The Anatomy of a Rebel

Well, we're looking at 2 Samuel beginning in chapter 13, different kind of sermon this morning. We'll look at a lot of narrative centering on the life and rebellion of the man Absalom. And obviously I can't unpack all that could be unpacked here, but I do want to bring out some pertinent points. And may I say to you, as I've said about a lot of the rascals in the Bible, whether it be Jezebel or Peter when he was still kind of obnoxious and self-consumed and proud and whoever else it might be, there's a little Absalom in all of us. But if you're converted, you have the changed heart, you have the capacity to keep the Absalom repented down.

You're not immune from the temptation in the presence of it, but you keep it repented down. Well, unfortunately, you and I live in a world of ranting, reviling, rioting, ludicrous, illogical behaviors, speech. Where does this kind of rebellion come from? There's always a reason. There's always a cause. Remember the, now this is before my time, but there was a movie, was it James Dean? Some of you guys remember a movie star named James Dean? Rebel Without a Cause is one of his favorite movies or famous movies.

But there's no such thing as a rebel without a cause. I remember hearing about a guy that he lived in San Francisco and every time there was a protest of any kind, he just walked around with a giant sign that said shame. And he just showed up for every one of them, no matter what it was. And a TV reporter interviewed him one day and said, well, what's your purpose?

He said, I don't have one. He just, I just figured this just fits all of them. And you know, you and I live in a day, now listen to me, where it's actually a fad, it's a faddish cool thing to protest something. It's a faddish cool thing to be a savior of justice for the country. And if they can't find something wrong, they'll create something that they must defend and deliver. And there's always that notion that if we get in charge, we have supreme virtue.

We somehow skipped the depravity element in fallen creation. And if we were just in charge, if we were running everything, while we would fix all this stuff. Yeah, Joseph Stalin.

And on and on we could go. Just put us in charge. Man, the communist, the Marxist, radically slaughtered their own people by the millions, tens of millions. Under the guise, we got to take care of everybody.

Is that not the most ironic schizophrenic thing you've ever heard? Rebels always have a cause. As we look at this, I want us to begin first of all, and we'll unpack the text because I'm using a lot of texts as we go through.

I want to unfold out of Absalom's life what I call the anatomy of a rebel. In Roman number one, there's always a wounded spirit. There's always a wounded spirit. There's something in them where they are hurt. Something has happened and they feel aggrieved. They feel like they've been a victim.

Or they've taken up the offense of another. Someone they know, someone they love, someone they cared for. At least they believe they've been done wrong. There's always a cause in a rebel's heart and it always begins with a wounded spirit. My dad, my mom, my uncle, my sibling, my brother, my sister, the government, the system. Somebody somewhere hurt this person.

Or someone they care for has been hurt and they take up the offense. Brothers and sisters, just as a side note, never take up the offense of another. Now mamas, you're the world's worst at this. It's because you've got that good genetic capability that men don't have.

To be a mom and to be a grandmother, thank God for you. But one of the parallel weaknesses to that is sometimes you can go too far and get militant in taking care of stuff. Especially if you're raising little boys. Little boys need to fight it out sometimes and just get through it.

Moms, you don't step in and fix it all the time. You'll make little effeminates and we got plenty of those already. A wounded spirit. Here's Absalom.

Let's just look at a couple of things here. Look at verse one. Now after this, now it was rather after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar and Amnon, the son of David, loved her. Now Tamar is Absalom's full sister. Amnon is their half-brother. That's what happens in polygamys.

Lots of different brothers and sisters. Now look down at verse 11. Tamar is told, or rather it's been set up by Amnon, that she would bring Amnon some food because Amnon was supposed to be sick.

He was feigning it. He was pretending to be ill. Verse six says, So his half-sister whose beautiful Tamar comes in, verse 11, and when she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, Come lie with me, my sister. But she answered him, No, my brother, do not violate me for such a thing is not done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing. As for me, where can I get rid of my reproach?

And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel. Therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold you from me. Verse 14, However, he would not listen to her since he was stronger than she. He violated her and lay with her. So here we have Absalom's half-brother raping his full sister, which was also Amnon's half-sister. Now, as a side note, half-brothers and sisters marrying in this day was not that uncommon. Matter of fact, among royalty, it was very common, even more incestuous than that, because the royal families wanted to keep the royalty within the family.

