Godly Counsel (2 Samuel 17)

Is there a need for us to surround ourselves with wise godly counsel, rather than fools? Even with the wisest human plans, do we need God’s intervention? How important is the loyalty of trusted friends? Let’s look at 2 Samuel 17.

What was Ahithophel’s advice to Absalom to conquer David?

Ahithophel said to Absalom: Let me choose 12,000 men and attack David tonight, while he is tired and discouraged. He will panic, and everyone with him will run away. I won't kill anyone except David, since he's the one you want to get rid of. Then I'll bring the whole nation back to you like a bride coming home to her husband. This way there won't be a civil war. Absalom and all the leaders of the tribes of Israel agreed that Ahithophel had a good plan. (2 Samuel 17:1-4 CEV)

How did Hushai deceptively advise Absalom against Ahithophel’s plan?

Then Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. (2 Samuel 17:5-10 ESV)

How did Hushai advise Absalom with a different plan than Ahithophel? How did God undermine Ahithophel’s advice?

Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba—as numerous as the sand by the sea—be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle. Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left of all the men with him. If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.” Since the Lord had decreed that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.” (2 Samuel 17:11-14 HCSB)

As the drama unfolds, were Jonathan and Ahimaaz betrayed?

So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, what Ahithophel had suggested to Absalom and the elders of Israel. He also reported what he himself had proposed. Hushai said, “Quick! Get word to David! Tell him not to spend the night at the crossings that lead to the desert. Instead, he must cross the Jordan River immediately. That way, if he crosses the river, the king and his entourage will survive.” Meanwhile, since they could not risk being seen entering the city, Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been waiting at En-rogel, where a young servant woman was to go to inform them and they would then go brief King David. But a young man observed Jonathan and Ahimaaz and informed Absalom, so they left in a hurry, arrived at the home of a man who lived at Bahurim, and hid inside a well that was in his courtyard. The man’s wife grabbed a sheet, covered the mouth of the well with it, and spread some dried grain over it. As a result, nobody could tell it was a hiding place. (2 Samuel 17:15-19 ISV)

Did Jonathan and Ahimaaz escape and make it in time to inform David?

When Absalom’s servants approached the woman of the house, they asked her, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They’ve already crossed the brook,” the woman answered. So Absalom’s servants went away in search of Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but they couldn’t find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. A little while later, the men crawled up out of the well and went off to talk to King David. They told David, “Get up! Cross the water quickly, because this is what Ahithophel advised about you…” So David got up and all of his entourage crossed the Jordan River. Everyone had crossed the Jordan River by dawn’s first light. (2 Samuel 17:20-22 ISV)