Good morning. Oh no. I forgot my glasses. Well, I've got these readers.
I'll do it for right now. I can't believe I did that. Would
you turn to 2 Samuel chapter 15. Now this is a story within the
story. Verse 12. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gilanite,
David's counselor, from his city, even from Gilo, while he offered
sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong,
now that he had Ahithophel on his side, for the people increased
continually. with Absalom. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we ask in his name that you'd be pleased
to meet with us and to speak in power to our hearts. May your gospel be preached.
Lord, don't leave us to ourselves. Forgive us of our many sins.
And may we have your presence and be with all your people wherever
they meet together. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Now, this is one of the scariest things
I've ever seen in this second Samuel, this story of Ahithophel. And he ends up being a great
type of Judas. As a matter of fact, the Lord
quotes what David said about him in Psalm 41 as being a type
of Judas. This is David's close friend,
his counselor, and he switches sides. He goes from the side
of David to the side of Absalom. Now, why did he do this? What was behind this revolt? Now, turn with me to Psalm 41.
You know, in the Psalms where David
speaks, my close friend, my, he that was my fellow, he that
was my equal, he's lifted up his heel against me. There's
several Psalms where David writes about this event, where he's
just smitten and brokenhearted over what took place. And in
Psalm 41, He's speaking of Ahithophel. Verse nine. Yea, mine own familiar friend,
in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted
up his heel against me. Now, do you remember when the
Lord quoted this verse as referring to Judas? Look to John chapter
13. John chapter 13, verse 18. He says, I speak not of you all.
I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled.
He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against
me. Now see, this is quoted as concerning Judas. Turn with me
for a moment to Psalm 55 and look what David says about this
man. Verse 12, for it was not any
enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it. Neither
was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me.
Then I would have hid myself from him, but it was thou, a
man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet
counsel together and walked under the house of God in company."
Now this is the man he was referring to, Ahithophel, who betrayed
him. He switched sides and went to
the side of Absalom. Ahithophel had been his trusted
friend, counselor, and guide. Judas was a trusted friend of
the Lord. Remember when he came to betray
him, he said, friend, what doest thou? He betrayed the Lord, just like
Ahithophel betrayed David. What did Judas do? He went out
and hanged himself. And if you read of Ahithophel,
what he did at the end, he went out and hanged himself. So this
man is a type of Judas. And what happened that he betrayed
David? Now this is what is very interesting.
As it turns out, Ohithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather. Now can you imagine how he felt
about David after what David did to Bathsheba? What if your
child or grandchild was treated in that manner? He became infuriated
with David. He was upset that David wasn't
punished for what he did. He disagreed completely with
everybody's attitude about David can just go on scot-free. And
he was so angry, Absalom caught on to this. He understood. Before
the Bathsheba incident, they were trusted friends. He was
his great counselor. As a matter of fact, it says
with regard to Ahithophel, it says whatever he said was considered
as the oracles of God. That's how respected he was in
Israel. Everybody loved Ohithophel. But when David did his granddaughter
that way, he just could not forgive him. And he ended up turning
into a Judas. Now that gives us some idea of
the importance of forgiveness. As a matter of fact, if you read
about his son, his son, Ahithophel's son, ended up being mentioned
in 2 Samuel 23 of the mighty men of David. He was one of the
mighty men. In other words, now this was
Bathsheba's dad. He forgave David and he remained loyal to David.
But Ahithophel, Bathsheba's grandfather could not let this go. And you put yourself in his place. I can hear him say, David, the
man after God's own heart, huh? He's nothing but a adulterer,
a murderer, and a hypocrite. What's he doing saying he's a
man after God's own heart? Look at his actions. Look at
his conduct. Look the way he did my granddaughter. I mean,
you can imagine why he was so upset. And yet he ends up being
a type of Judas. Now, look at another one. Chapter
15, verse 31. 2 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 31. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel. And remember who he is. He's
his friend. He's his guide. He's his counselor. David had had much respect for
him. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord,
I pray Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
Now remember, Ahithophel's counsel, well let me show you this from
Scripture. Chapter 16, verse 23. And the counsel of Ahithophel,
which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired
at the oracle of God. And so was all the counsel of
Ahithophel, both with David and with Absalom." In other words,
when David needed advice and counsel, he would go to Ahithophel.
