What got me writing this morning is the way God moves within 2 Samuel’s intricate plot to use creation itself to fight for him and his anointed. The story is told with rich characterization that recalls people and narrative worlds that stretch all the way back to Genesis 1.
Absolom
Absolom murders his brother like Cain (2 Sam 13:23–29), and he’s like Saul in his remarkable appearance (14:25). He’s like Samson with his long hair, and he’s like both Saul and Samson in his dependence on human strenth (14:26, 28–23). Absolom is snaky in the way he uses his cunning to turn people away by appealing to what is “good.” (15:1–6). He multiplies horses for himself like Saul (15:1), going against the instructions of Deuteronomy 17. Absolom is also a trickster like Jacob. You hear an echo of Jacob’s MO in the way Absolom lies about a vow he made to Yahweh, promising to be devoted to Yahewh if Yahweh would bring him back safely (15:8). Absolom sends in spies throughout the land like Joshua (15:10), promising salvation in his own name at the blast of the trumpet. The reader of Samuel knows better. Absolom has been portrayed with thick, dark hues created by the memory of a whole host of negative characters and episodes in the story of God.
David
David’s portrait is set with similarly dark hues, as he is sent to wander like Cain (15:20). The dark hues in the portrait of David were created by his own sin and the resultant “sword” that will not depart from his house—in this case Absolom. But in Samuel’s portraiture, David is set within a little microcosm of light, that is, Yahweh’s presence and provision. Ittai the Gittite shows paradigmatic devotion to David as the Lord’s true anointed (15:21). Ittai’s devotion is reflected in Ruth’s devotion to Naomi, both stories demonstrating Yahweh’s presence and provision in the midst of dark ages. God’s presence and provision for David in 2 Samuel 15 is reflected in the Gospels’ stories of Jesus, as well. David weeps as he ascends the Mount of Olives (15:23, 30). The authors of Scripture hyperlink back to these episodes in David’s life because they demonstrate so powerfully Yahweh’s ability to provide for his anointed one against all odds.
Throughout this portion of the story, David seems to be back to his old self. After the disaster with Bathseba that let in all the chaos, David demonstrates once again his dependence on Yahweh as he refuses to strike back at those who mock and shame him (16:6, 13).
“Not by might shall a man prevail” (1 Sam 2:9).
Once again, David moves in step with Hannah’s song.
The Forest
When this story comes to it’s full end in 2 Kings, the next book in the Hebrew Bible is Isaiah. It is there that we read of a “shoot from the stump of Jesse” that will be marked by the Spirit of Yahweh, a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, and knowledge (Isa 11). 2 Samuel shows the Spirit of Yahweh at work for David to confuse the counsel that Absolom receives (2 Sam 17) and deliver David from his enemies. Samuel’s portrait of Yahweh’s deliverance is so striking, though, because it isn’t all light. There’s a lot of darkness in this era of David’s story.
No father wants his son to die like Absolom does, and the narrator makes clear that the story is headed towards tragedy. As a confrontation between Absolom’s army and David’s mighty men approaches, David tells his generals to be easy on Absolom. The narrator steps in at this point to note that there were in fact witnesses to David’s words. “And all the people heard it when the king commanded his generals concerning Absolom” (18:5). After this telltale voice-over, the battle commences, but despite the oncoming tragedy, the forest fights for Yahweh and his anointed (18:8).
The language is striking, reading something like this: “The forest multiplied (וַיֶּרֶב הַיַּעַר) to consume (לֶאֱכֹל) the people more than (מִן) the sword consumed on that day.” It’s one of those phrases that causes you to stop and reread to get straight what is being communicated. “The forest increased/multiplied?” HALOT notes a parallel statement in Exodus 36:5, where the people “multiplied the bringing” of contributions to the sanctuary so that there was an abundance. HALOT glosses the combination רבה + מִן as “to do more than.”1 However you gloss the phrase, it is striking that the forest acts on behalf of Yahweh. V. Philips Long writes,
The Old Testament is replete with examples of nature being enlisted to fight on behalf of those with divine approval (e.g. Josh. 10:11–14; Judg. 5:20–21; 1 Sam. 2:10; 7:10; 12:17–18; 14:15; 2 Sam. 5:24; 22:8–16).2
Conclusion
I hate the tragic place this story is going: Absolom’s brutal death. He’s caught in a tree, and instead of following David’s instructions, Joab and his crew brutally murder him. Joab is in many ways worse than Absolom and Saul. Joab has all the self-dependence of Saul, and he takes and grabs every chance he gets, just like Absolom. He is the antithesis of everything this book points its readers towards.
Nevertheless, I called in my son to tell him the 1.0-verbal verson of this post because in this narrative God employs the forest to fight for his anointed one. There is real darkness in this story, darkness that was brought on by David’s own sin. It would be easy for him to think there was no way forward, easy to think that Shimei was right: “Yahweh has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom! Look at yourself, stuck in your own evil! It’s because you are a man of blood!” (2 Sam 16:8). Even in this place, God bends the created order towards his anointed one.
How frequently our situations convince us that there is no possible way we can move forward with hope. How hopeful it is, however, to ponder that the path itself can move and act on our behalf. The weeds and woods that cast the dark hues and threaten to entangle us can be employed by Yahweh to fight for those who move in-step with his anointed. “Not by might shall a man prevail.”
Brian W. Davidson 
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