“Meanwhile, Avshalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Yerushalayim; Achitofel was with him. Hushai the Arki, David’s friend, came to Avshalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!‘”-2 Samuel 16:15-16
From verse 15, the scene now switches from David at Bachurim to Absalom at Jerusalem.
We encounter Avishalom chilling with Achitofel, the betrayer, and Hushai, the spy for David.
Then, all of a sudden, Hushai blurts out…
“Long live the king!
Long live the king!”
Clever words indeed.
Why do I say that?
Because notice his words could be interpreted in two ways.
He did NOT say…
“Long live Avishalom!”
He said, “Long live the King!” with the “king” being David in his mind.
Still, Avishalom poked a bit more to find out if Hushai had really switched loyalties over to him.
Avishalom asked…
“Is this how you show kindness to your friend?
Why didn’t you go with your friend?”
The “friend” is, of course, referring to David.
Hushai responded by saying:
“No, but whomever Adonai and
this people and all the men of Israel chose,
his I will be; and with him I will stay.
Moreover, whom should I serve?
Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son?
Just as I have served in your father’s presence,
so will I be in your presence.”
Again, notice that he appears to be pledging loyalty to Absalom, when his words could be taken the other way, and he wasn’t revealing his true thoughts.
It reminds me of my work as a headhunter, when I research to find candidates for my job assignments.
Unlike a lot of dishonest recruiting firms out there, our company does NOT permit lying.
So when I secretly call into a company to collect names, I’ll say something like:
“Hi, my name is Rich.
My company name is ISW.
I’d like to speak to your head of accounting.
This is about an important project.
What’s his name, please?”
Notice everything I said is NOT a lie.
I still use my real first name.
Yet, my script still strategically conceals my real intention for calling in, which is to get the name of my target candidate so I can woo him or her away from their current employer later.
Now, I know some goody two-shoe idiot may call into question the ethics of what I’m doing.
I have two responses to that.
First, your average unethical recruiting firm encourages its consultants to lie through their teeth when collecting names at companies.
They’ll use false names.
Or concoct some BS story about how they’re calling from Hong Kong about a sick relative, and since this is a medical emergency, they absolutely must get the name of the target candidate they’re trying to reach.
My second response is that in this fallen world we live in, where you have to deal with Satanic enemies, sometimes you have no choice but to use deception to win your battles.
Ya feeling me here?
And that’s you’re takeaway for today…
As Yeshua said…
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves.
Be ye therefore wise as serpents
and harmless as doves”
-Matthew 10:16
See ya all next time.
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