2 Samuel 19:8

STRIFE AND UNCERTAINTY COME TO ALL ISRAEL

"Now Israel had fled every man to his own home. And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and saved us from the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. But Absalom whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?"

This is a glimpse of the distressing uncertainty that settled over Israel after the death of Absalom. It was indeed a time of grief and perplexity. They had buried forty thousand of their fellow-countrymen, and their romance with Absalom had ended in that great pile of stones in the forest of Ephraim. Suddenly, some of them remembered the great blessing of David's deliverance of the people from the hands of their enemies, especially the hated Philistines. Anarchy and chaos threatened the ruin of the whole nation; and a spontaneous cry for the restoration of David to his throne suddenly was heard in Israel.

David was aware of this movement to bring him back which developed in Israel, that is, in the ten northern tribes; but Judah, David's own tribe, had not indicated any similar willingness to restore David. The reason for this reluctance in Judah is plain. Judah was the seat of Absalom's rebellion. However, David moved at once to procure the approval and cooperation of Judah.

"Absalom whom we anointed over us" (2 Samuel 19:10). Only here in the Bible is the anointing of Absalom mentioned; but there can be no doubt of their having done it. This very probably took place in Hebron, one of Judah's cities. Also, Ahithophel was from Gilo a neighboring city of Hebron. It is clear enough that Judah was the leader in the rebellion.

DAVID'S FOOLISH AND SINFUL PROMISE TO REMOVE JOAB

Still smarting under the well-deserved rebuke of Joab, David decided to remove him as supreme commander of the army, and, as one of the inducements offered to Judah for their rejoining David's cause, he promised that the incompetent traitor-general Amasa would be appointed supreme commander in Joab's place. There is no device by which that decision could have been justified. With all his faults, Joab was loyal to David, and Amasa was David's enemy. Besides that, Amasa was incompetent. Although he commanded forty thousand men, he had just been defeated by one-tenth of that number under Joab. In this situation, David came very near to demonstrating that the old man had "lost his marbles."