Question of the day: Who was your best friend or a good friend when you were a child? What did you like most about them, or what drew you to them?
This week we continue in 2 Samuel 16 and we cover most of chapter 17. This is not a stand alone lesson so if you missed last weeks lesson I encourage you to read it. Last week we saw David struggling, literally being pummeled with stones and insults, and taken advantage of in his stressed and weakened condition. We saw how he was able to get away and be refreshed.
I don't think in all the years of writing this Sabbath School lesson have two lessons more accurately mirrored our life. These lessons...were chosen for this time...for Chris and me. I hope they are an encouragement to you too. For us they have been such a life line. God is so good that way!
These two weeks have reminded me of the importance of studying the bible for life application! These passages, that are at first blush almost boring, have been so full and rich with application and blessing for us in a very difficult time. That is the power of God, it is because, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." His word is more than a powerful tool, it is Him! Diving into His word is learning in Him, resting in Him, being encouraged by Him! Don't ever stop taking time to be in HIM!
Today we will just read the entire passage and then start to unpack it.
2 Samuel 16:15-23 and then continuing on 2 Samuel 17:1-23
The Advice of Ahithophel and Hushai
15 Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 16 Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s confidant, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
17 Absalom said to Hushai, “So this is the love you show your friend? If he’s your friend, why didn’t you go with him?”
18 Hushai said to Absalom, “No, the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and I will remain with him. 19 Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.”
20 Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”
21 Ahithophel answered, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
23 Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.
2 Samuel 17
17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I would[a] choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. 2 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 3 and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.” 4 This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.
5 But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say as well.” 6 When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.”
7 Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. 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 will not spend the night with the troops.9 Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first,[b] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ 10 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.
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. 12 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. 13 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 so much as a pebble is left.”
14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
15 Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. 16 Now send a message at once and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”
17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A female servant was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left at once and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. 19 His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it.
20 When Absalom’s men came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”
The woman answered them, “They crossed over the brook.”[c] The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.” 22 So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
So here we have two men. Two men chosen by David as advisers, confidants.
What are the similarities?
What are some differences?
In Beth Moore's book "A heart like His" she talks about the similarities between Ahithophel and Judas. Do you see any similarities?
What are they?
The answer to the question of the day for me is Lisa Eisele! Having just returned from Ethiopia as a 6th grader, I was having a very difficult time reentering "american society". I didn't fit. I had no idea about all the things that most 6th graders deem the most important things. I was a weird missionary. Lisa Eisele was cool, popular, friendly to all, and also the daughter of a missionary, who had empathy and compassion for me and took me under her wing. Because of who she was and because she loved me, I became loved and accepted by the school. It was life altering! I'm not being too dramatic either. 6-8th grade can set you up for all kinds of struggle or success. It is a time when you are just starting to transition into adulthood, and prepare for high school. I can't imagine how different my life would be if this crucial time had been one of rejection and ridicule. If that young girl had been rejected instead of embraced, who would I be?
Friends, confidants, advisers are all so important in this life!
When I came to the states from Ethiopia I was also coming from a situation where I had been rejected and teased a lot! I didn't have friends that liked me. I didn't have friends that encouraged me and accepted me. I had spent years coming home from school in tears. I had felt alone and friendless.
Have you had friends that encouraged you, accepted you, supported you?
Have you been rejected, betrayed, or just not included?
Have you been a friend that supports, or betrays?
Last week Chris and I shared the difficult week we had. It had been a week where Chris was pummeled with stones and insults. We resonated with the lesson! We left potluck last Sabbath and drove to Greenville, SC where we spent the night and most of Sunday with a group of business men that are part of a group he has been a member of for a little over a year. This group is designed to be a support for each other. You have to be invited to be apart, and is led by a now retired former business owner who acts as a mentor to the members. After the week we had experienced the thought of spending time in this group was not exciting. Just the thought of sitting in a room of highly successful business men and their wives, listen to chit chat, listen to a motivational speaker, sounded like nails on a chalkboard. After all it would be the unemployed couple, sitting with a bunch of highly successful couples. After the previous week, we just felt so beat down. So low. We needed that "refresh" we had read about.
We got in the car and drove, in almost complete silence. After arriving at the hotel we changed our clothes for dinner and then walked in downtown Greenville to the restaurant, (that incidentally was owned by one of the men.) I was dreading the meaningless chit chat. How do we go from last weeks events and then last weeks Sabbath School to meaningless chit chat?
Here is what happened.
1. At dinner the conversation was dominated by a story, shared by one of the most wealthy in the room, about how his father went through a difficult change in his career and committed to giving away half of all he earned to the poor and needy around the world. How God blessed him in this challenging transition late in his career and in less than 10 years he started multiple companies, employed of 1000 employees and gave away half of everything he had! Now his son, (the one telling the story) has committed to do the same. He has multiple foundations that are funded by the success of his businesses. He lives to give! He works so he can give!
NOT meaningless chit chat!
2. The "motivational speaker" was raw and very real! He was deep and very personal as was the entire room! The discussion all of Sunday morning was about, core values, and personal truth, morality and life questions. Far from nails on a chalkboard. Instead exactly where we needed to turn our focus!
3. The speaker picked a couple men in the room, and asked the others to say a word that described them, and Chris was one of the guys he chose. I froze. Here was Chris, unemployed, in a room of highly successful men, would this feel superficial, or would the just say things like, "I haven't known him very long." Instead it was as if they couldn't wait to share what they thought of my man. The words just flowed and then many backed it with why. At the end, the speaker expounded on what everyone had been saying. He said, "What I'm hearing is that you are perspicacious." Thankfully someone else in the room asked what that word meant, so I didn't have to ask. He went on to say that Chris is gifted at looking at chaos and seeing solutions and bringing order. He went on for a while.
This group of men, were far from shallow. Far from superficial! These men were friends! Men who were used by God in a powerful way to minister to us!
Chris and I road home talking about the experience, exclaiming the greatness of our God. How cool that after being pummeled by stones and insults, He provided a place to refresh. An unlikely place, but a place non the less.
Are you an Ahithophel or a Hushai to those around you?
Are you building up and supporting your spouse?
Are you building up and supporting your children?
Are you building up and supporting each other here?
Are you building up and supporting your coworkers?
Are you building up and supporting your boss?
Are you building up and supporting those in need around you?
Chris and I were the recipients this past week of wonderful support from many friends. Calls, emails, prayers, visits. To all of you we thank you! That support we received just challenged us to make sure we are being a support to those around us!
Are we supporting those who are seemingly "on the loosing side?"
If there is someone in your life that you have given up on or have not been supporting I want to challenge you to take the matter in prayer to God. Ask how you can be a support?
Because of what God has done for you, will you extend true friendship to those He brings to you?
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