Today’s Reading:  2 Sam 18:1–33, 2 Pet 2:12–22, Ps 144:1–5

Today’s Theme: The Bondage of Vanity

Today’s theme is about the bondage of vanity, we will see how Absalom’s vanity left him trapped. Joab’s vanity made him seditious and Ahimaaz wasted time and energy. The theme carries over into the New Testament, where we read about the vanity of greed and the vanity of man, in the Psalms.

A definition of vanity (in the context we will look at it this morning), is that which is empty of meaning, purpose, or content and in general just empty, worthless, or futile. Vanity can also speak of pride and conceit.

Something does not gain value because we treasure it. We cannot add quality or substance to something that is empty and meaningless, instead like a black hole, the vain areas of life will suck meaning, purpose and worth from our lives.

2 Samuel 18:1–33

Trapped by vanity

And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 2 Samuel 18:9 (ESV)

The fact that Absalom was vain is quite obvious when we consider the fact that he tried to take his father’s kingdom by force. We also read in 2 Sam 14:26, that Absalom had long hair and would cut and weigh out his hair each year.

It is likely that Absalom became trapped in the great oak tree by the asset he was most vain about, his hair. You can imagine the scene now, his long hair getting caught up and tangled in the branches.

The vain things that we place most pride in, are the things we are likely to be trapped by. These things can cause us to stumble and hinder our walk.

We read in Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Whatever the vain thing is in your life, that you hold closely must be cast aside or you will get entangled, trapped, stuck and be left open to the cruel attacks of the enemy.

The vanity of sedition

Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 2 Samuel 18:14 (ESV)

Joab was so often driven by his own sense of what was right and wrong, and in his proud and vengeful vanity, showed contempt for David’s command and so walked in open sedition.

We must not let the emptiness of an elevated view of ourselves, cause us to walk in sedition and blatantly disobey the Lord or our leaders.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

The vanity of thinking of ourselves above others and walking in rebellion to authority, will not only eventually cause us great harm, but will bring pain and death (spiritually and even physically), to those around us.

What we do also affects those looking up to us, Joab’s armour bearers all got involved in his murder and sedition.

Don’t run in vain

“Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite. 2 Samuel 18:23 (ESV)

Ahimaaz was a man who was loyal to David and he demonstrated his devotion by risking his life to bring a message to David and his men, in the previous chapter.

However in this case, we see vanity in his act rather than in him as a person. The text makes clear that this is a pure man who loves the Lord and his king.

God wants us to use wisdom, He does not want us to act in vain and run unnecessarily like Ahimaaz, who came to the king with only half of the facts.

We must not run in vain, we must not waste our time or energy on missions and work that the Lord has not called us to, or equipped us for.

Paul mentions in Galatians 2:2, “I went up because of a revelation and set before them… the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.”

He also wrote in Philippians 2:16, “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labour in vain.”

2 Peter 2:12–22

The vanity of sin

They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 2 Peter 2:14 (ESV)

The appetites of sin are vain. The definition of the word includes empty, worthless and meaningless; this is the essence of sin, it is empty.

The false teachers are children of the devil, they have an insatiable thirst for sinful experience and lust after married women.

The false promise of the heretics and the empty promises of sin go hand in hand.

Our souls must be steady, filled with the substance, worth and meaning of God’s word and the Holy Spirit. This is the only way to guard against the vanities of sin and heresy.

The greed and covetousness that drives sin can never be satisfied, it is just vanity upon vanity, no amount of having or buying will ever satisfy, the void just gets deeper.

The strange vanity of greed

Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing. 2 Peter 2:15 (ESV)

As just mentioned in the last note, greed is a strange thing, it presents itself as a desire for more but because it is vain (empty and worthless), it adds to our emptiness and takes away from the worth of what we already have.

Our culture teaches us to be greedy and to keep aiming for more, but the more we do this the less satisfied we become.

We should avoid the vain spirit of Balam, which is driven by greed and seeks to make an unrighteous profit from a gift or ministry that God has given us.

Let us learn to be content and have a godly sense of “enough” and generosity.

The vanity of walking on the borderline

For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 2 Peter 2:18 (ESV)

We are called to live godly lives and to pursue God and His ways, we should not be borderline Christians, barely escaping the enemy.

Borderline Christians are always asking how far they are allowed to go and they walk as close to the border as possible, sometimes slipping over into no-man’s land.

If we live in or close to compromise, we make ourselves susceptible to being picked off by heretics and devils.

Don’t live an empty, worthless Christian life on the borderline, come inland and be a part of the kingdom. Let us live our lives filled with God’s purpose, not living in the gray lines but walking in the light.

The slavery of vanity

They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 2 Peter 2:19 (ESV)

Whatever we allow to overcome us will enslave us, this is the enslavement of vanity.

Vanity will drive us like a slave master, it will crack the whip for us to pursue empty sin and greed.

We must stay in the freedom which Christ has won for us and not turn back to the vanity and enslavement of sin.

Psalm 144:1–5

The vanity of man

O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Psalm 144:3 (ESV)

Man is worthless and empty in comparison to the awesome majesty of God. Outside of Christ, everything about man is vanity.

This makes it all the more amazing that God is thinking of us and has visited us in the person of Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and save us for eternity.

Jesus defeated the vanity of sin on the cross and gave us a full and meaningful life. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on 2 Peter 2