So this is not that strange of a thing, but obviously the rape issue was very, very serious. Now look at verses 21 and 22 in this chapter. Now, when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry. Now it stops right there with David. David's the king, he's the father, and he has all authority.

It's his responsibility to do something. We're not told all that happened, but evidently David did fail in administering justice the way it ought to have been administered when this son of his raped this daughter of his. Now verse 22, but Absalom, Amnon's half-brother, Tamar's full brother, Absalom, verse 22, did not speak to Amnon, neither good or bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister, Tamar. Now, while it's not spelled out in the text, I agree with the scholars that say from the balance of the whole narrative on Absalom, Absalom already had evil designs in his heart. He was one who was already looking for self-advantage in whatever he could do or find. And now one who could be in line for the throne, Amnon, his brother, has committed this horrible sin and crime of raping his sister. He's enraged about it, but I'm convinced he also sees an opportunity through it for himself. So whatever is going on here, one thing I think is for sure, Absalom is wounded in his spirit about what's happened to his sister, and he's wounded in his heart somehow against his father.

Something's cooking here. I remember when I was in high school, my mom worked for a businessman in town, and he was quite successful, and he took an interest in me, and we hung out some and went fishing some, but he was also a drunk, kind of a working drunk, alcoholic. And every time he began drinking, the same story came out. He would begin to talk about his childhood, and he would say, when I was a boy, my friends played baseball. When I was a boy, my friends got to play basketball.

When I was a boy, my friends got to play football, but my dad never let me play any sports. He said there was too much work to be done on the farm. He said that story to me over and over and over, a wounded spirit. This man was in his, probably close to 60, and he was still wounded over that incident, or those incidents in his life. Can I pause right here? What are you still wounded about?

What has happened to you? And like Tamar, it may legitimately be evil. It may be wicked, and we never condone that. But for a child of God, we always step back of the event, and we say, could God have stopped it? Could God have prevented it? Of course he could have.

Of course he could have. So while God does not ask me to condone or applaud or embrace an evil thing that happened to me, yet God has purposes I may not yet understand or see. It begins with a wounded spirit. Now, another aspect here that we need to see, secondly, it continues on with the sin of pride, the sin of pride. Look at 2 Samuel again, 13. Look at verses 23 through 29. Now, here's Absalom's plan. Now, it came about after two full years that Absalom had sheep shears and Baal-hazar, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons, that's Amnor and all of his brothers to come.

Verse 24, Absalom came to the king and said, Behold, now your servant has sheep shears. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant. But the king said to Absalom, No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be burdensome to you. Although he urged him, he would not go but blessed him. Then Absalom said, If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.

And the king said to him, Well, why should he go with you? When Absalom urged him, he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Absalom commanded his servant, saying, See now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, Strike Amnon, then put him to death.

Do not fear, for I myself have not I myself commanded you, be courageous and be valiant. So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon, just as Absalom had commanded, that all the king's sons arose and each mounted his mule and fled. The Bible tells us now for two years, Absalom has had this churning anger and hatred for Amnon for what he did to his sister, for two years.

But here's the point. This was a matter for the king. The authority to punish Amnon lie with King David. It was not Absalom's place to pick it up and take that authority and take that responsibility.

His mission was just, his method was unjust. This is the sin of pride. In this case, the pride of taking authority to correct a matter when God has not given you that authority.

Now think about that. Taking authority to fix something you know needs to be fixed, or at least you feel like it needs to be fixed. When God hasn't given you that authority. Pride is that foundational sin. It is the root sin of all sin. Our pride insists that we be Lord, that we take authority, that we take charge, that we fix it the way we feel is best. Pride, you see, is what made the devil the devil. All other sins are mere flea bites in comparison to pride.

Pride is anti-God and it's anti-everyone else. Other sins bring people together. People get drunk together. People carouse together.

People steal together. People commit immoralities together. But pride puts you at enmity to everyone else. You see, your pride made you hate oh so and so for being the big noise at the party.