And what Ahithophel said was counted as the very oracles,
the very words of God. And when he switched over to
Absalom's camp, his words were counted as the very oracles of
God. And as a matter of fact, his
counsel was good, and David was enabled to have that to be foiled. Look in 2 Samuel 15, beginning
in verse 32. And it came to pass, that when
David was come to the top of Mount where he worshiped God,
behold, who shy, the archite came to meet him with his coat
rent and his earth upon his head, unto whom David said, if thou
passest on with me, thou shalt be a burden unto me. But if thou
return to the city and say unto Absalom, I'll be thy servant,
O king, As I've been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now
also be thy servant. Then thou mayest for me defeat
the council of Ahithophel." He wanted his friend Hushai to come
back into Jerusalem and find out exactly what his council
was so it could be defeated. Now, he didn't simply ask the
Lord to do all this, he sent a spy in. And somebody could
say, well, should he have done that? Well, I don't know, but
he did. And this was used by the Lord to defeat the council
of Ahithophel. Now look in 1 Samuel 16, or 2
Samuel 16, beginning in verse 15. And Absalom and all the people,
the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. And
it came to pass, when Hushai the archite, David's friend,
was coming to Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the
king, God save the king. And Absalom said to Hushai, Is
this thy kindness to thy friend? Are you betraying my father David? Why wentest thou not with thy
friend? And who shall I send unto Absalom? Nay, but when the
Lord and his people and all the men of Israel choose, his will
I be, and with him will I abide. And again, whom should I serve?
Should I not serve the presence of his son? As I've served in
thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence. So he lies
to Absalom and says, I'm going to be with you. Then said Absalom,
verse 20, then said Absalom to Ahithophel, go give counsel among
you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom,
Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the
house. And all Israel shall hear that thou art a hoard of thy
father. And then shall the hands of all that are with thee be
strong. Now do you remember, he knew that God said, men are
going to lie with your wives in the sight of all of Israel.
He knew God had already said that. God said, that's what's
going to happen to you as a result of what you've done with Bathsheba.
And so he knew it was going to happen. So he said, go ahead
and do this. And this will make all of Israel see that you're
a horde of David. And there's just a big line between
you. Verse 22, So they spread Absalom
and Tent upon the top of the house, and Absalom went in unto
his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the counsel of the Hithophel,
which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired
of the oracles of God. So was all the counsel of the
Hithophel, both with David and with Absalom. So David said,
we need to do whatever he, I mean, Absalom said we need to do whatever
he says to do. And he did this really in answer
to what God said would take place. Verse 1 of chapter 17, Moreover,
Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve
thousand men, and I will rise and pursue after David this night.
And I will come upon him when he is weary and weak-handed,
and will make him afraid. And all the people that are with
me shall flee, and I will smite the king only. He's going to
kill David. Now that's how angry and bitter
he was toward David. He was going to kill him. He
thought justice has not been done. This man has been left
unpunished for all the wicked things he did. And like I said,
I can understand him feeling that way. David killed Uriah. He knew what he'd done with Joab.
I mean, he knew of all these horrible things that David had
done, and he was terribly wronged by David, and he was so embittered
by it and so upset by it, and he wanted vengeance. He said,
I'll go kill him myself. Now, Hushai hears all this, and
he gives different counsel. Absalom heard Ahithophel's counsel,
he listened to what Hushai had to say, and he liked what Hushai
had to say better for this reason. Verse 14 of chapter 17, And Absalom
and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the archite
is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. Now, why did they
do this? For the Lord had appointed to
defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might
bring evil upon Absalom. I love scriptures like that.
It tells how the Lord is in control of everything. The Lord had purpose
to defeat Absalom. If Absalom would have taken Ahithophel's
counsel, it would have worked. But the Lord put it in the hearts
of these men to like what Hushai said better because the Lord
intended to destroy Absalom. He was in complete control of
all of this. Now, the end of Ahithophel, look
in verse 23 of chapter 17. And when he hit the fell, saw
that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, he arose
and get him home to his house, to a city and put his household
in order and hanged himself and died and was buried there in
the sepulchre of his father. Now you can see how he is the
great type of Judas. He was a close trusted friend
of David, David's counselor. He betrayed David. And I guarantee
you, he felt vindicated in doing it. He felt like he was doing
the right thing. He felt like David had terribly
wronged him. So he betrayed David, went on
to Absalom's side, and he ended up hanging himself. Judas, the
friend of the Lord, Judas betrayed the Lord. Judas went out and
hanged himself. And like I said, the Lord Jesus
used Ahithophel, the scripture regarding Psalm 41.9 as a prophecy
concerning what Judas would do. Now at one time, this well-respected
man in Israel horribly wronged by David. Horribly. You put yourself in Ahithophel's
place if one of your children or one of your grandchildren
had done to them what David did to Bathsheba. He was horribly
wronged. He forgot about the fact that
vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.
