Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): If you haven't asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, can I ask you a simple question? What are you waiting for? Here's Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: Today is the day of salvation. Don't wait. When the Lord knocks on your heart's door, you need to open it and let him in. You need to decide, even this morning, for the Lord. Now is the acceptable time. You don't put something like this off. You don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. We have today.

You hear the good news, you hear what Christ has done for you, you need to come. You need to move out and do it quickly. Don't wait. Don't procrastinate because you'll get harder and harder.

Guest (Male): There are countless joys that accompany parenthood, from the birth of a child to watching them walk and talk for the first time, their first day of school, their words of love and appreciation. I could go on and on.

But there are also times when our heart breaks, and perhaps some of you are experiencing that right now due to a rebellious child. Today on Sound Doctrine, Pastor Jeff Johnson picks up where we left off in our study of 2 Samuel. We'll soon see that King David experienced great heartbreak because of his rebellious child. Here's Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: Some say if Absalom would have followed Ahithophel's counsel that David would have been defeated and Absalom would have been the king. But I have to disagree with that. I doubt that because God's providence on David's life was to always have David reign, and he was going to bring him back. That's his providence. You can't go against that.

Remember what Jesus said when they were coming out to try to get him? He said, "My hour is not yet." No matter what man might try to do, my timing's not yet. He was in God's hands. God was in total control of the situation. And so God's hand was on David, and he would deliver him from Absalom and from his men no matter what it took. God's always in control here, and he would deal with Absalom and snuff out his revolt once and for all as we're going on in these chapters. God's going to deal with the problem that's in the way, as he always will in all of our lives. We just need to learn to wait on him in the wilderness sometimes and just let him have his perfect timing in those that he's dealing with.

Verse 15: "Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, 'Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counseled.' Now therefore send quickly and tell David, saying, 'Lodge not at this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over, lest the king be swallowed up and all the people that are with him.'"

So there were actually three of David's spies now: Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar. These are three of his double agents that he has in there, and he's telling them to go tell David to cross over Jordan. That's what it means to cross over the river Jordan to get into a safe place because they did not know which counsel Absalom would agree with, whether it was going to be Ahithophel's or whether it was going to be Hushai's. And so he said, "This is what Ahithophel said, this is what I said, go tell David what's going on. Let him know what's happening."

But notice he says don't even spend the night in the plains. It's time to move and it's time to move now. Today is the day of salvation. Don't wait. When the Lord knocks on your heart's door, you need to open it and let him in. You need to decide, even this morning, for the Lord. Now is the acceptable time. You don't put something like this off. You don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. We have today.

You hear the good news, you hear what Christ has done for you, you need to come. You need to move out and do it quickly. Don't wait. Don't procrastinate because you'll get harder and harder. You don't know how much time you have, and they didn't know with David at this time how much time he had.

Verse 17: "Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel, for they might not be seen to come into the city. A wench," which is not what we think of in the pirates' times, "went and told them, and they went and told King David." So we see David's intelligent pipeline at work, how the double agents worked it out and how they snuck the information through and they handed it down from one agent to another. Even a young lady is involved with getting the information to David.

Verse 18: "Nevertheless a lad saw them and told Absalom, but they went both of them away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court, whether they went down. And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and spread ground corn thereon, and the thing was not known. And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, 'Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman said unto them, 'They be gone over the brook of water.' And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem."

It's interesting how the lad there is a young person, and it's something that they are very perceptive. Young people are always very perceptive and they're always around, it seems, and they're always listening. Be careful, parents, what you're saying when young people are around.

But I found another instance in Acts chapter 23 where it says that a lad was listening. Remember Paul was in prison, and these forty guys took and they swore to put a contract out on Paul's life and they were going to not eat or drink until they killed him. And this young man who was hanging around the temple area, I don't know whether it was Caiaphas's house or wherever the scribes and Pharisees were meeting or these guys were gathering, this young guy was listening. And it says that he was Paul's sister's son, and he was able to get away and he went and he told Paul. Then Paul was able to tell somebody in the Roman legion there, "Hey, there's a bunch of guys going to come and take me out, so I need protection." And so it saved Paul in that whole situation.