Why? Because you wanted to be the big noise at the party. Pride. Pride is self-centered, self-concerned, and self-consumed.

Now don't forget this phrase. Pride is the complete anti-God state of mind. Absalom did not say he's not doing right. It makes me angry, but I must repent. He's the king and he's my father. It's his responsibility.

I cannot take this on my own and fix it the way I feel is best. That is the sin of pride. So in his pride, he justified bypassing God and God's king because Absalom, by the way, probably knew a lot about the faults of his father, King David. Have you young people? Maybe now some of you older people. You used to be young people. Did you justify not honoring your parents because you saw imperfections, you saw failures, you saw sins, you saw inconsistencies? That's pride. God made them your parents. Do you dishonor your employer because you see things that are not fair and not just and not just right?

He didn't treat you just right or she didn't treat you just right all the time, whatever it may be. Did not God tell you to honor and work for your employer like working under the law? You see, it's all pride. And every single time it's a strike against God himself. Don't look at the person.

Look at the God-ordained authority behind the person. Absalom didn't do that. In pride, he concocted a scheme, took it upon himself to get it fixed the way he thought was right.

And boy, isn't our country full of that today. And had his half-brother Amnon murdered. He probably felt good about it.

Why? Because it began with a wounded spirit and he thought, this is right because he did such a wrong thing. So now my wrong is now right. And by the way, it's an old saying, but two wrongs never make a right.

Two wrongs never make a right. God hates pride. Proverbs 15, 25, the Lord will tear down the house of the proud, but he will establish the boundary of the widow.

God said, give me some time. I don't act immediately sometimes, but I'm going to tear down everything your pride builds. I'd hate to live a life where God has sent himself to tear it down. Proverbs 16, 5, everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord assuredly, he will not go unpunished. Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Isaiah 2, 12, for the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up that he may be abased. You know, really there's a powerful comparison in the Old Testament. There's Absalom and then there's Joseph. Joseph's brothers left him for dead. Joseph's brothers were wounded in spirit because Joseph's father, or rather, Joseph himself talked about how he would be the leader among his brothers, how he would be honored by his brothers. He saw it in a dream. If God tells you a dream that you're going to be over your brothers and sisters, don't tell them the dream. So Joseph brags about, maybe he didn't brag, but just stated, here's what God has in mind.

His father loved him more than the others, the Bible says. They're wounded, so they sell him off to a gypsy caravan. You know the story. He ends up in Egypt. He ends up being betrayed viciously and maliciously by Potiphar's wife. He ends up in the dungeon, but God works a series of events and before you know it, Joseph is exalted to prime minister of Egypt, the greatest country in the world.

And though we don't see it specifically mentioned in the narrative, it's obvious that all the points along the way, Joseph had a conviction that a sovereign God has purposes. I will not get bitter. I'll not grow angry. I'll not become proud and take things into my own hand. I'll honor my Lord.

He has a purpose. Lo and behold, a famine hits the earth. Joseph's brothers come to Egypt not knowing that it's Joseph whom they're going to bow before and receive grain. Joseph recognizes them and finally he reveals to them, hey, it's me, Joseph, your brother. And boy, his brothers thought we're doomed now. He'll have us all put to death. And then what did Joseph say?

No, no, fellas. Here's what you don't understand. God works in all these things. You, my brothers, meant it for evil, but God meant it for my good. Absalom should have been like Joseph. They thought, yes, that's an evil.

I can't justify it or condone it. But the way it's unfolding is God's business. And I'll not step in the place of God or God's king and take over. But Absalom didn't do that. He swelled up in pride, took charge, and like Frank Sinatra said, who has no spiritual thing to teach any of us, I did it my way.

Yeah, and you did it the wrong way. Number three, a wounded spirit. Then it develops into the sin of pride in his heart. Then that develops into the sin of unforgiveness and bitterness. And these are quite simultaneous.

I wouldn't be strict about this has to flow in this order necessarily, because they're always all there. The sin of unforgiveness and bitterness. I was going to separate the two, but they always go together. The moment you lack forgiveness, you begin bitterness. You don't know you're bitter for a while. Matter of fact, one of the insidious things about unforgiveness and bitterness is that you're dulled and blinded to the reality that you're bitter. Everybody around you sees it, but you often are completely blind to it. You know why? Because all you can see is I was hurt.

