And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me, I pray, choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David to-night;
David is on the run with a few hundred men. His own former adviser now asks Absalom for twelve thousand men and one night to finish him.
Ahithophel had been David's own adviser. One writer points to his name, his family, and David's own past.
Ahithophel the Gilonite was moved in a very different way. He was the father of Eliam and grandfather of Bathsheba. So we are left to infer a personal grudge against David. That grudge is easy to see in his later proposal: he will pursue David himself and strike him alone. He had been David's counsellor, and people listened to him, we are told, as if God had spoken. Yet his name means "brother of folly." The worldly wisdom we find in him is always like that. But again we see how, under God's government, David's sin is following him now.
The plan is built on timing: twelve thousand men against a handful, moving that same night.
Ahithophel saw that if Absalom was to win any victory over David, he had to strike fast. So Ahithophel asks to take 12,000 men and chase David that same night. Only a few hundred had gone with David. His reasoning is sound: such an attack would scatter David's men and leave David unprotected, so they could kill him alone. Wickedness can only succeed by striking fast. It cannot wait for calm, careful thought.
The plan needs no long campaign. Remove one man, and the rest collapse. One writer sees the enemy's whole method in that.
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. He figures, with reason, that if David is killed, everything will fall to pieces. The people will then become Absalom's prey. He says, "I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you." This is how the prince of darkness works. He aims all his efforts at Christ. To this end he stirred up the world against Him. But at the cross he did not win the conflict. He lost, and his power was broken.
David had already prayed about this adviser. One writer notes what God did with that prayer — and what God let run its course.
David prayed (2 Sam. 15:31), "O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." God answered that prayer by making Absalom listen to someone else's advice. But He let man's wicked plan to get rid of Christ be carried out in full — to its own defeat. What a comfort for believers to know that God is greater than any group of men who can stand against Him. He is greater even when all the cunning and force of Satan is behind them.
Hushai's counter-speech looks like the turning point. One writer points to a different cause.
Ahithophel's counsel was aimed at the person of David only. He wanted to have him killed, and so by the death of one man bring all Israel back. But Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord. That Lord loved David. Through all the chastening David had to pass through, He was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord.
Hushai's mission worked. One writer still asks an uncomfortable question about it:
David's plan to defeat Ahithophel through Hushai has worked completely. If success can justify a plan, this one is justified by it. How many people would accept that justification, openly or secretly, perhaps hardly admitting it to themselves?
Ahithophel's advice had once carried the weight of a word from God. One writer traces what its rejection cost him.
This man had been David's friend and companion before he turned against him. The advice he gave in those days was like getting an answer from God Himself. But the Lord had now decided to overthrow him. Absalom rejects his advice and passes his word by. His reputation for wisdom in the state was everything to him, so the idol of his life is now stolen from him. His "good thing" is gone, and he sinks down a defiled, dishonoured ruin.
- Aim — the whole plot narrows to one man: strike the king only, and the people come back on their own.
- Speed — evil needs haste. It cannot survive calm, careful thought, so Ahithophel wants to ride out that same night.
- Shadow — the same aim turns on Christ. Satan stirred the world against Him and lost at the cross.
- Sovereignty — Hushai speaks, but the Lord defeats the counsel. David's earlier prayer is answered: Absalom listens to another voice.
- Ruin — the adviser once heard like a word from God is passed over. His reputation gone, he sinks into ruin.
and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and I will bring back all the people to thee. The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned all the people shall be in peace.
Ahithophel's advice to Absalom is short, cold and surgical: one man dies, and a whole nation changes sides overnight. Behind the military logic sits an older grudge. Behind that stands God, steering the outcome.
Ahithophel plans for speed, and for one target only.
Ahithophel saw clearly that if Absalom was to win any victory over David he had to strike quickly. Satan knows that the only way to establish the antichrist in power is to destroy the true Christ. So Ahithophel asks for 12,000 men — David had only a few hundred with him — to chase David that same night. He reasons well: such an attack would scatter David's men and leave David alone and unprotected, so that they could kill him. So he says, "I will bring all the people back to you," as though the people had left Absalom! (v.3). Wickedness can succeed only by striking quickly. It cannot afford to wait for calm, careful thought.
Ahithophel's name and his wording both say more than he knows.
But Ahithophel is, after all, "brother of foolishness." He does not see that the wheel, swung round so far, will come up again for David. God has glorified Himself in view of David's sin, and He did it openly. So He can now appear for David, as soon becomes clear, and as Ahithophel finds out. Everything would then be secure. Once "the man whom you seek" is put to death, it is "as if all returned" — speaking as if these had wandered from their loyalty, rather than Absalom's men.
(Older translations read "the man whom you seek is as if all returned." The ESV pictures the same return: "as a bride comes home to her husband.")
This adviser was trusted like an oracle, and he had never forgiven David.
The conspiracy comes to a head, and Absalom sends for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor (2 Sam. 15:12). "Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God" (2 Sam. 16:23). How was it that Absalom had the nerve to send for David's trusted counsellor? This was another sorrowful bit of reaping from former sin. Ahithophel appears to have been Bathsheba's grandfather. We can well understand that he had never forgiven David for the way he treated his granddaughter. (Compare 2 Sam. 11:3 and 2 Sam. 23:34.)
Rossier sees the same method at work in a much larger conflict.
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. He is right to calculate that if David is gone, everything will fall apart and the people will become Absalom's prey… This is how the prince of darkness works. All his efforts are aimed at Christ. So he stirred up the world against Him. But at the cross he did not win the conflict. He lost, and his power was broken.
David's own people reach the same conclusion as Ahithophel, but out of love instead of hatred.
The people love David, and they understand something even better than Ahithophel did. This false prophet hated David, yet he knew it perfectly well: "I will strike down only the king… you seek the life of only one man." On both sides there is the conviction that everything depends on David. Only, on the part of the people, faith is active; for them David absent from the battlefield counts just as much as David present.
The plan was well aimed. It failed anyway, and Scripture says why.
Ahithophel's counsel was aimed at the person of David only. He wanted David killed, so that the death of one man would bring all Israel back. But Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord. That Lord loved David, and through all the chastening David had to pass through, He was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom."
- One man. Ahithophel's plan rests on one idea: kill David, and the whole nation comes back.
- One grudge. The cold logic hides a private motive. As Bathsheba's grandfather, he had never forgiven David — and David is reaping what he sowed.
- One lie. "Bring back all the people" treats Absalom as the rightful king and David's men as the deserters.
- One target. Commentators see the enemy's constant method here: aim everything at the King Himself. At the cross, that ended in the enemy's defeat.
- One Keeper. Hushai got the credit, but Scripture says the LORD had ordained that this counsel would fail. The truth Ahithophel used in hatred, David's men held in faith.
And the saying was right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
Ahithophel has just laid out his plan. Strike David that same night, kill the king alone, and bring the nation back. Absalom and every elder in the room approve it at once. This is the moment the rebellion looks certain to win, and the moment God seems furthest away.
The plan was a good one, and its strength was speed. One writer traces the thinking behind it:
Ahithophel saw clearly that if Absalom was to gain any victory over David he must strike quickly. Satan knows that the only way to put the antichrist in power is to destroy the true Christ. So Ahithophel asks to take 12,000 men with him — against the few hundred who had gone with David — and to chase David that same night. He reasons well that such an attack would scatter David's men. David would be left unprotected, and they could kill him alone. So he says, "I will bring back all the people to you," as though the people had left Absalom! Wickedness can only succeed by striking fast. It cannot afford to wait for calm, careful thought. This counsel pleased Absalom and his men, because it was the plan most likely to succeed.
The room was reacting to the man as much as to the plan:
Verse 23 assures us that people held Ahithophel's counsel in the highest respect, as though he had the wisdom of God behind him. David had valued his advice, and so did Absalom. Of course, he was not speaking as God's mouthpiece. But he gave his advice with unusual insight into what would best serve the kingdom, because he saw his own interests as tied up with it.
Absalom approved the plan, then called in a second adviser and changed his mind. One writer asks what was behind that:
Ahithophel's advice "seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel" (v. 4). They were convinced that the plan this man was proposing was excellent. How was it then that Absalom decided to call in Hushai the Archite as well, to hear his advice? How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel" (v. 14)? It is because God directs everything — the circumstances, the decisions of men, and even their opinions — as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it looks as if God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning. Evil is ruling. Men go further than their own hearts had imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
Every elder in the room had voted for the plan, yet it failed. One writer names the reason:
Ahithophel's counsel was aimed at the person of David only. He wanted David killed, so that the death of one man would bring all Israel back. But Ahithophel had not counted on David's Lord. That Lord loved him, and through all the discipline David had to pass through, He was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord.
Ahithophel got the opposite of what he was working for:
Ahithophel thought he was strengthening Absalom's hand. In fact he only carried out God's word, moved His purpose closer to its goal, and hurried on the restoration of the man he meant to destroy. This wicked man will soon be caught in his own snare. Ahithophel seems to have had no motive for doing evil except the desire to do evil. He ends like Judas, whom he resembles. This "close friend," who lifted up his heel against David (Ps. 41:9), hangs himself and dies.
