1 In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.
When we see some ruler, some king, like David do the terrible thing he did and then seemingly get away with it we can get very angry. Instead we should have faith that God is faithful. He said that because of what David did out of his own household calamity will come. We are now seeing this fulfilled. I like this term “in the course of time”. It is as though David’s act was sowing a seed in the ground and in the course of time that seed grew up and bore fruit.
2 Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.
3 Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”
Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
5 “Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”
6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”
7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. 9 Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.
“Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”
12 “No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. 13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”
16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”
But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” 18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate[a] robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.
20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.
21 When King David heard all this, he was furious. 22 And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.
David thought he was so slick in the way in which he stole Uriah’s wife and then had him killed. But what he did was teach his children how to be just as slick. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and his son rapes his daughter. It seems quite fitting. David hears this and is furious but has to also know that he is responsible for this. He was told “calamity would come out of his own household” and sure enough he can see it coming. You don’t want to expose the situation because that would damage Tamar even more, but by not dealing with Amnon himself he opened the door for Abasalom to seek vengeance.
Absalom Kills Amnon
23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep shearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. 24 Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”
25 “No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.
26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.”
The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.
28 Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” 29 So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.
30 While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.” 31 The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their clothes torn.
32 But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar. 33 My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”
Whoa! What! Jonadab, the guy who advised Amnon to rape Tamar was also privy to Abaslom’s plan to kill him? David is surrounded by some very evil and wicked snakes. Yes, what David did was terrible, but Lord is dealing with it and we see him truly reaping what he sowed. His neighbor could not trust him while he was off fighting for David, now David cannot trust the people living in his own house.
34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.
Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”[b]
35 Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said.”
36 As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept very bitterly.
37 Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son.
38 After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years. 39 And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.
These time frames that are given to us in this book are very interesting. What was it that David had done? He had used his power as king to abuse those who were powerless. He was able to move Uriah around like a chess piece. He was able to kill him with the Ammonite swords. What we see here is that even if you are the king and think you are so powerful God can show you are powerless. What is David supposed to do? Does he imprison Amnon for rape? You couldn’t do that without Tamar’s rape becoming known by everyone. Do you force this abusive person who now hates Tamar to marry her? Then you have a domestic violence situation. There is nothing David can do other than watch this calamity like seeing a train wreck in slow motion. Now Absalom has murdered his brother, just like Cane. So now what is David going to do? He has lost one son, are you going to execute the other one? He is king and yet he does nothing about his daughter being raped and does nothing about his son being murdered. Nathan said that David had despised the word of the Lord and had despised the Lord. Well, now David is the one being despised.
Now if God would do this to David because of his sin do you think he would do it to Biden? Do you think calamity might come from Biden’s family? How about Cuomo? Do you think calamity might come from Cuomo’s family?
When we see some ruler, some king, like David do the terrible thing he did and then seemingly get away with it we can get very angry. Instead we should have faith that God is faithful. He said that because of what David did out of his own household calamity will come. We are now seeing this fulfilled. I like this term “in the course of time”. It is as though David’s act was sowing a seed in the ground and in the course of time that seed grew up and bore fruit.
2 Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.
3 Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”
Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
5 “Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”
6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”
7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. 9 Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.
“Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”
12 “No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. 13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”
16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”
But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” 18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate[a] robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.
20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.
21 When King David heard all this, he was furious. 22 And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.
David thought he was so slick in the way in which he stole Uriah’s wife and then had him killed. But what he did was teach his children how to be just as slick. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and his son rapes his daughter. It seems quite fitting. David hears this and is furious but has to also know that he is responsible for this. He was told “calamity would come out of his own household” and sure enough he can see it coming. You don’t want to expose the situation because that would damage Tamar even more, but by not dealing with Amnon himself he opened the door for Abasalom to seek vengeance.
Absalom Kills Amnon
23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep shearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. 24 Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”
25 “No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.
26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.”
The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.
28 Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” 29 So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.
30 While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.” 31 The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their clothes torn.
32 But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar. 33 My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”
Whoa! What! Jonadab, the guy who advised Amnon to rape Tamar was also privy to Abaslom’s plan to kill him? David is surrounded by some very evil and wicked snakes. Yes, what David did was terrible, but Lord is dealing with it and we see him truly reaping what he sowed. His neighbor could not trust him while he was off fighting for David, now David cannot trust the people living in his own house.
34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.
Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”[b]
35 Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said.”
36 As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept very bitterly.
37 Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son.
38 After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years. 39 And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.
These time frames that are given to us in this book are very interesting. What was it that David had done? He had used his power as king to abuse those who were powerless. He was able to move Uriah around like a chess piece. He was able to kill him with the Ammonite swords. What we see here is that even if you are the king and think you are so powerful God can show you are powerless. What is David supposed to do? Does he imprison Amnon for rape? You couldn’t do that without Tamar’s rape becoming known by everyone. Do you force this abusive person who now hates Tamar to marry her? Then you have a domestic violence situation. There is nothing David can do other than watch this calamity like seeing a train wreck in slow motion. Now Absalom has murdered his brother, just like Cane. So now what is David going to do? He has lost one son, are you going to execute the other one? He is king and yet he does nothing about his daughter being raped and does nothing about his son being murdered. Nathan said that David had despised the word of the Lord and had despised the Lord. Well, now David is the one being despised.
Now if God would do this to David because of his sin do you think he would do it to Biden? Do you think calamity might come from Biden’s family? How about Cuomo? Do you think calamity might come from Cuomo’s family?