Sunday School | David - 2 Samuel 17

Introduction

Alright, you guys. We're in 2 Samuel chapter 17. We've been studying the life of David for a long time, and we're close. We're a couple of months away. We're getting there. But chapter 17 is a fascinating chapter. There are all kinds of interesting themes, and we can talk about whichever ones are most interesting to you. Among them, there's a really interesting picture of the braiding of the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

You're going to see some stuff happen that's like, Man, everything's on the line based on how the people behave, what one man in particular does, but it would all be nothing apart from God's overseeing activity. We'll see that. We'll see a scene where fear can be amplified into foolishness. I think this is super relevant in our lives.

I hope you'll grasp the benefit of reading the text, any text, whatever the passage is, but reading it with an active, engaged imagination. Sometimes the Bible will just mention things and just hit it and drop and move on, and I want to say, No, no, no, hang on. Look at this. Do you understand what's going on here? We'll try to unpack it. And if we read with attentive imagination, I think more things will pop.

We'll see that. We'll talk about the limits of human wisdom. We can revisit, again, the acceptability of lies, which figure prominently in this passage, and maybe there's other stuff. Who knows? But those are the things that caught my eye, so we'll talk about it.

Let's go back. It's been a couple of weeks. I heard last week was fantastic with the Motleys. Were you guys in here for that? Heard it was just a super session, but it means we've got to leapfrog back there.

So what's been happening in the life of David that sets up chapter 17? Can anybody draw to mind what we've been seeing? David. What the heck is happening in David's life? David's on the run. He's been on the run a lot. What's new about this particular run, Zach?

The Context of the Passage

At this point in time, you've got people cursing at him. People are kicking dirt on him and everything. Who is his chief adversary at this season? Do you remember? Absalom. His son, whose name is? Absalom. So Absalom has basically made a play to take over the throne, and David is fleeing for his life in various ways.

It seemed like when he fled from Saul, he fled with a sense of courage. Here, there's a greater sense of fear and trembling, it seems.

Anything else? Big things going on in 2 Samuel that set up chapter 17? Zebra's report. What's that? Zebra's report. Zee Zebra. Okay. What's going on with Zebra? I thought you said zebra. I'm like, I don't remember any zebras in this story. What's up? What's down with Zebra? Well, he comes to report about—let me say his name—about the grandson of Yes. Mephibosheth. Yes.

So there's this whole kind of like, don't know who's telling the truth, and David doesn't know who's telling the truth, and everything's just kind of a mess of all these people that are in some way oppositional to David, right? He's having a rough time.

Now, as we go into this chapter, there are a couple of characters in our cast we need to remember. So, the son's name again is? Absalom. Was his brother's name? Amnon. So, yeah, there's two brothers, Absalom and Amnon.

Absalom's the one who's making a play on the throne, right? And then there are two other guys we're going to have to watch in chapter 17, and they are Ahithophel and Hushai. So who was Ahithophel again? For those of you who share my problem with proper nouns, Ahithophel. Do you have anything about him? Gina?

Bathsheba's grandfather? Bathsheba's grandfather, yes. Yeah, yes, very good. So Bathsheba's grandfather, so he's kind of got a grudge perhaps against David. Historically, he was on David's side and is known. What is Ahithophel famous for? Do you remember this? What his kind of chief attribute is? Say it again.

He was David's adviser. David's top adviser, right? And it says, like, his advice was like the advice of God, right? Very, very wise, very, very astute. Ahithophel is regarded as, like, among the most brilliant advisers to the king. But he traded sides. He's left David, and he's now giving all his brilliance, all his wisdom, all his insight to Absalom.

Then who is Hushai? You remember him? Which one is he? He's an agent. The Hushai is also one who has been loyal to David and is now pretending to be loyal to Absalom, but he's really just there to throw sand in the gears. He's completely on David's side, but he's suited up as if he's on Absalom's side, and so it's going to be tricky.