And he couldn't find it in his heart to forgive David. He just couldn't do it. And here's
why he couldn't do it. Anytime I can't forgive, It's
because I'm not thinking of this. What I have done against the
Lord is much more evil than what anyone has done against me. Do
you believe that? If you believe that, you will
find it in your heart to forgive anybody. You really will. But if you don't really believe
that, you're going to maintain this bitterness, this anger,
this resentment that he had against David. And like I said, I look
at this so human story. I mean, it's so human. It's so,
you can see this and I can see why he would have such resentment,
but look what happened to him. Now, I think it's interesting
that Ahithophel's son, Bathsheba's father, he, by the grace of God,
forgave David. And he ends up being listed in
David's mighty men. By the grace of God, he forgave
David. Now may the Lord enable you and
I to be forgiving individuals. We see what happens when that
doesn't take place. We see what happens with Ahithophel,
and he's a type of Judas. I think of what David said about
him. My own familiar friend, my counselor,
my guide, my acquaintance, he who is my equal, he's lifted
up his heel against me. Now, Judas. I want to spend the last few
minutes talking about Judas. Judas is demonized. When you
call somebody a Judas, what do you call them? That's the worst
thing you can call somebody's a Judas, a traitor, a betrayer. He's demonized and well, he should
be. The Lord called him that. He
said, I've not chosen you 12, but one of you are a demon. He
said that with regard to Judas. For three years, he walked as
an apostle and nobody even suspected that he was going to betray the
Lord. They didn't look at Judas that
way. They looked at him as one of the 12. And they were all
friends with him, and they had respect for him, and so on. And
he performed miracles, and he appeared to be the Lord's friend.
You remember, when he came to the Lord to betray him, the Lord
called him friend. Why camest thou hither? Now,
seeing what took place with Ahithophel, and you see what took place with
Judas, Turn to John chapter 13. John chapter 13. Verse two. And supper being ended,
the devil now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
to betray him. Now was Judas, A helpless pawn? No. Everything Judas did, he did
because he wanted to do it. There's no question in my mind
about that. You can't say Judas was just,
this was determined and he was forced and maybe he didn't even
want to. Judas did exactly what he wanted to do. Just like Ahithophel
did exactly what he wanted to do. Now, nevertheless, it says
Satan put this in his heart. Look in verse 21 of John chapter
13. When Jesus had thus said he was
troubled in spirit and testified and said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples
looked one another, doubting of whom he spake. Now therefore
there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus
loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him and said, he
should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying
on Jesus' breath saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered,
he it is to whom I shall give a sop. When I've dipped it, and
we have dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son
of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him, then said Jesus unto him, that thou doest do quickly.
Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this
unto him. For some of them thought because Jesus had the bag that
Jesus said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against
the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. He
then having received the salt, went immediately out, and it
was night. What darkness was taking place,
it was night. But Judas, let's see what we
can learn about this man. The Lord in no uncertain terms
called him a devil. Look in John chapter six. Verse 70, Jesus answered them,
have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is a devil. That's
what he called Judas. One of you is a devil. Now look
in John chapter 12. I think this is so telling of
Judas. And you know when I talk about Judas, everything I see in his character,
I see in myself. That's one of the reasons I said
this is so scary. Everything I see in this man's
character, I see in myself. Look in John chapter 12, verse
three. Then took Mary a pound of ointment
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, why
was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? Now here's what Judas was. Judas
was a critic. Here, this woman, this is the
one act that the Lord called a good work. And what did Judas
think of it? She shouldn't have done this.
This could have been sold for 300 pence. Many poor people could
have eaten from this. And she's wasting all this, breaking
this expensive perfume on the Lord. What a waste of money.
He was a critic. He was criticizing her for what
the Lord commended her for. And I think it's very interesting
that the one thing the Lord called a good work, she had performed
a good work on me. The one thing he called a good
work, he criticizes her for. Look in verse six. This he said,
not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. and
had the bag and bear what was put therein. You see, all this
time, he was a very covetous man. And he embezzled funds. And he was a thief. That's all
you could call him. He was a thief. Now he seemed
like a great guy, an apostle. But all this time he was a critic,
he was a judge, he was a thief, he was controlled by covetousness. And he was a very insincere man.
