2 Samuel 16 (Part 2) Bible Study (Absalom Enters Jerusalem) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I'm glad that you have the scriptures because in this particular study, you're gonna benefit the most as your eyes are following with me through the text. That's how you're gonna benefit the most. I'm that's true for every service, but especially this one because the text will very much speak for itself. And you're going to see some things that are very interesting that will will bless you, maybe even challenge you to be more careful with your reading of the Bible. So here we are.

This is the scene that is presented before us tonight. David and his men have finally found a place, a destination where they could receive refreshment and refuge from unforeseen onslaughts. And we know that they are at this place, and they just recently, David namely, experienced two specific types of attacks from two different kind of individuals. The first person who appeared to David at a very weak point was named what? Ziba.

And Ziba came to David and convinced him that Mephibosheth was disloyal and betrayed him. And through that gained a certain settlement selfishly. So David was deceived. And not too long after that, there's another individual that approaches David during the wilderness and his name is Shammai. And Shammai was different from Ziba because he wasn't coming with conniving tactics.

He was openly scorning him, rebuking him and slandering him with no shame. And David was just walking along absorbing all that was being said without without any plan to retaliate. Now David is at the Jordan. He's with his men. He's with his family, at least some of his family.

And the scene shifts from David at the Jordan to Absalom entering into Jerusalem. And that is where we're going to begin. And when we come to this portion of scripture and end chapter 16, what you're going to see is three individuals who will surface now including Absalom and their interactions with one another have been clearly preserved by God for our instruction. And that is precisely how we're gonna approach this bible study. You and I are just going to examine the actions of these separate individuals and see what it is that God desires to tell us and teach us about us and about others in light of his wisdom, his revelation, his knowledge.

And so let's read and as we read, let's pause and consider each of these characters and analyze what it is exactly that we can learn and benefit from them in order to be trained in righteousness, trained in discernment, trained in godliness for the glory of Jesus Christ. So you're in second Samuel chapter 16 and we read here in verse 15. Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel with him. And when Hushai the archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, long live the king. Long live the king.

And Absalom said to Hushai, is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend? And Ushai said to Absalom, no. For whom the Lord and his people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be and with him I will remain. And again, whom should I serve?

Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you. In these verses, you're reminded with me that this Hishai, David's friend, is the same Hishai that followed David into the wilderness and expressed his desire to remain with him. But we find Hushai in Jerusalem. Why is he in Jerusalem now?

Because David instructed him and assured him that it would be more beneficial if he had went back to Jerusalem and played a certain role with the prayerful hope that he would frustrate the council of Ahithophel. So that is exactly why Hushai is here. And he comes here which tells us that he is he is definitely loyal to David. He loves David. This seems to be an honorable sacrifice, a very risky one as well.

There's no question about that, but what we can question or what can come up in debate is his method. Is his method. Read again verse 17. And Absalom excuse me. Verse 16.

And when Hoshai the archai, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hoshai said to Absalom, long live the king. Long live the king. And then in verse 18 down to verse 19, he seems to be expressing his transfer of allegiance from David to Absalom. And here's what we have to do. We have to ask two questions at this point.

The first question is this and I'm inviting you to answer it. Is Hushai being truthful here? Is Hushai being truthful here? Or is this the implementation of deception at work? Who says that this is this is right?

This is permissible? Hesitating hands. If he was thinking about David, then perhaps so. Remember, David was the one who commanded him. Right?

David was the one said, go and play the part. Play the part as though you are a counselor to Absalom and then, again, try to try to thwart the council of Ahithophel, perhaps. And there are some who would say so. Would anybody wanna argue against our dear brother or disagree with him kindly in the spirit of Christ likeness? Is Hushai being truthful?

Some would say, yes. Some would say, no. Some would say, Hushai is being very very clever with his wording. With each verse where Hushai says something, I want you to consider how he is presenting himself to Absalom. Look at verse 16 again.

What does he say? Long live the king. Long live the king. Which king? Good point.

Right? Which king? He didn't say long live king Absalom, did he? No. He didn't say long live King Absalom, long live the king.

He could be referring to David, and it could be very true that in his own heart, he is declaring the true king to truly live and to truly be preserved by God. Interesting. Right? So it could be interpreted as Absalom and Absalom interpreted that way obviously, but it could also be understood as David heralding his loyalty to the true king. Okay.

Now let's come back here in verse 18. And Hushai said to Absalom, no. For whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be and with him I will remain. Very interesting. Do you know why?

Because he's doing what he did again in verse 17. Hushai is refusing to name names. He's not naming any names here. But what he is doing is he's identifying the authority that he is submitting to by one by one referring to the Lord and whom the Lord has chosen. Whom did Lord choose?

