Warning Signs and Red Flags

I remember driving up a mountain road and noticed warning signs of something being wrong with our car.  Suddenly my wife and I commented on a sweet smell, like syrup on pancakes.  Then I saw water pooling around the front edge of the bonnet that slowly reached like long fingers towards the windscreen.  As I saw the temperature gauge quickly begin to soar, it was evident our radiator had sprung a leak, and we were losing coolant fast.  Thankfully because I recognised the warning signs of mechanical failure, I was able to pull over and have the vehicle towed and organise the repair without additional damage.

Many times it is not until after something goes catastrophically wrong that we realise we missed some warning signs.  Many of us have shrugged off or explained away warnings signs as irrelevant which would have been red flags to the observant.  Absalom, David's son, had many red flags that preceded his rise to power by usurping his father's kingdom.  He was highly praised for his handsome appearance, but what took place in his heart and mind was proud, selfish and sinful.  He lack of fitness for being king was seen with how he handled conflicts long before he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Absalom arranged the execution of his half-brother Amnon after he raped his sister, Tamar.  Rather than going through the proper channels of justice, he waited two years to lure his brother to a celebration where he gave the order to kill Amnon after he had been drinking.  Absalom knew he had done wrong, and thus he fled to Geshur where he remained for three years.  At the king's command Joab brought Absalom back home to Israel.  When Joab did not respond to two messages sent by Absalom, Absalom commanded his servants to burn Joab's field of barley.  This was no harmless prank, and it certainly achieved Absalom's desire when Joab came to confront him.  Absalom felt perfectly justified in doing what he did because it accomplished his designs he was entitled to.  He felt his time was being wasted, and he was the one who mattered most.

The plot to slay his brother and the smoke that rose from Joab's field of barley were red flags about the  sinful character of the man who went on to seduce the people of Israel, undermine his father's authority, and resulted in declaring himself king.  His brief "reign" was marked by adultery, spies and a bloody battle that ended with his death.  Had he remained on the throne, it is likely the nation of Israel would have suffered much more of the same at the hands of this cruel, brutal tyrant who was highly praised of everyone for his handsome looks.  May God open our eyes to warning signs and make them red flags we do not ignore and charge past--especially when it comes to choosing people for leadership roles.  Absalom's treacherous and narcissistic path to power would be the same way he exercised that power:  for his own personal gain at the expense of everyone else.

Proverbs 20:9-11 says, "Who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin"? ¹⁰ Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the LORD. ¹¹ Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right."  No man is able to cleanse and purify their hearts from sin, for only God can do this.  He knows what is right and wrong, and Absalom was a man of diverse weights and measures:  he appeared as an upright man who cared for others, yet he really only cared for himself.  Good quality of character can be observed in a child, and Absalom's deeds showed who he was as a man.  Heeding warning signs and investigating further is the key to making important decisions that take God's word and wisdom into account.  As children of God, let us be those who take God's warnings to heart and do what is right.