2 Samuel 17:1-14
1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. 3 Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.” 4 And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
The Advice of Hushai
5 Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he says too.” 6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken in this manner. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak up.”
7 So Hushai said to Absalom: “The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. 8 For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not camp with the people. 9 Surely by now he is hidden in some pit, or in some other place. And it will be, when some of them are overthrown at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10 And even he who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt completely. For all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. 11 Therefore I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12 So we will come upon him in some place where he may be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. And of him and all the men who are with him there shall not be left so much as one. 13 Moreover, if he has withdrawn into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city; and we will pull it into the river, until there is not one small stone found there.”
14 So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring disaster on Absalom.
The disinformation of Hushai against the good advice of the wise Ahithophel who switched to the wrong side from king David to support and advise his son Absalom is seen effectively working here. This was the will and intent of the LORD Himself to curb the destruction of David’s family that was a consequence of his sins of adultery and murder by the disinformation campaign of the king’s servant planted there for a time like this. So when Ahithophel came up with a brilliant plan to overtake David and his men whole they were still weary from escaping Jerusalem and death at the hand of Absalom, the divine intervention moved the usurper to ask the counsel of Hushai as well, he advised strongly against the plan by misdirecting the facts of it and instead indicating it was bad timing and assumptions because David was likely to be holed up and not easy to find or defeat like a strong bear protecting her cubs. He also indicated any lack of victory in the least would likely turn the followers of Absalom against him for failing to defeat David and his band of brothers straightaway. He also spun the idea that if David hid in a city they would not be able to find him either. These convincing arguments by the spy turned Absalom against the good advice of the turncoat Ahithophel because God had His purpose to defeat that good plan to save David for His future plan to bring the Seed who is the Messiah into the world twenty-eighty generations (Matthew 1:17) later. This disinformation that he followed to thwart good counsel would be the disastrous outcome for David’s rebellious son to accomplish God’s will and eternal purpose. We see throughout history how the Lord moves hearts and circumstances to bring His obedient Son into the world to establish His kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:25, 27, 28) by all means at His disposal in the hearts and plans of men to bring us to the cross and resurrection to life from the death of our sin begun in the Garden with Adam and Eve and completed in the Seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:1-3, 4) at the proper (Galatians 4:4) time in God’s eternal plan (Proverbs 19:21, Hebrews 6:17, 19-20) no matter what disinformation the adversary speaks against the gospel of truth.
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