Absalom? David. Whom the Lord has chosen? Who did the Lord really choose? David.

Then he goes on to say, whom the people have chosen. And again, that's very ambiguous. He could be referring to whom the true and discerning people of Israel have chosen, which are would be again David. And then verse 19 is where it gets a little tricky. Verse 19 would make this possibility less possible, especially if you carry the ESV in your hands.

Because look at verse 19 says and again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I serve your father, so I will serve you. Who here doesn't have an ESV? Who here has a King James?

King James? Who here has a New King James? It's okay. Who here has an NASB? One NASB.

Okay. Is there a word that sticks out in verse 19 that you did not hear me read in verse 19 of this text in ESV? Presence. Presence. Is that not the true is that the case?

Presence. So so how does it read? It reads here in those different versions which are faithful translations as well. He says, should I not serve in the presence of his son? Should I not serve in the presence of his son following it up with as I've served in your father's presence, so I will be in your presence.

I think that's an important word to make this case. He's not indicating I will serve you directly but I will serve where? In your presence. Is it possible for him to serve in the presence of Absalom though truly serving David? We can make that case.

Is it possible for him to be in the presence of Absalom but truly seeking to honor God and righteousness? Yes. Absolutely. And so the conclusion that one can make is that Hushai is being intentionally ambiguous. But then one can counter that and say true, but at the same time, can we not say that he is being misleading?

And I think that's an equally valid point. And when I was looking at this and studying this, what came to my mind is something that has come up in our Bible study before in different situations and this is the subject that we need to consider again. Doesn't hurt to revisit it. Situational ethics. Have you heard the term?

Situation ethics. Situation ethics teaches that there is no moral law that is binding to all circumstances. Meaning, it requires the discerning of the situation to determine whether or not even unethical means should be implemented in order to achieve a greater good or avoid a greater evil. Does that make sense? That's that's the theory of situation ethics.

And you have some people who really hold firm to that. And you have even some Christians who might not say that they hold to that but interpret the Bible in that way and and apply God's word and God's law in that way. And they will use different language for it. It's not it's not the code of the law. It's the spirit of the law.

Different things such as that. To to try to say that God's clear word about different situations cannot be rigid. There must be flexibility depending upon the potential outcome of one's decision. And sometimes holding to God's law is not the best option or the most beneficial option in seeing something good come out of it. For example, can a man steal if he's trying to, you know, save his starving family?

Can someone give themselves to an immoral act if they are being threatened with further mistreatment or further imprisonment? And here's the most famous one. Is it okay to lie sometimes if in lying we are protecting someone from being harmed or hurt? Now it's now it's coming close to home. Right?

And I can give you different real life scenarios and situations that would make this much more difficult to come to a conclusion. I think that's dangerous territory to tread on. Very dangerous territory to tread on because with our sinful hearts, we are very capable of pushing the boundary. And what you can have people doing is applying situation ethics to situations that are so obvious and so clear but in the name of this will be a greater good or this will alleviate suffering or this will help with this, they're willing to dismiss anything that can be interpreted as favorable or beneficial. Very dangerous territory to tread on.

And again, you have some people who hold to this view and because they hold to this view, they even wanting to honor God's word will use proof text in the Bible to prove that at some times, in some circumstances, with some situations, God does allow a leniency with his law in order to achieve a greater good or avoid a greater evil. Can you give me some familiar stories that come to mind? Rahab. Rahab. What did Rahab do?

She brought in the spies. She told them to go in a certain direction and then what? When the people came to ask about them, our brother just said it. She lied. She lied in order to protect God's men.

And where people go from there is even God affirms Rahab in the New Testament to confirm that sometimes this is applicable. Can I show you the two texts? Because Rahab's only mentioned twice in the New Testament. Does anybody know which text she's mentioned in? Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11 is one. Where's the other one? Yes. But in in in pertaining to what she did in in Joshua. James.

Go to Hebrews 11 quickly. And I want you to see Hebrews eleven thirty one. Here is the first mention of Rahab being praised for her faith. And this is what it said. Hebrews eleven thirty one.

By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. So she's being praised for her faith because when the spies came to her front door, she embraced them, she welcomed them, and she preserved them. True. Now go to James two twenty five. Notice what is being said.

Notice what God is praising and notice what he is omitting. James two twenty five. The second verse dealing with Rahab in Joshua, and in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way. Okay. So in the two instances where she is mentioned in the New Testament, we are told that she had true faith in that she welcomed the spies.

One. Number two in James, she had true faith because that faith had works following it and what were the works that she again received the messengers and then sent them out by another way. Is there any indication that God here is commending her lying? No. It's totally absent actually.