It's interesting that even Hitler in the Third Reich realized the importance of having young people listen in on conversations and get that information and get it to him and to his Gestapo. Because as soon as parents would say whatever against the Reich, they would tell the Gestapo, the Gestapo would show up, and their parents would be hauled away. And a lot of insurrection and rebellion was put down because of young people.

So this kid hears what's going on, he tells Absalom. Absalom sends guys to get them, they give them the slip, they hide in a cistern. It's a well, it's the ancient well that they would dig out of the ground and put plaster in to hold the water. It's a very dry land over there, and they'd hold it for anytime rain would come. They'd have little gutters that go down in the cisterns, but this one evidently was dry. They could jump down it, she put a cover over it, and they hid out and they made it past being captured.

Verse 21: "And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told King David and said to David, 'Arise and pass quickly over the water, for thus hath Ahithophel counseled against you.' And then David rose and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan by the morning light. There lacked not one of them that was gone over Jordan."

Finally David is told, but notice what he's told. He's only told what Ahithophel's counsel was to Absalom. So they just said, "It's just time to move and time to move now. Get over Jordan." And so they really weren't sure who Absalom would take heed to, and they wanted to just make sure that he knew about what Ahithophel and what his counsel was. It's better than be safe than sorry, right? So David, you just need to know that this guy wants you and he wants to wipe you out. Get over Jordan.

Verse 23: "And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, rose, got him home to his house to his city, put his house in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father."

This is the first suicide recorded by hanging in the Bible. Suicide today is the third leading cause of death amongst young people. 5,200 die every year by their own hand. When someone that is popular takes his life, it's incredible how many kids do the copycat thing and take their lives. Over a dozen took their lives, one in Redlands right here. Took a shotgun to his head and blew his head off as he was listening to Nirvana on the record player or whatever the CD. He just blew his head off.

There are many different reasons for suicide. One of the main reasons for suicide is loss of control which leads to helplessness. They don't think they can get it together. It's over, it's done. The music today always speaks about God as nonexistent. Listen to some of the junk that the kids are listening to. It's always doing away with God and making death like it's good and that it's a pleasurable thing. A lot of the groups are promoting suicide.

The media is incredible at what they're pushing on people. They had this special on as far as you can, these people that have died and then come back to life, and then they said they saw the clear light. It was a warm, beautiful sensation. And oh, death is so beautiful, it's so much better than life. And look at what the kids are listening to. It's easier just to take yourself out and go into the warm, beautiful sensation and go towards the clear light.

It's lies, and Satan is out to kill and to destroy. And it says in the Scriptures he's seeking to devour with his lies and with his influence of evil today. There is a beautiful book that has just been written by Larry Taylor. He was just out here a few Wednesdays ago. Larry's son committed suicide, and he talks about suicide in the church. We have them in the chapel store and I recommend that you read this. This is unbelievable what the Lord reveals through Larry's tragedy and how it'll minister to your heart and you'll be able to pass it along and give it to someone else that is struggling with this.

So many are being suggested today to take their lives out and they need to look into the Word of God and they need to hear from someone that has had this tragedy happen. And so I highly recommend this book.

Ahithophel, I think, was a sore loser in that he realized that Absalom had made a mistake not taking his counsel. And he figured now that he's not going to take my counsel, David's going to win. And when David wins, he's going to become king. What's he going to do to me? I'm history. Everything that I always wanted, and he wanted a lot, he wanted a lot of material things. And he looked towards really a place in Absalom's kingdom. He figured all my hopes and dreams are crushed.

And so this rejection, this humility that he felt, his wounded pride, this man who gave such wise counsel—in fact, it says remember his word was as God's. And some say that he was also very wise in getting his house in order. Well, I think, yeah, it's wise to get your house in order. Spiritually Amos says prepare to meet your God. You need to get your house in order spiritually.