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 26. One comes right down to it.
We see this so clearly about him. Matthew chapter 26. This is where the Lord is saying,
one of you shall betray me. Beginning in verse 20. Now when
the evening was come, he sat down with the twelve, and as
they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you
shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful,
and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? Would you have that response?
If the Lord was standing here and said, one of you will betray
me. I wonder how many of us would
think, wonder who it is. I bet I know who it'll be. I
bet I know. That's the way we would think.
But the disciples at this time, every one of them said, Lord,
am I the one? They were afraid. Lord, am I
the one? I hope everybody in this room
says, Lord, is it I? Beginning right here, Lord, is
it I? Verse 23, and he answered and
said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same
shall betray me. The son of man goeth as it's
written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the son of man
is betrayed. It had been good for that man
if he had never been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him,
answered and said, master, is it I? Now he already knew he
was going to betray him. He'd already made plans. But
he still says, master, Is it I? Now what that lets me know
about this man is he's a very insincere man. He knows the right
things to say. He heard all the other disciples
say this, so he chipped in. But do you notice any difference
in what he said? There's a radical difference. Verse 22, Every one of them said
unto him, Lord, is it I? Judas said, Master. Teacher,
teacher, is it I? Do you know Judas never called
Christ Lord? Never did. You know why? He didn't really have any love
to his person. He didn't understand who he was. He didn't understand
that he was the Lord. Judas was a proud, arrogant man. Do you remember when he betrayed
Christ? What did he do? He came and he
kissed him on the cheek. Where did everybody else kiss
him? His feet. His feet. But Judas felt okay
to kiss him on the cheek. Judas was a proud and arrogant
and unhumbled man. And look in Matthew chapter 27.
Then Judas, which had betrayed him
when he saw that he was condemned, repented. Look at the next word. Himself. Doesn't say he repented. It says
he repented himself. It was false repentance. It was
human repentance. You know, everybody repents when
they're caught at something. Anytime you're caught, exposed, humiliated,
embarrassed, oh, man, I wish I hadn't have done that. Oh,
this is all, whoa, he repented himself. and brought again the
30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I've
sinned in that I've betrayed the innocent blood. And they
said, what's that to us? See thou to it. And he cast down
the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged
himself. Now, here's the last thing I'd
like to say about Judas. Excuse me. When he says, I've
sinned and I've betrayed innocent blood, Who did he go to with
this confession? The priests. The religious leaders. What good could they do him?
Absolutely none. And I have no doubt if he would
have come to Christ and said, I've sinned. I've betrayed the
innocent blood. I don't have any doubt that Christ
would have received him completely. I have no doubt. You say, well, how's that if
he's the child of perdition? Well, he is the child of perdition.
There's no doubt about that. The Lord called him that. But
anybody who comes for mercy, I don't care who they are. Anybody
that comes before him confessing their sin, he will receive. He's the friend of sinners. Judas
went to the wrong place. And I guarantee you, if Ahithophel
would have asked for David's forgiveness, David would have
given it. Because David knew that what
he did was infinitely greater. His sin against God was infinitely
greater than Ahithophel's sin against him. Now, what this hit
me with, I guess more than anything else, is how the Lord said, If
you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father
forgive your trespasses. And that's the words of the Lord. I don't want to be like a hythafail.
And I understand where he's coming from. Can you imagine how bitter
he would become? How angry he would become? How
enraged he would become that David wasn't punished for this?
That he got by with all this and that everybody just turned
their heads and he did this horrible, horrible thing. And look what
took place. I can understand his resentment. But how I admire
his son. Bathsheba's father, he remained
loyal to David. And he's mentioned in that great
list of the mighty men of David. And this shows how important
this issue is. May the Lord give me grace always
to be completely forgiving. I don't want to be like Ithafel.
And I can understand how easily I could be. Like I said, this
is a very human story. You can see it. And you can see
where it ended. Now, next week, Lord willing,
we're going to consider another person in this story, Ittei,
I don't know if I'm saying it right, the Gittite. David's loyal
friend. You look at Ahithophel, the betrayer,
and next week we're going to look at Attei, David's loyal
friend. And we go from the opposite of betrayal to what loyalty is. I want to be loyal, don't you?
Loyal to the Lord. May God give us grace to be so.