You know what? A lot of things are fixed when you get your eyes off yourself. When you get your eyes on what honors God, what glorifies God, what serves God in this? I don't matter. God's glory matters.

You know, I found in life, and the Scripture bears this out clearly, if by the grace of God, you walk in a God's sinnerness where God's glory is the primary thing, He does a lot of great good for you, you could have never seen coming. 2 Samuel 14, let's look at verses 28 through 33. 2 Samuel 14, 28 through 33. Now Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem and did not see the king's face.

Now let's back up. In context, Absalom has been in exile for three years. And through the work of Joab, David's right-hand man, you might say, he's been brought back to Jerusalem, but David still didn't want to see him. Absalom murdered his brother Amnon, and David's grieved about that, and he doesn't want to see him, so he's been there for two years after the three years of exile and hadn't seen the king's face. But Absalom, here's what Absalom thought, I can guarantee you one thing, I'm going to see the king's face.

So here's what he does. Notice the unforgiveness and bitterness that comes out of the narrative. Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. So he sent again a second time, but he would not come. You got to go through Joab to get to the king, and Joab will not even give Absalom an audience.

Won't meet with him. Well, he said, I'll take things in my own hands. Verse 30, therefore he said to his servant, see Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there, go and set it on fire. So Absalom's servant set the field on fire. Then Joab arose and came to Absalom at his house and said to him, why have your servant set my field on fire? That's what I would do, wouldn't you?

Would you burn my field down for? Verse 32, then Absalom answered Joab, behold, I sent for you, saying, come here, that I may send you to the king to say, why have I come from Gishur? It would have been better for me to still be there. Now, therefore, let me see the king's face, and if there's iniquity in me, let him put me to death. So Joab came to the king and told him. Now, why is Joab coming to King David now and saying, hey, you might want to meet with Absalom? Here's what Joab is saying, this guy is crazy. He's crazy. He don't have a conscience. He'll do whatever he has to do to get his way. That's what happens when you're full of unforgiveness and bitterness.

You become hard and harsh and illogical in the way you deal with things. You form this mentality of privilege. I'm owed it. I ought to get this.

Doesn't matter if everybody else thinks it's not logical or reasonable. I've been hurt, and I haven't released it in unforgiveness, and I'm building up the bitterness, and so I believe this is the right thing. He just reeks with it. So we see here a wounded spirit, pride, I'm going to take charge, mingled in now, the unforgiveness and the bitterness of his heart. Psalm 73, 21 and 22, when my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant.

I was like a beast before you. When we hear people in our streets today ranting and raging and reviling, and they stick a microphone to their mouth and they can't even articulate what the problem is. They're just embittered people, often over something that didn't happen to them. It's just something they've been told in a classroom at a university, perhaps. And they took up the offense and said, aha, let's be about this, quote, just cause, end of quote. And they start acting illogical and senseless and ignorant. He said, I was like a beast before you.

Is that not a perfect photograph of what we see in the world? That's why I like the statement I heard years ago, sin makes you stupid. Sin makes you stupid.

You start believing weird, wacky, gross, unbelievable stuff. Irrational behavior, senseless behavior, unreasonable behavior, and that's where Absalom is. The sin of pride, the sin of unforgiveness, the sin of bitterness. And did I tell you? We all have a little Absalom in us. Are you a forgiver? You see, are you listening? Every single one of us is either actively forgiving or actively unforgiving, or not forgiving. It's not just a one-time thing. You either walk in forgiveness or you walk in unforgiveness. And the moment you step into unforgiveness, bitterness begins, churning inside. Hebrews 12, 15 says, see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. Now, the Greek phrase where we get see to it from, see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness is springing up. That phrase see to it is the idea of an overseer. That's what a pastor is called in the Bible.

He's the church. He watches over. What he's saying is, watch over your heart.

