Soon after David left Jerusalem, Absalom and his army took possession of that stronghold of Israel. Hushai was among the first to greet the newly-crowned monarch, and the prince was pleased that his father’s old friend and counselor had joined him. Absalom was confident of success. Eager to secure the confidence of the nation, he welcomed Hushai to his court.
Absalom was surrounded by a large force, but it was composed mostly of men untrained for war. Ahithophel knew very well that a large part of the nation was still true to David and that he was surrounded by tried warriors commanded by able and experienced generals. Ahithophel knew that after the first burst of enthusiasm in favor of the new king, a reaction would come. If the rebellion should fail, Absalom and his father might reconcile. Then Ahithophel, as his chief counselor, would be held most guilty, and the heaviest punishment would fall upon him.
To prevent Absalom from giving up his rebellion, Ahithophel devised a plan that would make reconciliation impossible. With hellish cunning, this unprincipled statesman urged Absalom to add the crime of incest to that of rebellion. In the sight of all Israel he was to take to himself his father’s concubines, by this act declaring that he had succeeded to his father’s throne. And Absalom carried out the vile suggestion. This fulfilled the word of God to David by the prophet, “Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. ... For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.” (2 Samuel 12:11, 12). God did not prompt these acts, but He did not exercise His power to prevent them.
Ahithophel was totally without divine enlightenment, or he could not have used the crime of incest to make treason a success. People who have corrupt hearts plot wickedness as if there were no overruling Providence to disrupt their schemes.
Having succeeded in securing his own safety, Ahithophel urged, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. Then I will bring back all the people to you.” If this plan had been followed, David would certainly have been killed. But “the Lord had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring disaster on Absalom.”
Hushai had not been called to the council. But after the meeting was over, Absalom, who had a high regard for the judgment of his father’s counselor, submitted Ahithophel’s plan to him.
Hushai saw that if the plan were followed, David would be lost. So he said, “The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time,” said Hushai, “for you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not camp with the people. Surely by now he is hidden in some pit, or in some other place.” If Absalom’s forces were to pursue David, they would not capture the king; and if they suffered a defeat, it would discourage them and greatly harm Absalom’s cause. “For,” he said, “all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.”
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