Soap Opera
Soap Opera
2 Samuel 14:1-20
1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. 3 Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.
4 When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, “Save me, O king.” 5 And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”
8 Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.” 10 The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the Lord your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”
12 Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” 13 And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again. 14 We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. 15 Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. 16 For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God.’ 17 And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!”
18 Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”
1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. 3 Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.
4 When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, “Save me, O king.” 5 And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”
8 Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.” 10 The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the Lord your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”
12 Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” 13 And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again. 14 We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. 15 Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. 16 For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God.’ 17 And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!”
18 Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”
Perfect Material
In the 1930s, certain radio executives wanted American housewives to buy their soap. So they began developing around their commercials a series of long-running stories, usually about families, full of relational drama and scandal, and always ending in a cliffhanger that kept them coming back the next day. They became known as “soap operas.” David’s family would have provided perfect material.
Brokenness
David’s long season of sin has set off a deadly chain-reaction in his family. His son Amnon assaulted his half-sister Tamar. David ignored Amnon’s crime, which provoked Tamar’s brother Absalom to murder Amnon, and flee Israel. David is left paralyzed with grief, anger, and bitterness. As he nears the end of his forty-year-reign, his dynasty isn’t looking too hot: his first son, a rapist, is dead; his second son, a murderer, has fled. We see a broken family, a broken kingdom, and a lot of broken people trying to fix it. Joab, David, and Absalom all know they are in an ugly mess, but each responds with their own, broken wisdom. They scheme, manipulate, and follow their emotions. What no one does is ask God for help. When broken people try to fix broken situations with broken resources, does it work?
Joab's Trap
It begins with Joab, David’s chief-of-staff. He is not a very moral man, but he is a shrewd politician, and he knows the Kingdom is unstable. David is a mess: heartbroken over Amnon, furious at Absalom, racked with personal guilt. Meanwhile, the heir to the throne is a fugitive inanother country. Joab sees a recipe for uprising and civil war. So he decides to “change the course of things (20).” The Kingdom needs David and Absalom reconciled. Joab thinks he can make it happen.
Joab remembers that Nathan once got stubborn David to change his mind by telling him a story. It had seemed to be about a stolen lamb, but it was really about a stolen wife. Nathan’s tale maneuvered David into a corner and forced him to change. So Joab now cooks up a story of his own: it seems like it’s about a widow’s two sons, but is really about David’s two sons. He works hard on this tale: he draws from Cain and Abel; he works in the Old Testament law about cities of refuge; he adds the pathos of a weeping widow. Joab gets all the words just right, and then places them in the mouth of a perfect spokeswoman. He pulls a lady out of the local drama guild and tells her to pretend to be a widow, to dress in mourning, and to sell the story with feeling.
Sure enough, this “wise woman” delivers an award-winning performance. The tears! The timing! The flattery! She leads David straight into Joab’s trap. By the time she has finished, David swears to Yahweh to protect her murderer-son for the good of the family (11). That’s when the woman whirls on David, just as Nathan did: then why won’t you let your murder-son Absalom live, for the good of the Kingdom (12–17)? David knows he’s been played. “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” he asks (19). Joab means well, but he tries to heal a broken situation with scheming, lying, pretense, and manipulation. Isn’t that what got us into this mess? Do you think it can get us out?
Joab remembers that Nathan once got stubborn David to change his mind by telling him a story. It had seemed to be about a stolen lamb, but it was really about a stolen wife. Nathan’s tale maneuvered David into a corner and forced him to change. So Joab now cooks up a story of his own: it seems like it’s about a widow’s two sons, but is really about David’s two sons. He works hard on this tale: he draws from Cain and Abel; he works in the Old Testament law about cities of refuge; he adds the pathos of a weeping widow. Joab gets all the words just right, and then places them in the mouth of a perfect spokeswoman. He pulls a lady out of the local drama guild and tells her to pretend to be a widow, to dress in mourning, and to sell the story with feeling.
Sure enough, this “wise woman” delivers an award-winning performance. The tears! The timing! The flattery! She leads David straight into Joab’s trap. By the time she has finished, David swears to Yahweh to protect her murderer-son for the good of the family (11). That’s when the woman whirls on David, just as Nathan did: then why won’t you let your murder-son Absalom live, for the good of the Kingdom (12–17)? David knows he’s been played. “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” he asks (19). Joab means well, but he tries to heal a broken situation with scheming, lying, pretense, and manipulation. Isn’t that what got us into this mess? Do you think it can get us out?
The Only Way Out
At first, it seems to. David gives in and lets Absalom come home (21). But Joab’s manipulation doesn’t solve anything. It can’t heal the bitterness in David’s heart, or create repentance in Absalom’s. Joab’s deception results in a more resentful David, a burnt barley field, and, ultimately, a civil war. The only way out of this soap opera is clean, honest, painful repentance.
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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
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