2 Samuel 13:1-39

The story of David’s family has all the makings of a Hollywood soap opera.  We must not miss the fact that this story of sin and treachery within David’s family follows the chapter about the consequences of the sin between David and Bathsheba.  Suffering, heartache and division are only a few of the results of the sin, there will be many, many more.  It becomes very apparent that David was negligent as a father and that there were some very evil influences that contaminated the family even more.  David becomes angry over the sin of Ammon, but he does nothing about it.  David is broken hearted over Absalom, but he does nothing about it.  Passivity is not a very good quality in the life of a father.  A passive father contributes to the proliferation of sin in the lives of his children.  These are just a few of the sins that David’s passivity permitted.

RAPE: Ammon was sick with lust for his half sister Tamar.  She was a beautiful woman, but Ammon knew that he could not marry his sister so he was overcome with grief over his lusts not being satisfied.  It is important to be able to recognize the difference between lust and love.  Basically, we can see that lust “gets” while love “gives.”  When Ammon cannot get what he wants he becomes physically sick and is unable to function.  Unfortunately, Ammon has an evil and scheming cousin who plants a wicked idea into Ammon’s head instead of challenging Ammon to live by the standards of God’s Word.  The advice of a sinful man that falls on the ears of another sinful man is sure to promote sin.  God calls us to help prevent sin in one another’s lives, but too often our society is so bent on self gratification that we tell people to do ridiculous things like “follow their heart.”  We must warn others of the wickedness of their hearts, not encourage them to follow that wickedness.  The result of Ammon’s lust and the self seeking advice of his cousin ends in the rape of Tamar.  Sin sounds and looks so attractive, but the guilt of sin is often so heavy that it turns the pleasure into pain.  Once Ammon had satisfied his lust it turned into hatred and he sent Tamar away in disgrace.  In light of this, David did nothing.

REVENGE: Absalom, Tamar’s full brother heard of this from Tamar so he took her in and gave her protection but could not take away her disgrace.  Absalom’s heart began to seethe with anger and bitterness, but he said nothing to Ammon.  This is not at all what should have happened.  Absalom should have confronted Ammon and if that did not work he should have confronted his father for his passivity and insisted that Ammon be corrected.  Instead Absalom allows his hatred to quietly brew until he hatches out a plan for revenge.  He calls a party for all of his brothers to attend.  In the middle of the party he calls for his men to murder Ammon.  Absalom takes matters into his own hands and compounds the sin of rape with the sin of murder.  David fears that all of his sons have been killed, but that was not the case.  The same cousin that schemed with Ammon now lets David know that it was only Ammon who was killed.  In light of this, David did nothing.

RETREAT: Absalom know that what he did was wrong, and he fears to face his father so he simply retreats and goes into hiding in another country.  Fear and deceit lead to isolation and that eventually leads to bitterness.  There is a big storm brewing in Absalom’s heart and he is far away from home and the direction that a father should be able to give him at this time.  It is only a matter of time before this “time bomb” explodes and makes a very big mess.  David is sad about Absalom’s exile, his anger and fear have passed as he recognizes that his own negligence led to Absalom’s sin.  We cannot afford to ignore our sins or the sins of others, especially within our own family.  God wants us to be active in combating the sins of our own heart and to help one another go to war against sin.  Absalom has allowed bitterness, rage and then fear to control his life and it led him to isolation and banishment. In light of this, David did nothing.