The advice Ahithophel gave Absalom for how to defeat his father was good, meaning it probably would have succeeded. But God did not want Absalom to succeed. David was the Lord’s anointed and He was protecting him. So Absalom asked for more advice from Hushai, and he and his men preferred Hushai’s advice to Ahithophel’s.<\/p>\n
Hushai’s counsel contradicted Ahithophel’s by appealing to the huge ego of Absalom, the rebel king. First, Ahithophel advised taking 12,000 men and going at once to kill David. But Hushai advised they wait and gather a much larger, more impressive army. Second, Ahithophel counseled that Absalom should remain behind, safe. But Hushai advised Absalom to lead the massive army into battle, which appealed to his desire to be seen. So safety in numbers and ego convinced the rebel king to reject the better counsel of Ahithophel.<\/p>\n
We see God’s discipline in this for the good of both the rebel king and the rebel counselor. God is still present for us in the midst of chastening and discipline, because God isn’t out to destroy us but to correct us and turn us back to Himself through repentance. God allows problems and struggles to invade our lives so that we will not stray from His path for us. He isn’t angry with us, but disciplines us so we can grow to be spiritually mature. Neither of these 2 rebels submitted to the correction of the Lord and both died as a result. God wants so much better than that for all of us. William Penn (1644\u20131718) said it this way:<\/p>\n
\nThe sturdiest tree is not found in the shelter of the forest but high upon some rocky crag, where its daily battle with the elements shapes it into a thing of beauty.\u00a0No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cLORD, help us today to submit our lives to Your correction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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2 Samuel 17 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And I will come upon him while he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>as if all returned:\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>all the people shall be in peace.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do\u00a0after\u00a0<\/em>his saying? if not; speak thou.\u00a0\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>not good at this time.\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they\u00a0be<\/em>mighty men, and they\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.\u00a0\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some\u00a0other\u00a0<\/em>place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And he also\u00a0that is<\/em>valiant, whose heart\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a mighty man, and\u00a0they\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>with him\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>valiant men.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>with him there shall not be left so much as one.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover, 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.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0might bring evil upon Absalom.\u00a0 15<\/sup> Then said Hushai unto 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.\u00a016<\/sup>Now therefore 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\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>with him.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man\u2019s house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And the woman took and spread a covering over the well\u2019s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And when Absalom\u2019s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>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\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>, they returned to Jerusalem.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And 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: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you. 22<\/sup>\u00a0Then David arose, and all the people that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan. 23<\/sup> And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>ass, and arose, and gat 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.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25<\/sup> And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a man\u2019s son, whose name\u00a0was<\/em>Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab\u2019s mother.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. 27<\/sup>\u00a0And 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,\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched\u00a0corn\u00a0<\/em>, and beans, and lentiles, and parched\u00a0pulse\u00a0<\/em>,\u00a0\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that\u00a0were<\/em>with him, to eat: for they said, The people\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The advice Ahithophel gave Absalom for how to defeat his father was good, meaning it probably would have succeeded. But God did not want Absalom to succeed. David was the Lord’s anointed and He was protecting him. So Absalom asked for more advice from Hushai, and he and his men preferred Hushai’s advice to Ahithophel’s. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6649"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16216,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649\/revisions\/16216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}