Keep a close watch on your heart. And when you see bitterness starting, you back up and say, wait a minute, a sovereign God rules in this world, and he rules in my life. And whatever he's caused or allowed in my life, he has a purpose. So I'm going to choose to forgive and repent of thinking I'm owed something, and I can be about this cause or this crusade, or I can take up matters in my own hand and get this straightened out when it's not my responsibility unto God to straighten it out.

I can back up and kick myself, now listen, kick myself by the energizing capacity of the grace of God in you and say, I will not walk in that. Pastor, you don't know what was done to me. You want to hear my story? You want to hear her story? You want to hear his story? What about her story?

What about his story? You don't know what others have gone through. But God's grace enables you to be a forgiver.

Now, let me give you an insight right here. The first moment of true forgiveness is a raw, absolute act of the will. You don't feel like it, it doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel right, you just know it is right. Cause God told you to do it. Bitterness eats and destroys. See to it, Hebrews 12, 15, see to it that no root of bitterness springs up and by it many be defiled. Don't neglect to utilize the capacity God's given you as a child of God to exercise forgiveness when you're hurt or when you're wounded. It causes trouble, the verse says, that has the idea to annoy or to crowd in.

It starts taking over everything in your life. Matthew 18, the Lord Jesus gives the parable of the unforgiving slave. And the parable goes like this, a man had a lot of slaves and he called all of his slaves in, brought them all in that he might call in how much they owe him.

He might call in the debt. Each one of them owed him a lot and one slave owed him what would today be about $30,000. He said, I'm going to put you in prison. That was the common thing to do, a debtor's prison. Until you pay it back, and the men pled with him and said, please don't do that, I'll find a way to pay it. And the master said, okay, I feel sorry for you, I'll tell you what, I'll just forget the whole debt, I'll forgive it all. Then that slave went and found a fellow slave who owed him what would today be about $20 or $30. And he had that fellow slave who owed him only $20 or $30 thrown into prison. Then the master heard about it and said, you wicked slave, I forgave you $30,000 and you threw this man in jail for, and wouldn't forgive him $20? And the Bible says, and his Lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. I think the torturers there means the bitterness, the gall, the envy, the jealousy, the anger, the resistance, all the things that bitterness brews within your soul.

That begins to torture you. God turns you over to the torturers if you're not a forgiving person. Brothers and sisters, the Bible is so powerfully pointed about being forgiving. Forgive us our debts as we also forgive those who are indebted against us.

The Bible says it's impossible to be a child of God and embrace and walk in unforgiveness. You've got to throw yourself into this composure. God in heaven, you're almighty.

You love me more than I can love myself. You could have stopped this. God, I praise you, not for the hurt, not for the evil, but that you have my good in mind.

I just hadn't seen the end yet. All things are not good. All things work together for the good for those who are called of God and called for His purposes. Number four, we go from a wounded spirit, heart of pride, obvious unforgiveness and bitterness churning in Absalom's heart. And then we see the open rebellion. David has restored Absalom. David actually welcomed Absalom into his presence.

He kissed Absalom when he came back into the king's chamber. But Absalom being full of pride, unforgiveness and bitterness, and now he exerts this open rebellion. Actually, the open rebellion's already been seen in burning down Joab's barley field just to get his way. But now he's about to take it to a bigger level, a greater level. Matthew Henry said, Those are good indeed that are good in their own place.

Read that again. Those are good indeed that are good in their own place, not that pretend how good they would be in other people's places. This is all the good we find in Absalom. Absalom's not good at all, but he thinks, If I can just get to the top, then boy, I'll do a lot of great good. All began way back yonder with a wounded spirit that he didn't bring to God. Stirred up, cried, I'll take charge and fix this.

Boy, I think it's best. Unforgiveness, he's walking in it, not just struggling with it. If you're in the fight, you're a good place. Keep fighting it. But no, he's embracing walking in forgiveness and bitterness. Now he comes to this level. Look with me at 2 Samuel 14, 25.

All right. 2 Samuel 14, 25 says, Now in all Israel, there was no one as handsome as Absalom. He's a good looking devil.

So highly praised. From the soles of his foot to the crown of his head, there was no defect in him. And he had this glorious, beautiful, wavy, long hair. When Absalom walked into the room, the women swooned and the men admired. That's the kind of guy he was.

