the antichrist. With Ahithophel it is mainly his intelligence that we see as a characteristic of the antichrist. In his time his counsel was accepted as the word of God (2Sam 16:23).