One writer turns Ahithophel's end into questions for the reader:
What a lesson to us all! What good was anything to Haman while Mordecai sat at the gate? Is there anything we have that, if it were touched, our life would be touched? Or is our life so bound up with Jesus that we could stand the loss of everything else? What treasures are we laying up day by day? Where is the ruling passion fixed? Where is the heart's current flowing, and what is it hurrying towards?
- Sound — the advice was the best plan on offer. That is why it won every vote in the room.
- Respected — people took Ahithophel's word as if God had spoken, though he was not speaking for God.
- Hidden — God looked absent while evil ruled. All that time He was directing the circumstances, the decisions and even the opinions of men.
- Reversed — ten verses later the same men threw out the plan they had just approved. Hushai did not defeat it; the Lord did.
- Ruined — Ahithophel was caught in his own snare and died like Judas. His end asks us where our own treasure lies.
And Absalom said, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and we will hear also what he says.
Ahithophel's plan to kill David had just won over Absalom and the elders. Then Absalom paused and asked for a second opinion. That pause turned the whole rebellion. Why would a man so close to victory call in David's own friend?
Absalom had every reason to act on the advice he had just approved. One writer asks why he did not, and finds the answer above the palace:
Ahithophel's advice was right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel (v. 4). They were sure the plan this man proposed was excellent. How was it, then, that Absalom decided to call Hushai the Archite as well, to hear his advice? … It is because God directs everything — circumstances, men's decisions, their opinions — as He wills, to carry out His plans. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning. Evil is reigning. Men are going further than their own hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes.
David had already prayed one thing about Ahithophel's counsel. This summons is where the answer came.
David prayed (2 Sam. 15:31), "O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." God answered that prayer by making Absalom listen to the counsel of another. … What a comfort for believers to know that God is greater than any group of men that can stand against Him. That stays true even when the subtlety and force of Satan himself lies behind them all.
Absalom sends for a man who loved David. Ittai had stayed at the king's side; Hushai served in a more painful way, by going back to Jerusalem.
Hushai is David's close friend. A great love unites them and they have no secrets from one another. Yet Hushai, unlike Ittai, agrees to stay apart from his friend for a time. This is painful for a man who had come to David to express his sympathy, but he chooses the best way to serve him and returns to Jerusalem. With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. David himself gave him that understanding: Hushai would defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. It is in closeness to Christ that we receive His thoughts.
Ahithophel's counsel was wise and cold. Hushai's advantage was that he knew the man he was speaking to.
But the limit is reached, and Hushai's opposition defeats the wise and heartless counsel in the end, though it won approval at first. His speech fits the man he is addressing, and works on Absalom's fears and on his vanity. Nothing could be wiser than his advice, if only one thing were true — that the will of the whole nation has put him where he is. The new king does not stop to question it. Ahithophel knows better, and so he despairs when Absalom prefers Hushai's counsel to his own.
Commentators differ here. Some see Hushai's return to Jerusalem as the service his master chose for him:
As we have seen, the king had sent Zadok, Abiathar and Hushai back to Jerusalem to use them in his service. Displays of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart. They are only the first step before service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the manner in which we serve the Lord. He decides that.
Another writer weighs the outcome and counts a loss in it:
Ahithophel's counsel was aimed at David's person only. He wanted him killed, and so, by the death of one man, bring all Israel back. But Ahithophel had not counted on David's Lord… It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. … Though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
- Prayer. David had asked God to turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. The answer begins here, when a rebel decides to hear one more adviser.
- Providence. Nothing human explains the summons. God directs circumstances, decisions and opinions, hidden behind the scenes while evil seems to be winning.
- Friendship. David himself told Hushai what to do. Closeness to David brought an understanding that not even the high priests had.
- Instrument. Hushai aimed his speech at Absalom's fears and vanity. It worked because Absalom never stopped to ask whether the nation was behind him.
- Result. The Lord defeated Ahithophel's counsel, not Hushai. One writer adds that David might have seen a greater rescue if he had waited for it.
And Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom spoke to him saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner shall we carry out his word? If not, speak thou.
Absalom already had a plan, and it pleased him and every elder in Israel. Yet he sends for a second voice and repeats the whole proposal. Why does a man with an approved plan stop to ask again — and who is steering that pause?
This verse did not need to happen. One writer asks why it happened anyway, and looks behind the scenes:
And Ahithophel's advice "was right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel" (v. 4). They were sure that the plan this man proposed was excellent. How was it, then, that Absalom decided to call Hushai the Archite as well to hear his advice? ... It is because God directs everything — the circumstances, men's decisions, their opinions — as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it can look as if God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning. Evil is reigning. Men are going beyond what their own hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument. To us Satan's power looks overwhelming; to God it is less than a speck of straw that a puff of wind blows away.
Back in his flight, David had asked God to turn Ahithophel's advice into foolishness. Here is the answer arriving:
David prayed (2 Sam. 15:31), "O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." God answered that prayer by making Absalom listen to the counsel of another. But He let man's wicked plan to get rid of Christ run its full course, to its own defeat... What a comfort for believers to realise that God is greater than any combination of men that can be against Him! And that holds even when behind them all lie the subtlety and force of Satan himself.
Absalom asks Hushai whether he agrees. Hushai knows the honest answer and gives the opposite one, because he serves David:
Absalom thought it an advantage to have another counsellor as well. He called for Hushai, told him what Ahithophel had counselled, and asked him whether he agreed or not. Of course Hushai knew it was the best thing from Absalom's point of view, but he was there to serve David. So he tells Absalom that Ahithophel's counsel "is not good at this time."
Ahithophel wanted to strike at once. Stopping to hear one more speech cost Absalom the one thing evil needs:
If evil is to gain an advantage it must strike quickly. ... Ahithophel knew it when he counselled Absalom to pursue and kill David at once (2 Samuel 17:1-2). Hushai knew it too when he counselled Absalom the opposite way (vv. 7-13); but Absalom's own pride blinded him to this fact.
Ahithophel's advice used to settle matters like an answer from God. Absalom's question begins his ruin:
This friend and companion of David had turned traitor. Yet in those days his counsel was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God. But the Lord had now appointed to overthrow him. Absalom rejects his counsel and passes over his word. His reputation for wisdom in the nation was everything to him, so his household gods are now stolen from him. His "good thing" is gone, and he sinks down a defiled, dishonoured ruin.
Hushai's task came from David himself, and the two men were close:
Hushai is David's close friend. A great love unites them, and they have no secrets from one another... With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. David himself gave him this understanding: you shall "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel." Closeness to Christ is how we receive His thoughts.
Commentators differ on the result. Another writer gives the credit elsewhere, and counts a cost:
Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord, who loved him. Through all the discipline David had to pass through, the Lord was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord... The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai and then made Absalom and his men follow Hushai's advice. ... But would David have been lost if Hushai had not acted the spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power step in on his behalf.
- Prayer. David asked God for one thing: turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. This verse is the answer arriving — Absalom listening to somebody else.
- Summons. The call for Hushai was unnecessary; the plan was already approved. God directs circumstances, decisions and even people's opinions from behind the scenes. Even Satan serves as His instrument.
- Delay. Evil can only win by striking fast. Absalom's pride made him willing to wait for a second opinion, and the waiting undid him.
- Collapse. Ahithophel's word carried the weight of an oracle from God. Absalom passed it over, and the reputation that was everything to him was gone.
- Credit. Hushai spoke, but the Lord defeated Ahithophel. Commentators differ: one praises the closeness that shared David's mind; another says David missed seeing God act alone.
And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.
Absalom's court had already agreed to Ahithophel's plan: hunt David down that very night. Then Hushai spoke, and one sentence overturned the verdict — which raises the question of who really changed their minds.
Ahithophel's advice was not weak. It was fast, focused, and aimed at one man. One writer shows why speed mattered so much:
Ahithophel saw clearly that if Absalom was to gain any victory over David, he must strike quickly. Satan knows that the only way to establish the antichrist in power is to destroy the true Christ. So Ahithophel asks Absalom to let him take 12,000 men with him and chase David that same night... Wickedness can succeed only by striking quickly; it cannot afford to wait for calm, careful deliberation.
Hushai had to argue against the better plan, not the worse one. One writer also reads the scene as a preview of a later conflict:
Hushai goes to Absalom and opposes Ahithophel's counsel in every way. In the same way, in those coming days the Lord will know how to defeat all the plans of the devil. Of the two, Ahithophel was without doubt the more subtle — the one best able to advance Absalom's plans. But the time had not yet come for anything more than a shadowy effort.
Hushai does not call the advice stupid. He calls it wrong for this moment, then builds his case on David's reputation as a fighter:
Of course Hushai knew it was the best thing from Absalom's point of view, but he was there to serve David. So he tells Absalom that this time Ahithophel's counsel "is not good." He gives reasons that convinced Absalom. First, David and his men were men of war, and at that moment enraged like a bear robbed of her cubs, so their resistance would be furious. Also, David would be hiding somewhere apart from the people, for he knew how to survive alone in rough conditions.
