David does nothing when his son rapes his daughter, so
another son kills him and flees.
When justice is not done by the rulers, the people get
restless. They’ll usually find a figurehead, like Absalom, to take up
their cause, promising rough, substitute justice, replacing the ruler’s plan. This is the mafia dynamic.
This is also America, 2020. Our president has not led well through the
pandemic and the George Floyd incident.
The response is an Absalom: BLM, riots, and autonomous zones.
Chapter 18 – Absalom’s downfall was also his prior pride: his
thick and beautiful hair. Our strengths
have a way of becoming our liabilities if we aren’t careful to balance them
with other important virtues we are weaker in.
Chapter 19 – David could never really confront Joab directly. Was it that Joab was too strong
politically? Too close to David in age
and family? Joab’s insight was often
needed, as at the beginning of this chapter, but his solution was too often
violence, when it was unnecessary.
I found this Joab/David relationship a keen insight into actual leadership - how the leader is often forced to adopt a policy he wouldn't adopt himself, by a powerful actor behind the scenes (be it a donor, leader of a faction, etc.). The leader tries ways to resist it, but often cannot.
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