Metaphysical meaning of Absalom (mbd)
Absalom, ab'-sa-lom (Heb.)--father (source) of peace; father of salvation.
Third son of David, by Maacah the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (II Sam. 3:3, and 13th to 19th chapters). This name is a contracted form of the name ABISHALOM, which see.
Meta. That which is implied in the meaning of this name was not borne out in the life of the man who bore the name. The quality of true peace might have worked out in unlimited good had it been applied to the inner man instead of to the physical only.
Absalom represents physical beauty, without corresponding beauty of the soul David's love for physical beauty, without spiritual understanding as a foundation, is illustrated in Absalom. He was so absorbed in that state of consciousness that he gave himself up to it without realizing its character. When Absalom marched against Jerusalem with an army, David fled, and the usurper took possession of the capital. Likewise we let our affection for the physical forms of life engross our attention, to the exclusion of the spiritual. Parents frequently give up everything to a selfish child. A parallel to this is found in the individual when some cherished idea takes complete possession of him to the exclusion of good judgment.
When we give excessive love to a thing on the sense plane, there is a reaction, and an adjustment takes place under the working of what may be termed the law of nature. In a measure the subjective consciousness is self-regulating. We may transgress the law of nature up to a certain degree; then all at once we seem to lose command; the mind and the body are in a state of chemicalization --a war is on between the thoughts of Truth and the thoughts of error. Some cherished ideal that has been ruling on the physical plane must be deposed, and the rightful king must be restored to dominion. This movement may appear to the individual as an illness of which he does not understand the cause; its explanation is below the line of conscious mind.
Joab led the army that defeated Absalom, and Joab and his armor-bearers slew Absalom. Joab represents the inner center that preserves the unity and integrity of soul and body, the individual will. This is the focal point around which all the forces of the organism, objective and subjective, adjust themselves.
Yet the conscious love does not want to give up its cherished ideal, no matter how great its error. When the messengers brought the tidings of Absalom's death, David cried: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !" This illustrates the absorbing love that the affections feel for the realm of sense when they are not balanced by understanding.
Absalom was a son by a heathen wife (there was no redeeming spirituality in the thought, and the soul forces were cemented to it as a material reality). This is why it is so hard for us to give up our material possessions, whether they be in the form of our children or in the form of money. If we love our children with an earthly love, without the understanding that they are the children of God, the very substance of our soul goes out to them. So, when the soul loves money, it becomes saturated with materiality. Jesus saw this when He said, "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!"
________________________
Preceding Entry: Abram
Following Entry: Accad