So you see how we have to be very careful with how we divide the word of God and how we interpret certain things. She is mentioned. She is applauded. She is championed. But for specific things, her welcoming the spies, her receiving the spies, and then her sending out the spies instead of giving up the spies to the men in Jericho.

Nothing about her being dishonest. Nothing about her saying what's not true. Nothing of the sort. Okay. Give me another scenario that is often referred to concerning this situation ethics.

Very good. The Hebrew midwives in Exodus chapter one. You know the story? They were instructed by pharaoh that when they were to help give birth in labor to the Hebrew woman, that they were to kill certain offspring. Right?

And they refused to do so. And when they refused to do so and they were asked, hey, what's going on here? They say, you know, these Hebrew women, they're tough. They're tough. And they're really, really fast at giving birth.

So by the time we get there, we just can't catch up. And then we're told that God blessed the Hebrew midwives by giving them families of their own. And here's how people can misinterpret what's happening. God blessed them because, yes, they did stand for truth but they did also have to lie in order to stand for truth. So you can see the equation here how it can be problematic.

But revisit Exodus one and go to chapter one verse 20 and see this with me. Notice, you gotta be careful reading the scriptures. Exodus one verse 20. So God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied families. He gave them families.

Now, some might disagree with what I'm saying here because of the fruit of their actions. Right? There is obvious blessings, though they might have used questionable means to achieve righteousness. And we even come to Hushai and we realize that that Hushai comes very cleverly. Right?

And then really, I can I can sense that he's doing the best that he can here? God is gonna honor. God is gonna honor in that he's gonna vindicate his servant. He's actually overthrow Ahifophel's counsel through Hushai's presence in the courts. The way I look at it is that just because God is silent about something doesn't mean he accepts it.

Right? And just because he's quiet doesn't mean he affirms it. So when you take all these into consideration, realize that the fruit coming out of it is because of God's mercy more than anything else. His kindness and his willingness to work sometimes through muddied means in order to achieve something that would glorify and honor him. It's a merciful thing.

It's not a accepting thing. God doesn't justify dishonesty in certain situations. He champions truth at all times and in all places and in all situations. Now some would say, and then they bring up certain situations. What would you do if?

And what would you do if? What would you do if? And I get it. It gets really complicated. And what I allude to and perhaps you wouldn't agree with my application of it is that I see the disciples promised by God that when they were to be put in a situation where they stand before governors and kings, they were not to meditate on what they were to say, but they would trust that the Holy Spirit would give them exactly what they needed to say.

And trust in his spontaneous sovereign assistance in very difficult and complicated moments. And there are wonderful stories of that in Nazi Germany and other situations and other historical places where that was the case. That the Holy Spirit somehow was able to, in that moment, impart a certain wisdom, a way of presenting yourself and the case or the scenario, and and God God comes through. So it's interesting. Right?

It's interesting to see this at play and I love how the bible preserves this in order to show us that through human agency, which means through imperfect vessels, he often is, he always is merciful and kind when we try to honor him. That's what we can learn from Hushai. I don't know if you thought situational ethics was gonna come from second Samuel 16, but we must move on. And we see Absalom in verse 17. And Absalom said to Hushai, is this your loyalty to your friend?

Why did you not go out with your friend? Now, despite the verbal confession, long live the king, long live the king. Absalom was suspicious. He had his reservations. And the reservations that Absalom has here is actually praiseworthy concerning Hushai.

Don't you think? I love how the reference he gives to David is your friend twice. Is this how you treat your friend? Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why didn't you go to your friend, your friend, your friend?

You know what that tells me? This is what it tells me. That there was something about Hushai's reputation in relation to David that made his current actions and behavior out of character. It was out of line. There's something off here.

And even Absalom could could pick on the out of line kind of behavior that Hushai is demonstrating. And I think that is commendable for Hushai. Extremely commendable. Because here's the picture. The the devotion and the purity of his loyalty to King David is something that you and I should aspire to reflect in our devotion and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what I take out of it. That we should live so constantly. Let me let me reserve my thoughts for after what I'm about to say. We should be so constant and so obvious with our loyalty to Christ That to some degree, those of the world, even our enemies, should not be mistaken that we belong to the Son of God. We should orchestrate our lives in such a way that people can realize, though they may not agree with us, they would at least realize and understand.

You really do belong to Jesus Christ, don't you? You really take this man seriously, your faith seriously. And I can't think of anything more disheartening than to be in the presence of unbelievers in close proximity for a certain amount of time and then never learn that I actually am a friend of Christ. That'd be so disappointing to me. Not that I would try to force anything, but that if they know me close enough, if they know about my life, my family, my schedule, my my activities, my convictions and they can't come to the conclusion that I that I have an association with Jesus Christ, that would break my heart.

