Higher Purposes

Encouraged by Absalom’s acceptance of his advice regarding David’s concubines, Ahithophel now offers a proposal for cementing Absalom’s kingship. The problem is that David has been driven out of Jerusalem, but he is still alive and at large. So Ahithophel proposes that Absalom allow him to put together a force of twelve thousand men (another clue that Ahithophel has a grudge against David). If Absalom approves, Ahithophel and these men will move out that very night so as to attack David and his men while they are tired, dispirited, and disorganized. If all goes well, David’s men will be put to flight, and David will be caught and put to death. At that point, Ahithophel assumes, David’s men will give up the fight, averting a long civil war.

Absalom and his other advisors like this plan, but for some reason he decides to give Hushai a chance to critique it. Here is Hushai’s opportunity to serve David in his undercover role, and he boldly seizes it. He declares that Ahithophel’s advice is not good “at this time” (or “on this occasion,” implying that Ahithophel is usually astute), then backs up this assertion with several observations. First, David and his men are top-notch soldiers who will not be easy to defeat. Second, David and his men are angry at Absalom, and that anger will motivate them to fight hard. Third, David is a wily field general who probably will camp by himself, making it difficult to find him. Fourth, if Ahithophel and his men suffer some initial setbacks, they may experience a loss of nerve (this may be a subtle insinuation about Ahithophel). To overcome these problems, Hushai recommends that Absalom gather all the able-bodied men of Israel and personally lead them against David. With such a large force, he says, Absalom will be able to wipe out David and all of his men, even if they take refuge in a walled city. Hushai implies that gathering such a large force will ensure Absalom’s victory, but actually it will give David time to regroup and prepare—after Hushai has sent him a warning.

This advice appeals to Absalom’s vanity, and he and his advisors agree that this is a better course than that proposed by Ahithophel. But it is not Hushai’s clever lies that convince them. Rather, God brings it about to defeat Ahithophel’s counsel (as David asked, 15:31) and set the stage for disaster to come upon Absalom.