What we're going to watch is the battle of the advisors. So, I don't know, if you guys like Hamilton? You guys Hamilton fans? Do you know there's a couple of songs where it's like, you know, Washington pulls in his cabinet and Jefferson is saying, Do this, and Hamilton is saying, Do this, and they kind of have this battle theme to it. That's what this is.

You've got Absalom in the middle, and he's saying, Ahithophel, what should we do? And Ahithophel's going to give a story, and then he's like, Hushai, what do you think? And Hushai's going to give a different story, and then the king gets to decide which side we're going to go. That's essentially the setup for this chapter.

So we'll take a look, chapter 17, verse 1:

Ahithophel said to Absalom, again the Christian says, What do we do? And what's the mission? What are they trying to do? Get David, okay? So, I would choose 12,000 men and set out tonight in pursuit of David, and I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man that you seek will mean the return of all. All the people will be unharmed. And this plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

Okay? Got it? Now, here's what I want you to do. At your table, just take that apart for a second. There are three chief aspects to Ahithophel's plan. This is basic observation, okay? So turn around, sit at your tables, give it a minute. What are the three prongs of the Ahithophel plan? And then we'll see what you come up with. Okay, go.

Alright. Is that enough time? Now, I say I believe there are three main points, and you might say there are five, and that's fine. Whatever. But I think there's three. So what's the plan? If you were to outline Ahithophel, give me some Roman numerals here. What are we going to do?

Number one: Surprise attack. Okay, so one aspect of his plan is right now. Get him, tonight. This is the day. Let's just do it. So he's weary, he's on the run, go now, do not delay, strike fast, surprise, let's go. Right? That's number one. Y'all agree with that?

Number two: Kill David. Okay, that's interesting. And it's not just kill David, but it's only kill David, right? He's very strong on this point. He's like, let's see, set out tonight in pursuit of David, attack him. I would strike down only the king and bring all the people back. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all. This is not an act of war. This is an execution. This is sniper. Honestly, I've often thought, Why don't we do that? Why don't we go to war against him? Why don't you just kill Hitler? Just one narrow boom. Probably because it's illegal or something. But that's the strategy, is just kill David. So right now, kill one guy, and then there's one other aspect to the plan that might be less obvious here. Chris?

Favor to Absalom by bringing everyone back and rejoicing that, hey, he's saved you from this evil person that disappeared. Okay, good. So the result, what Ahithophel anticipates is the result of the plan is going to be that everybody's going to love you and it'll be great and nobody else is hurt, so nobody's mad that they became a widow and so on. That's a result. But that's a result, not a prong of the attack.

Number three: What's the other aspect of his plan? So right now, only kill David. Kelly?

Frightened. Yes. Okay, very good. So it's shock and awe, right? And the principal unit of shock and awe is bring 12,000 men. That's the plan, right? So David, if we go back and you do the math, David probably has between—if you go back and look, I don't know if you care, but go to 2 Samuel 15:16.

The king set out with his entire household following him. — 2 Samuel 15:16

So there's only 600 military men and a bunch of riffraff. And how many people does Ahithophel want to send? So 12 essentially. Here's what we do. Right now, we quintuple his force. We go tonight and we execute him. That's the plan. Huge shock and awe numbers, immediate strike terror into his heart, just kill David, and then it's all over and done.

And what does Absalom think of this plan? Awesome. Sounds great. Now, what is Hushai's job? To screw it all up. Right? So, how does he do that? Because it's a good plan. I'm sure Hushai is like, Well, dang it. I don't know what I'm going to do about this. Here's what he does. Well, first of all, what is Absalom's move when he hears this advice from Ahithophel? He agrees. He thinks it's good, but then what does he do? What is it? Yeah. He said, "Can I get a second opinion?" Everybody in the whole world will tell you this is a good move, right? You should always have multiple counselors. You should never just listen to the first guy that gives you advice. Right?