He was full of himself for sure. Now look, if you will, at chapter 15, verses 1 through 5. Now it came about after this that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and 50 men as runners before him. He gets this fabulous, majestic display, this marvelous chariot, these magnificent horses, these distinguished 50 men.

It just has the picture of this guy is really something. Verse 2. Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate, and when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, Well, what city are you from? And he would say, Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel. Notice his calculation in his manipulation. He's trying to scheme to get men from all areas of Israel on his side. He probably did, if he had several men from one region of the country and another guy came up from that region and had a need, he'd probably just ignore him. He's so kind, he's so thoughtful.

No, he's a scheming, lying devil is what he is. Verse 3. Then Absalom would say, this is chapter 15, verse 3, Absalom would say, All that one would appoint me.

I'm sorry, verse 3. Then Absalom would say, See that your claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king. Well, the king was busy.

He couldn't hear everything. And Absalom used that to his advantage. I'll tell you, there's going to be some answering of the judgment bar of God, by the way, for devilish women and vile men and deacons in churches who brought stuff against godly pastors just because the pastor was doing all he could do, but he couldn't get to every single little need. And they stirred that to use it against him.

I see it over and over and over and over and over again. We need more pastors to be like John MacArthur. John MacArthur was a young man. He took the pastor there in California. And somebody asked him one day, John, how do you study so much and pray so much and preach like you preach?

My people want me to go here and they want me to visit there. And I got to be at the hospital. I got to counsel this one and do this marriage and make sure I'm at that funeral.

There's no time to study like I need to study. John MacArthur, what do you do? MacArthur said, I just tell him that's not my job. It's not my job. I love you. I care.

I heard that you're hurt, but my job is getting ready to preach to you on Sunday. And I'll meet more needs that way than if I touch every need out there physically and personally. Well, I'm not here to bring up pastoral stuff. It's just something I deal with all the time. You don't do me that way. And I thank God for your graciousness there.

But Absalom used the fact that the king was a single guy. Oh, if I were king in Israel, I would care about you. I would meet your need. I would address your injustices. I'd bring justice for you if I were in charge.

Does that ring a bell? Abs, if I just overthrow this King David monarchy, I can get in charge. And I guarantee you, I'll take care of all you people. Here's what happens. Are you listening to me? When you're hurt, you're very prone to get with somebody else who's hurt, and y'all form you a little rebellion cause together.

That's what's going on here. And if they weren't really hurt, Absalom convinced they're hurting. No, no, no, you're really hurting because you really need me to be your Messiah right now, fix everything for you. Verse four, over happens, say all that one would appoint me judge in the land.

Then every man who has any suit or cause would come to me and I would give him justice. And when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Wow, the depth of this man's manipulation. Look at verses 13 and 14. Absalom sent out the plan. He had spies throughout the land. He sent out the call, the men of Israel rise up against David. Verse 13 of the same chapters, then a messenger came to David saying, the hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom. He did it. He manipulated their emotions and got them on his side.

You see, these men weren't principled enough to stand up and say, what sayeth the Scriptures? I don't need you to listen to my heart. My heart's deceitful. My heart's full of lying.

I can't just trust my feelings. What does principle say? Principle says you honor the king. Verse 14, David said to all his servants who are with him at Jerusalem, arise and let us flee for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. David's saying, he's crazy. He's a wild man. He's full of bitterness and gall and revenge. He's functioning out of his hurt and he'll kill all of us. Last part of verse 14, go in haste or he will overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of its swords.

So here Absalom is in all of his rebellion, driving his father, King David, off of the throne, putting forward this show of humility. I'll care for you. I'll meet your need. Here, give me your hand.

I'll kiss your hand. And all this time, his heart was as proud as Lucifer himself. That's the open rebellion. It started with a wounded spirit, a proud heart. I'll take charge.

I'll get this right. Yeah, but what if God hadn't given you the authority to do that? Unforgiveness and bitterness begin to be embraced and coddled in your life. Soon there's open rebellion. Everybody who openly rebels tries a coup d'etat on the king. A lot of them are still in churches, but they're a rebel. A lot of them are still good wives, but they're a rebel.

