Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. – 2 Samuel 18:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 25, 2013): 2 Samuel 18

In 1986, in game seven of a preliminary round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers were facing off against the Calgary Flames. The series had been long anticipated by fans of both cities. The Oilers and the Flames were both top teams in the NHL as well as being provincial rivals. Edmonton was in the middle of a series of Stanley Cup wins and there was no reason to expect that this year would any different. But the series between the Oilers and Flames had been memorable. And with the score tied in the third period, it was becoming obvious to anyone watching that the Oilers were simply too much for the Flames. The Oilers were pressing and Flames were out of gas. And then it happened. The Flames dumped the puck into the Oilers zone in an attempt to get fresh players on the ice, and the Oilers Steve Smith picked up the puck and scored on his own net. Smith flopped on the ice in an agony of embarrassment – and the Flames eliminated the Oilers from the playoffs. It was not the way it was supposed to end – but it was the way it would end.

Absalom is riding into battle against the forces of his father. As the reader moves through the story, it is evident that in Israel Absalom’s star was on the rise while David’s was falling. But all of that was about to change. Absalom was riding into battle on a donkey. It was the action of kings, and so riding on the donkey was simply a way that Absalom could proclaim himself as the real king. So it is King Absalom that rides into battle. But then the unthinkable happened. Absalom’s donkey carries him under the low hanging branches of a tree.

We are not really sure of the details of what happened next. Josephus, a Jewish historian from just after the time of Christ, says that the donkey carried Absalom under a tree and his hair got tangled up in the branches causing him to be trapped hanging from the tree. Some biblical scholars argue that if it was just his hair that was caught, Absalom would have at least tried to extricate himself from the situation. For them, it is more likely that the donkey carried him into a branch with a V in it. The resulting collision was completed with enough force that Absalom was temporarily knocked unconscious, leaving his body simply hanging limply from a tree. But, whichever way it happened the result was that Absalom, the would be king, had his head trapped in a tree and his body hung helplessly in front of his enemies.  

It was an embarrassing way for the rebellion to end, but sometimes there are just events in life that we can never adequately account for. And that is the reason why, in sport, the adage is that because the unexpected happens, the game simply must be played.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 19