Seriously, if this were a TV show, I would stay up late to watch part 2. It’s that good.
Amnon fell in love with his half-sister, but apparently he could have married her if he really wanted to. Something is going on here that isn’t being said, I think. Why mope around until you make yourself sick if all you had to do is ask Dad for permission to marry Tamar? Or, was Tamar simply saying this so she could get away?
In either case, this passage reveals how powerful lust can be. Our desires push us to do things that we would never do otherwise, and even to things that make no sense at all. Amnon dooms himself because of lust. Many ministers and political leaders have done the same. I think that when the devil wants to take someone “out”, especially a person in a position of authority, he uses lust. It seems invasive and addictive, and hard to admit to, so it burrows in and hangs on until it brings you down.
Of course, Amnon, and anyone else affected has only to expose it to light, and it will die. Confession of lustful feelings to Jesus, along with a request that He remove them so that His name and cause will not be subjected to shame, will prompt God to action.
David should have done more to punish Amnon. I wonder if his inaction was the seed of betrayal that started to grow in Absalom. Absalom is on his own dark path, fulfilling a prophecy that God spoke over David as punishment for sleeping with Bathsheeba. Hey, thinking of that…isn’t that exactly what Amnon just did?…sleep with someone he shouldn’t have? I wonder if that’s why David didn’t punish him? I wonder what sort of feelings were stirred up in Bathsheeba when she heard about it? I think it would have caused some sort of reaction. Was David angry because he felt bad for Tamar, or because it was inappropriate, or because he saw himself in Amnon?
Absalom fails here as well. He should speak up for his sister, and protect her as much as possible, but he is not authorized to avenge her dishonor by killing his own brother. The girls father bears responsibility for this, since both parties are part of his family. Absalom steps in front of his father, taking away authority….probably saying to himself “I can do this better than dad” or “someone should do something about this, and he isn’t going to”. If you look closely, that’s exactly the same thing that he is saying when he goes every day to the city gates to interact with people who are bringing cases before king David. Authorities have enough issues to deal with, without needing to worry about someone trying to usurp their authority when they aren’t looking. Absalom has a character flaw, just like his brother Amnon. I doubt he can see it though. I get the impression that he has a high opinion of himself. Be careful Absalom….pride goes before a fall.
Why was Joab so intent on bringing Absalom home? I can’t decide if he is a good guy or not. Everything about him up to this point says that he is a wonderful friend, powerful warrior and a wise counselor. I have heard Joab referred to as a “king-maker”. Every king needs men like Joab.
Lessons: Lust kills. All leaders should be forewarned, this will derail the ministry if we fail here.
God punishes. David is about to endure it.
God restores. again and again in David’s case.
Don’t take matters into your own hands. Absalom should have taken the case before the Lord.
Children need to be punished when they do something wrong. And they need to see others punished as well.
Letting children “get away with it” only ruins them as adults.
Faithfully,
PR