Seeing
that Absalom and the elders concurred with his reasoning that Ahithophel’s
strategy was not as good as it seemed, Hushai then proceeded to share his own
approach. He was stalling time for David. The plan he suggested would require a
huge amount of time to gather men from all the tribes of Israel from Dan to
Beersheba. Furthermore, to muster such a huge force as numerous
as the grains of sands on the seashore was no small feat. Using hyperbolic
language. Hushai was painting a scenario, where the people with Absalom would
be so large it would be impossible to count. The number he proposed was much
more than Ahithophel’s suggestion of 12,000 men. Furthermore, in Hushai’s
proposal, Absalom should lead the pack himself. He was stirring up the strong
masculine mentality and pride he suspected the latter might have.
His
proposal further suggested that with such a huge force, they would be able to
cover the land more extensively. And there would be nowhere that David could
hide where such a great amount of people would not be able to ferret him out.
And besides, with that amount of men, they could also fall upon David like the
dews that fall on the ground early in the morning. Hushai was painting for
Absalom a picture that with the number of men they would be an irresistible
force. They would be like dews in the morning that left no ground uncovered
with its droplets. And like dews, they could also fall upon David and his men
quietly and effortlessly, without their awareness. Hushai made it seemed so
easy to cover the whole ground and annihilate David and his men totally till no
one would be left to resist the throne anymore.
He
further added that should David and his men try to seek refuge in any city
Absalom and his men could even scale the city wall with the rope that would
bring with them. They could virtually dismantle any city leaving no stone
unturned. With such a seemingly foolproof and impervious plan, the elders with
Absalom together concluded than Hushai’s strategy was much better than Ahithophel’s.
Of course, it would certainly be, for verse 14 left us with no doubt that “the Lord had ordained to thwart the
good counsel of Ahithophel so that the Lord might
bring calamity on Absalom.”
Proverbs
16:9 says, “the mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his
path.” God's unseen hand was moving providentially to protect David and bring a
swift end to the evil counsel of Ahithophel and the unsuspecting rebelling son
of David. The last verse underscores for us how needful it is to be in God’s
plan. When we are living in the center of God’s plan, nothing can thwart it. He
will engineer the circumstances in such a way that the plan he had for our life
will come to pass. This brings us to what God said in Jeremiah
29:11, “For I know the plans that
I have for you,’ declares the Lord,
‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and
a hope.” God’s plan for
us can never be thwarted. When we stay connected with Him, He will deal with the obstacles that may come in the
way to prevent His plan for us from coming true. What a marvelous
God!
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