Hushai was not a neutral adviser. One writer draws the line between showing devotion and doing service:
The king had sent Hushai back to Jerusalem, along with the priests Zadok and Abiathar, in order to use them in his service. Displays of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart; they are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the manner in which we serve the Lord. He decides that. Here it was a matter of defeating Ahithophel's counsel, of stopping this false prophet from ruining David's cause.
Absalom and every elder had already approved Ahithophel's plan. So the puzzle is not Hushai's speech, but why the room changed its mind:
How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel"? It is because God is directing everything as He wills, to carry out His purposes — the circumstances, men's decisions, their opinions. On the surface it seems that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going beyond even the imaginations of their hearts. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
Hushai spoke the words, but one writer gives the victory elsewhere — and then asks what David's spy plan cost him:
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord... The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai and then made Absalom and his men follow Hushai's advice... But would David have been lost if Hushai had not been acting as a spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
Commentators differ here. One treats Hushai's mission as service the king was right to assign; another judges that David lost by managing his own rescue.
- Counsel attacked. Ahithophel's plan targeted David alone and depended on speed. Wickedness cannot afford to wait.
- Counsel contradicted. Hushai never called the plan foolish, only wrongly timed. He then played on David's reputation as a cornered fighter.
- Counsel through a servant. Devotion becomes service when the Master assigns the place. Hushai's place was inside the enemy's court, ruining a false adviser's word.
- Counsel overruled. A room already convinced changed its mind. God was directing circumstances, decisions and opinions while seeming to do nothing.
- Counsel credited. The overthrow belonged to the Lord, not to Hushai's skill. One writer warns that managing our own rescue can cost us the sight of God acting for us.
And Hushai said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are of exasperated spirit, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
Absalom has taken the throne, and Ahithophel has just urged a fast night strike to kill David alone. Hushai, David's friend in the rebel court, answers with a picture meant to stop that plan. He paints David and his men as hardened fighters, as dangerous as a bear that has lost her cubs.
Hushai is not a neutral adviser. David sent him back to Jerusalem with one assignment. He is fit for it because he stands so close to the king.
Hushai is David's close friend. A great love unites them, and they have no secrets from one another. Yet Hushai, unlike Ittai, agrees to part from his friend for a time. This is painful for a man who had come to David to show his sympathy. But he chooses the best way to serve him, and returns to Jerusalem. With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. David himself gave him that understanding: you shall "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel." It is by closeness to Christ that we receive His thoughts.
That assignment decided where he stood, not his own preference.
Shows of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart. They are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the manner in which we are to serve the Lord. He will decide this.
Hushai reaches for a known image of danger. The animal he names lived in the hills of that land.
The she-bear is regarded as especially fierce and dangerous when robbed of her cubs. 2 Sam. 17:8; Prov. 17:12; compare 2 Kings 2:24.
Hushai adds two more claims about David. He is a skilled soldier, and he does not sleep among his troops.
He tells Absalom that Ahithophel's counsel "is not good at this time." He gives reasons that convinced Absalom. First, David and his men were men of war. At that moment their minds were enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs, so their resistance would be furious. But also, David would be hiding somewhere apart from the people, for he knew how to survive alone in rugged conditions. Then if some of Absalom's men fell at the start, the people would hear the report, and tend to become nervous and afraid.
Absalom had already approved Ahithophel's plan. What undid it was not a better military argument. Hushai read Absalom better.
His speech fits the man he is addressing exactly. It works on Absalom's fears and on his vanity. Nothing could be wiser than his recommendation, if only one thing were true. The new king does not stop to question it: that the will of the nation as a whole has placed him where he is. Ahithophel knows better. That is why he despairs when Absalom prefers Hushai's counsel to his own.
The chapter explains the outcome itself. It gives no credit to Hushai's skill with words.
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom." The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai. Then He made Absalom and his men follow that advice.
Nothing in the scene showed God at work.
On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is taking place. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, and men are going beyond even what their hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God — even Satan serves as His instrument.
Commentators differ. Some treat Hushai's return as true service to the king. Others call David's move a failure of faith, because it required Hushai to lie.
This was not faith on David's part, for he told Hushai to lie to Absalom by declaring that he would be Absalom's servant just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped, but he might have seen God work in a more miraculous way if he had simply trusted Him.
Even so, David's prayer over Ahithophel stands behind the whole episode.
David judges in spirit that he may plead against Ahithophel. He says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." The Lord allows this desire, and answers it by quickly confounding that evil counsellor.
- Prayer first. David asked God to turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. The answer came through the man he sent back.
- Friendship equips. Hushai knew David's mind, so he could serve him in the enemy's court. Closeness comes before usefulness.
- The image. A bear robbed of her cubs was the standard picture of fury, and Hushai used it to make a night attack sound suicidal.
- The hook. The speech worked on Absalom's fear and his vanity, not on the facts. He never stopped to question it.
- The hand behind it. Scripture credits the outcome to the Lord, not to Hushai's skill. God stayed hidden behind the scenes the whole time.
Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or some such place; and it will come to pass, when some of them fall at the first, whoever heareth it will say, There has been slaughter among the people that follow Absalom,
Ahithophel has urged Absalom to strike David at once, and Hushai answers with a warning no one can check: David is hidden, and the first losses will spread panic. Behind the two speeches lies the real question — who is steering the outcome?
Hushai's reply was built to sound careful. One writer traces its reasons in order:
Of course Hushai knew Ahithophel's plan was the best thing from Absalom's point of view, but he was there to serve David. So he tells Absalom that this counsel "is not good at this time." He gives reasons that convinced Absalom. First, David and his men were fighting men, enraged at that moment like a bear robbed of her cubs, so their resistance would be furious. Second, David would be hiding somewhere apart from his people, for he knew how to survive alone in rough country. Then if some of Absalom's men fell at the first attack, the people would hear the report of it (v.9) and tend to grow anxious and afraid.
Hushai's advice called for delay, and that was the whole point:
Hushai knew very well that this delay would help David, not Absalom. But he also knew Absalom was proud enough to think all Israel would be glad to welcome him as king once they had thought it over. So Absalom's pride was his downfall.
Ahithophel's plan had one target: David himself. One writer sees in that a pattern larger than one rebellion:
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. He has good reason to think that killing David will make everything fall to pieces, and the people will become Absalom's prey. "I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you" (vv. 2-3). This is how the prince of darkness works: he aims every effort at Christ. So he stirred the world up against Him, but at the cross he lost the fight instead of winning it, and his power was broken.
Absalom had already approved Ahithophel's plan. One writer asks why he then called for a second opinion and preferred it:
How is it that after hearing Hushai Absalom and all the men of Israel say: "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel" (v. 14)? It is because God directs the circumstances, men's decisions and their judgments — in short, everything — as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface God seems not to care what is happening. Evil wins, evil reigns, men go beyond what their own hearts imagined. But God stands hidden behind the scenes.
Another writer names what Ahithophel left out of his calculations:
Ahithophel's counsel was aimed at David alone. He wanted him killed, so that the death of one man would bring all Israel back. But Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord, who loved him. Through all the discipline David had to pass through, the Lord was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord... The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai, and then made Absalom and his men follow Hushai's advice.
Hushai had wanted to go with David into exile and was sent back instead. Writers treat this as a lesson about who chooses the form our service takes:
Demonstrations of devotion are not enough, however dear thay may be to the master's heart, but are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians; and like Hushai and the priests, we do not have the option of choosing the place or the manner in which we are to serve the Lord. He will decide this. Here it was a matter of defeating Ahithophel's counsel, of preventing this false prophet from ruining David's cause.
Not every writer approves the plan. One notes that David told Hushai to profess a loyalty he did not feel:
This was not faith on David's part. He told Hushai to lie to Absalom by saying he would be Absalom's servant, just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped, but he might have seen God act in a more miraculous way if he had just trusted Him.
Another writer turns it into a question for the reader:
His plan of defeating Ahithophel through Hushai has worked completely. If success can justify a plan, then this one is justified. How many people would accept that excuse — some openly, some in secret, some hardly admitting it even to themselves?
- Aimed. Ahithophel wanted David alone killed, sure that all the people would then fall to Absalom. That is how the enemy works: every effort aimed at the anointed one.
- Hidden. Hushai replied that David was hiding apart from his men. One early loss, and word of slaughter would run through Absalom's camp and spread fear.
- Delayed. Hushai's advice bought David time. Absalom took it because his pride told him all Israel would welcome him as king.
- Overruled. The counsel fell, and not to Hushai's cleverness. God stood hidden behind the scenes, directing circumstances and men's decisions.
- Questioned. David planted a spy and told him to lie. It worked, yet writers ask whether success can justify the means, and whether David missed seeing God act for him.
and even the valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt; for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with him are valiant men.
David is fleeing for his life, and two counsellors are advising the son who wants to kill him.
Hushai gave reasons that Absalom found convincing. Each one built the same picture: attack now, and one early loss would spread fear through the whole army, until even a lion-hearted man melts.