One of the themes of this chapter is, frankly, the limits of human wisdom. What Absalom does here is what you're supposed to do, and it completely screws him. And you're supposed to see that. He's like, "Hey, we've got one counselor. It seems good, but let's be wise, let's be judicious, let's be humble, let's get a multiplicity of counselors into the game." So Hushai, tell me, what do you think? And that act, which anyone would say was the right thing to do, is going to totally backfire on him because Hushai is going to frustrate his plans.

Watch what Hushai does. Absalom said, 'Summon also Hushai the Archite so we can hear what he has to say.' And when Hushai came to him, Absalom said, 'Ahithophel has given his advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.'

It's perfect. However, Hushai replies to Absalom,

The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. — verse 8

This is like a shot. I mean, this is a direct, he's just like, No. This wisest man, the best advisor, bad. Wrong. He blew it. Normally, he gets pretty good advice, but he's not on his A game, and he's going to completely undercut him. And listen to what he says, verse 8:

You know your father and his men. They are fighters and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter. He'll not spend the night with the troops. Even now he's hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first, man, whoever hears about it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.' And then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear. For all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.

Hushai is so on his game here. What is he doing? What is he exploiting with this response? What is it? They're not going to terrify people. Yes. He says your plan's not going to work, but what's the underlying emotion he's going to just crush? It's fear, right? I mean, he knows Absalom is worried. Absalom is anxious about this. He wants to be king, but he knows he's in a difficult situation.

He's been given brilliant advice that would have worked if he had just followed it, and instead Hushai was like, I don't know, man. Your dad is a beast. That dude is a beast. And man, just imagine how horrible it would be if he were hiding in a cave and just wiped out your dudes. It would ruin the whole thing. And he just plays him.

It's very, very compelling. And you guys, fear is a liar. Hushai knows that fear is a liar, and so he just starts whispering into his ear and just aggravates all his fears and completely takes him off his game. Kelly? I think there's a little bit of Absalom's arrogance and pride in there. Yes. You can subtly exploit someone's fear in a way that deals with their pride; it's like, oh, you're going to win, right? Because these weak spots in our system, right? Marty? Similarly, Absalom wasn't a metaphor. He was a prince. That's right. He didn't earn it. It was a given.

That's such a good point. Marty's saying that David is a man of war. He's fought. He's been through battles. This is not his first fight. But Absalom has just been at the gate, whining about being a judge. He does not have that experience. And so Hushek, again, they can play on his fear and begin to just kind of undercut the whole thing. You see what he's doing? It's brilliant. That's his job, and he executes it so well.

I felt like there was another hand. Does it? Tom? That's cool. One guy says, Attack and you will win. The other guy says, Attack and you will lose. Yes. And now Absalom is soon. That's right. And you might want to live in a sort of conqueror's mind, but that latent fear that he exploits is just game on.

Has anybody seen—one second, I'll come to you, Chris. Has anybody seen the TV show—do you call things TV shows anymore?—the Netflix show? Money Heist? Anybody seen Money Heist? Literally no one has seen Money Heist? Okay, Terry, thank you. We can be friends. It's always terrifying to admit what TV shows you watch because somebody's going to be like, Oh, you sinner. Apparently, that would be literally everyone in the room.

This is a show produced by pagans; it has unsavory elements. I'm not endorsing it. Good enough. But nevertheless, there's the show Money Heist, it's a Spanish show, dubbed into English, and it's really pretty brilliant. Brilliant? Godless, but brilliant? Yes.

And the setup is there's a guy called the Professor, and the Professor is robbing the Spanish mint. So he goes into the place where they print euro bills and locks the thing up and just prints his own, like, a billion euros worth of money and all kinds of stuff. What's so interesting about it, he's a brilliant, brilliant tactician and strategist, and he anticipates everything that will go wrong and does go wrong, and he's ready for it.

And one of the things he exploits, there's this beautiful scene where he talks about how audible hallucinations are terrifying. And so much of this interaction is taking place over radios. The cops can't see what's happening. All they can do is hear what they think is happening, and it's easier to create an audio illusion.

