David send Hushai the Archite to spy on his son Absalom who had set himself up as king in David's place. Absalom in the meatime is asking advise from Ahithophel who was the wisest man in Israel at the time, Ahithophel advises Abslaom to burn his bridges with his father the king by systematically raping 10 of the kings concubines whom David had left behind, but not only this but to do it on the roof of the palace so everyone knew what he was doing. Absalom followed this advice. Ahithophel, who hated David due to the fact that he was Bathsehba's grandfather, then asked Absalom if he could lead a band of men immediately and go after David and kill him, this was a brilliant plan and had it not been for the intervention of the Lord would surely have meant the end of David. Amazingly though Absaom asked for a second oppinion from Hushai the Archite, he appealed to Absalom's vanity and advised him to amass a great army and lead them out to battle, thus buying the king time, Absalom agreed with Hushai's plan and Ahithophel knowing it would lead to ruin returned home and hanged himself as he knew David would succeed and come after him.