Hushai knew it was the best thing from Absalom's point of view, but he was there to serve David. So he tells Absalom that Ahithophel's counsel "is not good at this time." He gives reasons that Absalom found convincing. First, David and his men were men of war, and at that moment their minds were enraged like a bear robbed of her cubs. Their resistance would be furious. He also argued that David would be hiding somewhere away from his people, since he knew how to survive alone in rough country. Then, if some of Absalom's men fell in an early clash, the people would hear the report (v.9) and start to grow anxious and afraid. He pressed home that all Israel knew David's record of powerful conquest, and that valiant men surrounded him (v.10).
Ahithophel's plan aimed at one man, not at an army. Commentators read that aim as the mark of a far older war.
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. His reasoning is sound: kill David, and everything falls apart, and the people become Absalom's prey. "I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you" (vv. 2-3). This is how the prince of darkness operates: all his efforts are directed against Christ. To this end he stirred up the world against Him. But at the cross he did not win the conflict. He lost, and his power was broken.
Hushai spoke well. But the account gives the credit somewhere else.
Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord, who loved him. Through all the discipline David had to face, He was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom." It seems Hushai was not present when Ahithophel spoke. When he came in and Absalom asked his opinion, he gave different advice, and Absalom and all the men of Israel took it. The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai and then made Absalom and his men to follow the advice of Hushai.
So how did the weaker plan come to sound better to a whole council of men?
It is because God directs the circumstances, men's decisions and their judgments — in short, everything. He does it as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it looks as though God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men go further than their own hearts imagined; but God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
Hushai's plan also meant delay, and delay helped David. So why did Absalom take it?
Hushai knew very well that this delay would help David, not Absalom. But he also knew that Absalom was proud enough to think all Israel would welcome him as king, once they had thought the matter over. So Absalom's pride was his downfall.
Earlier, when David heard the news about Ahithophel, he took it straight to God.
He knew how grave the news was. But that same news brought the source of his confidence before him, as clearly as he saw Satan's hand in it. A father's love might hold back from praying against Absalom, but David could now pour out his heart to God. Therefore he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the LORD heard, and answered.
Hushai is David's intimate friend; a great love unites them and they have no secrets from one another... With his deep, calm love for his friend Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. This understanding is communicated to him by David himself: You shall "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel." It is in intimacy with Christ that we receive the communication of His thoughts.
- Aim: The rejected plan was to strike the king alone. The enemy aims his whole effort at the Lord's anointed, not at his followers.
- Argument: Hushai wins by fear and flattery. All Israel knows David's record and the valour of his men, so the bravest heart would melt.
- Hand: God decided the outcome. He was directing not only events, but the judgments men formed about which counsel was better.
- Flaw: Absalom's pride made the weaker advice sound better. He believed all Israel wanted him, and that self-confidence ruined him.
- Answer: David had prayed that this counsellor's advice would turn into foolishness. Inside a rebel war council, God answered.
But I counsel that all Israel be speedily gathered to thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
Hushai's plan sounds like the bolder of the two before Absalom: gather all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and lead them out in person. But Hushai meant it to fail, and the real question is who was steering Absalom's choice.
The grand picture of an army like sand by the sea had one practical effect: waiting. Hushai's whole argument asked Absalom to take his time first, and to capture David later.
Then he uses his most convincing argument, so far as Absalom was concerned. He advises Absalom to take time, so that all Israel is gathered in submission to him. The whole country, from Dan to Beersheba, would be persuaded that Absalom was the best choice for king (v.11). Once the kingdom was settled in this way, they would have no difficulty in capturing David later.
The plan was not a foolish one. It rested on a single assumption that Absalom never stopped to test — that the whole nation was already his.
His speech is exactly fitted to the man he is speaking to. It works on Absalom's fears and on his vanity. Nothing could be wiser than his advice, if you grant one thing that the new king does not stop to question: that the will of the whole nation has placed him where he is. Ahithophel knows better, so he despairs when Absalom prefers Hushai's counsel to his own.
The plan flattered Absalom, and his pride did the rest. Set him beside David and the contrast is complete.
Hushai knew very well that this delay would help David, not Absalom. But he also knew Absalom's pride. Absalom thought that all Israel would gladly welcome him as king once they had thought it over. So Absalom's pride was his downfall. He and all his men accepted the counsel of Hushai. The self-confidence of Absalom and his followers stands in sharp contrast to David's humble confidence in God.
Why did Absalom call for a second opinion at all, when the elders had already approved the first? The answer lies outside the room where they met.
It is because God is directing the circumstances, men's decisions and men's judgments — in short, everything — as He wills, and to carry out His purposes. On the surface it looks as if God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men go further than their own hearts imagined; but God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
So who turned Absalom away from the winning plan? The credit does not belong to Hushai.
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom." ... The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai and then made Absalom and his men to follow the advice of Hushai.
Hushai's plan worked. But did that make it right? One commentary refuses to let the outcome settle the question.
If deceit and treachery are evil — if we may not do evil so that good may come — if God therefore cannot lead His people along such a path, then success can never be enough to prove that a thing is right or wise. We must not look less closely at the question of right just because someone can show that a plan will work.
The same commentary then counts what David's rescue cost him.
It is certainly true that David escaped by Hushai's help. But how much did he miss of seeing God's hand stretched out for him? How willingly we rob ourselves of many such glorious sights in the same way! The richer we are in resources, the poorer our lives become.
- Delay — The point of gathering all Israel was time, not strength. The grand army would slow Absalom down and let David escape.
- Flattery — The counsel worked on Absalom's fears and his vanity. It rested on one thing he never questioned: that the whole nation was already behind him.
- Pride — Absalom's self-confidence chose the plan that ruined him. David's confidence was humble, and it rested on God.
- Providence — God stayed hidden behind the scenes. He was directing the circumstances, the decisions, and even men's judgments of what sounded wise.
- Deliverer — It was the Lord, not Hushai, who defeated Ahithophel. And the more we lean on our own resources, the less we see of God's hand stretched out for us.
And we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
Hushai speaks in Absalom's court as David's man on the inside, and the plan he lays out here is built to fail. It promises an army settling on David like dew and leaving no survivor, yet it hands Absalom delay instead of victory.
The promise of a crushing victory flattered Absalom, while the delay inside it served David:
Hushai knew perfectly well that this time delay would benefit David rather than Absalom. But he also knew that Absalom was proud enough to think that all Israel would gladly welcome him as king when they had considered the matter. So Absalom's pride was his downfall. He and all his men accepted the counsel of Hushai. Their self-confidence stands in sharp contrast to David's humble confidence in God.
Ahithophel had wanted one man struck down. Hushai widens the target to David and everyone with him. One writer sees in Ahithophel's aim the pattern of how evil always works:
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. He has good reason to think that if David is killed, everything will fall to pieces and the people will become Absalom's prey... This is how the prince of darkness operates: he directs all his efforts against Christ. To this end he stirred up the world against Him. But at the cross he did not win the conflict. He lost, and his power was broken.
Absalom and the elders had already approved Ahithophel's advice. One writer finds the hinge of the whole chapter in what happened next:
How was it then that Absalom decided to call Hushai the Archite also to hear his advice? How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say: "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel"? It is because God directs everything as He will, to carry out His designs. He directs the circumstances, men's decisions, and even the judgments they make. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning. Evil is reigning. Men are going further than their own hearts imagined. But God stays hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
The chapter names who defeated Ahithophel, and Hushai had not even heard the speech he was answering:
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom." It seems Hushai was not present when Ahithophel spoke. When he came to Absalom, Absalom asked his opinion. He gave different advice, and Absalom and all the men of Israel adopted it. The Lord gave the counsel through Hushai and then made Absalom and his men follow the advice of Hushai.
Commentators differ over David's part in planting Hushai in Absalom's court. One writer reads the move as prayer answered at once:
God gives an immediate answer to His servant's prayer. Hushai, the king's intimate friend, rejoins him. David, filled with spiritual discernment, sends him back, knowing that God has destined him to "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel."
Another asks what David lost by relying on a spy:
Would David have been lost if Hushai had not acted as a spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king. Though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the chance to see the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
Ahithophel's word had carried the weight of a divine oracle. Absalom set it aside, and the man collapsed:
The counsel which this apostate friend and companion of David gave in those days was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God. But the Lord had now appointed to overthrow him. Absalom rejects his counsel and sets his word aside. His reputation for wisdom in the state was everything to him. Now his household gods have been stolen from him, his "good thing" is gone, and he sinks down a defiled, dishonoured ruin.
- Prayer — David asked God to defeat Ahithophel's counsel, and the rest of the chapter is the answer arriving.
- Flattery — Hushai's promise of total victory fed Absalom's pride, and that pride was his downfall.
- Delay — the slowness of the plan was its whole point; the time it cost Absalom was time given to David.
- Hiddenness — God was directing the circumstances and the choices men made, while He seemed to do nothing at all.
- Collapse — Ahithophel's word once carried the weight of an oracle; when Absalom set it aside, he sank into a dishonoured ruin.
And if he withdraw into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the torrent, until there be not one small stone found there.
Hushai has urged Absalom to gather all Israel before striking. Here he ends the speech with a picture of unstoppable force: whole armies hauling a city into the valley with ropes until nothing of it is left. The boast is grand, but it is aimed. The question the chapter asks is who was steering Absalom's choice that night.