That would break my heart. If I was Husiah in this moment and Absalom said this to me, I would try not to smirk. And I see this, David as a prophetic picture of Jesus Christ. And let me tell you regardless of the accolades of this world, regardless of the positions in this life and that whatever you can attain there is no greater badge of honor than for others to know that you supremely are loyal to Christ. There's nothing better than that.

Nothing better than that. And the only way you can achieve such a place is when you are absolutely consumed with a desire to honor the Lord in all things. And I'm afraid that zeal is missing in a lot of people. Zeal for God's house. Remember Christ it was it was told that zeal for your house has consumed me.

You you read of the psalmist in Psalm one nineteen that tears were streaming down his face for what reason? Because they break your law. And so strive to, by the Holy Spirit's help, to live with an absolute ambition to honor Christ in all things, in all ways. Don't be afraid. Don't be shy.

Don't be timid. Don't be don't be intimidated by anybody about anything, especially when it comes to your devotion to Christ and what he has said in his word. He's worthy. You know what thought came to mind? You might think it's not relevant, but I thought about it.

Do you wanna know or do you know the first category of people that will be thrown into hell according to Revelation? Right. Revelation 21 tells us that out of the list of people who will be thrown into the lake of fire, the first thing that is mentioned are the cowardly. The cowardly. Not the murderer.

Not the deceiver. Not the sexual immoral. Not the greedy. Not the pervert. The cowardly.

Now that is not speaking about those who are who have the disposition of being timid or a little bit, lower in tune concerning their personality. The cowardly. Those who when they come to a decision to either honor Christ or honor man or honor himself choose man or self. Those are the people who are listed first as being condemned for eternity. The cowardly.

Don't be a coward. Be courageous for Christ. Stand for Christ. No matter what it cost you, I don't care what the cost is, Christ is worthy of honor. He's worthy of honor.

Be willing to lose friends. Be willing to lose family. Be willing to lose your job. Be willing to lose whatever you have to lose. That's how much Christ is worthy.

And I want to be his friend. Hishai makes his case. Absalom lets his guard down and he allows him into his courts. And before we we we explore why his doubts were so quickly evaporated, I'm reminded here of Ziba and David. I couldn't help but make the connection.

Why was David deceived by Ziba? Because of two things. Who remembers the two things? One, he was emotionally wounded and that played a role. And we are susceptible to making ill judgments when we have been wounded in one way or another, especially by other people.

And so after being wounded by one betrayal and and one act of distrust after the other, when the news came of another potential betrayal, he was just willing to absorb it and believe it. Emotional wound. Secondly, what was the second thing? Physically deficient. He was drained.

He was tired. It was a difficult day and we also learn in different examples of the Bible that when we are in that place of being weak, we can also make bad judgments. We are foggy in our discernment and our decision making abilities. But Absalom is willing to believe Hushai. Not because he was emotionally feeble.

Not because he was physically depleted in in no way, no shape, no form obviously. But what was it that contributed to his willingness to literally invite the very thing that would lead to his downfall? Any idea? There was something occupying Absalom's heart that made him vulnerable to something that would actually be his very detriment. If you want the answer, you're gonna be surprised at what reference I'm gonna give you.

Obadiah. When's the last time you were told to turn to Obadiah? Obadiah chapter one verse three. Obadiah one verse three and you're gonna get your answer. And when you're when you get there, just declare what you believe to be the answer concerning Absalom.

Who said it? Did you hear it? What did what did the prophet say concerning the people of Edom? The of your heart has deceived you. He told that to a nation and relevant to the individual as much as it is to a nation, and the fate of both is the same, an eventual and inevitable downfall.

The pride of your heart has deceived you. Was Absalom a proud man? There's no doubt about it. Extremely proud. And here's how proud he was.

That when Hushai came forward with this ambiguous presentation, He automatically applied and assumed that he was speaking about him. And he took what Hushai said and acknowledge himself in it when we know that it could very well be something Here's the lesson that you and I can learn concerning this. Pride has a way of telling you about you and about others something that is untrue. Pride lies to you. Pride exaggerate things to you.

Pride mistranslates and misinterprets events, actions, and everything in between. And that is precisely what's happening here with this man. He interprets Shushai's words as for himself. And here's the here's the the series, the sequence of what pride does. It begins with high thoughts of yourself and those thoughts of yourself create a belief system.

