1-2 Samuel Week Forty-Six: 2 Samuel 17:1-29

¹ Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is weary and exhausted and terrify him, so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king alone, ³ and I will bring back all the people to you. The return of everyone depends on the man you seek; then all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ So the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has spoken thus. Shall we carry out his plan? If not, you speak.” ⁷ So Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the advice that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Moreover, Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and they are fierce, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare, and will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the caves or in another place; and it will be when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ And even the one who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely lose heart; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ But I counsel that all Israel be surely gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that you personally go into battle. ¹² So we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the valley until not even a small stone is found there.” ¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring calamity on Absalom.

¹⁵ Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have counseled. ¹⁶ Now therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, or else the king and all the people who are with him will be destroyed.’” ¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a maidservant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a lad did see them and told Absalom; so the two of them departed quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it. ¹⁹ And the woman took a covering and spread it over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, so that nothing was known. ²⁰ Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have crossed the brook of water.” And when they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ It came about after they had departed that they came up out of the well and went and told King David; and they said to David, “Arise and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you.” ²² Then David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed the Jordan; and by dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and arose and went to his home, to his city, and set his house in order, and strangled himself; thus he died and was buried in the grave of his father.

²⁴ Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. ²⁵ Absalom set Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. ²⁶ And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, ²⁸ brought beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched seeds, ²⁹ honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”

—2 Samuel 17:1-29

Sermon Outline

1. The Protector (MULTILINE)
2. The Leader (MULTILINE)
3. The King (MULTILINE)

References

Weekly Study Guide

One of my favorite books growing up was the great Dickens work, A Tale of Two Cities. It begins with the iconic line, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” This story, which describes the tumultuous period surrounding the French Revolution, highlights the ever-present duality of life: good and evil, light and darkness, and wisdom and folly. These same themes are woven throughout scripture as well. In fact, some have applied this opening line to the times surrounding the first coming of Christ. But this idea that certain eras or “times” can be characterized by particular themes, motifs, or common experience is what we are examining here.

In our exploration of this significant, and yet often overlooked, era that Jesus dubbed the “Times of the Gentiles,” it might be helpful to look more closely at the phrase itself. What does it connote? It seems to be saying that there is a period of time in salvation history where Gentiles will be center stage. When reading through the Old Testament, this idea might be a bit jarring. Why? Because in the grand redemptive narrative of the Old Testament, the focus, from the beginning, has been on God setting into motion His plan to redeem the world back to Himself. But it is a story presented on a small scale, specifically told through one family. Early on in Genesis, we see God choose a man through whom He would accomplish this plan. From then on, the narrative focused on, in one way or another, this peculiar little family, and then tribe, and then nation—a nation that God set apart to be His hands and feet in the world. Israel is the lens through which most of the Old Testament views the world—and then presents the world to us, its readers. So, a radical shift from Israel to the Gentiles is extremely noteworthy. In order to explore this shift, I would like to revisit some material we covered in a previous study.

We notice that as things went from bad to worse in the history of this chosen nation of Israel—as generation after generation proved unfaithful—it came time for the narrative to change. God is patient and longsuffering, but as sin and rebellion continues, the time for judgment will inevitably come. And for Israel, it came in the Babylonian Captivity. This catastrophe in the life of Israel marked a significant turning point in the storyline God was writing. Here we see that Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed. The people of Israel are taken captive to a foreign land. The nation, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist. At this point, mankind enters an era that Jesus calls the “Times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). Even the title itself should grab our attention: the “Times of the Gentiles”—as compared with what, the times of the Jews?

Yes—and this is what is so pivotal. Israel had been a sovereign nation up to this point. But from here on out that would no longer be the case. They forfeited that right. They had the opportunity to be faithful stewards of what God had entrusted to them. And, it is true, a few kings and a few generations were. But overall, Israel proved to be the unfaithful wife of Jehovah (Ezek 16:8, 15-34; Jer 3:1-5, 20; Hos 2:2-5). Thus, this sovereignty was taken away. They would now be ruled by others.

Israel was also the mediator that God used in interacting with the world. If you notice, God always seems to use a mediator. He could very easily accomplish what He wants by doing it Himself. But He chooses not to. When God accomplishes just about anything, He uses an intermediary to bring it about. Ever since God chose Abraham and formed from him a people and eventually a nation, Israel was that mediator. The entire outworking of God’s plan was funneled through Israel. And it is here, in this season in Babylon, that we begin to see the groundwork being laid for a coming seismic shift in how God operates in the world.

The “Times of the Gentiles” is a new era in the outworking of the plan of God. And this is what Daniel has the privilege of explaining, both to God’s people and to Nebuchadnezzar. This is why the book of Daniel is so crucial. It is the segue into the next phase of God’s redemptive narrative. It is not just a book that contains some fun little children’s stories about a lion’s den and a fiery furnace. It’s not merely a collection of strange visions and dreams that are all but impossible to figure out. No, it is a doorway. It is the passageway through which Israel is forcibly led into the next phase of their existence. From here on out, everything would be different. And our gracious God does not turn this significant corner in history without providing some road signs. He lays out for Israel, in the book of Daniel, what this new phase will look like—both in terms of Gentile world rulership as well as the upcoming history that their nation will encounter.

