2 Samuel 17
Absalom is in effect king in Jerusalem and has made an enemy of his father, David.
Ahithophel, one of David's chief advisers has defected to Absalom's side and gives him some very sound advice, namely take 12000 men and go hunt down David your father while he is weak and already fleeing. Once you kill the king everybody will come over to your side and the victory and kingdom will be yours.
Absalom and the elders liked this idea but Absalom asked for the view of Hushai.
Hushai was a spy planted by king David to undermine the sound advice of Ahithophel.
Hushai pointed out that David and his men are very experienced fighters, and the chances of capturing the king with his troops are very slim, David would in all probability be hiding in some cave or hiding place.
Any deaths of Absalom's forces would be viewed as defeat, so Hushai recommends that Absalom rally every man in Israel - from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south and with overwhelming force hunt down David and his band.
If David took refuge in a city, the army would be strong enough to level the city completely not leaving anything bigger than a stone.
Given these two pieces of advice, which would you take? - Absalom is delighted and much prefers Hushai's very bad advice which would wipe out many more people than just Absalom's target - his father the king.
Hushai sent word to the priests to pass on through their sons to David via a female servant. Unfortunately a male palace servant sees them and warns the palace. So Ahimaaz and Jonathan are forced to hide in a well in a safe house belonging to a guy called Bahurim.
Bahurim's wife covered the well where the men were hiding and spread seed over the cover, and the searchers were totally unaware of the presence of a well let alone the men hiding in it. Telling the soldiers that the men had already crossed the ford and headed out.
David got the message and managed to make his escape in time.
Ahithophel seems to have taken the rejection of his plan very badly as he went home, put his affairs in order and hanged himself. (A sad end for a good advisor - though he had chosen the wrong side)
David and his men head to Manahaim, where the locals bring him and his men supplies of food
Absalom had also appointed a replacement for Joab in command of the army - Amasa, whose father was an Ishmaelite and his mother a relative of Joab.
What makes me wonder here is that the advice of Ahithophel and Hushai are really quite similar go and search for and attack the king.
I don't want to draw parallels and certainly don't want to take a cheap shot at politicians - who am I kidding? That's exactly what I'm going to do!
You know how the political parties publish theirfictional masterpieces Manifestos, trying to persuade us that they will actually A) Do what they say, and B) what they say does not harm the country and works in our best interests.
All the schemes of the parties sound like good advice and make a certain amount of sense (Apart from the fringe parties like the BNP, Monstor Raving Loony Party, UKIP etc), however in practise none of the parties will do as they say and if they do it will invariably backfire somewhere down the line.
Absalom is in effect king in Jerusalem and has made an enemy of his father, David.
Ahithophel, one of David's chief advisers has defected to Absalom's side and gives him some very sound advice, namely take 12000 men and go hunt down David your father while he is weak and already fleeing. Once you kill the king everybody will come over to your side and the victory and kingdom will be yours.
Absalom and the elders liked this idea but Absalom asked for the view of Hushai.
Hushai was a spy planted by king David to undermine the sound advice of Ahithophel.
Hushai pointed out that David and his men are very experienced fighters, and the chances of capturing the king with his troops are very slim, David would in all probability be hiding in some cave or hiding place.
Any deaths of Absalom's forces would be viewed as defeat, so Hushai recommends that Absalom rally every man in Israel - from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south and with overwhelming force hunt down David and his band.
If David took refuge in a city, the army would be strong enough to level the city completely not leaving anything bigger than a stone.
Given these two pieces of advice, which would you take? - Absalom is delighted and much prefers Hushai's very bad advice which would wipe out many more people than just Absalom's target - his father the king.
Hushai sent word to the priests to pass on through their sons to David via a female servant. Unfortunately a male palace servant sees them and warns the palace. So Ahimaaz and Jonathan are forced to hide in a well in a safe house belonging to a guy called Bahurim.
Bahurim's wife covered the well where the men were hiding and spread seed over the cover, and the searchers were totally unaware of the presence of a well let alone the men hiding in it. Telling the soldiers that the men had already crossed the ford and headed out.
David got the message and managed to make his escape in time.
Ahithophel seems to have taken the rejection of his plan very badly as he went home, put his affairs in order and hanged himself. (A sad end for a good advisor - though he had chosen the wrong side)
David and his men head to Manahaim, where the locals bring him and his men supplies of food
Absalom had also appointed a replacement for Joab in command of the army - Amasa, whose father was an Ishmaelite and his mother a relative of Joab.
What makes me wonder here is that the advice of Ahithophel and Hushai are really quite similar go and search for and attack the king.
I don't want to draw parallels and certainly don't want to take a cheap shot at politicians - who am I kidding? That's exactly what I'm going to do!
You know how the political parties publish their
All the schemes of the parties sound like good advice and make a certain amount of sense (Apart from the fringe parties like the BNP, Monstor Raving Loony Party, UKIP etc), however in practise none of the parties will do as they say and if they do it will invariably backfire somewhere down the line.
No comments:
Post a Comment