Beginning of the End: Rebellion Grows Underground

 Discontent with the government was spreading fast, stirred up and encouraged by the prince. Absalom was generally regarded as heir to the kingdom, and many wanted him to sit on the throne. “So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” Yet the king suspected nothing. David thought the princely role that Absalom had assumed was intended to give honor to his court.

Absalom secretly sent chosen men throughout the tribes to lay plans  for revolt, and now he used religious devotion as a covering to conceal his traitorous plans. Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord. For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’”

The fond father, comforted with this appearance of piety in his son, sent him away with his blessing. Absalom planned his crowning act of hypocrisy not only to blind the king but to secure the confidence of the people. In this way he would lead them on to rebellion against the king whom God had chosen.

Absalom set out for Hebron, and with him “two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.” These men went, never thinking that their love for the son was leading them into rebellion against the father. At Hebron, Absalom called for Ahithophel, a man famous for wisdom. Ahithophel’s support made Absalom’s cause appear certain to succeed, attracting many influential men to his ranks. As the trumpet of revolt sounded, the prince’s spies throughout the country spread the news that Absalom was king, and many of the people gathered to him.