Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: Game of Thrones
Post Topic: Daring Spies Deliver Thrilling Late-Night Warning to Escape Across the Jordan
Post in Thread: #19
Previous: Bad Advice for a Wanna-be King
Next: Absalom’s Hair-raising Demise
Scripture: 2 Samuel 17:15-29
Key Verses:
2 Samuel 17:22
So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
Observations
Context
In previous episodes of Game of Thrones:
- David and his family and associates barely escaped Jerusalem before his son Absalom arrived, leading an insurrection.
- David sent back a spy, Hushai, to give Absalom bad advice and to buy David time to regroup.
- He instructed Hushai to use the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and their sons, to communicate back to David.
Daring Spies Deliver Thrilling Late-Night Warning
Hushai’s advice was accepted by Absalom, but Hushai knew it was only a matter of time before Absalom sent out his forces. Hushai instructed Zadok and Abiathar to urge David to escape across the Jordan River with haste. Suspecting that Absalom’s spies were watching them, the priests sent a servant girl to deliver the message to their sons.
The servant girl met the priests’ sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, outside the city. Unfortunately, they were spotted by a watcher loyal to Absalom who raced back to report them. Jonathan and Ahimaaz fled to a loyalist in the town of Bahurim, where they hid in a well, which the owner’s wife covered with grain. Unable to find their quarry, Absalom’s search party return to Jerusalem to relay the bad news.
After Absalom’s men left, the spies hurried to David and delivered the warning. He moved everyone across the Jordan River under the cover of night.
Battle Lines at Mahanaim
- David and his men traveled north to Mahanaim, which was once Israel’s capital city under Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth.
- Absalom gathered the forces of Israel and pursued David to Gilead, the province containing the city of Mahanaim.
- Ammonites at Mahanaim showed kindness to David. They fed him and provided shelter. One of them was a son of Nahash, the former Ammonite king who’d fought bitterly against King Saul.
Interpretation
Setting
The region from Jerusalem down to the Jordan where David waited for news is a rough landscape, with desert features punctuated by numerous springs that brought life to areas like Jericho. After crossing to the east side of the Jordan into Gilead (or Perea in the New Testament), the land became more fertile the farther north he traveled, but still mountainous. The southern portion of Gilead was Ammonite territory. The Ammonite capital of Rabbah is modern-day Ammon, Jordan. Today, all of Gilead sits within western Jordan.
During Jesus’ time, Jews normally traveled this route from Galilee south to Jerusalem to avoid going through Samaria.
Genre
Narrative description. Suspense?
Author
The author is unknown, but they had access to the records of the kings and possessed a thorough knowledge of the life and times of Samuel and the events surrounding the first kings of Israel.
Takeaways
- This was quite an unlikely network of spies.
- Hushai, David’s double-agent.
- The two chief priests of Jerusalem.
- A servant girl.
- Two sons of the priests.
- A family of farmers who hid the spies in their well.
- It was also an unlikely group of foreigners who came to David’s aid in Gilead.
- Shobi, son of Nahash, the former king of the Ammonites.
- Nahash had not been kind to neighboring tribes when he lived, and had experienced a devastating defeat at the hands of King Saul. Yet David seemed to have a good relationship with Nahash.
- This wasn’t too long after David had fought against the Ammonites at Rabbah, when Shobi’s brother had reigned.
- Shobi must have seen something in David. His brother was not an admirable man.
- Machir/Makir – This was the same man who was taking care of the lame Mephibosheth before David took Mephibosheth into his own household.
- Barzillai – An elderly but wealthy Gileadite. No motivation for his kindness is provided other than loyalty to God’s anointed.
- Shobi, son of Nahash, the former king of the Ammonites.
- God can use the least of us, as he used these men and women.
Imagine
Ahimaaz sucked the cold night air into his heaving lungs. Absalom’s spies could be hiding anywhere. The shouts of their pursuers grew louder. Behind them, the faint glow of the lanterns crested the hilltop they’d crossed twenty minutes earlier.
“They’re gaining on us,” Jonathan said. “Are you sure we took the right turn?”
Ahimaaz stumbled over a large root sticking out of the ground. He peered through the darkness, searching for a landmark. “They’re gaining because they can see where they’re going.”
“They seem to know where we’re headed. I renew my objection.”
Ahimaaz didn’t bother answering. They’d been through this. The only family they could trust to be loyal to David lived just outside Bahurim. Absalom’s men seemed to know this too. Ahimaaz could only pray that Elihu would find a way to protect them.
“I hear the brook,” Jonathan said. “We’re almost there.”
Rounding the turn, they came across the dark farmhouse, with a muddy path leading to the front door. They ran forward and pounded on the door. Elihu swung open the door. Relief flooded his face.
“Ahimaaz! I thought you might be Absalom’s men, come to drive us out.”
“I’m sorry to do this to you, my friend. They’re right behind us. We have an important message for David. Do you have any place we can hide?”
Elihu’s wife emerged behind him, adjusting her head covering. “Ahimaaz! Jonathan! Of course we’ll help.”
“But how?” Elihu said. “I hear them approaching already. You’ve brought ruin on all of us.”
“The well,” Talam said excitedly. “It’s mostly dry this time of year. We can hide them out back.”
“Yes, yes, of course. This way.”
The sons of the priest followed the couple to the back of the property. Elihu slid a stone cover off a dark hole. “In, quick!”
Talam held up a pitchfork. “I’ll spread grain over it. They’ll never find you.”
“David will never forget your kindness,” Ahimaaz said before climbing over the edge. He dropped to the bottom, sinking to his ankles in muck. Moments later, Jonathan landed beside him. Above, the stone grated over the entrance, blotting out any hint of starlight.
Only the sound of crickets and grain tapping on the slab above accompanied the utter blackness.
Correlation
Sowing and reaping vs karma:
- Galatians 6:8-9 – speaks of sowing and reaping. What you plant is what you get. If you plant of the flesh, you will reap that harvest. If you sow of the spirit, you will receive spiritual blessings, like David did with Shobi, Barzillai, and Machir.
- Hebrews 9:27
- Man is destined to die once, and then face the judgment.
- This contrasts with the Hindu/Buddhist view of karma, which involves reincarnation.
How God delights in using the weak (passages selected from this excellent article: Strength Perfected in Weakness):
- Exodus 4:10 – the great Moses cried out at the burning bush about his inadequacies.
- Judges 6:14-16 – God chose the weakest member of the weakest clan to lead the revolt against the Midianites.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7, NLT – We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
Application
Generic Applications
- God protected David and his legacy.
- In the previous post, we analyzed how David’s guilt almost paralyzed him. It caused him a great deal of grief. In this passage, however, the kindness of Shobi and Machir to the guilt-ridden David would have reminded him of the good things he had done in his life.
- God will uplift our spirit at the most opportune times.
- Sometimes a random act of kindness, like David’s kindness to Mephibosheth, will result in some future unexpected kindness give to us in return. This is not karma. This is biblical.
Personalize it
- God uses the least of us. An un-named woman relayed a message at a well, and a non-descript farming family hid David’s spies.
- Do I ever feel unworthy to be used by God? He delights in using people like me.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
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