This whole big thing about how if we can make them hear what we want them to hear, they will believe what we want them to believe, and he just plays on their fears. That is exactly what Hushai is doing. He's like, You don't know the whole story, but I'm going to create an illusion for you and change the whole way the whole thing works. And I know this all because I went to Alaska and I was on the plane for about a thousand hours and watched all of it on the plane, right? And watch how he does it.

Look at this. In verse 2, how does Ahithophel characterize David and his men? Weak. They are weary. They are weak. How does Hushai characterize these men in verse 8? They are fierce as a mama bear robbed over cubs. Right? Those are very different pictures. The truth is, which one is right?

They are weary and they are weak, but he's like, Yeah, yeah, but they are also ferocious, battle-born men of courage. In verse 1, the goal is set out tonight, right now, surprise him, do it now, this is the moment, grab it. And in verse 8, what does Hushai say? How does he undercut the value of surprise?

Kidding me? You think you're going to sneak up on David? Have you read any of the earlier parts of this book? You're not going to catch him. He's in a cave, probably where Saul is going to the bathroom, just hanging, you know? Like, he's in a cave. This guy is telling you, Strike now and surprise him. Impossible. You can't surprise him. You'll never get it done, right? And not only that. Not only will you fail to capture him, but there's a pretty good chance that he's going to capture you, and then word's going to spread. And now Absalom is like, Oh, snap.

So then, having undercut Ahithophel and basically just denigrated that whole plan, he offers his own. And here's the plan, verse 11:

So I advise you, let all Israel from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle. Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a piece of it can be found.

Now, Ahithophel's plan had three points. What were they? Do you remember any of them? What were they? Okay. So do it right now, and his answer is—

Let's come back to the "do it right now" part in a second, because that'll be easier to see as a subset of another point.

Number one: strike tonight. Her strike is like, It's going to take a while. And then what's the third point of Ahithophel's plan?

Literally. Yeah, Ahithophel's very much about precision; that’s his thing. Just the king. Surgical strike. This is an execution.

And what is Hushai's plan? Just blow him up. He's like, We're going to besiege the city. We're going to bring it all in. This is full-scale war. And so, at every point, he is directly contradicting him. Surgical strike right now with 12,000 turns into a full-scale war in a month with 100,000. And he obliterates him.

Yeah, John?

Okay, I missed that. I could barely hear you. Something about pride. What did you say?

Oh, yeah, for sure. And that's exactly what Kelly said earlier—he's not only appealing to his fear or his pride, but he's appealing to his pride. And as a consequence of this, what happens?

Wins the debate? Hushai wins, and Absalom buys it. So, in verse 14, Absalom and all the men of Israel said,

The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel. — verse 14

Now, watch this. I want you to think about this line for a second. Why did they believe Hushai instead of Ahithophel? The answer is, for the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

You guys, this particular dance shows up every day in your life, and it completely drives us out of our minds. Why did this thing work? Was it because Hushai was a brilliant strategist and he knew how to exploit Absalom's fear, Absalom's pride, how to play him like a—what do you play people like?—a liar? Okay.

Or is it because the Lord is sovereign over all things and had determined to move the thing? This is the weird thing in life, right?

Does this trouble you? Because I'm like, Lord, I want this thing to happen. So what do I need to do to make this happen? Like, let me manipulate the situation. Let me win the game. Let me plan. Tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it so I can get this desire fulfilled. And then, we've done all the work. It's like, God's just like, Okay, blah blah blah. He does this bewitched thing with his nose and it just happens, you know?

And how does the world work? Does the world happen because God just says, Let it be so, or does it happen because people are slaving away in their minds making it so? Here's what I want you guys to do. Take a minute. You're not going to unpack this entirely, but at your tables, just take another second. How have you ever heard the interplay between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of people explained? How do we make sense of it? Why do things happen? How do problems get solved? Is it him? Is it me? Is it us? Is it his work? Just give yourselves a minute to have that conversation.

