The Absalom spirit

The Absalom spirit

SIB, Pastor Chew Weng Chee

When we look at the timeline of David’s life, we see a certain trend. Every time he reaches a high, he suddenly plunges down. After his anointing as king, his defeat of Goliath, and being taken into the royal family, David suddenly found himself pursued by a jealous King Saul to the ends of Israel and beyond, forcing him to become a fugitive. After he became established as King of Israel and enjoyed many successful years, he fell into adultery and murder, and his sin resulted in a downward spiral for both him and his family. Similarly, many successful students, businesspeople, even church leaders and pastors, after attaining great success suddenly find themselves plunging down into despair. Sometimes God allows these things to happen to remind us that we are human, and that we need Him.

The Absalom rebellion against David was a follow through of the judgment on David’s sin. Nathan had prophesied that the sword would never leave David’s house, and his family suffered tragic consequences. Although David had been forgiven, there were still terrible consequences for many people for some time. Besides that, the sin had also blunted David’s spiritual acumen until he could not see the rebellion coming at all. We need to beware of the Absalom spirit which is the spirit of divisiveness in the church.

Absalom was the third son of David, and though the Scripture records him as being very attractive, there is no mention of his spirituality. It is important for us to remember 1 Samuel 16:7 which shows us that God looks at the heart and not the outward appearance. Absalom was charming, deceptive, cunning, subtle and treacherous. He turned the hearts of the Israelites against David using favors, flattery and casting doubts over his father’s concern for his people. The Absalom spirit causes chaos and confusion in a church or business. Its ultimate aim is to undermine, to tear down and gain mileage for himself, projecting himself as savior or salvation.

How come David did not spot it? Because of his sin, David’s spirit was blunted. He could not discern and missed it. We must be very careful not to fall into the same mistake. The roots of the rebellion actually started earlier when Amnon raped Tamar, his half-sister. David heard of it and was furious but he did nothing. Absalom hated Amnon and later took it upon himself to kill him. There was immorality and bloodshed in his house, for David had not taken control. If the father does not take authority, all hell breaks loose. The father, the company head, the church leaders has to do what is righteous. David should have dealt with it based on God’s standards. He would have been unpopular but it is better to be unpopular than compromised. If we do not define ourselves, we allow others to define us. We must maintain the standard of God. Though there are those who may hate him and seek to destroy him, Pastor Chew has one standard, God’s absolute standard. David failed because he did not take control. We have to believe that when we do what is right, God will back us up. Pastor’s experience is that when he takes a stand for God, God backs him up all the way. We cannot compromise on God’s standard.

There are 6 particular characteristics of an Absalom spirit that we must beware of.

Firstly, the Absalom spirit plants doubts and casts slurs on God’s ordained leadership. They criticize the pastors or leaders, saying they don’t care, that they don’t develop you.

Secondly, the Absalom spirit uses kindness, handouts and favors as their means to gain the hearts of the people. They take effort to carefully construct an image to impress.

Thirdly, the Absalom spirit needs an audience to thrive. They will speak to 2,000 people but not two. If there is no audience, it goes somewhere else. They look for people in want, discontented people, those who are anti-establishment. They are very dangerous.

Fourthly, the Absalom makes promises he does not intend to keep. Pastor Chew mandate is that as God’s servant, he tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. People like to hear certain preachers that keep saying God blesses and blesses, that it’s ok to want bigger, better things. These preachers never preach about suffering but only about the grace of God. All SIB pastors are called to preach the truth, without fear or favor of men.

Fifthly, unforgiveness and bitterness are the underlying causes for this type of spirit to germinate. Some people are hurt and offended that the Pastor hurt them, that the Cell Heads hurt them. We are called to forgive, and not give room for the Absalom spirit to work. It thrives on offenses. We need to forgive and move on with our focus to build God’s kingdom.

Sixth, the Absalom spirit is able to deceive even the elect and bring them over to his side. The most wise person, Ahitophel was deceived. He was David’s wisest counselor and his betrayal affected David most significantly.

Seventh, the Absalom spirit will surface sooner or later to cause rebellion.

How do we fight the Absalom spirit?

Firstly, be decisive. We need to make a clean cut. We cannot accommodate it, like David did.

Secondly, be discerning.

Thirdly, be devoted, totally committed to God and to His kingdom. If God is for us, no one can be against us! Do what is right, and we will have a clear conscience before God.

Finally, Absalom was caught by his own hair as he was running away from David. Ultimately, the hair that was his pride killed him. The head represents authority and the hair arrogance. Basically, Absalom set himself as head and by his head he was finally judged.

In closing we were reminded to beware most of pride, for pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18)