Friday, December 9, 2011

Achilles' Heel

Reflections on 2 Samuel 16:20-23
Use the frame on the left to read these Scriptures.

The counsel Ahithophel gave Absalom to lie with his father's concubines on the roof of David's house was brilliant, but it had a fatal weakness.

BRILLIANCE. Ahithophel's advice was brilliant because it gave a sense of justice being done for a royal crime that appeared to have been ignored. It was an "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" kind of justice which the public understood and perhaps even made Absalom a hero. Furthermore, when Absalom disgraced David's concubines, he made it clear he was not merely seeking to be named heir or designated coregent. He made himself such a stench to David that reconciliation was impossible. He declared he would be king, and nothing less. Such a bold action was sure the embolden Absalom's supporters.

WEAKNESS. Although Ahithophel's advice was brilliant, it had an Achilles' heel. It flaunted the basic principles of morality. First, it paid no heed to the example of Reuben, who slept with his father's concubine, and forfeited the inheritance of the firstborn as a consequence (Genesis 35:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1). Absalom's right as the oldest living son to sit on David's throne would go to another. Second, Ahithophel's' advice also gave no heed to the Law, which designated a death penalty for the son who had lain with his father's wife (Leviticus 20:11). Before many days had passed, Absalom himself would be dead.

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.
-- Proverbs 14:12

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