In one of my previous posts I speculated about Absalom being a type of the Antichrist. One of the characters that appears in the account of Absalom’s rebellion is Ahithophel.  He is referred to as David’s counsellor and his advice was spoken of in 2 Samuel 16 v23 as “Now in those days the advice of Ahithophel gave was like that of one who enquires of God. That was how both of David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.” The problem with that statement is if Ahithophel’s advice so godly why he support Absalom? Was it that his wisdom only appeared to be from God? Surely he should have been able to see through Absalom’s blandishment’s just as you would expect a political sage today to see through a political candidate’s grandiose promises as things he is just saying to get elected. Was his wisdom not as godly as it appeared to be? This gives rise to a doubt that what we perceive to be godly wisdom today might not be so godly after all. How much of today’s Christian teaching is actually psychobabble dressed up in Christianese? Firstly, I have to question my own wisdom and where I am getting from. Secondly where are others getting their wisdom from. While I do spend time reading God’s Word, I also watch the Christian media. Now you can come across people who can communicate the truths of Scripture in an entertaining manner. Sometimes listening to such speakers one can ask oneself am I watching this just to be entertained or am I learning something from it. Not that preaching has to be dull and matter of fact to be theologically sound. Even Jesus used hyperbole. Though nowhere in Scripture does it suggest that he told a joke before he started to speak to the crowds just to entertain them. But I am digressing. Back to Ahithophel. Could it have been that he was a moral chameleon who gave godly advice to David because he knew that David would listen to it? There are a lot of people who share Christian values when they are brought up in a Christian environment but when faced with the secular world they backtrack and then expect the church to adopt the values of the outside world. Even when those promoting those values are rabidly anti-Christian. There many stories of people who have lived nearly all their lives under the sound of the Gospel yet only realising their own need for a Saviour in their old age. Most of their friends would have assumed that they were saved until that point. Those who knew Ahithophel would have assumed he was a godly man, but assumptions can turn out to be false.

David Rose, 2016.