PROGRESSION OF EVENTS

A. SCENE 11-2

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Several years before, Absalom’s sister Tamar, whom he loved very much, had been treated terribly by Absalom’s step-brother, Amnon. King David knew that his son Amnon had done a terrible thing to his daughter Tamar, but he did nothing

to punish Amnon. Absalom decided to punish Amnon himself. He ordered his servants to murder Amnon at a party. When David found out what Absalom had done, he was filled with sadness. Absalom ran to another country and stayed there for three years. David wanted to go to him, but he did not. Finally, Absalom’s friends convinced King David to let Absalom come back safely to Israel. David never said whether Absalom was forgiven or whether he should be punished. He did nothing.

I think David did not do anything about the sins of his sons because he felt guilty for the terrible things that he had done, taking Uriah’s wife to be his wife and having Uriah murdered.

David’s sins brought trouble to his family.

S, PAU Sin always brings trouble, and it must be punished. Do you understand that? The Bible says that each of us, you and I, has sinned, and we each deserve to be punished. “For the wages of sin is death . . . .” When we think, say, and do things that do not please God, those sins separate us from Him and keep us from being able to live with Him in Heaven when our life here on earth is over. That’s the punishment. (Share three examples of sin.) Sin always has to be punished.

IH Have the children make the motions for sin as you say the words: think (point to head), say (point to mouth), and do (make a fist).

All this trouble with his family was part of the punishment for the sin David had done, and it was just going to get worse.

B. SCENE 11-3

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One day, Absalom came to the king and asked for permission to go to the city of Hebron. He told his father he was going there to keep a promise to God. Secretly, Absalom sent spies all through the land of Israel, saying, “Absalom will soon be king in Hebron!” Every day, more of the

people of Israel began to follow Absalom as their king and not David.

Rom. 6:23a

C. SCENE 11-4

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Soon, the news reached David at his palace in Jerusalem. “The hearts of the men of Israel have turned to Absalom!

They have made him king!”

“We must go quickly, or we will not escape from Absalom!” David said to his

family and servants. “If he catches us here, he will destroy this city and kill us all.”

David had been in trouble many times before, but I think this was the time he needed courage more than he ever had in his life.

MT Even though you have trusted Jesus as your personal Saviour, there will be many times in your life when you need to be brave.

In those times, God wants you to trust Him for courage. This boy is talking to his principal. A few kids at his school have been unkind to him day after day, threatening to hurt him if he told anyone about it. He knows what they’re doing is not right, so he asked God for courage to tell his principal what is happening.

You don’t have to find courage by yourself. You can trust God to give you courage when you need it.

David needed courage from God now more than ever before.

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King David those who lived in his palace and all his soldiers hurried away from the city of Jerusalem. They crossed over the stream near the city and traveled toward the wilderness.

IH Have the children walk in place sadly, as

David and his people. When you come to the stream, jump as if crossing over, and continue walking.

The Bible says the people who lived in the places they passed cried as they watched the king go by.

D. SCENE 11-5

Soon, they came to a mountain called the Mount of Olives. As he climbed this mountain, David cried too. His head was covered and he was barefoot, showing how sad and troubled he was. All the people who were with him covered their heads, too, and cried with him as they walked.

“Your good friend and advisor, Ahithophel, is one of those who have turned against you with Absalom,” someone told David.

“Lord, please, turn the advice of Ahithophel into foolishness,” David prayed.

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When David got to the top of the mountain, he stopped to worship God.

IH Have the children fold their hands and close their eyes then reverently say,

“Praise God! Thank You, God!”

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Another friend, Hushai, came to the mountain top to meet him. His coat was torn, and he had dirt on his head, showing his sadness about what was happening to David. “Please go back to Jerusalem,”

David said to Hushai. “Tell Absalom that you will join his side. Then you can get

him to listen to your advice, and not to the advice of Ahithophel. When you find out Absalom’s plans, send someone who can tell me everything you hear.”

Hushai loved and trusted David, so he did as David said.

Such love and trust was seen in another Man.

O Jesus, God’s only Son, loved and trusted His Father, God. He showed this trust by doing everything that God said. Jesus never sinned.

Jesus always obeyed God because He loved and trusted Him.

Hushai loved and trusted David, so he went back to Jerusalem as David requested.

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David traveled on. As he walked, a man from the family of Saul began to follow him, throwing stones at him and his soldiers and cursing him, saying, “You bloody man! The Lord is paying you back for all the people in Saul’s family that you killed! You are trapped in your own sin because you are a murder!”

David’s soldiers wanted to kill this man, but David said, “My own son is trying to kill me. Why shouldn’t this stranger hate me? Leave him alone and let him curse. The Lord has sent him. Maybe the Lord will see the trouble I’m having today and repay me with good because of these curses.”

David knew that part of what this man said was true; he was a murderer. But he was right that God would help him.

In fact, many years later, God would make a way so that not only David’s sins could be forgiven, but the sins of everyone in the world.

P, E This way was sending His own Son, Jesus, into the world. Jesus let men nail Him to a wooden cross, where He gave His precious blood and died to take the punishment for the wrong things you and I have done. The Bible says, “. . . Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Jesus was buried, and, three days later, He came alive again and will be alive forever.