This is flattery dressed as strategy. It plays on Absalom's fear that David could slip behind city walls, and on his vanity, by putting all Israel at his command.
His speech is exactly suited to the man he is addressing. It works on Absalom's fears and on his vanity. Nothing could be wiser than his advice. But it rests on one thing the new king never stops to question: that the will of the nation as a whole has placed him where he is. Ahithophel knows better. That is why he despairs when Absalom prefers Hushai's counsel to his own.
Behind the ropes and the rubble, Hushai is asking for one thing: delay.
Hushai knew very well that this delay would help David, not Absalom. But he also knew Absalom's pride. Absalom believed all Israel would welcome him as king once they had thought it over. So Absalom's pride was his downfall. He and all his men accepted the counsel of Hushai. Absalom and his followers trusted themselves. David humbly trusted God.
David had asked for this outcome long before Hushai spoke. The news that his own adviser had joined the rebellion sent him to God.
Then someone told David, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David turns to God. He knew how serious the news was. But this very thing brought before him the source of his confidence, as surely as he saw the hand of Satan in it. A father's love might hold back from pleading against Absalom; but David could now unburden his heart to God. So he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the LORD heard, and answered.
Absalom and the elders had already approved Ahithophel's plan. Why did he then call for a second opinion — and prefer the weaker advice?
And the advice of Ahithophel "seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel" (v. 4). How was it, then, that Absalom decided to call Hushai the Archite as well, to hear his advice? How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say: "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel" (v. 14)? It is because God directs everything — the circumstances, men's decisions, their judgements — as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it looks as if God is indifferent to what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going beyond what their hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes.
Hushai's speech carried the day, but commentators differ on who gets the credit. One reading treats David's planting of Hushai as a lost opportunity.
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom." … But would David have been lost if Hushai had not been acting as a spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
Another reading treats the same mission as a real assignment. The master chose the place, and the servant went.
The king had sent Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai back to Jerusalem to use them in his service. Expressions of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart; they are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians; and like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the manner in which we serve the Lord. He will decide this. Here it was a matter of defeating Ahithophel's counsel, of stopping this false prophet from ruining David's cause.
- Flattery — Hushai's picture of a city dragged off by ropes targets Absalom's vanity and fears, not the facts. It assumes the nation is already his.
- Pride — Absalom accepted it because he was proud enough to believe it, and that pride was his downfall.
- Delay — the grand boast was a plea for time, and the time it won helped David, not Absalom.
- Providence — Absalom first called Ahithophel's plan right, then called Hushai's better. God was directing his judgement while seeming to do nothing.
- Answer — David had prayed that God would turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness, and God did. One writer adds that if David had simply waited, he would have seen even more of the Lord's power.
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. And Jehovah had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order that Jehovah might bring evil upon Absalom.
Absalom had two advisers, and he picked the wrong one. The verse tells us why — and the reason answers a bigger question: who is in control when a rebel rules?
One writer puts two questions to this scene and answers both from the verse.
Why did Absalom call in Hushai the Archite to hear his advice too? And why, after hearing him, did Absalom and all the men of Israel prefer his counsel to Ahithophel's? The reason is that God directs the circumstances, men's decisions and their opinions. In short, He directs everything as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going further than their own hearts imagined. But God is behind the scenes, out of sight. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
The verse calls Ahithophel's advice good, and it still lost. Hushai gets the credit in the story, but the verse hands it elsewhere.
Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord. He loved David, and through all the discipline David had to pass through, He was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom."
One prayer stands behind this verse. David made it when the news about Ahithophel reached him.
David turns to God. He knew how serious the news was. He also saw the hand of Satan in it. But this very thing brought the spring of his confidence before him. A father's love might hold back from praying against Absalom. But David could now pour out his heart to God. So he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the LORD heard, and answered.
One writer pushes the question further. What if David had never planted a spy at all?
But would David have been lost if Hushai had not acted as a spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king. He used Hushai's counsel, yet David was the loser after all. He lost the chance of seeing the Lord's power step in for him. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
Hushai's plan meant delay. One writer explains why Absalom took it anyway.
Hushai knew very well that this delay would help David, not Absalom. But he also knew Absalom's pride. Absalom believed all Israel would be glad to have him as king, once they had thought it over. So Absalom's pride was his downfall. He and all his men accepted the counsel of Hushai. Absalom and his followers trusted themselves. David's confidence was humble and in God, and the contrast is sharp. The verse adds that the Lord had purposed to defeat the wise counsel of Ahithophel, so that Absalom might be brought down to ruin.
His name carries its own verdict on him.
But Ahithophel is, after all, "brother of foolishness." He does not see that the wheel has swung as far as it goes. It will come up again for David. God has glorified Himself openly in view of David's sin. So He can now appear for David, as soon becomes clear, and as Ahithophel has to discover.
The loss went deeper than one lost argument.
Absalom rejects his counsel and passes over his word. His reputation for wisdom in the state was everything to him. So his household gods are now stolen from him. His "good thing" is gone, and he sinks down a defiled, dishonoured ruin.
What happened in Absalom's council chamber is read as a sample of something God keeps doing.
Hushai goes to Absalom and opposes in every way the counsel of Ahithophel. So also in those future days the Lord will know how to defeat all the plans of the devil.
God does not always work by blocking the plan. Sometimes He lets it run all the way.
David prayed, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness" (2 Samuel 15:31). God answered it by making Absalom listen to someone else's counsel. But man's wicked plan to get rid of Christ was allowed to run its full course, to its own defeat... What a comfort for believers to realise that God is greater than any combination of men that can be against Him. That is true even though behind them all there is the subtlety and force of Satan himself.
- Prayer — David met a traitor's brilliance with one request: turn his counsel into foolishness. This verse is the answer.
- Providence — The counsel did not fail because it was weak. God had ordained its defeat, and He was directing even the opinions in that room.
- Pride — God's instrument was Absalom's own pride. He believed all Israel would be glad to have him as king, and that confidence ruined him.
- Collapse — Ahithophel's name means "brother of foolishness." His reputation was his whole life, and it fell with his counsel.
- Comfort — At the cross God let a wicked plan run its full course. He turned it to its own defeat, and He is greater than every power ranged against Him.
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And Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
Hushai has just won the argument in Absalom's court, and now everything depends on getting word out of the city to David. The warning travels along a chain of people, and it raises a question: was this plan faith, or scheming that God covered?
David had sent Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai back into Jerusalem. He did not let them share his exile. One writer takes this as a picture of how the Lord places His own servants:
As we have seen, the king had sent Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai back to Jerusalem in order to use them in his service. Demonstrations of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart; they are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the manner in which we are to serve the Lord. He will decide this. Here it was a matter of defeating Ahithophel's counsel, of preventing this false prophet from ruining David's cause.
Hushai sends David both plans — Ahithophel's and his own — with an urgent instruction attached:
Hushai then told Zadok and Abiathar about Ahithophel's counsel and his own opposite counsel. The aim was to urge David to put as much distance as he could between his company and Absalom, instead of hiding somewhere nearby.
Rossier traces the whole chain of people who carried this message:
The fragrance of service fills this entire chapter. Everyone works together to give their master his rightful place, a place the wicked have taken from him. Hushai, David's friend, is the first to face danger, but also the first instrument of victory. The priests are his first confidants. Their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, carry the message that is to save David and his band. A simple, unknown servant girl is used to pass it on to them... In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working together toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's lovely selflessness.
Gaebelein names who defeated Ahithophel — and it is not Hushai:
Ahithophel's counsel aimed at the person of David only. He wanted to have him killed, and so bring all Israel back by the death of one man. But Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord. That Lord loved David. Through all the chastisement David had to pass through, He was still his Lord and his Keeper. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord.
Rossier asks why Absalom preferred Hushai's advice:
How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel"? It is because God directs the circumstances, men's decisions and their judgments — in short, everything. He directs it all as He wills, to carry out His purposes. Outwardly it would seem that God is indifferent to what is taking place... but God is hidden behind the scenes.
Not every writer admires the plan. One separates the priests' loyalty from the plotting:
The ark returns, then, with its attending priesthood, and David gains a post of observation in the abandoned city. In this there was, of course, nothing but what was according to truth and righteousness. The priests of the Most High owed no allegiance to the usurper, who was willing to murder his own father. They did owe allegiance to the king God had set apart. But we must judge the counterplots that follow very differently. David thinks that conspiracy can justify conspiracy, and that in a war already begun, deceit may rightly work against deceit. Evil with a good end will then become good — or at least we may do evil so that good may come. The apostle declares that those who hold this fall under just judgment.
One writer counts the cost. David was saved, but he "lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf" (Gaebelein).
Rossier records the result:
David is warned and all his people pass over the Jordan; not one is missing. Thanks to this service, God's true people set a barrier between themselves and the enemy.
- Assigned — Hushai and the priests did not pick their post. The king placed them. Devotion becomes service only when it takes the place given it.
- Relayed — The warning travelled by chain: friend, priests, servant girl, sons, king. Remove one link and David is lost; the humblest link is worth as much as the greatest.
- Overruled — The plan succeeded because God was directing decisions from behind the scenes. It was not Hushai who defeated Ahithophel, but the Lord.
