CHAPTER 17

(1023 B.C.)

AHITHOPHEL AND HUSHAI

¹Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night (this Chapter symbolizes the rejection of the Son of David by Judas; it is exactly as the Israel of Jesus day; most of the people loved David, but much of its leadership seemingly didnt; most of the people of Israel loved Jesus, but its leadership, at least for the most part, didnt; Ahithophel, like Judas, betrayed David, and then hung himself; so we are seeing here a forepicture of what would happen approximately a thousand years later):

²And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people who are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only (the proposal to single out David and murder him pleased Absalom well, and all the Elders of Israel [Vs. 4]; and yet Absalom was Davids son; as well, all the Elders of Israel had received nothing from him but good! How true is it that the heart is desperately wicked [Jer. 17:9]):

³And I will bring back all the people unto you: the man whom you seek is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace (Ahithophel tells Absalom that his plan will guarantee the throne).

⁴And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the Elders of Israel. (As we have stated, the prosperity of Israel, which was then the greatest in the world, was all due to the Blessings of the Lord upon David. And yet the Elders of Israel did not seem to know this. How so like most modern religious leaders!)

⁵Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says (the Lord, no doubt, engineered this).

⁶And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak you.

⁷And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.

⁸For, said Hushai, you know your father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

⁹Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.

¹⁰And he also who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

¹¹Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto you, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.

¹²So shall we 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 who are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

¹³Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

¹⁴And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. (The Lord used Hushai to appeal to the pride of Absalom. This upstart could see himself marching at the head of thousands of troops, with all of Israel at his feet. Truly, Ahithophels counsel had been perfect. David did not yet have time to marshal his forces and, at this stage, was not ready to fight. Ahithophel knew this, but his advice was not taken, which was ordered by the Lord.)

HUSHAIS COUNSEL TO DAVID

¹⁵Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the Priests (High Priests), Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the Elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counseled.

¹⁶Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over (pass over the Jordan River); lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him (Absalom may change his mind, and adopt Ahithophels advice after all; so David must hurry!).

¹⁷Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city (Jonathan was the son of Abiathar, while Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok, all who were confederate with David, even though Absalom was not aware of such; the two young men were sent by Hushai to give David the message as to what he ought to do): and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David (the word wench should have been translated maidservant; in this Verse, we see this handmaid named along with the mighty king of Israel, king David, and all by the Holy Spirit; this is an encouraging instance of how useful the most insignificant person can be to the Lord of Glory in the interests of His Kingdom).

¹⁸Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a mans house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down (the two young men hid in the well for a short period of time).

¹⁹And the woman took and spread a covering over the wells mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known (the two young men were not discovered).

²⁰And when Absaloms servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem (of course, she had hidden them in the well).

²¹And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water (over the Jordan River): for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you (they told David all the plans of Ahithophel, and then how Hushai had gotten Absalom to listen to him instead, which would give David time, which he desperately needed).

²²Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them who was not gone over Jordan.

AHITHOPHELS SUICIDE

²³And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and got him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father. (So died the man who would not forgive David and had fomented a rebellion to dethrone Gods anointed. The Child of God must ever understand that he is obligated to forgive those whom God forgives. To do less is to set oneself on the road to disaster.)

ABSALOM PURSUES DAVID

²⁴Then David came to Mahanaim. (The word means two camps. It was on the east side of Jordan. It was named by Jacob of old, when he came out of Syria at the behest of the Lord on the way back to the Promised Land. He was met by two camps of Angels, hence the name [Gen. 32:1-2]. One must wonder if David came here intentionally. As well, did he have Jacob in mind at this time of great distress, when he came to Mahanaim? This we do know, it was at this time that he wrote the Forty-second and Forty-third Psalms.) And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

²⁵And Absalom made Amasa Captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a mans son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joabs mother. (It is ironic that both Joab and Amasa were Davids nephews. Joab, at this time, remained loyal; Amasa joined the rebellion.)

²⁶So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. (All who joined the rebellion would rue this day. If men could only understand that they must follow Gods anointed, rather than the Absalom spirit. Admittedly, sometimes it takes great Faith to do so, especially when we realize that God rests His Spirit in earthen vessels. Regrettably, not all men have Faith.)

BARZILLAIS KINDNESS TO DAVID

²⁷And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

²⁸Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

²⁹And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine (cattle), for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness. (Three men brought these gifts, Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai. At a time like this, for anyone to say, I love you, is a Blessing that can only be understood if one has walked where David walked. The Holy Spirit was so gracious as to record the kindness of these men. He will likewise record for eternity the kindness of all those who will stand by Gods anointed.)