It’s important to make sure we grasp the significance of what is happening in this shift. “The Times of the Gentiles” is a new lens through which the Bible will present information to us. Israel used to be the only lens. But now the scope of what is in view is broadened. There is a clear move as we transition to the New Testament from the particular to the general, from the local to the global. The people of God were originally comprised of a nation called out from among the nations. Israel was commissioned to be a bright, shining light on a hill, drawing all men to God. They were set apart by God for service to Him. But as Israel failed to live up to their mandate to be that shining light, they were programmatically “put on the shelf” for a time. God now broadened the plan to reach the world by working through Gentiles (again, for a time).

The book of Daniel is the first step in the preparation for that broadening. God always prepares us for what is coming—and He prepared Israel for this change through the captivity and the history that followed. After Babylon, the lens through which we are exposed to the narrative of God’s redemption is now no longer just the lens of the nation of Israel. It’s like the camera is being pulled back to enable us to view things from a broader perspective. It is in the book of Daniel that we notice that camera starting to zoom back.

We began a discussion last week of this period of time Jesus calls, “the Times of the Gentiles.” We saw that this time period is an era during which the city of Jerusalem is being overrun and trampled underfoot by Gentiles—a time when Israel does not have the ability or authority to exercise their own sovereign control. It is a period of punishment for Israel for their failure to repent and submit to God as their King. There are several other aspects of this unique time period that need to be discussed.

I mentioned last time that the book of Daniel can be seen as a book of timelines. In Daniel chapter two, God lays out for Nebuchadnezzar a timeline for how the world will be governed from his time until the end of time. That is a staggering feat—to lay out all of subsequent history in just a few verses. Prior to Babylon, there were some dominant nations like Egypt and Assyria, but there never really was an empire that ruled the world. In this vision in Daniel two, God reveals to Nebuchadnezzar that from the time of Babylon moving forward, there will be four, and only four, empires that will rule the world until He returns to set up His Kingdom.

This future worldwide governance is presented to Nebuchadnezzar as a glorious statue, which represents the four universal empires that will rule the world moving forward. Looking back, we can see these empires were Babylon (the head of gold), Medo-Persia (the chest and arms of silver), Greece (the belly and thighs of brass), and Rome (the legs of iron). When properly understood, these four empires have indeed fulfilled that role of world-ruling empires from Nebuchadnezzar’s time all the way until today. How can this be? Don’t most people say that Rome fell in 476 A.D.? Well, it’s true that each of these first three kingdoms was defeated by the next. But Rome was never actually conquered. It simply broke into pieces under the weight of its enormous size. Those pieces, in the form of Western Civilization, have indeed continued to rule the world ever since. The statue persists even today.

But there are more than four kingdoms mentioned in Daniel chapter two. There is a fifth Kingdom. After describing the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (with Rome coming in 2 phases), God then reveals the earth-shattering news that in the future, final stage of the Roman Empire (the toes of iron mixed with clay), He will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed. This supernatural Messianic Kingdom will put an end to all these man-made human kingdoms. But it is the way in which God describes this coming Kingdom that is so important. He describes it as a stone that is “cut without hands.” This means it is supernatural. It is not part of the statue of human world governments. It comes in from the outside and destroys all the others—all at the same time.

It is crucial to see that the stone cut without hands is not part of the statue. Each of the four metals, representing Gentile world empires, follow one another throughout history as a part of the statue of a man—all human accomplishments. But the stone cut without hands—a supernatural Kingdom—comes in from the outside and destroys, and then replaces, those previous world empires. The Kingdom pictured as the stone cut without hands is not one of the human world empires that transforms into the Kingdom of God, nor is it just another human kingdom just tacked on to the end of the others in sequence. No, it comes in from the outside, it destroys all the others, and it replaces these kingdoms of men with the Messianic Kingdom. It is essential that we understand this fact if we are to properly understand what God is communicating to us about the coming Kingdom.

As mentioned earlier, the statue in Daniel chapter two helps us understand the meaning behind the phrase, “the Times of the Gentiles.” It is a description of what the world will look like, and who will rule it, during these times. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says, “The Times of the Gentiles can be defined as that long period of time from the Babylonian Empire to the Second Coming of the Messiah during which time the Gentiles have dominance over the City of Jerusalem. This does not rule out temporary Jewish control of the city, but all such Jewish control will be temporary until the Second Coming.” This raises an interesting question. What about the times when Israel did have brief control over Jerusalem throughout this time? Does that invalidate this prophecy?