- Questioned — Commentators differ. The priests' loyalty was right. The secret counterplotting draws a much harder verdict, and one writer holds that David lost the chance to see God act without it.
- Delivered — The chain ends at the Jordan, with not one of David's people missing. The measure of service is the safety of the king's own.
And now send quickly, and tell David saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.
David is a king on the run. Hushai, his man inside Absalom's court, has just talked the rebels out of the chase that would have killed him. Verse 16 is the message racing out of Jerusalem: cross the Jordan tonight, do not wait at the fords.
Hushai's counsel had bought David one night, and no more. One writer explains why the crossing could not wait:
They urged him to cross over the Jordan, for Ahithophel had counselled immediate pursuit and the killing of David. But Hushai's counsel had delayed this, so there was time for David to cross over. If Absalom and his men had pursued at once, they might have caught them while they were crossing the river, with no way to hide. They took advantage of the respite, and all had crossed the river by daylight the next morning.
The message exists only because Absalom preferred the weaker advice. One writer asks why he did:
How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say: "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel"? It is because God directs everything — the circumstances, men's decisions and their judgments — as He wills, to carry out His designs. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is taking place. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going beyond the imaginations of their hearts. But God is hidden behind the scenes.
"Send quickly and tell David" starts a relay: the priests, their sons as runners, an unknown servant girl. One writer weighs what each link was worth:
The fragrance of service fills this entire chapter. Everyone works together to give their master his rightful place, the place the wicked have taken from him... Their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, carry the message that is to save David and his band. A simple, unknown servant girl is used to pass it on to them... In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's lovely selflessness. None is to be despised.
Hushai talked down the subtler adviser. One writer sees here a rehearsal of a conflict still ahead:
Hushai goes to Absalom and opposes in every way the counsel of Ahithophel. So also in those future days the Lord will know how to defeat all the plans of the devil. Of the two, Ahithophel was without doubt the more subtle — the one best able to further Absalom's plans. But the time had not yet come for anything but a shadowy effort.
The warning covers "the king and all the people who are with him." So does the result:
David is warned and all his people pass over the Jordan: not one is missing. Thanks to this service, God's true people set a barrier between themselves and the enemy.
Commentators differ on the spying that produced this message. One asks what David missed because of it:
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord... So through Hushai's conspiracy, acting as a spy for David, the king had been saved. But would he have been lost if Hushai had not acted the spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, David was still the loser. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
Another names the moral principle at stake in fighting a plot with a plot:
David thus thinks that conspiracy can justify conspiracy, and that in the war which has begun, deceit may rightly work against deceit. Evil with a good end will then become good; or at least we may do evil so that good may come. The apostle declares that this conclusion brings just judgment on those who hold it.
- Hidden. The rebels chose the weaker plan because God directs "the circumstances, men's decisions and their judgments." He works unseen, even while evil seems to be winning.
- Sent. That hidden work became a message. It travelled through the priests, a servant girl, and two young runners.
- Linked. Every link counted. Take one away, and David is Absalom's prey. The unknown girl's devotion was worth as much to the king as Hushai's.
- Crossed. The Jordan put a barrier between God's people and the enemy, and "not one is missing" on the far bank by morning.
- Questioned. Commentators differ on the means. One says David lost the chance to see God act for him alone. Another warns that fighting deceit with deceit is doing evil so that good may come.
And Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; and the maid went and told them; and they went and told king David, for they might not be seen to come into the city.
Absalom has stolen his father's throne, and David needs warning fast. Two young men wait at En-rogel, and a servant girl carries the message out to them, because they cannot be seen in Jerusalem.
The messengers in this verse are one link in a sequence that runs through the whole chapter. Each person does a small thing, and the small things add up to a rescue.
The fragrance of service fills this entire chapter. Everyone works together to give their master his rightful place. The wicked have taken that place from him. Hushai, David's friend, is the first to face danger, but also the first instrument of victory. The priests are his first confidants. Their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, carry the message that is to save David and his band. A simple, obscure servant girl (v. 17) is used to pass it on to them... In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working together toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's lovely selflessness.
Jonathan and Ahimaaz were sons of the priests. The plan kept them away from the city and sent someone less likely to be noticed.
The message was then to be relayed to Jonathan and Ahimaaz by a girl. No doubt this was considered safer than using a man. Jonathan and Ahimaaz had remained outside the city to avoid any kind of suspicion (v. 17). However, a boy saw them as they started on their way to meet David, and he told Absalom.
These were not couriers on a safe road. Jonathan appears again later, still bringing news, and his service had not changed.
Once before (2 Sam. 17:17) he had left En-rogel together with Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, to go at the risk of his life to warn David of the plot against him... His service has not changed its character since the days of his king's afflictions. He is always ready to bring news, just as his companion Ahimaaz is always ready to run. His character is remarkable in its consistency. He may serve David in the day of his rejection, or the world in the day of the son of David's triumph. Either way, Jonathan remains the same faithful messenger.
Absalom heard Hushai and took his advice over Ahithophel's. The writer asks how that happened.
How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel" (v. 14)? It is because God directs everything as He wills, to carry out His purposes — the circumstances, men's decisions, their judgements. On the surface it would seem that God is indifferent to what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going beyond even what their hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes.
The writer turns this into a lesson for anyone who feels alone in serving. Complaining about others is not the answer.
It is worth noting that one person's service calls out the service of another. From one end of this account to the other, each person goes to work stirred up by the one before. Often, in moments of weariness and discouragement, we complain that those who follow us in serving the Lord lack eagerness... Such complaints achieve nothing. They are much like Elijah's cry: "I am left, I alone!" What we need is to redouble our zeal... Like sound waves, light waves and heat waves, this activity will soon make itself felt beyond our narrow sphere.
The servant girl in this verse is never named. Neither is the woman who appears two verses later.
In the face of the treachery seen in verse 18, we have the action of the unnamed woman in verse 19. We read no more of her. Yet her loyalty to her rejected king brought every one of his people into safety (v. 22) and overthrew the enemy completely (v. 23). Be sure of this: every act of loyalty to Christ in this day, when men reject Him, has a lasting effect on His interests here. For the moment that effect may be unseen.
- Link. Jonathan and Ahimaaz are one link in an unbroken chain. Hushai, the priests and the servant girl are the others. If one link had failed, David would have fallen.
- Hidden. God turned Absalom's judgement, working behind a scene where evil seemed to be winning.
- Cost. They waited outside the city to avoid suspicion and went at the risk of their lives. Years later Jonathan is still carrying news, unchanged.
- Spread. One person's service stirs up the next, so the answer to feeling alone in serving is more zeal, not complaint.
- Result. Unnamed loyalty to a rejected king brought all his people into safety. Every such act done for Christ today has a lasting effect.
But a lad saw them, and told Absalom. Then they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.
A young man sees David's two messengers and runs to tell Absalom. The secret line of couriers keeping the exiled king alive is now broken open — and David's safety comes to rest on a well in a stranger's courtyard at Bahurim.
Everything about the warning to David had been arranged to stay quiet. One writer traces that chain and where it broke:
Hushai then told Zadok and Abiathar about Ahithophel's counsel and about his own contrary counsel. The aim was to urge David to put as much distance as he could between his company and Absalom, rather than hide nearby. A girl was then to pass the message on to Jonathan and Ahimaaz. No doubt they thought this safer than using a man. Jonathan and Ahimaaz had remained outside the city to avoid any kind of suspicion (v. 17). However, a boy saw them as they started on their way to meet David, and he told Absalom.
The boy's report put Absalom's servants on their trail. The two men knew they had been spotted, and what saved them was a hiding place the searchers never opened:
It seems they knew someone had seen them. When they came to Bahurim, they judged it necessary to hide. A woman was friendly, and had them go down a well, which she covered over, spreading grain on top of the covering. This was very effective, so that when Absalom's servants came, it was plain to them that the young men were not there. When they asked, the woman told them they had gone over the water brook. Of course their search was fruitless, so they returned to Jerusalem.
One writer sets the boy's betrayal in this verse beside the woman's action in the next:
In the face of the treachery seen in verse 18, we have the action of the unnamed woman in verse 19. We read no more of her. Yet her loyalty to her rejected king brought every one of his people into safety (v. 22) and the complete overthrow of the enemy (v. 23). Be sure of this. In this day when men reject Christ, every act of loyalty to Him has a lasting effect on His interests here, even if for the moment no one sees it.
The woman of Bahurim does one small thing and then vanishes from the record. Rossier weighs what that one act was worth:
The woman of Bahurim is equally obscure and as seldom mentioned as the Mary of Matthew 26:6-13... She renders service to the messengers and arranges a hiding place for them that the enemy is unable to discover. Though it has the two messengers as its immediate object, her service is a "good work" on behalf of David. In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working together toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's lovely selflessness.
He turns that into a word for anyone discouraged in serving:
From one end of this account to the other, each agent goes to work as stirred up by the preceding one. Often, in times of weariness and discouragement of spirit, we complain that those who follow us in serving the Lord lack eagerness to serve Him well. They will not risk comfort, gain, or reputation to maintain our Master's rights against the world. Such complaints are ineffective... What we need to do is to redouble our zeal.