But this guy was a coward. He was stupid and he was foolish in what he had done. Thinking that his house was in order when Dad's not there. What kind of order is that when Dad's taken out of the situation? That's not good. Your house is not in order. Oh, yeah, I took care of everything financially, materially, everything is taken care of. That's not order.

I learned this a long time ago when I was so busy with the church and I was out of the home a lot. I was traveling a lot. And I remember my wife Sharon sharing with me about my little four-year-old when she would pray with her every night before she'd go to sleep. And my little four-year-old one night said she refused to pray with my wife. My wife said, "Why won't you pray?" "I won't pray. No way, I won't pray." She said, "Why won't you pray?" She says, "Because I don't see God and I don't see Daddy."

And when I got that information, I went, "Whoa." They need to have their father. They need Dad in the home. It's needed. This guy checked out. Dads, listen, family doesn't need your presents, but they do need your presence. They don't need all the little goodies you give them, they need you there with them. Taking your life is never an answer, it is never a solution. In fact, it is a sin against self, it is a sin against the society we live in, it's a sin against God. It's a cop-out and it is very cruel to leave your family and friends in shambles and in guilt because as soon as they hear about it and they say, "You're kidding. Not that way." And then they think, "Oh my gosh, what should we have done? What didn't we do?" And they begin to think about it and they begin to blame themselves, and they end up with that guilt and dealing with that. "Why didn't we do this? I could have done this and I didn't."

Suicide only compounds everyone's lives and just destroys and wrecks everything. So we see here that wise people can make stupid moves, right? And this guy definitely made a stupid move.

But yet many people ask the question, and it's a good question: Is suicide the unpardonable sin? Is it the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that the Bible talks about? Let me say this: that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, that one sin that will never be forgiven, is when you turn away God's Spirit working on your life. Like this morning, if you do not know the Lord and the Lord is tugging on your heart saying you need to know me, you need to come to me. You are living in sin, you're living in rebellion, you need to give your heart to the Lord. For you to turn away the Spirit's work in your life, to keep turning away God's Spirit from seeking to draw you to himself, is to eventually, if you die in that rejection, that sin will never be forgiven. You will spend an eternity without God and without his love.

Judas, and I think Judas's taking his life is a much like Ahithophel. It says that Judas fell and he went to his own place, and I think Ahithophel did that too. He went to his own place, scary place.

Verse 24: "And David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him." They were fast upon David, hot pursuit after David. "And Absalom made Amasa captain over the host instead of Joab," remember Joab is David's general, "which Amasa was a man's son whose name was Ithra the Israelite, and went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead."

Now Amasa's mother was Joab's father's sister, and you can work that out later on. But what it does show us is that Amasa was a cousin to David. Now he's turning on David also. See, it's all in the family, it's all in the home. And remember what the prophet said: "The sword will come to your house." And we're talking about relatives here.

Verse 27: "And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, and Shobi the son of Nahash, of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim," boy, what a mouthful. "They brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat. For they said, 'The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.'"

Here we have three very interesting, well-off folks that we read about who remember these guys showed kindness to Mephibosheth as a boy when he was running for his life from the enemy. They took him in. And then David took Mephibosheth from them, and I'm sure that they looked on that and it touched their hearts that David would care for Mephibosheth and take him into his own palace. And so now they're turning around saying, "David, because of the kind of man you are, we're going to help you out here."

And so they begin to now want to bless David and all of those folks that were running with him. I think we need to look at each one of these for a moment. In verse 27 it talks about the first guy there, his name is Shobi. He is the son of Nahash, the son of Hanun. Now in chapter 10 of 2 Samuel we hear of him, and there's an interesting story there. It says in verse 1 of chapter 10 of 2 Samuel, "And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead."

And what happened was that David went to bless and to be a blessing to the king of the Amorites because and show respect and he sent some of his men there. And his men were taken and they were stripped of their clothes and their beards were shaved off. Humiliated. And then they ran back and told David. They were humiliated because these guys thought that they were spies in their city.

