# The Death of Absalom - The Book of 2 Samuel

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 6 Nov 2023, 12 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/3de43a36-23db-4045-9668-b4d70002bea3/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 81. Follow the story of a big battle where David's loyal helpers won against Absalom, who was trying to take over. But it's also a sad story because Absalom, who was David's son, didn't make it, showing us that battles and fights can lead to very sad things. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: The man said to Joab, Dear God, sometimes it's so
[0:03] Speaker 1: hard to obey. It's so much easier to do things
[0:30] Speaker 1: our way. But we know that with your help, we
[0:33] Speaker 1: can do what's right. Please help us today to live
[0:37] Speaker 1: in obedience to you and to the people you have
[0:41] Speaker 1: put in charge of us. Doing things your way is
[0:45] Speaker 1: always best. Thank you for helping us follow you through
[0:49] Speaker 1: your Holy Spirit's power. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
[0:55] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:58] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports, delivering
[1:02] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[1:06] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests with hands-on crafts and
[1:10] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more, all with a
[1:14] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more
[1:19] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code blessed.
[1:30] Speaker 3: The death of Absalom. In our last story, Absalom plans
[1:36] Speaker 3: to overthrow David's kingdom. In this story, David's servants defeat Israel,
[1:43] Speaker 3: and Absalom is put to death, as inspired by 2 Samuel.
[1:53] Speaker 1: Welcome back. This is Julia Sadler. Thanks so much for
[1:56] Speaker 1: joining me today for the Kids Bible in a Year podcast.
[2:01] Speaker 1: Obedience can be a hard thing to do, but with
[2:04] Speaker 1: God's help, we can do what he asks us to do.
[2:08] Speaker 1: Let's listen to today's story as Absalom meets his fate,
[2:12] Speaker 1: and we learn an important lesson from one of David's men.
[2:20] Speaker 1: When Absalom and his troops made it across the Jordan,
[2:24] Speaker 1: David was already busy organizing his troops. He delegated captains
[2:29] Speaker 1: of hundreds, and captains of thousands. He also separated the
[2:33] Speaker 1: troops into three groups, one led by Joab, one led
[2:38] Speaker 1: by Abishai, and one under Ittai. David then stated that
[2:44] Speaker 1: he would be marching to battle with the troops, but
[2:47] Speaker 1: they refused to allow him. As David sent them off,
[2:51] Speaker 1: he was very clear to his soldiers to deal gently
[2:55] Speaker 1: with Absalom. During the fight, David's men had an overwhelming victory.
[3:01] Speaker 1: They killed 20,000 of Absalom's men. Meanwhile, a man in
[3:07] Speaker 1: Joab's army found Absalom hanging alive from an oak tree
[3:12] Speaker 1: and tells Joab. Joab goes to see this very spot,
[3:16] Speaker 1: and rather than heeding David's request, he pulls out three
[3:20] Speaker 1: knives and begins stabbing Absalom until.
[3:24] Speaker 2: He is dead.
[3:26] Speaker 3: The soldiers then took Absalom and buried him in a
[3:29] Speaker 3: huge pit in the forest under a large amount of rocks.
[3:34] Speaker 3: While in the forest, Joab's men also discovered the pillar
[3:38] Speaker 3: Absalom had constructed to himself. He constructed it because he
[3:43] Speaker 3: said he had no son to carry on his name,
[3:46] Speaker 3: so he named the place the Absalom Memorial. Joab then
[3:51] Speaker 3: sent a Cushite to run and bring the news of
[3:54] Speaker 3: the results to David. After the Cushite leaves, Ahimaaz complains
[4:00] Speaker 3: and begs Joab to allow him to run the news
[4:03] Speaker 3: to David too. Joab agrees, and Ahimaaz takes off so
[4:08] Speaker 3: fast that he ended up beating the Cushite to David.
[4:12] Speaker 3: When Ahimaaz gave the king the news, he withheld the
[4:15] Speaker 3: information that Absalom had died. But when the Cushite arrived,
[4:19] Speaker 3: he informed David of his son's death. David begins to
[4:23] Speaker 3: mourn his son's death. He begins to cry out for
[4:27] Speaker 3: his son and is deeply grieved. When Joab sees how
[4:31] Speaker 3: David is acting, he decides that he has had enough
[4:35] Speaker 3: and rebukes David for his behavior and demands that David
[4:38] Speaker 3: get out there and encourage the people. Joab confronts the
[4:43] Speaker 3: evident issue in David's life. He loves those who hate him,
[4:47] Speaker 3: and he hates those who love him. He threatens David
[4:51] Speaker 3: that if he doesn't say anything, he will lose everything.
[5:01] Speaker 1: Life is not easy these days for King David. It
[5:05] Speaker 1: seems like the last chapter of his life is a
[5:08] Speaker 1: bit sad. But what I love about David's story is
[5:12] Speaker 1: that he never stops learning, even as he gets older.
[5:16] Speaker 1: He has a lot of life lessons to learn, even
[5:20] Speaker 1: as he gets to be the same age as some
[5:22] Speaker 1: of your grandparents. Did you know that the smartest people
[5:27] Speaker 1: never stop learning? Even when they grow up, God has
[5:31] Speaker 1: a lot to teach them. Today, the story opens with
[5:36] Speaker 1: David gathering his men and getting ready for battle. In fact,
[5:41] Speaker 1: he even tells his men that he wants to fight
[5:43] Speaker 1: with them. David was such a great leader that he
[5:47] Speaker 1: did not want to ask his people to do something
[5:50] Speaker 1: that he wasn't willing to do himself. Wow, that sounds
[5:55] Speaker 1: like another great leader I know. Someone who was also
[5:58] Speaker 1: a king, yet came to earth not to be served.