Commentators read the rescue differently. Rossier sees service working as one. Gaebelein asks a harder question:
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord... So Hushai's conspiracy, acting as a spy for David, saved the king. But would the king have been lost if Hushai had not played the spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, yet David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose by our lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
- Seen — One boy's glance undid a careful plan. No arrangement is so quiet that watching eyes miss it.
- Hidden — A well and a handful of grain defeated Absalom's search party. What kept David alive looked like nothing at all.
- Unnamed — We never read of the woman of Bahurim again. Loyalty to a rejected king still has a lasting effect, even when no one sees it.
- Linked — Each servant here acted because the one before acted. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey.
- Kept — The Lord, not Hushai, defeated Ahithophel's counsel. Our own scheming can cost us the sight of His power.
And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not known.
Two messengers carry news that decides whether David lives or dies, and Absalom's servants are close behind them. The whole rescue now hangs on one household in the village of Bahurim, and on a woman who is never named.
The messengers knew someone had seen them, so they had to hide fast.
They seem to have known that someone had seen them, so when they came to Bahurim they thought it necessary to hide. A woman was friendly, and had them go down a well, which she covered over, spreading grain on top of the covering. This worked very well. When Absalom's servants came, it was plain to them that the young men were not there.
So the verse can close with nothing known: the searchers found no trace of the two men.
This woman is not acting alone. Her small act sits inside a whole chapter of people passing help along. If one of them had failed, the rest would have counted for nothing.
The fragrance of service fills this whole chapter. Everyone works together to give their master back the place the wicked have taken from him. Hushai, David's friend, is the first to face danger, and also the first instrument of victory. The priests are the first he confides in. Their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, carry the message that will save David and his men. An unknown servant girl (v. 17) passes it on to them. The woman of Bahurim is just as obscure and just as seldom mentioned as Mary in Matthew 26:6-13... She serves the messengers and arranges a hiding place for them that the enemy is unable to discover. Her service was aimed at the two messengers, but it was a "good work" done for David. In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's beautiful selflessness. No one should be despised.
Scripture tells us nothing else about her — no name, no family, no later mention. Yet the chapter's outcome runs back through her.
In the face of the treachery seen in verse 18, we have the action of the unnamed woman in verse 19. We read no more of her, but her loyalty to her rejected king led to every one of his people reaching safety (v. 22) and to the complete overthrow of the enemy (v. 23). Let us be sure of this: every act of loyalty to Christ in this day when men reject Him has a lasting effect on His interests here. For the moment that effect may be unseen.
She belongs to a group of people in the Bible who appear once and then disappear:
They are mentioned but once in the Bible; they are found in unusual and even uncongenial circumstances, but the service they rendered in obscurity has been a source of cheer and strength to many.
The covering over the well hid two men. Something else in this chapter was hidden too — God Himself.
On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is taking place. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going beyond what their own hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument. For us, Satan's power is formidable; for God it is less than a speck of straw that a puff of breeze blows away.
So the escape was not luck.
She served a king who had been driven out and rejected. One writer applies that same setting to serving Christ now.
I am never really in the spirit of service if I do not remember that He is an absent and a rejected Lord... Is it not a moving thought that the very sorrows and insults heaped on Him here are so many fresh claims on our love? For service to have the right character, we must remember that we serve One who was cast out and refused. You might do very little, but that little would have a precious quality if you do it with the love of someone who acknowledges the insults the Lord has received.
And such service is not lost because no one sees it:
A man may pursue a quiet, humble, lowly path of service, unknown and unnoticed. No one may ever hear his name or give his work a thought, but what he has done, he has done in simple love to Christ... His work will stand. It will be remembered and rewarded, though he did not do it for remembrance or reward.
- Hidden well. A covering and scattered grain hid two messengers, and Absalom's servants left sure that no one was there.
- Hidden hand. Evil looked like the winner. God was hidden behind the scenes, and nothing — not even Satan — could resist Him.
- Hidden servant. Scripture never names her and never mentions her again, yet her loyalty shaped how the chapter ends.
- Unbroken chain. Her act was one link among many. If one link had failed, Absalom would have caught David.
- Open result. Every one of David's people reached safety and the enemy fell. Loyalty to a rejected King still works that way.
And Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have gone over the brook of water. And they sought and could not find [them], and returned to Jerusalem.
A plot against David's life is under way, and two young men are carrying the warning that can save him. This verse catches them at the moment the hunt reaches the door they are hiding behind.
The pursuers knew the two men by name and came to the right house. One writer walks through the steps that left them with nothing to find.
It seems they knew someone had spotted them. So when they came to Bahurim they thought they had to hide. A woman was friendly, and had them go down a well, which she covered over, spreading grain on top of the covering. This worked very well. When Absalom's servants came, it looked plain to them that the young men were not there. When they asked, the woman told them they had gone over the water brook. Of course their search was fruitless, so they returned to Jerusalem.
The search failed. So did every other plan against David in this chapter. One writer explains why.
It is because God is directing everything — the circumstances, men's decisions, their opinions — as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is ruling, men are going beyond what their own hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument. For us, Satan's power is formidable; for God it is less than a speck of straw that a puff of breeze blows away.
The men at the door were not chasing two young runners for their own sake. The plot behind them had one target, and the same writer traces that strategy further back.
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. With reason he figures that if he gets rid of David, everything will fall to pieces and the people will become Absalom's prey. "I will strike down only the king." This is how the prince of darkness works: he aims all his efforts at Christ. To this end he stirred up the world against Him. But at the cross he did not win the conflict — he lost, and that broke his power.
The woman who answered the door was not acting alone. One writer sets her beside the others who passed the message along.
The woman of Bahurim is unknown and seldom mentioned. She is respectful in the place God has entrusted to her care as a woman keeping her home. She serves the messengers and arranges a hiding place for them that the enemy is unable to discover. In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working together toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's lovely selflessness. None is to be despised.
The woman's answer at the door sent the hunters the wrong way, and the whole plan worked. Commentators differ on what that proves. One writer warns against letting a good outcome settle the question.
David passes over the fords of the Jordan, and is meanwhile safe. His plan to defeat Ahithophel by using Hushai has worked completely. If success can justify a plan, then this plan is justified. How many people would accept that excuse — some out loud, some quietly, some hardly admitting it even to themselves?
She is never mentioned again. Yet one writer traces what follows in the chapter back to what she did at her door.
In the face of the treachery seen in verse 18, we have the action of the unnamed woman in verse 19. We read no more of her. But her loyalty to her rejected king brought every one of his people to safety (v. 22) and the complete overthrow of the enemy (v. 23). Be sure of this. Men still reject Christ today. Every act of loyalty to Him in such a day has a lasting effect on His interests here, even if we cannot see it for the moment.
- Hidden men. A well covered over, with grain spread on top, hid the messengers. The search found nothing, and Absalom's servants went home to Jerusalem.
- Hidden God. Evil seemed to be winning. Behind the scenes God was directing the circumstances, the decisions and even the opinions of men, and nothing could resist Him.
- Hidden target. The hunt aimed at the king alone. Remove him, and the people fall. Satan used the same strategy against Christ, and lost at the cross.
- Hidden service. An unnamed woman at home forms one link in an unbroken chain; take her out and David falls. The humblest devotion counted as much to the king as the boldest.
- Visible result. Every one of David's people reached safety and the enemy fell. Still, one writer warns us not to treat success as proof that a method was right.
And it came to pass after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.
Two men climb out of a well at Bahurim and run through the night to a king in flight. Their message is short and urgent: David's life and the whole rebellion hang on whether he acts before morning.
The warning names Ahithophel. His plan was not a battle but a murder. One writer traces that strategy back to its source.
In verses 1 to 4 we discover the enemy's hidden design: he wants to get at David. He rightly figures that if he can kill David, everything will fall to pieces and the people will become Absalom's prey. "I will strike down only the king, and I will bring all the people back to you." This is how the prince of darkness operates: all his efforts are directed against Christ.
Earlier David had asked God to ruin Ahithophel's advice. The warning now reaching him is the answer.
David turns to God. He knew how serious the news was. But this very thing put the source of his confidence before him. He saw the hand of Satan in it just as clearly. So he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the LORD heard, and answered.
Another writer looks behind these events to the hand that arranges them.
God is directing the circumstances, men's decisions and their judgments — in short, everything. He does it as He wills, to carry out His designs. On the surface it would seem that God is indifferent to what is taking place. Evil is triumphing. Evil is reigning. Men are going beyond the imaginations of their hearts. But God is hidden behind the scenes.
The messengers only reach David because a stranger risked her household for them.
They apparently knew they had been seen, and when they came to Bahurim they thought it necessary to hide. A woman was friendly, and had them go down a well, which she covered over, spreading grain on top of the covering. This was very effective, so that when Absalom's servants came, it was plain to them that the young men were not there.
Trace the message backwards and it passes through people the story barely names.
