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2 Samuel 18:18. "Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar which is in the King's Valley, for he said, 'I have no son to keep my name and remembrance'; he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument to this day."

 

Absalom was King David's rebellious son. We are told about this pillar that he named for himself after he has been killed by David's men and his body thrown into a pit in the forest with a great heap of stones raised over top. Thus, history has a great heap of stones in a forest and a pillar bearing Absalom's name, both of which most likely no longer exist, by which to remember him. 

 

One reason to read the Bible is that in it, patterns and effects of virtue and sin are made very clear. Absalom's ignominious end, and the lack of anything by which to remember him, are indicative of what happens when we lead sinful lives and do not repent.

 

Absalom rebelled against his father, the king. He caused great division and anguish in his own family and in the kingdom. Isn't that exactly what we do when we sin? We rebel against our Father, the King, and we cause suffering among those we know and love, and also in the Church and in the world. (Even if we think we have "gotten away with it," and no one knows of our sin, every sin invites a little more evil into the world, none is without effect.)

 

In Absalom's pride, he wanted to be remembered, but he was not blessed with an heir, so he took a pillar in the King's Valley as his namesake. How tragic! He must have known in his heart that this pillar would be utterly forgotten in time. Or did he? Maybe he was blinded by his sin and was not able to think beyond himself, beyond his own time on this earth. Sin can do this to us. We attach permanence to things that we should know are passing away, especially when we're separated from God, our eternal source of happiness. And we attach impermanence to our sin that we'd rather forget, but that is much more eternal, if unrepented of, than any object or worldly thing we're clinging to.

 

In our sin, we cast around for something other than God to satisfy the need we have to be remembered, because we do not want to face our wrongdoing and repent of it. We don't want to look to God to remember us, because He will remember our unrepented sin. But the only remembrance we really need is that of God, which is also the only eternal remembrance possible. God has known us since before He knit us in our mother's womb. He will remember us for all eternity, even when all else passes away. He already knows about our sin, so why not talk to Him about it and get that all cleared up before it is too late, like it was for Absalom?

 

If only Absalom had repented before he was killed, his father the king, and God the Father, would have welcomed him back into the kingdom, and he would have had the love and peace his heart was truly seeking. At least we can take a lesson from Absalom and let go of the things with which we are trying to replace God in our lives, and run back to Him, seeking and gaining His forgiveness. Then He will forget our sin, and just remember us.