As I write this the house is otherwise empty. The children are at school and my wife is out. I know that they live in this house because the signs are everywhere. On my wife’s part, a house that does not look like a weird cross between a bachelor pad and a woodwork shop. On my childrens’ part, the artwork and crafts, and toys and bits of lego dangerously awaiting contact with my feet. While their presence is currently “hidden” in a sense, the evidence of their presence is all around me.
God’s sovereignty is a bit like that too. While the big picture parts are clear, the broad sweep of God’s sovereignty and his working out of events is often unclear. But if you look, there are signs of God’s providence and care for us everywhere. Hushai and David operated with the same constraint; knowing God’s sovereignty, but not knowing how it would play out. But God’s providence shines through in this passage, demonstrating God’s support for his anointed king and those who support him.
In the beginning of chapter 17, Hushai engaged in some subtle undermining of Ahithophel’s (likely successful) plan to crush the resistance to Absalom’s rebellion once and for all. At the end of verse 14, we learn that “the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom.”
But while we know God’s intentions and his sovereign plans, neither Hushai nor David did. In fact, the text indicates that Hushai, through his immediate acts, did not know the deliberations that Absalom and the Israelite leadership under his banner conducted either.
Hushai was not aware of the decision that Absalom had made, because he went to Zadok and Abiathar the priests and told them firstly what Ahithophel had counselled, and secondly what he had counselled instead (v.15). He did this not because of a need to emotionally unburden himself, but because King David needed to prepare for two possible contingencies, and the priests were the head of the information chain to David in exile.
On the one hand, if Absalom followed Ahithophel’s advice which was the worst case scenario, David needed to hide to avoid the looming “decapitation strike” planned (v.16). Alternatively, if Absalom followed Hushai’s advice, David needed to prepare for a major fixed battle.
The communication network sprung into action. Two men, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, were waiting at En-rogel a short walk south of the city (v.17). A female servant was dispatched (because nobody worries about where servants come and go) to transmit the warning.
Unfortunately, Jonathan and Ahimaaz were notables, unlike the servant, and they were spotted by a young man of Absalom’s camp, who went and told Absalom that something was up (v.18). The two men realised they were being followed, and so at Bahurim they snuck into a supporter’s place and asked to hide, which they did. Down a well (v.18).
The man’s wife threw a tarp over the well and spread some grain to cover the hiding place (v.19). It looked like just another day in sleepy Bahurim.
But Absalom’s trackers came rolling into town. Would the secret communications ring be uncovered?
No! For when they asked the man’s wife if she had seen Jonathan and Ahimaaz, she deceived them by saying they had already gone on (v.20). When they could not find tracks to follow, they headed back, foiled, to Jerusalem.
With the coast clear, Jonathan and Ahimaaz were able to climb back out of the well (v.21). Straight away they headed to King David to provide him with the news from Hushai.
“They said to David, ‘Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counselled against you’” (v.21). David did just that, and by morning he and his entire band of followers had crossed the Jordan to immediate safety (v.22).
The tale reads like a classic storyline with rising tension, climax, and resolution. For those involved, it was a very real event! They did not know God’s sovereign choices to bring down Absalom.
But taken as a whole, the passage shows signs of God’s providence littered throughout. Hushai gets word to the priests, who get it to David. Jonathan and Ahimaaz escape capture. David is forewarned of Absalom’s two courses of action, and can respond. Absalom does not seem the wiser as to what is going on under his nose to change course.
God was looking out for David, his anointed one, and David’s followers. It was there for them to look and see, and serve as an encouragement to them in dark days.
We don’t see all the parts of God’s sovereign plan; why he chooses some political leaders, why he prospers some church works and not others, why nations rise and fall in morality. But God’s providence watches out for the cause of his Anointed, King Jesus; and his followers, us, the Church.
It is there for us to look and see. To be encouraged. To trust in God’s sovereign plan.
