Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:16, “For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.” To be forgotten is one of our greatest fears. To some people, the only thing that really matters in life is making their mark; or rather, doing something by which they will be remembered when they’re long gone. That could be becoming a movie star, a well-known author, a famous singer, a master painter, or perhaps the president of the United States; but we all want to be known and remembered.
There’s a Facebook page called “Born to Be Remembered.” This page explains its purpose as being “to bring to light the stories of memorable lives and events of people, who through their thoughts and actions pushed the boundaries of human reality.” Many of the individuals recognized on this website are recorded in the pages of history books; however, as many of us know, history is oftentimes forgotten or rewritten by those in power. The ancient Egyptians were notorious for erasing monuments and inscribing their own rewritten account of historical events.
We may be remembered for a short while for our accomplishments, but they will all fade away with our life. James asked, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14); and King David declared, “Certainly every man at his best state is but a vapor” (Psalm 39:5). Even when we’re at our best state, having achieved our greatest accomplishments and basking in the glory, it will all pass away as a vapor. So, what are we to do? Is there any way that we can be remembered forever, or be remembered after we die? Yes there is, and this is the question for which we’ll find an answer in God’s Word.
Mercy in the Face of War (vv. 5-6)
5 Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom. 6 So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the woods of Ephraim.
We read here about how King David gave instructions to the captains of his army as they prepared for battle against their own people, Israel; and the opposing side was led by David’s own son. His son, Absalom, had rebelled against him by turning the hearts of many Israelites toward himself. You see, Absalom was power hungry, desiring honor and recognition from the people.
In 2 Samuel 15, we learn how Absalom would stand in the city gate each and every day, and when someone came to settle a dispute before the King, he would turn the people away and say there was no one from the King available to hear their case. Absalom would then take the liberty of passing judgment on the cases all by himself, and his judgments were always in favor of the people (2 Samuel 15:1-3). He would then declare in their hearing, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice” (2 Samuel 15:4).
We read how whenever someone would come to bow down before Absalom that he wouldn’t allow it, but he would instead embrace and kiss the individual (2 Samuel 15:5), and the Scripture says, “In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel” (2 Samuel 15:6). Absalom gained a great following in Israel, and both his and David’s men came face-to-face in a showdown “in the woods of Ephraim” (v. 6).
Absalom had rebelled against his father, David; nevertheless, David showed him mercy by telling his captains, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom” (v. 5). Likewise, each of us has rebelled against the heavenly Father. Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way.” Nevertheless, the Bible declares in Ephesians 4:4-5, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” We may be at war with God, but He’s deeply in love with us and wants to show us His mercy and grace!
Rebellion Leads to Death (vv. 9-10, 14-15)
9 Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on. 10 Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!” . . . 14 Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree. 15 And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.
We read here that, while in battle, Absalom got himself caught and hung-up in the branches of a terebinth tree (v. 9). Remember, this battle took place “in the woods of Ephraim” (v. 6). Ben Philbeck, Jr., in The Broadman Bible Commentary, says that David selected the strategic location for the battle himself, and he continues to state, “The dense underbrush [here] would separate and demoralize Absalom’s green militia and give his own professional soldiers an enormous advantage.”(1)
Absalom got caught up in a tree, helplessly hanging there, and then discovered by one of the soldiers under Joab’s command (v. 10). When Captain Joab learned of Absalom’s vulnerable condition, he saw an opportunity to move in for the kill (vv. 14-15), against King David’s express orders to “deal gently” with Absalom (v. 5). The moral, or lesson, of the story here is that rebellion leads to death.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” once again emphasizing how all people have rebelled against the Lord and sinned against Him; which especially happens when living for one’s own glory instead of God’s. Just as with Absalom’s transgression, there’s a price to pay for rebellion and sin. Romans 6:23 warns us that “the wages of sin is death,” which is a reference to spiritual death; and spiritual death is when someone is sentenced to spend eternity in hell, because they have no remorse for their sins. So, when we rebel against the heavenly Father, there is a price to pay.
Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Because of sin, we are separated from the heavenly Father; as we are considered a curse. Absalom getting hung up in a tree revealed that he was cursed by God, for Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says, “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.”
The good news today is that Jesus took the curse of sin on Himself, for those who put their faith and trust in Him. He did this, in order to redeem us from the curse and to restore us in right standing and fellowship with God. We read in Galatians 3:13 that “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).” 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Being made righteous in Christ, we are able to stand in the presence of a holy God, and abide with Him for all eternity.
Everyone is Soon Forgotten (vv. 16-17)
16 So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people. 17 And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.
The Bible says here that when Joab and his men killed David’s son Absalom, they threw him into a pit somewhere in the woods and laid a large heap of stones over the place where his body lay (2 Sm 18:14-17). The text implies what a huge tragedy it would have been for Absalom to have remained in the middle of the woods totally forgotten, without something by which to remember him – and we will see this implication unfold further in just a moment.
The point I want to draw from this text is that everyone dies and is forgotten. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once.” Each of us will die a physical death, and our body will be placed in the ground. If we have friends and loved ones who really care about us, they might come to visit our grave; however, after a couple of generations we will probably be forgotten; and when people walk past our resting place, our tombstone will be just another rock amidst a pile of stones.
Hebrews 9:27-28 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear . . . for salvation.” We’re all going to die a physical death and be placed in the ground and eventually forgotten, but if we know Jesus Christ when our soul appears before God in judgment, then He will become the gift of God unto Salvation. Romans 6:23, when read in its entirety, says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When we find salvation in Jesus, our life doesn’t end with the grave. This news should provide a ray of hope, in knowing that we have a future in Christ; and though our body may be decaying under a pile of stones, we will continue to live on in heaven. But there’s more to this promise. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” When we come to see Jesus face to face, we will be known! Someone will know our name, know who we really are, and will appreciate us for all eternity; and this is what we’re all seeking: someone to know our name, know who we really are, and appreciate us.
We Want to Be Remembered (v. 18)
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
We all want to be remembered when we’re gone; and some of us secure this legacy by having children to pass on our name; however, Absalom had none. The only one who remembered him when he was gone was his father David, as he cried out in verse 33, “O my son Absalom; my son, my son Absalom.” However, the memory of Absalom would eventually fade away with David’s later passing; and today, we would have no record of his life had it not been for the account contained in the Bible.
Allow me to share some words from Commentator Matthew Henry. He asks, “Where is the beauty he had been so proud of and for which he had been so admired? Where are his aspiring projects, and the castles he had built in the air?”(2) He then elaborates, “His thoughts perish, and he with them. To aggravate the [disgrace] of Absalom’s burial, the historian takes notice of a pillar he had erected in the Valley of Kidron, near Jerusalem, to be a monument for himself, at the foot of which, it is probable, he intended to be buried. What care many people take about the disposal of their bodies, when they are dead, who have no care about what shall become of their precious souls! . . . [Absalom’s] care was to have his name kept in remembrance, and it is so [in the pages of the Scripture], to his everlasting dishonor.”(3)
In Revelation 20:12, John testified, “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” As I stated earlier, we will all stand before God in judgment; but if we know Jesus Christ, our name will be inscribed with permanent ink in the book of life, granting us entrance into heaven.
There’s only one way we can be remembered for all time and eternity, and it has nothing to do with gaining worldly recognition. Malachi stated, “So a book of remembrance was written before Him, for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name” (Mal 3:16). If we know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and make Him our life’s pursuit, our name will be forever recorded, as though etched on a memorial stone, in what Revelation 21:27 calls “the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Time or Reflection
We all want to be remembered by our friends and family when we’re gone, but most of us will eventually be forgotten; that is, here on earth. However, if we know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord we can rejoice, for our name will live on in eternity, and we will see our friends and loved ones again.
So, how do we come to know Jesus Christ? Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
NOTES
(1) Ben Philbeck, Jr., “1-2 Samuel,” The Broadman Bible Commentary, vol. 3, ed. Clifton J. Allen (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1970), p. 128.
(2) Matthew Henry, The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), p. 369.
(3) Ibid., p. 369.