And that belief system again, makes you believe about you, about even God, about things around you, about how things play out, about other individuals. And then because you believe that and if you believe that long enough, you in that belief system end up inviting things into your life that end up destroying you. And sometimes that discipline can come directly from God because of like the Edomites, they thought of themselves as lofty and indestructible and nobody can penetrate their fortress and God says, I'm gonna deal with you and show you how I can do it. Or God will just allow the foolishness of your own pride allow to destroy whatever you think you can preserve by your might, by your beauty, by your gift, by your charisma. And so Absalom here, because of his pride, opens the door for an enemy to come in.

It's quite frightening to realize that. And so live in the presence of the Lord. Spill your heart out and glory constantly. Ask him to keep you low. Ask him to keep because the scariest thing about deception is you don't know you're being deceived.

That's the nature of deception. It's very difficult for somebody to realize I'm deceived right now. The whole the whole thing about deception is you think you're right. You think you're in the right. You think you're headed the right way And so stay low.

Stay close. Stay under the word. Stay in the presence of the Lord. Stay with people in your life that are not afraid to look at you and say brother and call you out, sister, and say something to you. But there's something else I play here.

Absalom, in in one way, is being deceived. He's being tricked. Do you remember how Absalom got his revenge against his half brother Amnon? What did he do? He deceived them.

He invited him for what he said would be a feast. And he had his brother killed when he was supposed to be celebrating with him and his brothers. The Bible has a phrase about this. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. This man deceives somebody and had him killed through the deception.

And now we have somebody coming to him cloaked, and it will be his death sentence. It's incredible how you see this play out. It's actually frightening to see how how so precise God is in fulfilling his promises, the laws that he has established in our universe. So this is what we learned from Absalom. Right?

But now we come to our final character. It's a name that you've heard before. It's someone that you're familiar with at this point of the story, but for the first time, you're actually going to see and hear his words. You've never heard from him. You've never you've never seen what he was saying or how he thinks, but you've seen his name and you've seen his actions, but now his mouth will open.

And that's what we see here in verse 20. Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, that's the person we're speaking of. He said to Ahithophel, give your counsel. What shall we do? Ahithophel said to Absalom, go into your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. By the way, where did everything begin for David's downfall? On the roof. I wonder if it's the very same roof. Whatever a man sows that he also reap.

On the roof. And Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. Okay. Absalom, very ambitious. His heart is inflamed.

He wants to secure his throne as quickly as possible. And so he doesn't hesitate to turn to Ahithophel. And he asked this, praise consultant of the kingdom, what do I gotta do next? Without skipping a beat, says, take your father's concubines and sleep with them, and do it in such a way where everybody knows about it. Right?

Let it be something that the nation learns. Now, at first, if you're unfamiliar with what's happening here, you would think that this is a very strange, very, very strange military strategy. What does this have to do with anything? And as absurd as it might be, it's actually very political. It's not just it's not just an act of revenge.

It's actually very much a strategy. Because you remember at one point in the study of our of our Bible in the book of second Samuel, we learn at one point that in this time, when a kingdom would be transferred to another kingdom, or when a king would succeed another one, part of that would be the transfer of the previous king's haram over to the new king. Because unfortunately, all the property including concubines, people, would be now spoil or would be transferred over to a new government. And so what you have going on here is a statement. And the statement is this, by by taking David's concubines, Absalom was declaring that a revolution was here, and that there is a new figure.

There is a new what? A new king on the throne. So that is what you that is what you observe. That is what you're seeing here. That this is a statement of a grab of power.

All of this is now mine. And it was really a point of no return. This was kinda like a signing off. This was a very bold, bold, bold move made by Absalom. At the same time, think about it.

We know that God does not condone this kind of practice. Despite the cultural practices of the day, God does not promote this kind of behavior, especially incense because that's that's what it is. And so with that into consideration, we have to we have to rethink about Ahithophel's advice here. It makes you wonder that despite how familiar these actions were to the kingdoms and the nations and the civilizations and the empires of that time, if there is something personal in all of this. There is.

Actually, you would be safe to say that Ahithophel is probably gonna get more gratification out of this than Absalom will. Why would we make that conclusion? Because you have the background knowledge of who Ahithophel is, don't you? Who is he? He is the grandfather of Bathsheba.

That's what you learn at the end of the book of second Samuel. You learn that Ahithophel was related to Bathsheba. And because he was related to related to Bathsheba, it it helps us solve the mystery of why this man joined Absalom. His heart is absolutely plagued with bitterness. And in this moment, he saw, I'm sure, he saw some kind of satisfaction in being able to witness some of David's woman being violated on the very same roof perhaps where David saw Bathsheba and took her for himself.

Is that possible? Absolutely. Can unforgiveness drive a man to such unthinkable, unimaginable behavior, imagination, entertainment? You better believe it. And this is what we see.

