If you give something to me, can I be blamed for stealing it from you? Well, maybe so. If something is gotten from you by lies and false promises, that is stealing -the worst kind of stealing. Perhaps if I tell you this story of how hearts were stolen, it will help you to understand. It is one of God’s stories from the Bible, so we know it is true.
King David had a son named Absalom who was very good-looking. He had thick, black hair which he cut just once a year. He was so proud of it that he weighed the hair that was cut off.
King David had many problems, but he was a man who trusted God, even when he was a teenager and killed Goliath with a stone from his sling. He believed and listened to God who made heaven and earth, and that’s why he said, “I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me” (Psalm 23:44Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)). Many times the Bible says about David, “And the Lord was with him.”
But Absalom did not want the company of his father who trusted God. He wanted his own way.
The city of Jerusalem had a gate which was a busy place where many people passed through on foot or with donkeys carrying loads. Absalom decided to meet the townspeople there and greet them warmly with handshakes and kisses. He told them that he was much better at problem-solving than his father, and his decisions would always be right. This is what he said: “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man [who has any problem] might come unto me, and I would do him justice!” And so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel with his lies and false promises. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart” (Jeremiah 17:910).
Most of the people of Israel believed what Absalom had told them and wanted him to be their king. Of course this led to a revolt against King David. King David had to flee from Jerusalem with his faithful friends, and Absalom took over the place of power. Absalom asked advice of his friends and then set out to lead an army against King David, his father.
But Absalom’s army did not have the Lord with them. They were scattered all over the country and many of them were lost in the woods. Absalom himself rode under a big oak tree where his head got caught in the thick branches. The mule he was riding on kept going and left him caught in the tree. There he hung, between heaven and earth, and the Lord was not with him. An officer in King David’s army came and put him to death with three darts through his heart.
Is this the end of Absalom’s story? Yes, as far as his time on earth goes, but he still has eternity to face. He did not want God while he was here, and he will spend eternity without Him. It will be an eternity without light or love or happiness.
Is there any hope for a thief to go to heaven? Read on.
Perhaps you have heard of another thief who hung between heaven and earth. He hung on a cross beside the Lord Jesus, and he died there when his legs were broken. This thief wanted the company of the Lord Jesus, and he got more and better than he asked for. He is with Jesus now in heaven, because Jesus forgave his sins, including stealing, and he will be in that happy place for all eternity.
Absalom did not keep his promises, but God always keeps His, whether they are for blessing or for judgment. Whose promises are you trusting, right now?
ML-06/21/1996