Okay? Go.

So I really do feel like it's about here, because let's just be honest. I don't think there's anybody else who's shy who could do that work—that's minor. You replace it with anybody else there, it probably would. But at the same time, it's through God's wishes as well.

Through the show. Thirty seconds more, and then we'll come back.

Alright. There's no way you can figure this out in a minute and a half, but let's just hear what you've heard.

So here's where this plays out. I mean, this plays out in a million areas. Evangelism is maybe one of the most stark. The Calvinists among us, and I would include myself, would say that God is sovereign over evangelism, that God is sovereign. He calls people to faith, and I believe that is true.

Some would then say, Well, therefore, why share your faith? Just don't bother. Like, He's going to do it, He's going to do it, then you can just relax. You don't have to do anything, right?

The more many would say, Well, ultimately, people are saved, and it is ultimately the mercy of God, but it's all about you, so you better get out there. And by the way, you better do a good job when you do. Imagine the pressure, that the eternal fate of people lies in your hands.

And this is a hard question. Then you get a guy like the Apostle Paul, who literally writes the book on Calvinism. He writes all the theology of election is drawn from Paul's writings, but he shared his faith like a madman everywhere he went at enormous cost. So in your own life, there may be things you're like, Lord, I need you to do this. But then perhaps you're also like, And what do I need to do to bring it about?

These can be difficult. So what did you guys talk about at your table? Any brilliant insights? Or you can even make it worse, it got worse. You know? But how do you handle these—how do these two things live in your brain?

Any thoughts? Yeah.

D'Ryan? Think that I'm—do something to family. I had a conversation about—okay, so go really loud. I want to hear what you say.

I had a conversation about this very thing this week with a friend of mine. And I grew up with the Calvinistic thinking, and you meet people who are—say, the argumentative thinking and the conversation that we have, and I wrestle with it.

I think in God's mind, which we can't—we can't understand completely His mind because we're not God. We are a created people. I think in God's mind, He brings those two concepts together and they make their perfect model. God is sovereign over everything and yet we are responsible for the choices we make. And that's kind of contradictory in our minds but in God's mind, it makes perfect sense.

And I've come to the point where I just think it's both. But I don't think we can fully understand it the way God does. Yeah. So, it seems like you’ve gotten to a point where you accept both premises are true. There are things that I must do, and God will accomplish His purposes regardless of what I do, and that you're, at some level, willing to say, I don't get that, but He gets that, and that's good enough for me. Yeah. And, but it still kind of bothers you. Okay. Yeah. Good enough.

I just know that He's in control. He's suffering from the same time we are responsible for the same time. Yeah. Okay. And there lies tension. Okay. Lily? Then we'll come up to Katherine.

From the foundation of the world. The words of the prophets have spoken. The word of God spoken cannot change it. And yet He gives us commandments. So there's His will of command and life. So there's—I think there's a difference between what He expects us to do and what He has already ordained from the foundation of the world.

And I like Ryan's offering of being in perfect harmony because as—Petzer played that beautiful song this morning—you as an individual, you only hear one tune in your own life, but it's built—it’s orchestrated. You don't have—I don't know.

I think when people try to divide these things, it's just you’re lending yourself to your. Yeah. So let me restate some of that in case you couldn't hear. Lily is essentially observing that when we talk about the will of God, that's kind of a blunt language, okay?

What we mean by that is that God will—God has—there's different labels people will use for this, but there's, in some sense, God's ideal situation, right?

1 Thessalonians 4 says, It's God's will—that is, what we mean by His will—is that which He desires. Well, first of all, before I even tell you what it is, does God get what He wants? Does God get His will? Yes. Okay.

However, it is God's will, as a direct quote, It's God's will that you would avoid sexual immorality. Did He get what He wanted? No. Clearly not. Right? So there's a sense in which He wills goodness, and yet the world is filled with badness. He wills the obedience of His people, and yet we are wretchedly disobedient.