We see a man here who is unhinged. We see a man here who is given completely and totally to his offense. And personal offense is one of Satan's favorite doors to put his foot in and to crack wide open so that he can have his way through through a person. This man will be literally driven to suicide. We're gonna read that in the coming weeks.

But for now, we see somebody that we never thought would stoop so low. And what you have to understand then is that those who are given over to offense or bitterness are candidates for personal catastrophe, and catastrophe in other people's lives. And it can come from what we see in Ahithophel's life. When you have a family member that has been sinned against, or that has been violated, or that has been hurt, and you just vow vengeance. You did this to my brother.

You did this to my mother. You did this to my husband. You did this to my wife. I will live with the absolute ambition to make sure that you pay a price. There's people like that.

And there's people who can be offended, not by something as scandalous as this, but by challenge, by rebuke, by correction. And they can harbor things in their own hearts, and that blossomed into something that they never thought could be true of themselves. Can I ask you a random question? It may seem random, but it's not. Why did Judas betray Jesus?

Humanly speaking. I know there's prophecy. I know that God's providential plan was at work through Judas. Humanly speaking. Say that again.

Money was one thing. And here's the thing. We do not know for sure. There is no certain answer to this. And you have different theories about it.

Can I give you one theory that you probably never heard of? I thought it was a strange theory. That Judas, in wanting to see Jesus fulfill his political messiahship, to ushering in the kingdom that they were all longing for, caused this whole thing to happen in order to force a rebellion from Jesus and his following. Strange interpretation. But I believe, humanly speaking, there are many ingredients that contributed to it.

One of them we just heard. He was very greedy, very covetous. Any other reasons you think that Judas betrayed Jesus? Pride. Pride?

Why would you say pride? Maybe just because to show up and see what he was saying. Okay. So there's a pride element to that. We'll explore that further in a moment.

That's another strong one. Could it be that Judas, at some point, realized this is not the Messiah that I thought the Messiah would be? And here you have you have Jesus constantly talking about now him dying, being given over to the hand of the elders. Messiah dying, that doesn't work. Right?

And so, we have two strong points. Right? We have the the greed element, because we know he sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We have the element of him being disappointed where he learned, probably registered, this is not who I thought this man was supposed to be and this is not what I signed up for. So let me get out of this while I can.

And and this is the perfect time because you have people who want him dead. I really like money, so I can just sell him, get out of this thing and get out of it with something. And I think those are very strong valid conclusions. There's a potential other ingredient that's not often spoken of. And where it comes from, again, it's not dogmatic, it's not for certain, it's not established as a non negotiable interpretation, but it's an ingredient that comes from the Bible that stems from the timing of when Judas implemented his initial plan to betray Jesus.

Go to Matthew 26. Matthew 26. In Matthew 26, I want us to start in verse 14. This is where we learn what Judas was known for. We read here in verse 14, then one of the 12, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you?

And they paid him 30 pieces of silver, and from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray him. Right? There's a very important word in verse 14. Can you guess what it is? Then.

Because that word hinges what happened before with what's what's happening here. What happened before? What was it that occurred before Judas, or perhaps even inspired Judas or triggered Judas to go and seek an opportunity to, or at least a plan to betray? Yes. The breaking of the alabaster flask.

The breaking of the alabaster flask. What happened in the breaking of the alabaster flask? We know the story very well. Mary of Bethany comes as an act of worship. She takes her most expensive ointment, cracks it open, pours it on Jesus's head, and who's there to criticize her?

Well, we're told here. Scroll back and look at verse eight. And when the disciples saw it, when the disciples saw it, they were indignant saying, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why do you trouble the woman?

For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare for burial. Again, that might be Judas burial? K.

We can talk about this death thing. I'm not very happy with it. Could be. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. I find that one of the most astounding statements that Jesus makes in the Gospels.

What this woman has done will be accompanied with the gospel message. How often do you hear of Mary of Bethany when the gospel is being taught? Very interesting. Right? It makes more sense now when we look at Because after this we're told in verse 14, then one of the 12, whose name was Judas, goes and betrays him.

K. Go to John 12 and look at the perspective of John. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. When you come to John chapter 12 again, this record is here preserved for us, but with a different detail. Verse three.

Mary, therefore, took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, but Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him said, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? So who's the the main voice here of complaint? It's Judas.

In fact, he's the instigator. He he's the one who cracks this thing open and I believe he's the one that inflames the other disciples to begin to complain and criticize. Listen. Complaining is like the common cold. It's very contagious.

It's very contagious. Murmuring, accusations, pulling up a negative and things that that's so easy and it's very very much contagious, even among Christians. So Judas is the one who speaks up. He goes, this is a waste. And you have the other disciples according to Matthew's gospel saying, yeah.

