This post was inspired by a sermon by my Pastor Melvin Kneeland gave on 11/7/2024. He preached a sermon about dealing with bitterness as referenced in Hebrews 12:15 – some versions say resentment:
“looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” – Hebrews 12:15 KJV
We looked at the story of Ahithophel who was one of King David most respected and trusted counselors. Much like the old E.F. Hutton commercial, when Ahithophel spoke, people listened:
“The advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man had consulted the word of God; that is how all Ahithophel’s counsel was regarded by both David and Absalom.” – 2 Samuel 16:23 AMP
Later on, Ahithophel chose to side with Kind Davis’s son Absalom when he rebelled against his father and tried to take over the kingdom. In verse 20, Absalom asked Ahithophel what he should do. We aren’t given details on why Absalom was asking for advice but we can infer it from Ahithophel’s response. Apparently, Absalom wanted to distance himself from his father, to show the nation that there could never be a reconciliation with his father in the future which, if possible, could prevent the people from embracing him as the new king.
Ahithophel responds in verse 21 with a recommendation that, in that culture would probably do just what Absalom was seeking. The problem was that it was the most ungodly, unholy, inhumane, and cruel thing for the women involved. I’m not going to include those verses here. I can assure every women in the world that this is what men without the saving, life-changing, sin-defeating, transformative power of God think of women and will do. Don’t think for a second that God approved of or ordained this mess. When we say we don’t want God’s involvement in our lives that means we don’t want Him to be the restraining force that stops others from doing evil also. #facts
Absalom takes Ahithophel’s ungodly advice to the detriment of the poor women who were concubines of his father. Ahithophel then gives Absalom another recommendation to allow him to take an army of twelve thousand men and purse King David, kill him, and bring back the Israelites who were loyal to him. 2 Samuel 17:4 says this advice please Absalom and all Israel, but in the next verse we see Absalom asking for the opinion of another of his father’s advisors names Hushai. Hushai’s loyalty was really with King David and he was acting as an undercover agent for him. For some reason, Absalom decides to get a second opinion from Hushai on Ahithophel’s second recommendation:
“Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained to thwart the good advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster upon Absalom. Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out and went to his home, to his city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.” – 2 Samuel 17:14, 23 AMP
I did a bit of research and it turns out that Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba. At a time when kings were supposed to be on the battlefield, David decided to stay home and while there he happened to see a beautiful woman bathing on the rooftop of her house. David – the king of Israel, the man who God said was a man after His own heart – was consumed with lust and had his men go get her and committed adultery with her. This resulted in an unplanned pregnancy which led King David to try and cover up the affair by calling her husband Uriah who had gone to fight, away from the battle and encouraging him to go home and be with his wife. Uriah was so honorable that he refused to enjoy himself with his wife while his fellow soldiers were risking their lives fighting. In the end, David had his men put Uriah in the fiercest part of the battle where he was certain to be killed, which is exactly what happened. You can find this documented in 2 Samuel 11 & 12.
Back to Ahithophel. Most likely he resented the way King David treated his granddaughter and the disrespect the King showed for his family. In that culture, family honor was a big deal and this is still true today in most middle eastern cultures. King David’s actions showed a complete lack of respect for the honor of Ahithophel’s family. Later on, when presented with the opportunity to get back at King David, Ahithophel turned his back on the King and sides with Absalom.
In the process of studying all of this, a few things stuck out to me:
Bitterness & Pride Together are Deadly
As we read earlier, Ahithophel was well respected in Israel as a wise counselor to both King David and later Absalom and the people considered Ahithophel counsel like that of God. For most people, hearing yourself talked about like that will give us the big head. But it was the plan of God to bring Absalom’s revolt to an end and it was the will of God that Ahithophel’s wise counsel be rejected by him. Pride causes us to see everything through the lens of ourselves versus looking at things through God’s perspective.
What was going through Ahithophel’s mind? Here is where that root of bitterness comes up. I can see him thinking, not only did the father (David) show disrespect to me in sleeping with my granddaughter…now the son (Absalom) is disregarding my advice? Ahithophel with dealing with bitterness and pride, and he just couldn’t handle that, and went and committed suicide.
David & Bathsheba’s Sons
“These were born to David in Jerusalem: Shimea (Shammua), Shobab, Nathan, Solomon—four by Bath-shua (Bathsheba) daughter of Ammiel (Eliam);” – 1 Chronicles 3:5 AMP
I learned something new studying this. Assuming these sons are listed in birth order, David and Bathsheba had three sons that were born before Solomon came along. I’ve always understood from 2 Samuel 12:24 that the next child, born to them after the death of the first child was Solomon.
Accept God’s Correction in Humility
The other curious thing that I noticed is that one of the sons of David & Bathsheba is named Nathan . Nathan was also the name of the prophet who confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 12. Contrary to Ahithophel’s handling of offense, David chose not to be offended by Nathan telling him the truth, and even honored Nathan by naming one of his sons after him.
Be Blessed & Be A Berean!