A lot of them look like the unstanding husbands and men in the community, but they're still a rebel in their hearts. Number five, the last stage, and it's always the last stage, and it always will come about. That is divine indignation. God always has the last word. 2 Samuel 18, turn there.

Look at verses 9 and 10. The men with David are fighting. The men with Absalom are fighting, and David's men begin to win the day against Absalom.

What would it feel like if you was fighting your own son for your own life and your own kingdom? Verse 9, now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David, for Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, so that he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going. When a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.

It actually is a little bit funny. He got his head stuck in an oak tree. Well, he always had a big head, and there he's hanging there. God will not be mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap. How dare you to claim to be a Christian, and you hold out unforgiveness and bitterness in your heart against anyone for anything ever, period. Well, they hurt my so-and-so. They didn't treat my wife right. They didn't, my husband's not treated my children, whatever.

Doesn't matter. God is God, and God is sovereign, and God loves you. He's working out the best for you if you'll just cooperate with Him and not rise up in pride and try to do your own thing, divine indignation. Look at verse 17.

Well, let's see. Let's go to verse 14 first. Then Joab said, I will not waste my time here with you. So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak, and ten young men who carried Joab's armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him. Verse 16, then Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people. Here's a real monument to a rebel right here, verse 17. They took Absalom and cast him into a deep pit in the forest and erected over him a very great heap of stones. That's significant because the punishment for Rebbeah's son against his father was stoning.

So there's a giant mound monument to this rebel over his grave. It's what would happen to a great criminal in the land, and all Israel fled each to his tent. The Lord said that he'll tear down the house of the proud. The Lord said everyone who's proud will not go unpunished. The Lord said pride goes before destruction. The Lord says there'll be a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty. The divine indignation. Three practical thoughts to end with, restoring a rebel.

How do you restore a rebel? First, you've got to deal with the sin of pride. That's where it starts. You took charge. You didn't let God be God. You said, I'll be God in this case.

I'll fix this. Now, if it's your responsibility to do something and the way you're going to fix it is biblical, that's not what we're talking about. Absalom took the role of king, and he didn't have the role of king. God made David king. Think about how David was different than Absalom. Remember David when he started out? God told David through the prophet he would be king of Israel, but God had already made Saul king of Israel. And Saul, jealous of David, was trying to kill David, literally actively trying to slay him. And one occasion when Saul was in a predisposed sort of condition, David sneaked up and cut off a piece of his robe to show him, Saul, I could have killed you, but I will not bring my hand against God's anointed.

I cannot make myself king. That's God's business. David walked in the truth, dealing with his pride and being humble.

Absalom did not do that. Mark 12, 30 reminds us that we're to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, with all of our strength. Now listen, when you're proud, you don't love God, you love you. When you're proud, you say, it's my way. True humility says, nope, it's not my business. This is God's business. You've got to repent of the sin of pride. Pride is what made the devil the devil. It's the foundation stone in the rebel's heart. Number two, deal with the active sins of unforgiveness and bitterness.

Point it out, speak the truth in love to them. What about you in the balcony? What about you on the floor? What about you in the pulpit? Are you actively dealing with any unforgiveness or bitterness in your heart?

Are you dealing with any pride in your heart? Number three, show them that the rebellion is ultimately against God. Absalom would have said, I'm rebelling against my father because he's not qualified to be king anymore. No, you're rebelling against God who made David king. I'm rebelling against Abner and he did that terrible thing to my sister.

It was horrible. David perhaps failed in dealing with it. But God allowed it. You're not to rise up against what God causes or allows. It wasn't David that Absalom was mad at.

It was David's God that appointed him king. Your mom was not your problem. You're actually saying it's God who made her my mom who's the problem. Dad was not the problem. What you're actually saying though is God who made him my dad the problem.

Could God not have changed it if He wanted to? You know what's amazing? Is the men and the women that God seems to use the most are those who went through very difficult, often home life situations. And they saw God's hand in it. And they didn't swell up in pride. And they didn't give themselves over to unforgiveness and they didn't end up as a lifelong rebel. Instead they became a lifelong righteous warrior for the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Did I tell you that there's a little Absalom in all of us? Are you up to date on keeping Him repented down out of your life?