[6:03] Speaker 1: He came to earth to serve others. He healed the sick,
[6:08] Speaker 1: talked to sinners, and washed the dirty feet of his
[6:11] Speaker 1: closest friends. He said things like, if you want to
[6:15] Speaker 1: be first in my kingdom, you need to be last.
[6:19] Speaker 1: And let the little children come to me. In case
[6:23] Speaker 1: you didn't know, that was Jesus. He showed us how
[6:27] Speaker 1: to be a great leader. He showed us how a
[6:31] Speaker 1: strong leader never acts too good to do the lowest job.
[6:36] Speaker 1: Think about it. The king of heaven and earth. Born
[6:41] Speaker 1: in a stable? Alright, back to David. The men in
[6:45] Speaker 1: David's army did not like the idea of him fighting
[6:48] Speaker 1: because they wanted to protect him. Do you remember what
[6:52] Speaker 1: it was? He told his men to fight as hard
[6:54] Speaker 1: as they could, but to be careful with his son
[6:56] Speaker 1: Absalom and to protect his life. You see, Even though
[7:15] Speaker 1: Absalom was trying to take David's place as king and
[7:19] Speaker 1: was pretty much the whole reason they were fighting in
[7:21] Speaker 1: the first place, he was still David's son and David
[7:26] Speaker 1: loved him. So then things just kept getting crazier. Absalom's
[7:30] Speaker 1: awesome thick hair got stuck in a tree and his
[7:34] Speaker 1: mule took off running. So he was just stuck there.
[7:39] Speaker 1: And even though it would have been so easy to
[7:42] Speaker 1: kill him right then and right there, David's faithful soldiers
[7:47] Speaker 1: did not do it. Can you imagine what a hero
[7:50] Speaker 1: he would have been among the people? He could have shouted,
[7:55] Speaker 1: I did it. I defeated King David's enemy. And now
[7:59] Speaker 1: he can be our king again. But that's not how
[8:03] Speaker 1: the story goes. This man remembered David's command to not
[8:07] Speaker 1: harm Absalom, and he obeyed. Can you think of a
[8:12] Speaker 1: time in your life when it was really, really hard
[8:15] Speaker 1: to obey? Maybe you wanted something you couldn't have, or
[8:19] Speaker 1: maybe you were told to do something that you really
[8:23] Speaker 1: didn't want to do. In those times, we can learn
[8:26] Speaker 1: from David's faithful soldier. Even though he would have been
[8:31] Speaker 1: a hero, he chose to obey. And he made the
[8:34] Speaker 1: right choice. In fact, the Bible tells us that obedience
[8:39] Speaker 1: is the one thing that truly shows God how much
[8:43] Speaker 1: you love him. Okay, then here comes Joab wanting to
[8:48] Speaker 1: do things his own way. As Absalom was stuck, Joab
[8:52] Speaker 1: did exactly what David said not to do. He killed Absalom.
[8:58] Speaker 2: But why?
[9:00] Speaker 1: Maybe he wanted to be the hero. Whatever the reason...
[9:04] Speaker 1: He chose to disobey, and once again, that sin caused
[9:08] Speaker 1: a whole lot of sadness for David. The Bible says
[9:13] Speaker 1: that we are not under any obligation to sin or
[9:18] Speaker 1: to the flesh. So when you become a Christian and
[9:21] Speaker 1: you receive the Holy Spirit into your heart, that means
[9:25] Speaker 1: you never, ever, ever have to sin again. you don't
[9:30] Speaker 1: have to be a victim you have a choice and
[9:33] Speaker 1: you have the ability to do what's right and that
[9:37] Speaker 1: is amazing so remember it's good to say no to
[9:41] Speaker 1: what you want to do when it means obeying god
[9:45] Speaker 1: because here's the thing until we get to heaven we
[9:49] Speaker 1: can't see god our father with our eyes and we
[9:53] Speaker 1: can't touch him with our hands but we can show
[9:56] Speaker 1: him we love him by the way we obey God
[10:00] Speaker 1: is like the wind. We can't see him, but we
[10:04] Speaker 1: can feel him, and we know that he is here
[10:07] Speaker 1: with us because he promises to be. Thanks for listening today.
[10:12] Speaker 1: Next time, we're going to hear all about what happens
[10:15] Speaker 1: when David gets back to Jerusalem. You don't want to
[10:18] Speaker 1: miss it. Don't forget, the Bible is the best story
[10:23] Speaker 1: ever told. It's God's story to you, and it's all true.
[10:29] Speaker 1: Enjoy the podcast? Leave a review to help other parents
[10:32] Speaker 1: discover us and spread the good news all around the world.
[10:37] Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Pray.com's Kids Bible in a Year.
[10:41] Speaker 1: For more inspiring stories and wisdom to last a lifetime,
[10:46] Speaker 1: Download the Pray.com app for free today. Thanks for listening
[10:59] Speaker 1: to Kids Bible in a Year. I want to invite
[11:02] Speaker 1: our adult listeners to check out my other show, Unapologetic,
[11:06] Speaker 1: God's Truth on Today's Topics. It's unfiltered, important, inspiring, and
[11:12] Speaker 1: we have awesome conversations and amazing guests such as Candace
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[11:36] Speaker 1: your faith as you check out Unapologetic. Remember that you
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