Today’s Scripture Reading (March 28, 2016): 2 Samuel 14
Prince Frederick of Hanover was made the heir apparent to the British throne on June 22, 1727, the day that his father became King George II of Great Britain. At the time of his elevation to the position of heir apparent, Frederick was twenty years old – and he hadn’t seen either of his parents for thirteen years. The source of the feud between the young Frederick and his parents has been a bit of a mystery, but it probably went back to the way Frederick’s Grandfather, George I, used the young prince. There is no doubt that George I was grooming the young Frederick to be king. And there seems to be little doubt that Frederick’s parents resented that fact. George I also decreed that his grandson would not be allowed to go to the British Islands until after his father became King. Until that time, he remained in Hanover on the European mainland. And for the rest of his life, he was known as the “Prince of Hanover,” even after his father bestowed on him the title “Prince of Wales.”
David brought Absalom from Geshur to Jerusalem. But even though David’s son was brought closer to David, he was still in exile. With the three years Absalom had spent in Geshur and the two years he had spent in Jerusalem, Absalom had not been in the presence of his father for five years. Of course, there was no doubt as to the source of the feud between the father and his son; it is Absalom’s murder of Amnon that was the problem. And David wanted his son to be humbled before he could be accepted back into the royal court.
However, Absalom had other plans. And so he demands to see his father and to be returned to his place in the court. He was sure, and rightly so, that his Dad would not be able to execute his son. But Absalom does not want to return to court so that he can be reunited with dad. His return to court has a more practical purpose; he wanted to start his campaign to replace his father as king.
The similarities between Absalom and Frederick are many. Both spent a significant amount of time separated from their fathers. Both were heirs apparent to the throne. And neither would actually ascend to the throne that they believed was theirs. For Absalom, he would die in a rebellion that he had planned in order to hasten his father’s death and allow him an earlier ascent to the throne of Israel. Frederick also died before his father, although the reason for his death was much more mundane. At the age of forty-four, Frederick died of a burst abscess on his lung. Rumor has it that the abscess was caused by a blow from a cricket or a real tennis ball, but we will probably never know for sure. Either way, the estrangement from dad eventually became permanent. And both dads were left to mourn the death of their eldest sons.
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