{"id":33888,"date":"2024-12-27T22:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T05:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-samuel_16_1-14-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-12-17T16:55:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T23:55:47","slug":"2-samuel_16_15-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-samuel_16_15-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Before You Take Someone’s Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Samuel\u00a0 16:15-23\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Samuel 16:15-23.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

In this passage Absalom talks with two of David’s most trusted royal advisors in Israel: Hushai and Ahithophel.\u00a0 While deep down Hushai is committed to protecting David, Ahithophel appears bent on destroying David.<\/p>\n

2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Samuel<\/em><\/strong>\u00a016<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>15<\/em><\/strong>-19 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n15<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.\u00a0<\/em>
\n16<\/sup>\u00a0Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s friend, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”\u00a0<\/em>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Absalom asked Hushai, “Is this the love you show your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”\u00a0<\/em>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.\u00a0<\/em>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a015-19: \u00a0Hushai, a devoted friend and advisor of David, follows David’s instructions (15:32-37).\u00a0 He goes to Absalom’s camp pretending to side with Absalom (v15-16).\u00a0 Absalom is suspicious and questions Hushai (v17).\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0Before 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Samuel<\/em><\/strong>\u00a016<\/em><\/strong>:20-23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”\u00a0<\/em>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.”\u00a0<\/em>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.\u00a0<\/em>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-23: \u00a0Absalom follows Ahithophel’s advice to sleep with David’s concubines and let all of Israel know about it. \u00a0 Why would Ahithophel advise Absalom to do such an outrageous act?\u00a0 There are at least two possible reasons:<\/p>\n

1. By publicly sleeping with his father’s concubines, Absalom was committing a shocking and unforgettable act of defiance against his father.\u00a0 Remember that it was on the palace roof that David spotted Bathsheba and began his adulterous affair.\u00a0 Now Absalom would pitch a tent on that same palace roof and commit adultery with David’s concubines.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n

2. Some scholars believe that Ahithophel was Bathsheba’s grandfather, based on verses like\u00a02\u00a0Samuel\u00a011:3 and 23:34.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Whether that is true or not, Ahithophel’s plan was certainly effective in giving the nation a shock.\u00a0 However, Ahithophel’s plan was flawed.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 While Absalom escaped his father David’s judgment, ultimately, God would not let Absalom off the hook for this sin.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0Before you take someone’s advice, always remember this: \u00a0no 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That brings us to a third reason why Ahithophel may have given this flawed advice: \u00a0earlier when David heard that Ahithophel had defected to Absalom’s side, David prayed that God would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness (15:31).\u00a0 Before Ahithophel’s advice was highly valued and seen as equivalent to God’s wisdom (v23).\u00a0 Yet after David prayed, Ahithophel began giving flawed advice.\u00a0 It shows that\u00a0no matter how smart, talented or reputable a person is, all wisdom and power ultimately come from God<\/strong>.\u00a0 God is sovereign.\u00a0 He can thwart, confuse and make foolish the mind of even the smartest person if He so chose.\u00a0 So\u00a0put your hope in God, not just in people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 May my hope always be in You and not just in people.\u00a0 For You thwart the plans of people, but Your plans stand firm forever.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

opyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Samuel 16:15-23.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this passage Absalom talks with two of David’s most trusted royal advisors in Israel: Hushai and Ahithophel.\u00a0 While deep down Hushai is committed to protecting David, Ahithophel appears bent on destroying David. \u00a0<\/p>\n

2\u00a0Samuel\u00a016:15-19 (NIV)\u00a0
\n15\u00a0Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.\u00a0
\n16\u00a0Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s friend, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”\u00a0
\n17\u00a0Absalom asked Hushai, “Is this the love you show your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a015-19: \u00a0Hushai, a devoted friend and advisor of David, follows David’s instructions (15:32-37).\u00a0 He goes to Absalom’s camp pretending to side with Absalom (v15-16).\u00a0 Absalom is suspicious and questions Hushai (v17).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33888"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33891,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888\/revisions\/33891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}