Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

Hushai suggested a plan that appealed to a vain and selfish
nature: "'I advise that all Israel be fully gathered to you, from Dan to
Beersheba, like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that
you go to battle in person. So we will come upon him in some place
where he may be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on
the ground. And of him and all the men that are with him there shall
not be left so much as one. Moreover, if he has withdrawn into a
city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city; and we will pull it
into the river, until there is not one small stone found there.'"
"So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, 'The advice of
Hushai the Archite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.'" But one
person clearly foresaw the result of this fatal mistake of Absalom's.
Ahithophel knew that the cause of the rebels was lost. And he knew
that whatever might be the fate of the prince, there was no hope for
the counselors who had masterminded his greatest crimes.
Ahithophel had encouraged Absalom in rebellion; he had counseled
him to the most abominable wickedness; to the dishonor of his
father; he had suggested a plan to kill David; he had cut off the last
possibility of being reconciled himself with the king; and now
Absalom was looking to someone else instead of him. Jealous,
angry, and desperate, Ahithophel "went home to his house, ... and
hanged himself, and died." This was the result of the wisdom of one
who did not make God his counselor.
Hushai lost no time in warning David to escape beyond the
Jordan river without delay: "Do not spend this night in the plains of
the wilderness, but speedily cross over, lest the king and all the
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