So there's a sense in which, does God get what He wants? Well, no, not always. There's this, that is like, there's all kinds of stuff that happens outside of His will. And yet, there is this other sense of which whatever He decrees will most assuredly come to pass. So when God says, "Let there be light," there is no argument. There is simply light, right?

And so, it's helpful when we talk about the will of God to recognize there's these two different circles.

You would hope, if y'all were obedient people, that these circles would converge—that what God wants your life to be like is what you want your life to be like—that the steps He wants you to take, the things He wants you to say, the people He wants you to pursue. Like, what if you made it your point that you will bring those two circles into convergence more than they are presently?

You probably never achieve perfect convergence. Among other things, not all of your life is within your own control. But we could see these things coming to pass, perhaps. Two circles like this. The ideal will, the perfect will of God—that you would avoid sexual morality—and then the actual flow of life, which sometimes does not line up.

And what Kelly? Yes, I think that the little circles because the Lord's perfect will, the will of command—which He wills—would involve your cooperation, right?

Yeah. And that would be in that little circle. Yeah.

So, I mean, there's a big circle that’s the decreed will of God, and then there's a smaller circle that’s His commanded will, and I think the more we cooperate with the Lord, the more those just come into harmony.

Wouldn't it be lovely if our lives looked like that, right? But I think most of us live like this. We're aware of the ideal, but we're not living toward it. The more we live in that direction, the more those circles overlap, and maybe some of the things He desires for us happen just because we're aligning ourselves with His will.

Okay. We've got to keep moving because we're running out of time. There's more I want you to see here. More fires than we're going to put out this morning. Many different things. It's worth wrestling through the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

Let's keep going. Hushai, his plan works, but he's got one more key task. What's the next thing he's got to do? He's got to inform David. Right? David, I just bought you time. Get out. That's what's happening.

So how's he going to do this? This is hard for me. I don't like this next passage. Verse 15: Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Ahithophel has advised such and such against you, but I've advised them to do so and so. Now, send a message immediately and tell David, "Do not spend the night at the fords in the desert. Cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up."

What he's saying is, Dude, I just bought you time, but I don't know how much time. Ahithophel's advice is here. Absalom's with me, and he might wise up, so get out, get out, get out. He bought him time—that’s the whole point. The message.

And so, watch this, verse 17: Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at Enrogel. A servant girl was to go and inform them, and they were to go to tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. So there's going to be this game of, like, you tell so-and-so, and they tell so-and-so, and we're going to pass it down through this secret network of underground agents to get word to David, okay? But the problem is, verse 18, a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left quickly and went to the house of a man in some place. They had a well in his courtyard. He climbed down into it. A wife covered it and spread it over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it, and no one knew anything about it.

And when Absalom's men came to the woman at the house, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" Different Jonathan, by the way. Jonathan's dead. This is not David's best friend; it's a different dude. And the woman answered, "They crossed over the brook." What do you call that? That is a lie. That is an overt lie. The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.

Alright. We've had this conversation a handful of times already because it keeps coming up. I'm in a hardcore "never lie" camp. A lie is never justified. And I might be wrong. There's a handful of places—people love talking about the midwives, Moses's midwives, and they're like, you know, they're not killing the babies; they lie to Pharaoh about it, and so on. And I have generally been of the opinion that it's always wrong to lie and there's another way to do it, and sometimes we'll lie just because we want to avoid pain and it's about avoiding our own punishment. Even if it's unjust punishment, I just don't like to hurt. So I want to lie to get away with things, and I tell lies so I don't have to suffer.

This text challenges that, and so I have a commitment: I always want to submit to the Scriptures, and if I'm wrong, then I want to get right. I don't know, but this is a hard text for me because it seems to me that the narrator here is telling the story of what they did. There's no question they overtly, explicitly lied, and I find no hint in this text that there's any criticism suggested of that. Rather, it seems to me that they're being commended for what they did to get the message to David. Again, I might be wrong about this, or I might have been wrong for the last thirty years about this. I don't know. But this passage really challenges my sense that there's never a time to lie, because they clearly lie, and I think the narrator is suggesting that it was okay. I don't know what to do with that.

