Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - A Life or Death Decision | Historical Books | 2 Samuel 17

Episode Date: July 3, 2025

Why does God bring disaster? Are you choosing life or death? Is God right to judge us? In today's episode, Patrick shares how 2 Samuel 17 encourages us to walk in God's way, which leads to life. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Samuel 17

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. In today's chapter, David is on the run from his favorite son, Absalom. And in this chapter, David almost becomes a shadow. He's not a character in the story. He's not an actor in the drama. He's just a man reacting in the shadows.

When David fled Jerusalem, he fled with a group of trusted warriors. But anyone reading this in the ancient world would know that David was in a precarious position. The size of his small force put him in danger if a larger force confronted him. Perhaps most importantly, if his enemies managed to kill him without engaging his warriors, well, there's a good chance that they would just switch sides and give their allegiance to Absalom. So at this point, time is of the essence. David needs to flee as far from Jerusalem as he can, and he needs to hide himself away. That's why 2. Samuel 17 reads more like a history of court intrigue than anything else.

And that's part of what makes it interesting. But I know that sometimes this chapter has left people wondering how it helps us to worship God, how it helps us to follow Jesus. So let's just start at the beginning of the story. Because again, this is interesting historically. Absalom begins by summoning advisors on how to deal with David now that David is on the run. He knows that David is weak. And so he starts with Ahedithel who's loyal to Absalom and definitely not loyal to David. We'll pick up in verse one.

Hidafel said to Absalom, I would choose 12,000 men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all. All the people will be unharmed. This plan seemed good to Absalom and all the leaders of Israel.

And Absalom is right. this is a cunning and wise plan, act fast. A Hidafel sees that David is crippled. The wisest move is to strike fast and hard and cut off the head of the snake. Despite its clear advantages, Absalom wants to consult with other people just to make sure he's making the right decision. And so he summons Hushai the Arkite. Now, Absalom doesn't know this, but Hushai is a spy for David.

And he intends to use his influence over Absalom to lead Absalom astray. Hushai says this. The advice that Hennifel has given you is not good this time. You know your father and his men. They're fighters. It is fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter.

He will not spend the night with the troops. Even now, he's hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first, whoever hears about it will say, there's been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom. Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion will melt with fear. For all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and those that are with him are brave.

So I advise you, let all Israel, from Dan, that was a city in the far north, to Beersheba, that's a city in the far south, as numerous as the sands of the seashore, let them all be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle. Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall in him as due settles on the ground, neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not so much as a pebble is left. Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the advice of Hushai, the archite, is better than the advice of Ahedafel, for the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of a Hidafel in order to bring

disaster upon Absalom. Now the question is, why is this bad advice? Well, there's a lot of a few reasons why Hushai's advice is very bad. First, it's not honest. David is an old man with a small force of warriors. Hushai is playing on David's reputation as a young man and a great warrior to strike fear into the heart of Absalom, even though Absalom shouldn't be afraid. Second, this is bad advice because time is of the essence. Absalom's best chance of stopping David is while he's still out in the open on Absalom's side of the Jordan River. But Hushai advises him to muster men for battle from across the country. This will take weeks and will give David plenty of time to get away and hide.

Now, the story goes on as planned. Hushai sends spies to David to tell him to flee while Absalom is distracted. The spies are almost caught, but they ultimately make it. Meanwhile, a hit of fell returns to his home, he sets his household into order, and he kills himself. We don't really know why. Maybe he was in despair over being ignored. Or perhaps he knows that Absalom's failure to act swel.

will lead to Absalom's destruction and his own destruction. So rather than entrenching himself and his family, he simply ends his life. Meanwhile, David enters the region of Gilead, which is on the other side of the Jordan River. And there he's fed, he's hidden, and he's protected by loyalists like Barzilli the Gileadite. Now, the question as we read all of this intrigue and spying is, of course, why did God give us this bit of history? I mean, what does this passage tell us about him and ourselves? Well, I think the key moment comes in verse four, when the narrator interjects some theological interpretation of what's happening. After the elders reject Ahedophel's good advice, we read this. The Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahedophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom. See, sometimes I think

it's tempting to read this passage and think, ah yes, the purpose of the passage is to show us that God protects his anointed one, David, from harm by obstructing David's enemies. But there's so many problems with this. The first problem with this view is that David has already been harmed. He's fled his palace as an old man to hiding caves. He's fleeing from his favorite son who wants to murder him. While it's true that God has rescued him from death, God certainly hasn't rescued him from hardship and suffering and deep pain. And this is only underlined by the fact that David is in this situation only because of his own sinful passivity. if he had just dealt justly with Amnon and Absalom, then none of this would have happened.

Nonetheless, the narrator draws our attention here not to God's provision for David, but instead to God's plan to bring disaster on Absalom. It's a sobering passage. Because so often we modern Christians paint a picture of God that he's always smiling upon us, always for our good, always working out things for our good. But the Bible is full of warnings. Starting in the book of Genesis, we all must choose either life or death. Life and pledging our allegiance to God as our covenant Lord,

receiving his forgiveness and seeking to walk in his ways by his grace, or we can choose death by pledging our allegiance to ourselves and to our idols, refusing to turn from our sins and choosing to walk in our own wisdom rather than gods. For Adam and Eve, that choice was the choice between a tree of life and a tree of knowledge. They didn't choose life. They chose death. Later, Moses would lay out God's covenant to the people. He shows them the blessings of trusting God, life and life and abundance.

But he also shows the curses of turning from God, which are ultimately death and exile. He concludes that speech in Deuteronomy 31 by saying this. This day I call the heavens and the earth as a witness against you that I have set before you life and death. blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God. Listen to his voice and hold fast to him for the Lord is your life and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The choice seems so obvious, doesn't it? But in real life it's hard because we're all a lot like Absalom. We want power. We want autonomy. We want wealth. We want pleasure. We want our way. Because my way seems like the way to life. But in truth it's not. My way is the path to destruction. And once you set out on that path, God may give you over to destruction, just as he did to Absalom. So this passage is a warning. Choose life. Choose Jesus. repent of your sins, receive his forgiveness, be renewed, seek to walk in his ways, not your ways, for in his way there is life and blessing.