JOAB travelled to faraway Geshur on the northern borders of Israel in the days that followed. The king’s house had learned that the exiled prince stayed there.
Joab, commander of David’s soldiers, didn’t however ride there with an entourage of chariots or horses.
No, he scaled the hills and mountains all the way to Absalom, just himself and his shieldman.
It was in a single large caravan.
Now, Absalom had fled to Geshur with his small family, when he killed Amnon three years back. He took his wife and his two boys.
But the prince wasn’t returning home with that number now. It was just with his wife and a little daughter.
And even Joab wondered what on earth happened in Geshur.
It seemed nemesis had tailed the Third Prince to Geshur when he ran from it. And when it caught up with him at last, it was pitiless in what it did.
Absalom lost his two lanky boys when he arrived that city. The boys were too fatigued by the running that they fell very ill.
But they didn’t survive that running from what their father did. So in just one week of exile, they passed on to the better place of rest beyond here.
It was a painful nemesis: and Absalom lost the heir to carry on his name.
But joy always come after night, they say. So Providence pitied the Third One when he cried for his lost sons the way his father grieved his.
Then Absalom and his wife found solace in their own arms; and soon a daughter was born to them.
The Third One thought about the beginning of his sojourn. He thought about his only sister when the small bundle of joy came.
So he named his beautiful baby after her. He named her Tamar.
It was the name of the damsel that Amnon violated. It was the name behind his own blame.
So now, Prince Absalom returned to Jerusalem on the king’s order. But his return was as quiet as the passing of dawn.
Not many people knew as he rode back with the two soldiers that went to fetch him.
The king of Geshur had bestowed the prince with a white horse to return. But not many people noticed the returning fleet enter the city.
Yet Absalom wasn’t expecting a royal treat when he came back with Joab.
He knew he had returned on the king’s generosity. So wanting a noisy welcome was simply asking for too much.
But still there was one thing the thirty-something found difficult to deal with. One thing he found too hard to bear.
And it was the silence of the king.
Now as Absalom settled in Jerusalem, there was a clear order that no one bring him before David.
It was the king himself who wasn’t willing to see his son. And so, Absalom didn’t get a chance to meet him.
Yes, King David’s sons were chief ministers in the ruler’s administration. His relatives were also his closest associates.
But the Third Prince wasn’t handed back his official duties; and so he couldn’t come near the king’s palace.
The situation wasn’t really pleasant to the Third. Even so he decided to bear it and count it as the king’s method of punishing him.
However, that condition went on for two years; and Absalom became really frustrated.
Anyone could ignore him—in fact, everyone. He never expected the nation to accept his return anyway.
He’d decided to put up with the cold feelings and hate. But not when it was his father David hiding his face.
It felt to him like God also was hiding his face.
So in those two years back at home, Absalom sent his servants to Joab, David’s right hand man. He was asking for a simple talk.
But Joab knew what Absalom wanted to say already. He wanted to be brought to see the king. It was obvious his father’s silence was killing him.
Even still, the man was not ready to have that talk. He knew there was no way he could bring him to David.
Not when David himself had clearly warned against it.
Thus, Joab ignored both the young man and his messengers.
But Absalom would send his servants another time, and Joab would simply avoid seeing them again.
This went on and on those two years. Until one day that the Third One spoke a different language.
Yet it wasn’t a language that anyone spoke in Israel. It wasn’t even a language like Hebrew or any other.
It was a shocking one that only Absalom knew.
It was the language of fire.
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