2 Samuel 17:14–20

So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring disaster on Absalom.

Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have advised. Now therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, ‘Do not spend this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ” Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En Rogel, for they dared not be seen coming into the city; so a female servant would come and tell them, and they would go and tell King David. Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom. But both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down into it. Then the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground grain on it; and the thing was not known. And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

So the woman said to them, “They have gone over the water brook.”

And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

The decision to take Hushai’s advice over Ahithophel’s didn’t happen naturally. For the LORD had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel. God is continuing to answer David’s prayer.

But Hushai isn’t certain how this will play out, so he conveys both plans to David. He also recommends that David’s troops get out of the desert ASAP and flee to the east side of the Jordan.

But there’s a problem; Jonathan, Ahimaaz, and the servant messenger are spotted by some random kid and this gets back to Absalom. Absalom dispatches a posse to find Jonathan and Ahimaaz, and they track them down to a house in Bahurim.

But the woman of the house does a thorough job of hiding them in a well and sends the posse on a wild goose chase. Eventually, the posse gives up and heads home.

The whole thing seems ridiculously improbable, save for the LORD’s blessing.

Ahimaaz and Jonathan dared not be seen coming into the city so that Absalom wouldn’t suspect that his plans are being conveyed to David.

But that blows up when they’re spotted with the servant. Absalom dispatching a search party for them proves that he’s concerned about it. He should be, and he should be suspicious of his entire inner circle of confidants.

But, as we’ll soon see, he doesn’t change his plans. That’s astonishingly reckless. David is famous for his military accomplishments.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.