Absalom

Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he cut it because it was heavy on him—when he cut it, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king's standard. – 2 Samuel 14.25-26

This first real description of Absalom is really something. It tells us why he became popular in Israel. What was is it? Was it is character? Was it is leadership ability? Was it his wisdom? Was it his military ability?

No – it was his beauty. He had no blemish from head to toe. He had a beautiful head of hair – he  had so much hair in fact that it weighed about 3kg. I can’t even imagine carrying around more than six pounds of hair on my head.That hair is going to be a problem, but we’ll talk about that later.

The problem is what drew people to Absalom the usurper. He rose to political and military might based only on his beauty. The other problem is that this attitude can still persist today. People still follow the externals and it has become even more obvious in the television and Internet generation.

But Absalom’s heart did not match up to his outside and we know that God looks on a man’s heart. His dad was not known for his appearance, but for being a man after God’s own heart. Appearance is such a shallow standard with which to judge somone. Absalom’s pride is going to lead to tragedy for him, his dad, and their nation.