2 Samuel 16:15-23 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 16:15-23. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
In this passage Absalom talks with two of David’s most trusted royal advisors in Israel: Hushai and Ahithophel. While deep down Hushai is committed to protecting David, Ahithophel appears bent on destroying David.
2 Samuel 16:15-19 (NIV)
15 Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.
16 Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s friend, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
17 Absalom asked Hushai, “Is this the love you show your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”
18 Hushai said to Absalom, “No, the one chosen by the LORD, by these people, and by all the men of Israel–his I will be, and I will remain with him.
19 Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.”
On verses 15-19: Hushai, a devoted friend and advisor of David, follows David’s instructions (15:32-37). He goes to Absalom’s camp pretending to side with Absalom (v15-16). Absalom is suspicious and questions Hushai (v17). Hushai’s words to Absalom are full of double meaning (v16, 18-19) but because Absalom assumes that Hushai’s words are all to honour him, Absalom lets Hushai into his inner circle. Because Absalom never thought to investigate further, Hushai would secure for David an important advantage in his struggle against Absalom.
What can we learn from this? Before you take someone’s advice, or before you elevate someone to a position of power in your life, do your due diligence on that person.
2 Samuel 16:20-23 (NIV)
20 Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”
21 Ahithophel answered, “Lie with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench in your father’s nostrils, and the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened.”
22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
23 Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.
On verses 20-23: Absalom follows Ahithophel’s advice to sleep with David’s concubines and let all of Israel know about it. Why would Ahithophel advise Absalom to do such an outrageous act? There are at least two possible reasons:
1. By publicly sleeping with his father’s concubines, Absalom was committing a shocking and unforgettable act of defiance against his father. Remember that it was on the palace roof that David spotted Bathsheba and began his adulterous affair. Now Absalom would pitch a tent on that same palace roof and commit adultery with David’s concubines. It was a bold statement to all of Israel, and especially to those who disliked David, that Absalom was not afraid of his father, that Absalom had taken David’s place on the throne and in the royal home, and that Absalom could do everything David could do but to a more extreme degree. Ahithophel’s idea was that if Absalom made himself “a stench” in his father’s “nostrils”, it would cause Absalom’s followers to become even more motivated to follow Absalom, and “the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened” (v21).
2. Some scholars believe that Ahithophel was Bathsheba’s grandfather, based on verses like 2 Samuel 11:3 and 23:34. The theory is that Ahithophel held a grudge against David for putting his granddaughter at the centre of a national scandal. So to get back at David, Ahithophel joins Absalom’s side and advises Absalom to hurt David in the same way that David had hurt Ahithophel’s family. Whether that is true or not, Ahithophel’s plan was certainly effective in giving the nation a shock. However, Ahithophel’s plan was flawed. That is because Ahithophel’s plan required Absalom to do something that was strictly forbidden by the law of Moses and punishable by death (see Leviticus 20:11). While Absalom escaped his father David’s judgment, ultimately, God would not let Absalom off the hook for this sin.
What can we learn from this? Before you take someone’s advice, always remember this: no matter how clever or effective a plan may seem, if that plan requires that you go against the Word of God, that plan will ultimately fail.
That brings us to a third reason why Ahithophel may have given this flawed advice: earlier when David heard that Ahithophel had defected to Absalom’s side, David prayed that God would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness (15:31). Before Ahithophel’s advice was highly valued and seen as equivalent to God’s wisdom (v23). Yet after David prayed, Ahithophel began giving flawed advice. It shows that no matter how smart, talented or reputable a person is, all wisdom and power ultimately come from God. God is sovereign. He can thwart, confuse and make foolish the mind of even the smartest person if He so chose. So put your hope in God, not just in people.
Father, since all wisdom comes from You, I pray for wisdom today, that the steps I take and decisions I make would be powered by Your wisdom. May my hope always be in You and not just in people. For You thwart the plans of people, but Your plans stand firm forever. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
opyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.