Spycraft And The Foolishness Of Haters

God can use the foolishness of haters for His plan.   #daybydaylw   Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   We have already noted the central statement of "For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel”—as being a statement of God’s providence. But how does the providence play out? That is what we see in 2 Samuel 17-18. But for our purposes of today, take note that God can use the foolishness of haters. This always brings us to an ethical question, because within this text we see spy craft and deception. Are these acts ethical, moral? Let me direct you to a fascinating conversation between Dr. Al Mohler and a former agent in the CIA. The podcast is called “Thinking in Public,” and the name of the episode is “Spycraft and Soulcraft on the Front Lines of History.” Give that a listen and see if that will help you. As we continue to read the text we see spies having to dive into a well; we see the craftiness of a wife spreading grain over the well to make it appear as if nothing was underneath. It’s a real whale of a story here. But then we see Ahithophel once more, and he sees the writing on the wall. He knows what is to come for his betrayal. He sees that Absalom doesn’t trust him, and that David would likely succeed in a war, and then Ahithophel would be executed. So he chooses to take his own life. And then we get this geographical bit of information so that we know where Absalom’s army is. They are in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan Riverwhich has been, in the past, favorable to anti-David campaigns.   But David and his crew are a bit south of Gilead, but still pretty close to Absalom’s camp, in the region of Mahanaim, and there they find favorable company, where they are provided beds, bathrooms, pots, pans, food, and refreshment. It all makes you wonder if it wasn’t this very treatment that inspired David to write “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”