Marty, can you rescue me? Well, no. I can't rescue, but the midwives, they were trusting in God and not fearing the pharaoh. And I think maybe it's a part of a hard attitude. What's the motivation? Is it to avoid pain? Is it to avoid consequences for your bad decisions? Or is it being directed by the Lord? And I would say it would be an extremely rare, rare, rare occasion where life would be something that's good, but—yeah.

Yeah, maybe. And I confess that one of my problems with saying, like, under this circumstance, you're allowed to lie is that, like, oh, let's go. Because, I mean, from now, it's like, "Hey, I can either pay for my children's college or I can be honest with my taxes." If I do this, it's going to be so much more—you know, like, as soon as you do that, I just feel like we can justify any lie, again. All of them. And I don't know. This troubles me. Gary, what do you think?

In times of war, some of the rules are different. Yep. You know, like murdering Zach would be wrong every day in an everyday sense. But if he was my enemy in war and I set an ambush for him and he walks down the path and doesn't realize he's about to be murdered, well, that's clever. That's not murder if it's war. Be on the lookout; we might declare war. Well, and so the thing is—and now the people have been troubled by this suggestion before—but God can and does justly take life. There is a place for the taking of life, and we would tend to think that lying is worse than murdering, but God kills people. You know this? God kills people. God never lies. Right? I get wrapped around the axle on this, okay? So yes, we can't kill Zach unless we declare war against him, and then we can just do whatever we wish. I think that's true.

Bob? What if this isn't a lie? The Hebrew word here that in the ESV is "brook," and they say it's only used once in the entire Bible. And they say the interpretation is uncertain. It could also be a little water or a whale. So maybe she was playing the word game, and it was not being clear. And she actually was saying they're in the whale, but was saying something that was so unclear that they could mean something else. That's good. I like this. That's good. Reminds me of—you know the famous Corrie Ten Boom story? Where Corrie and her sister Betsy thought you could never lie. Corrie thought that was ridiculous. And there was this great moment where they had Jews hidden in a secret storage place under the table, and the Nazis come in, and they're like, "Where are the Jews?" She's like, "They're under the table." And they look under the table and they're like, "Shut up, you…" But they were under the table. So there was this double entendre to that. So maybe, I don't know. Okay, everybody wants to speak to this.

Kelly? I just wanted to mention, where you have to do with the spies, yeah, there's a couple. The midwives, those women, did you notice that? Maybe women can lie, but men can't? I don't know. Wait, too much laughter. What? She's celebrated in multiple ways, yes, for sure. You're saying that it seems like there's no criticism in the text here. Would say Rahab is an example where she's overtly committed. Yes. Yeah.

And I feel like those other instances might be—We've got to keep moving. I feel like there are other things they did that they may be being commended for despite their lie. This one feels pretty naked. She's just lying. Unless Bob's right, which should be awesome. We’ve got to keep going. I know there's a bunch of hands. A couple more things I want to hit before I dismiss you, so I apologize for not having space for all.

Alright, so whatever happens, God keeps him safe. Once again, you know, things have to play out. So look at this, verse 21:

After the men had gone, two of them climbed out of the well. They went to inform King David, and they said to him, "Set out across the river at once. Ahithophel has advised such and such against you." — verse 21

That’s like a throwaway line. Hey, cross the river. Go. You guys, they have walked 20 miles today. Okay? They're fleeing for their lives after a long, tiring day, and the river is raging, and the answer is to get across the river. Nobody wants to cross the river—they're tired, it's cold, it's dangerous to do this in the middle of the night—and yet, at the end of this torturous day in which God has sovereignly created space for them to be safe, there is still work to do. There is still suffering to endure.

