2 Samuel 15:1-12--Absalom's Conspiracy

2 Samuel 15:1-12
English Standard Version

Absalom's Conspiracy
15 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

7 And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron. 8 For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.’” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” 11 With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. 12 And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.

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Sometime after Absalom being restored to David (the text doesn't tell us exactly how long), Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him (something usually only a high-ranking government official would have as chariots were the fastest and most protected form of travel, so this is like Absalom having his own armored limousine and protection detail if he were alive in today's time).  He had the appearance of being someone with great power and authority and he would intercept anyone coming to the king for judgment and act as if no judges had been appointed for their tribe or people by the king (that the king didn't care about the issues of that tribe or people group), but would plant the bug in their ear that if he were in charge and if he were judge over all the land (if he were king) then he would make sure that everyone who came for a judgment would get justice and no one would be turned away.  It was not King David turning anyone away, but the people had no way of knowing this as Absalom was one of the princes and was arrayed as a government official with enough of a protection detail that no one would question his words.  So it was that people's hearts started to favor Absalom and they sought to pay homage to him and make their loyalty known to him.  "So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel." (v. 6)

Absalom had no good reason to do this other than the fact that he was still unhappy with his father David and wanted to turn the hearts of the people away from him.  He is definitely planning either a coupe or maybe even an assassination.  Somehow, someway he intends to be the one in power instead of his father David.  However, the LORD has not named Absalom as David's successor (he will not be the one), and no matter how much Absalom invokes the name of the LORD at the end of this passage, that will not guarantee him success, because, like King Saul, Absalom is trying to make the LORD endorse and support the plans that come from his wicked heart.

Absalom sets himself up as king over all of Israel, but changes the seat of power to Hebron (the provincial capital of Judah).  He had quite a strong following and "the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing."  Something is going to have to give here as you can't have two kings over the same kingdom.  People will be forced to choose sides and David will have to make s decision whether to fight against Absalom or to flee and let Absalom have the throne.  We'll see which choice David makes next time