Yeah. This is a waste. John highlights Judas. And then he, by the spirit, reassures us that he's not doing this for the righteous reasons or righteous reasonings at least. What do we learn?

He said this in verse six, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money back, he used to help himself to what was put into it. So this was not a misguided thing that Judas was was upset about. This was a missed opportunity for Judas. That perfume was very expensive and in Judas' mind, if if that was just given over to him, because we are told here in the next verse, excuse me, we are told here in this verse that we just read that he was a treasure of Jesus' ministry.

He was the one who who took in all the donations and counted and distributed it, knew how to spend it, and knew how to give it up to the poor. He was assigned that position, the treasurer of Jesus' ministry. But we're told that he would help himself to some of those donations. And what he saw here was a large sum that could have been given, and a great opportunity to make more personal profit. So Judas here is very upset, and I think the disciples can understand why he's upset because again, of his position.

The giftedness that he apparently had was administrative and so you see this man upset that there was a wasted opportunity, a wasted charitable donation to the ministry of Jesus. But look what happens. Verse seven. Jesus said, leave her alone. Who is he speaking to?

According to this context, who is he speaking to? Judas. Jesus said, leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you don't always have me. If you connect what's happening here with the timeline of Matthew, then what you have is Judas who openly speaks and who is openly rebuked.

And once he is corrected by Jesus for his wrong attitude and his wrong perspective, Matthew tells us that then one of the 12 goes to the chief priests. I'm not saying, again, this is for certain. I'm not saying this is conclusive. I'm just asking you to potentially consider this ingredient among the other obvious ingredients of why Judas betrays Jesus. The timeline suggests that after he was openly corrected by the Lord Alright.

You wanna do that to me? And he finds the chief priest. I wonder how much of personal offense played in the evil scheme of Judas to betray the Son of God. I wonder if there was one ingredient among the other ingredients. And if it is the case, notice my wording, if it is the case, if that is true, if that did play a part, then what a lesson about offense.

How it has the capability of driving us to places, to decisions, to ways of thinking that are absolutely destructive in so many ways. And it can come from things like Ahithophel, where a great crime was committed against someone you love. And it can also come from when a faithful person in your life speaks up for something that is obviously wrong, but you just didn't like it. Satan loves this kind of open door. And what's so disturbing about Judas, if again, if that is the case, if that is an ingredient in this complicated matter, in this not so obvious reason of why Judas did what he did, apart from what we know from prophecy and God's sovereign will over these matters, is that Jesus was perfect.

Jesus is sinless. Everything that Jesus did and everything that Jesus said was in perfect alignment with the will and the character of the father. And if, personal offense, if being stung by loving rebuke is a part of this, then it teaches something. How you feel doesn't justify your actions. Right?

There are many people who do certain things or behave in certain ways or make certain decisions because of feelings. This made me feel a certain way. This made me feel like this, or not like that, and and so this is why I did this, and this is why I'm going there. Your feelings don't matter as much as truth. What is truth?

What is true in this situation? No matter what it does to you, no matter how it flares you up, no matter what consequences follow, is it true? Is what Jesus said true, Judas? Some people justify things in their minds, and they try to justify it to others when it really stems from selfishness and pride. Ego being wounded.

Which brings us perfectly to the ending of our study in second Samuel 16. Let's go to the last verse of this chapter. In verse 23, we didn't read it, but we'll read it now. After Ahithophel gave this counsel to Absalom, there's a commentary about his advice, generally, that is quite interesting. Now in those days, the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God.

So was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed both by David and Absalom? Can you think about anybody in your life that has such a reputation? That every time you speak to them, it's as though their word is as trustworthy as God's word is. That is astounding. And it's not just saying that Absalom had had that view.

Even David esteemed Ahithophel's advice as such. There was something so authoritative, insightful, profitable, effective about his past counsel, obviously, that it was esteemed that he had this amazing reputation. And yet, with this reputation, you come to this point where he gives advice to Absalom, and it's so contrary to God's heart. And you look at this and you wonder. Right?

You wonder if this is an exaggeration that people had. You wonder if Absalom and David saw this about Ahithophel and esteemed him for a time. But now as we read this, at this point, because of the bitterness that's occupying his heart, his counsel can be seen as very questionable and very untrustworthy. Meaning, he just went sour. Something happened along the line and it's obviously due to his sin.

Whatever the case may be, here's the point that you and I can apply to our own lives. Great men, great resources, even great ministries that might have blessed us at one point, that might be praised by others, are not your ultimate authority. They're not. God's word. Forever.