Hushai, David's friend, is the first to face danger, but also the first instrument of victory. The priests are his first confidants. Their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, carry the message that is to save David and his band. A simple, unknown servant girl is used to pass it on to them... In this scene there is an unbroken chain of service working together toward a common goal. Had one link been missing, David would have become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is just as valuable to the king as Hushai's lovely selflessness.
Another writer draws the line from that woman's hidden act to its measurable outcome.
We read no more of her. But her loyalty to her rejected king brought every one of his people to safety, and the complete overthrow of the enemy. Let us be sure of this. Every act of loyalty to Christ, in this day when men reject Him, has a lasting effect on His interests here. For the moment that effect may be unseen.
David is told to cross the water, not just to run. The timing explains the hurry.
They urged him to cross over the Jordan. Ahithophel had advised chasing David at once and killing him. But Hushai's counsel had delayed this, so there was time for David to cross over. If Absalom and his men had pursued at once, they might have caught them as they were crossing the river. They used the delay, and everyone had crossed the river by daylight the next morning.
The crossing did more than save lives.
David is warned and all his people pass over the Jordan: not one is missing. Thanks to this service, God's true people set a barrier between themselves and the enemy.
Not every writer treats the rescue as pure gain. One asks what David lost by escaping through Hushai's plan.
That David escaped by Hushai's means is certainly true. How much did he miss by it of seeing God's hand stretched out for him? How willingly do we deprive ourselves of many such glorious sights in the same way! The richer we are in resources, the poorer our lives become.
- Target. Ahithophel's counsel was not war but murder. Strike the king only, and the people fall in. The enemy has always used the same strategy against Christ.
- Answer. David had prayed that God would turn this counsel into foolishness. The two runners at the Jordan are that prayer answered.
- Chain. Hushai, the priests, their sons, a servant girl, a woman with a well. Remove one link and David is lost. The humblest service was worth as much as the greatest.
- Speed. The warning was useless unless David obeyed at once. The delay Hushai won bought one night. By dawn every person was across.
- Caution. Commentators differ on the means. One praises the devotion that saved the king. Another asks how much of God's open hand David gave up by arranging his own escape.
Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there was not one of them missing that had not gone over the Jordan.
David is camped in the plains of the Jordan, hunted by his own son. Two messengers reach him with news from Absalom's war council, and by dawn his whole company is over the river — so who controlled that night, and why does the record insist that nobody was left behind?
Absalom's advisers had already agreed that Ahithophel's plan was the right one. Then Absalom asked for a second opinion and chose the worse plan. One writer traces that change of mind to a hand nobody in the room could see.
It is because God is directing the circumstances, men's decisions and the way they judge things — in short, everything — as He wills and to carry out His purposes. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is ruling, men are going further than their own hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
That crossing answered a prayer David had prayed earlier, when he heard whose side his sharpest adviser had taken.
He knew how serious the news was. But the news itself reminded him where his confidence came from, just as clearly as he saw Satan's hand in it. A father's love might hold back from pleading against Absalom; but David could now unburden his heart to God. So he says, "O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the Lord heard, and answered.
The warning reached David through a string of people who each did one small thing: Hushai, the priests, their two sons, a servant girl, a woman who hid them at her well.
In this scene there is an uninterrupted chain of service working together toward a common goal. Had one link been missing David would become Absalom's prey. The poor servant girl's devotion is worth just as much to the king as Hushai's beautiful unselfishness. No one should be looked down on, and the lowliest may well have the best place.
The messengers did not tell David to hurry without a reason.
They urged him to cross over the Jordan, because Ahithophel had advised chasing David at once and killing him. But Hushai's advice had delayed that, so there was time for David to cross over. If Absalom and his men had chased them at once, they might have caught them while they were crossing the river, where they could not hide. So they used the delay, and all had crossed the river by daylight the next morning.
The verse does not just say they crossed. It says twice that nobody was left behind.
David is warned and all his people pass over the Jordan: not one is missing. Thanks to this service, God's true people set a barrier between themselves and the enemy. Ahithophel, whose pride is wounded but who above all fears David's final triumph, takes his own life, throwing himself into eternal judgment in order to escape future vengeance.
One writer looks at the men who stayed at David's side while the crowd turned against him.
His mighty men are seen thronging round him on his right hand and his left, and sharing with him the insults and curses of Shimei. They had been with him in the stronghold, with him on the throne, with him in the field, and they are now with him in his humiliation.
The woman who hid the messengers in her well is never named, and Scripture never mentions her again.
We read no more of her, but loyalty to her rejected king resulted in every one of his people being found in safety (v. 22) and the complete overthrow of the enemy (v. 23). Let us be sure of this: in this day when men reject Christ, every act of loyalty to Him has a lasting effect on His interests here, even if that effect is unseen for now.
- Hidden hand. Everyone preferred the plan that would have killed David. Then God, unseen, turned their judgment. Nothing can resist Him; even Satan serves as His instrument.
- Answered prayer. David had asked God to turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. This night crossing is what the answer looked like.
- Unbroken chain. A friend, two priests, their sons, a servant girl, a woman at a well — remove one link and David becomes Absalom's prey. The humblest service weighed as much as the cleverest.
- Not one missing. By daylight the whole company was across, with the river as a barrier between God's people and the enemy.
- Loyalty counts. Those who crossed had been with David on the throne, and they stayed with him in his humiliation. Loyalty to a rejected king leaves a lasting mark, even when nobody sees it.
And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose and went to his house, to his city, and gave charge to his household, and hanged himself, and he died; and he was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
Ahithophel was the sharpest mind in David's court, and he had thrown that mind behind Absalom's revolt. When Absalom passes over his plan, he rides home, settles his affairs, and kills himself — so why does a rejected plan end in death, and whose hand is at work in it?
This death began with a prayer. When David heard who had joined the revolt, he took it straight to God:
Then someone told David, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David turns to God. He knew how serious the report was. But this very thing brought the source of his confidence before him, as surely as he saw the hand of Satan in it. A father's love might hold back from pleading against Absalom. But David could now pour out his heart to God. So he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the LORD heard, and answered.
One writer names who really defeated the plan — and what David missed:
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom." … So Hushai's plot, as he acted the spy for David, saved the king. But the Lord would not have forsaken the king even without him. Though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the chance to see the Lord's power and rescue on his behalf.
One writer weighs his famous wisdom against his character:
His wisdom was so remarkable that it is recorded: "the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God." But no amount of wisdom will make up for a lack of uprightness and true devotion. Then came David's time of trouble. His cause seemed weak and fading, because the people were unfaithful during Absalom's conspiracy. So Ahithophel, like another Judas, turned traitor, and afterwards hanged himself and died.
One writer finds his motive in a family tie:
He was the father of Eliam and grandfather of Bathsheba, so we are left to infer his personal hatred of David. You can see it easily in his later offer to pursue David himself and strike only him. He had been David's counsellor. People listened to him (we are told) as if he were a divine oracle. Yet according to his name he was the "brother of folly." And such is always the worldly wisdom we find in him. But again we see how, in the government of God, David's sin is following him now.
Absalom did not execute him. He only passed him over, and that was enough to finish him:
Absalom rejects his counsel and pushes his word aside. His reputation for wisdom in the state was everything to him. So now his household gods are stolen from him, his "good thing" is gone, and he sinks down a defiled and dishonoured ruin.
The same writer turns this into a question for the reader:
Have we anything that, if it were touched, our life would be touched? Or is our life so bound up with Jesus that we could survive the wreck of everything else? What treasures are we storing up day by day? Where is the ruling passion fixed? Where is the current of the heart flowing?
Nothing here is impulsive:
Ahithophel knows better. So he despairs when Hushai's counsel wins out over his own. The ready messengers set off, at real personal risk, to bring David the news. Meanwhile Ahithophel returns quietly to Giloh, puts his affairs in order, and hangs himself — the first suicide we read of in Scripture.
Commentators differ on who came first. Another writer gives that place to an earlier man, and lists Ahithophel in a short, grim company:
He is the first suicide mentioned in the Bible. Ahithophel (2 Sam. 17:23); Zimri (1 Kings 16:18) and Judas Iscariot (Matt. 27:5) are other suicides recorded in the Word.
The pattern repeats in the New Testament:
Ahithophel seems to have had no motive for doing evil except the desire to do evil. He ends up like Judas, whom he resembles. This "familiar friend" who lifted up his heel against David hangs himself and dies.
Peter fell too, and one writer sets the two ends side by side:
With Peter it was different. Boasting self-confidence carried him beyond his faith, and he broke down in the most deplorable way… It was well for him that his fall did not put him outside the ground of mercy. Peter had to weep bitterly. But Judas, like Ahithophel of old, went out in the bitterness of remorse to end his own life.
- Counsel trusted — people took his advice almost as if God had spoken. Brilliance was never his problem.
- Counsel corrupted — wisdom cannot replace loyalty. Bathsheba's grandfather turned on the king, and the man named "brother of folly" proved his name true.
- Counsel prayed against — David's one-line prayer against that counsel is the hidden cause of this verse.
- Counsel refused — Absalom passed him over, and that destroyed him. His life hung on his reputation.
- Counsel of God stands — Hushai was only the instrument. The Lord had ordained the defeat, and the traitor's end points forward to Judas: remorse without mercy.