“In his own lifetime, Avshalom had taken and raised for himself the pillar which stands in the King’s Valley; because he said, ‘I don’t have a son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself, and it’s called Avshalom’s Monument to this day.“-2 Samuel 18:18
People say the monument Absalom built, which he dedicated to himself, was the same as “Absalom’s Tomb” in the Kidron Valley.
I have my doubts about that.
That construction was first built in the Greek era, long after Absalom’s time.
So, we don’t really know if this was the exact spot of the monument talked about here in 2nd Samuel.
Having said that, the location of King’s Valley mentioned in verse 18 is indeed near Absalom’s Tomb, the tourist site which can be seen and visited today.
For hundreds of years, it was customary for folks passing by to throw rocks at the pillar to show their disapproval of Absalom.
They would even take their kids there, punish them, and point to Absalom’s monument as a warning of what happens to naughty children.
Based on that, I thought about writing this takeaway:
“What you do in this life can leave a bitter memory long after you’re gone, like Absalom’s monument.”
However, that isn’t what came to me.
Instead, what came to me is the part where Absalom was grieving that, “I don’t have a son to preserve the memory of my name.”
This strikes me as being a statement born from feelings of inferiority over never having any children.
So Absalom didn’t have any sons to preserve his name?
Big whoopee frickin’ doo man!
Who cares?
This is a pet peeve of mine because I’m a single man past his middle age who never married and had kids.
I’m just so damn sick and tired of being viewed as some inferior human being every time I visit a house of worship where married men with kids are worshipped, kissed up to, and given more respect than their single counterparts.
That’s your takeaway for today.
The truth is, single or married, kids or no kids, it doesn’t mean diddly squat.
Some of Scripture’s greatest heroes, including the prophet Jeremiah, Elijah, and Yeshua himself, were single.
What matters ain’t your marital status.
Some of the biggest, most repulsive, and arrogant jerks I’ve ever met in my life were married men with kids, some of whom were leaders of Messianic congregations.
And to be fair, some of the most wonderful, loving, and Godly men I’ve ever met were married dudes with kids.
Many of them are close friends with whom I fellowship and pray regularly to this day.
What’s much more important is how you live, serve, and honor God.
That’s the legacy that lasts.
Not producing a bunch of kids, of whom any one of them could end up becoming an Absalom.
Ya feeling me here?
Later homies.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“I say therefore to the
unmarried and widows,
It is good for them
if they abide even as I.”
-1 Corinthians 7:8
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