His word endures for the ages. This is what you fall upon. This is what you refer to. This is what you ultimately submit to. God's word.

Will come and go, but God's word remains forever. And that's what you have to understand. Right? Because I meet some Christians. I meet some believers, good hearted believers.

And the way they interpret the Bible, and the way they apply certain things in life and in ministry is this way. Well, so and so, and they refer to a very well known minister. Well, so and so says that. So and so believes that. So and so interprets that.

And that is the that is the case closed for them. I think it is it's important to seek the advice, and the counsel, and the commentaries of others. But when something is clearly violating what is plain in the Bible, you go with the Bible. I know this is simple, but you'd be amazed to know how many people who who champion the word of God, who sola scriptura. Right?

And at the same time, the the reason why where they are in their theological framework, in their personal walk with the Lord, is completely orchestrated by somebody who has certain letters behind their name or certain popularity on YouTube. That's not the way you go about your walk with the Lord. You come to the bible and you reflect everything that is said, preached, taught, blogged about. Is it written? Is it written?

And at the same time, may I also say that there are some people that might have blessed you, and that you might have esteemed at one point. It's not a surprise if they do end up failing you, or disappointing you, or veering off into different beliefs, or perverting the scriptures in different ways at some later time in life. It happened to Ahithophel. Unfortunately, it happened to preachers and ministers today. What do you do?

You stick to the Word of God. You stick to the God who doesn't change. You put your hope, your love, your adoration, your trust in him, not in the people that come and go. And so even though Ahithophel's counsel was esteemed in such a manner, oh, he is, he is coming down. Head first.

And unless the mercy of God intervenes, he will crash and he will burn, and those who follow him will also crash and burn. And so it seems as though Ahithophel and Absalom are winning at this point, but there's still a chapter 17. And there's still a chapter 18. And we will learn many, many wonderful things. And if you wanna know how trustworthy God's word is, then you know that what is happening here, although we are getting the human vantage point, is actually God's word being fulfilled.

What do you mean? What did Nathan tell David when he initially confronted about his sin? Let me remind you. Go to chapter 12, and this is where we'll end. Nathan prophesied in chapter 12 verse 11.

Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. God's word is always true. You know what's funny here? Much time has passed from Nathan's prophetic word to the actual fulfillment as what we see in Absalom. Remember, it took many years for for Absalom to wait to kill Amnon, and then even more years for him to wait before he usurped the authority of his father.

Years have gone by seemingly making Nathan's word unfulfilled, but here we are, God's word is true. Though it may be delayed, it is true. In the same way people are, very indifferent about the truth of God's coming judgment, it's true. And all might be fine and dandy, though maybe more difficult to say that now in this time of history. But no matter what is happening, and how promising things look, and no matter what candidate seems to be our nation's messiah, God's calendar, God's word supersedes over it all.

And it will ultimately determine all the events that you and I are walking through in this life. Christian, if there's anything you took out of this Bible study, it's this. God's Word. God's Word. God's Word.

God's Word. Love it. Learn it. Preach it. And by his grace, live it.

Let's pray. Lord, we do love your word. And we do ask, Lord, with the things that we've heard today that you would you would change us. Lord, we we heard before the service even began that your precepts make us wiser. Wiser than the age, wiser than our teachers, wiser than those who claim human wisdom.

We pray, oh God, that we would not be foolish enough to hear these things and not ask you to show them where they work and where they're supposed to work in us. Oh Lord, if there is unforgiveness in any heart, may we not think that we can tame it by thinking that we can leave it in our thoughts without it permeating our actions, our decisions, our attitudes. Lord, dig deep inside and uproot these things and set us free. Set us completely free, Lord. And Lord, make our hearts, make our hearts rock solid to not be so easily moved by the failures of others.

Lord, we ask that in difficult times where we don't know what to do in order to see a greater good, give us wisdom. Wisdom of the spirit to know how to move forward that would best glorify you and best benefit man. And Lord, we pray as we heard that you would make us so passionately loyal to you that even the world would be able to say, you're a friend of him, aren't you? You belong to him. You're a Christian.

Lord, may our lives speak and testify of that. And Lord, we just pray that regardless of what men say, regardless of what resources claim anything, to know your word, and to follow your word, regardless of what's popular, regardless of who says what, Lord, give us the minds and the hearts to understand your perfect will. We wanna be in your will regardless of who is apart from it and outside of it. Lord, we sing to you now because our hearts are full. Our hearts are full in knowing that much more of who you are through this Bible, and through this particular chapter that has been disclosed and opened to us.

We rejoice in your goodness, And we praise your great name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's stand and bless him.

Shall we? Let's stand and honor the Lord.