Absalom was now surrounded by a large force, but it was mostly composed of men untrained for war. As yet they had not 739 been brought into conflict. Ahithophel well knew that David's situation was far from hopeless. A large part of the nation were still true to him; he was surrounded by tried warriors, who were faithful to their king, and his army was commanded by able and experienced generals. Ahithophel knew that after the first burst of enthusiasm in favor of the new king, a reaction would come. Should the rebellion fail, Absalom might be able to secure a reconciliation with his father; then Ahithophel, as his chief counselor, would be held most guilty for the rebellion; upon him the heaviest punishment would fall. To prevent Absalom from retracing his steps, Ahithophel counseled him to an act that in the eyes of the whole nation would make reconciliation impossible. With hellish cunning this wily and unprincipled statesman urged Absalom to add the crime of incest to that of rebellion. In the sight of all Israel he was to take to himself his father's concubines, according to the custom of oriental nations, thus declaring that he succeeded to his father's throne. And Absalom carried out the vile suggestion. Thus was fulfilled the word of God to David by the prophet, "Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor. . . . For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun." 2 Samuel 12:11, 12. Not that God prompted these acts of wickedness, but because of David's sin He did not exercise His power to prevent them.

Absalom havde en vældig hær, men de fleste af hans folk var ikke krigsvante. De havde endnu ikke været i kamp. Akitofel var udmærket klar over, at Davids stilling ikke var håbløs. Et stort udsnit af folket stod stadig på hans side, han var omgivet af veltrænede, kongetro krigere, og hans hær stod under anførsel af dygtige og erfarne generaler. Akitofel vidste også, at der ville komme en reaktion, når den første begejstring for den nye konge havde lagt sig. Hvis oprøret slog fejl, var der sandsynlighed for, at Absalom ville blive forsonet med sin fader. Skete det, ville Akitofel få hovedskylden for oprøret og dermed også den hårdeste straf, fordi han havde været Absalomms hovedrådgiver. For at afskære Absalom tilbagetoget tilskyndende Akitofel ham til at begå en handling, som umuligt kunne sones af hensyn til folket. Med djævelsk snuhed opfordrede denne listige og principløse statsmand Absalom til at føje blodskam til sit oprør. I hele Israels påsyn skulle han efter orientalsk skik tage sin faders medhustruer for at tilkendegive, at han havde besteget tronen efter sin fader. Absalom fulgte det nedrige forslag, og således opfyldtes det ord, som Gud havde talt til David gennem profeten: "Se, jeg lader ulykke komme over dig fra dit eget hus, og jeg tager dine hustruer bort for øjnene af dig og giver dem til en anden, ..... Thi du handlede i det skjulte, men jeg vil opfylde dette ord i hele Israels påsyn og ved højlys dag." 2. Sam. 12, 11-12. Dette betyder ikke, at Gud stod bag ved disse onde handlinger, men på grund af Davids synd greb han ikke ind for at forhindre dem.