And we're back in that sandwich. First, Hushai had to crush it, right? And then God had to bewitch the people to be stupid. And then David and his guys, they had to be like, Oh, man, this is the last thing I want right now—that is, to cross a raging river at night after a 20-mile journey. But okay. And welcome to the universe, you guys. That's just the way it's going to be. Right? There are things that God will go before you and set the way for, but then you've just got to get into the river sometimes at night—that's just how it works. So go on, have at it. Read the text in a way that those kinds of things you might notice. Slow it down.

What was it like to be told to cross that river? Imagine those things. All right. God keeps them safe. Humans have to do the work. They get across. And then, this: I think this is a surprising moment. Then Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed. He saddled his donkey, set out for his house in his hometown, put his house in order, and then hanged himself. Woah! Did you see that coming? Boom boom boom boom, then he hung himself. And what the heck happened?

So he died and was buried in his father's tomb. That comes completely out of nowhere to me. I just did not anticipate that that's what was about to happen. Why does he do it? Why does he hang himself? John?

Because he knew what was going to happen, and he knew it was absolute loss. I think John is exactly right. The surface level looks like he just took his toys and went home—like, "You didn't take my advice. Fine." He's just ashamed or he's mad or he's lost his job, he feels insignificant, all that. But I think it's more than that. This guy is on point, and he knows—okay, great, you just followed the advice that's going to cost you the kingdom, and when it does, my head's on the block. Like, he is a traitor. He's a traitor to King David.

I think it's more than just shame; I think it's more than just being grouchy. He's like, "Well, I can tell you right now how this story's going to end. You blew it, and that's going to cost me." And so he hangs himself. This is such a strong response. So, yeah.

Okay, Suzanne and then Chris.

He may also have felt that the Lord had withdrawn favor from him. He may have felt that the Lord had done what? Oh, yes. Yes, I think he knew, "Yeah, I'm a goner when this goes badly." But that probably got to his heart. Yeah. He may have some sense, not only is he a traitor against David, but he's a traitor against the Lord—that he must be thinking, "My advice is so much better than the other guy's advice. How could you possibly have chosen this?" And perhaps concluded there's more going on here than meets the eye. I have not supported the Lord's anointed, so it's going to go poorly.

Okay. Now, what's interesting about that—to wrap it up—here's a final thing, just to kind of put a bow on this—is one of the themes of this chapter is the limits of human wisdom. Ahithophel is on point. He's the great adviser to the kings. His advice in this moment is right, and he probably is rightly reckoning how this thing is going to play out. But then he kills himself.

And there's something about this that—do you guys know David Foster Wallace? Is that a meaningful name? Among other things, he gave this famous graduation speech that's been played about ten million times. It's actually really, really brilliant. And he is a very wise, insightful man who killed himself. And that's exactly what we see here. There is something I think this chapter wants to warn us about—Absalom does the right thing in seeking wise counsel. Ahithophel gives wise advice. Ahithophel rightly recognizes how this story is going to end, and yet all of that wisdom, all of that human wisdom, amounts to nothing. It ends in a suicide. It's going to end in a military defeat. It all blows up.

And though I think God values wisdom and it is good to do things that are wise, I just know there are moments in my own mind that seem right to me, that have followed the rules of wise counsel, and yet there are moments that it cannot take you far enough. I think this chapter wants us to see the limits of human wisdom set against the brilliance of God's ultimate purposes.

And when you find yourself—and you will, I do—believing things, reasoning things, making sense of things that make perfect sense to me and yet contradict God's word, when that happens, it's just a decision to make. Am I going to give my human wisdom the preeminent position in my life, or will I bend the knee to Scripture? And I just encourage you—I think this wants us to see that as brilliant as you are, as reasoned as you've been, as much wisdom as you've sought—at the end of the day, man, you just want to surrender to the Scriptures because we're just not that smart, even when we can't figure out the error of our thinking.

Okay? Thanks.