And so when David heard about it, he gathered all his men together and went to war with the Amorites and just did a number on them. And so you look at this and you look at this as Shobi now, he's the son of Nahash, the son of Nahash. It's been handed down three generations and I'm sure that Shobi could have very well said, "Well listen, David fought against us, and there is no way that I'm going to help David out. There's no way I'm going to give him anything because of the past and what he had done."

Number two, we see that Machir in verse 27 there is the son of Ammiel. Now if you turn back to chapter 9, verse 5, you see that in verse 5 there it says the King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. And that's where Mephibosheth was taken. See, they helped Mephibosheth out. And I'm sure that these guys could have said in their situation, "Well listen, I've already given. I've given at the office. I've already helped David once. I'm not going to help—let somebody else help David. I don't want to help him. I've already helped, I've already been—already done that." So he could have pulled back.

And then the third guy there in verse 27 is Barzillai, and Barzillai is interesting. In chapter 19 he is said to be of 80 years of age. He's an old guy that I'm sure he could have come up with the excuse, "Hey listen, I'm too old. I can't help David. Let the young take care of it. I'm not going to get involved." He was a very well-off old man. He says, "I don't want to."

But listen to every one of these excuses and you see that every one of these, whether it's "I'm hurt" or "I'm angry because of what they did to me" or "what has been done to me." Now there is a lot of people that say, "Well you know, I tried to serve God in the church and this is all that happened to me." They're really angry and they end up in a fight and there's bad feelings. "I'm not going to do anything. Let somebody else do it."

And then there's that person that says, "Hey listen, I put my time in Sunday school. I went into it, did it for a year. I've done my year." Like, wow, you gave at the office and you don't have to give anymore. That's a good excuse. And then there's the other excuse of the old guy. He could have said, "Hey, I'm burned out. I'm too old to serve."

But yet every single one of these overcame their weakness and they served David and they helped David. You see, God had dealt with that anger and that whole thing of, "I've already done enough." Can we ever do enough for the Lord? Or how about, "I'm too old, come on." Those older saints, how we need you to serve God and to be a good example to the younger ones here. Don't make that excuse.

And they went and served David and all those people that were hungry, thirsty, who were in the wilderness. Jesus says work while it is yet day, the night is coming where no man can work. There are a lot of people that are hungry, a lot of people that are thirsty out there in that wilderness that need our help.

I just saw it this last week when I was in the single parents and I saw how some of the single mothers who probably go there often and they had all these kids and they had to get people to raise their hands and to take care of them. I thought, oh wouldn't it be neat if some couples could donate their time to go to single parents and help out so all the single parents could go to that meeting and different things like that that can be done to help those that are in a wilderness, who are thirsty and hungry, who desperately need the Word of God and fellowship to help them get that. To give yourself, your time and your money to serve the Lord. Isaiah said, "Here I am Lord, send me." God help us that we would say the same because there's a lot of people that need help.

Guest (Male): It is true that there is much wisdom to be found in a long life spent in service to God. Pastor Jeff Johnson will be back in a moment with more here on Sound Doctrine. We house all of our 2 Samuel studies at sounddoctrineradio.org. This comes in handy should you miss a study or two on the radio or just want to hear something again or even share it with someone you know.

This study and more are available now at sounddoctrineradio.org under "Messages." You can also listen at OnePlace.com and through the Sound Doctrine Radio podcast app. And of course, speaking of podcasts, Sound Doctrine can be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, and that includes Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This program is made possible through the support of our listeners. To make a contribution to the ministry, just visit sounddoctrineradio.org and click on "Giving." Now to finish up today's study in 2 Samuel 17, here's Pastor Jeff.

Jeff Johnson: Next time on Sound Doctrine we'll see how David's broken relationship with the nation of Israel is restored. It's a helpful guide for those days when we're wrong or wronged. Again, that's coming up next time with Pastor Jeff right here on Sound Doctrine, a presentation of Calvary Chapel Downey.