That was the way God made for David’s sins to be forgiven.

Even with all that was happening to him, David knew that God would help Him.

The man from Saul’s family followed David all day, throwing stones and kicking up dust.

Finally, too tired and weary to walk anymore, David and his people stopped to rest for the night.

E. SCENE 11-6

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Meanwhile, Absalom gathered with his followers in Jerusalem to make their plans. Ahithophel, the friend who had turned against David, gave Absalom his advice. “Let me choose 12,000 men. I will chase after David tonight and attack him now while he is weary and weak. All

the people who are with him will run away, and I will only kill the king. Then his followers will come to your side, and all the people will have peace.”

Absalom and the leaders of Israel thought this was good advice.

IH Have the children give two “thumbs up” and smile.

But Absalom said, “Call Hushai. Let’s see if he agrees with Ahithophel’s advice.”

Remember, Hushai was the man who was still on David’s side. David had sent him back to Jerusalem as a spy to trick Absalom.

Rev. 1:5

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“The advice of Ahithophel isn’t good for right now,” said Hushai to Absalom.

IH Have the children give two “thumbs down” and frown.

“You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, men of war, and they are angry. If many of your soldiers are killed in the battle, the people will hear about it. They will be afraid, for they know your father and his men are mighty. Instead, I think you should wait, gather all the soldiers of Israel into a huge army, and go to battle with them yourself. Then we will attack, and we will not leave one of David’s men alive.”

IH Ask, “Whose advice do you think Absalom followed? If you think it was Ahithophel’s, give me one ‘thumbs up.’” Allow response. “If you think it was Hushai’s, give me one

‘thumbs up.’” Allow response. Say, “It was Hushai’s!” while giving two “thumbs up.”

Absalom liked this advice of Hushai better than the advice of Ahithophel. He did not know that Hushai had given him bad advice on purpose.

This was happening because God was helping David.

MT, PAS If you have believed in Jesus to save you from the punishment of your sin, God will help you when you are in trouble too. God wants you to trust Him for courage. The Bible says, “The LORD

is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” God will help you to have courage, not fear, when hard times come.

Maybe, ¹your sin has gotten you into trouble. Even if your

problem is your own fault, God will give you courage to face it. Trust Him for help.

Maybe ²there are troubles in your family, and it isn’t your fault. It’s something you can’t do anything about. Trust God for courage. He will help you not to be afraid. Maybe

3someone is mean to you. Maybe they laugh at you and hurt you. Trust God to give you courage. He will help you to be brave.

Because God was helping David, Absalom believed Hushai’s bad advice.

Quickly, Hushai sent a message to David telling him Absalom’s plans.

F. SCENE 11-7

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David began to get ready for the battle. “I will go out to fight with you,” he said, but his soldiers would not let him. They knew if Absalom killed him, there would be no reason for them to fight. So David stood Psalm 27:1

by the gate and watched his soldiers march out to battle. As his generals passed by, he gave them one last command. “Treat the young man, Absalom, gently for my sake,” he said. All the soldiers heard him say it. They knew he did not want Absalom to die.

IH Have the children repeat, “Treat the young man, Absalom, gently.”

David still loved his son, even after all Absalom had done to him.

G Boys and girls, God loves you too. No matter what you have done, He still loves you.

David still loved his son, Absalom, even after all he had done.

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The servants of David went to war against the servants of Absalom. They fought the battle in a thick forest. The Bible says that the forest “devoured,” or killed, more people than were killed by swords.

Absalom was fighting in the thick forest. As he fought, the donkey he was riding on went under the branches of a strong oak tree, and Absalom’s head was caught in the branches, probably because of his long, thick hair. The donkey went on without him, and he was left hanging there, trapped.

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One of David’s soldiers saw what had happened and ran to tell his general, Joab. But instead of capturing Absalom alive, as David had wanted, Joab took three small arrows in his hand, and, with his soldiers, killed Absalom while he hung in the tree.

Joab blew his trumpet, calling all his soldiers to return. The battle was over. David’s men had won. By the end of the day, 20,000 Israelites were dead, killed by their own people.

G. SCENE 11-8

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All this time David sat at the gate, waiting for news of the battle.

IH Ask, “Have you ever had to wait? Did you twiddle your thumbs?” Do it. “Did you drum your fingers?” Do it. “Did you sigh many times?” Do it.

Finally, he saw a man running towards him. As soon as he was close, the man shouted to David that all was well and his soldiers had won. “Is the young man, Absalom, safe?”

David asked. “May all the enemies of my lord, the King, be the same as that young man now is,” the messenger said. David knew what he meant. Absalom was dead.

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David ran to a room above the city gate, crying as he went. “Oh my son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom! I wish to God I had died instead of you, oh Absalom, my son, my son!”

As David’s soldiers returned, they heard

that the king was crying for his son. Instead of rejoicing in their victory, they felt more like an army which had lost.

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Finally, David realized he had to go out and encourage his soldiers. He sat by the gate and welcomed them back.

III. CLIMAX

Now that Absalom was dead, the leaders of Israel who had joined Absalom’s side decided they wanted David to be their king again.

IV. CONCLUSION