In short, no. There have been brief periods during “the Times of the Gentiles” where Israel did temporarily control Jerusalem: during the Maccabean revolt in 165 B.C., then in the Bar Kochba revolt in about 135 A.D., and then again in modern times. But the statement of Jesus has an air of finality to it. Once this time period ends, it will end forever—and Jerusalem will never again be trodden underfoot by Gentile domination. So, what does bring “the Times of the Gentiles” to an end? It is the second coming of Christ. It is the stone cut without hands destroying these world systems.

Some have argued that “the Times of the Gentiles” ended with Israel becoming a nation again in 1948. Does this “First Regathering” (mentioned earlier) end “the Times of the Gentiles”? No, because “the Times of the Gentiles” is not primarily defined by Israel being back in the land or by Jerusalem being trampled underfoot. It is defined more precisely as a timeline of Gentile world domination. This time period does not end until the stone cut without hands comes and destroys the Gentile world empires. Yes, Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot until this happens, but that is not how it is defined. Jesus merely mentions that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot until the end of “the Times of the Gentiles”. Also, it’s important to note that in 1948 Israel did not regain control of Jerusalem. It was still occupied by Jordan. Israel did not regain control of Jerusalem until 1967. But, then again, in 1967, after Israel regained control over the old city of Jerusalem, what did they immediately do? They promptly ceded control of the temple mount back over to the WAQF, the Muslim Jordanian council, which continues to administrate it today. So, the trampling continues.

It’s also important not to confuse “the Times of the Gentiles” with “the fullness of the Gentiles.” The latter is a phrase that Paul uses in Romans 11:25 to refer to the number of those that God is calling to Himself in the church age—out of the population of the Gentiles. Apparently, when that number has been reached, this will trigger the end of the hardening of Israel, and God will once again be working in the world through Israel. So those are two distinct—and entirely separate—ideas.

So, we are still living in “the Times of the Gentiles”—a time when the Gentiles are in focus. It is a time of punishment through which God is chastening and refining Israel, and through which He is ultimately drawing them back to Himself. But it is also a time when Jerusalem is being trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, and thus, there is no throne of David in Jerusalem. That must wait until Jesus returns.

(MULTILINE)

Discussion Questions

1. Are you more likely to “strike while the iron is hot,” or to proceed carefully, weighing all your options? What are some examples? (MULTILINE)
2. What is the difference between Ahithophel’s advice and Hushai’s advice? How does Hushai’s advice play into Absalom’s vanity? Was Hushai’s advice actually better or was he simply trying to afford David some extra time to escape? Why? How does David’s prayer in 2 Samuel 15:31 play into this? Why do you think the men of Israel preferred Hushai’s advice? How did Hushai’s advice benefit David? (MULTILINE)
3. Why do you think Ahithophel committed suicide? Why do you think he went to such an extreme? How does the culture in which he lived help make sense of this act? Do you think he ultimately realized that David would prevail and he would face the consequences for his treachery? What are some examples of justice and mercy in this story? What do we learn here about divine justice and about waiting on the Lord’s deliverance? What are some specific examples of God’s providence in this chapter? (MULTILINE)
4. In today’s world, how can we discern when to follow certain advice or reject it? How does the world view the role of circumstances in how they make decisions? In contrast, how do God worshippers view the role of circumstances, in light of God’s providential hand? What is your typical strategy when making decisions? (MULTILINE)
5. Even though God’s hand was not immediately observable to many of the characters in this story, it was clearly present. What are some of the ways God was working behind the scenes to bring about His ends? What are some of the many ways God protected and provided for David in this chapter? Why do you think it is so easy to rely on ourselves rather than on God for our daily provision? What is one way you will seek to change that this week? (MULTILINE)

Going Deeper

1. Is Hushai’s deceit to Absalom justified in this circumstance? Why or why not? Who else was deceitful in this chapter? Where else do we see people lying in scripture in support of godly efforts? When is it acceptable to use deceit for a “good cause”? How do context and intention play into this equation? How does the sovereignty of God inform this debate? Are there valid exceptions to general biblical principles? (MULTILINE)
2. This chapter gives us a great example of how God can shape the world to His will in non-miraculous, unobservable ways that do not violate our own free will choices. The wisest man in Israel was advising Absalom, but God made sure his wise advice was not heeded by utilizing the choices freely made by Absalom and the men of Israel. What are some areas in which you struggle with the idea that we do not perhaps have the kind of free will we might think? How have you come to a resolution on this issue? (MULTILINE)

Transformational Activity

Prayer

We see in this chapter that God had clearly purposed to bring disaster upon Absalom. We cannot escape God. Through this episode we see that Ahithophel gave bad advice that was followed, and gave good advice that was rejected. This was in direct answer to David’s prayer. Take some time this week to evaluate how you feel about the power of prayer. Is it a lifeline for you? Is it something you fully believe in and rely on? Ask God to reveal to you where you might rely on Him more through prayer.