Chapter 13 is a twisted tale. It's dark, depressing, and tragis. An image of a dead tree on a lifeless hill on a cloudy day comes to mind. David's son, Amnon, falls in love with his half-sister, Tamar, daughter of Absalom. Amnon tricks her to try and sleep with her. She refuses. He rapes her and sends her away in shame. Absalom hears of his sister's rape and seeks revenge against his brother. Two years later, Absalom invites all of David's sons to a party. He gets Amnon drunk and murders him. Word gets back to David that all his sons were killed. But later David is told that only Amnon is dead. Not only is David's son murdered, it is at the hands of another of David's sons. David's heart is broken for Amnon and later for Absalom. IN effect, David loses Amnon to death, and Absalom to his crime.
What a sordid mess?! I've heard of some messed up families, but this is rediculous! God's word through Nathan was coming to pass. As a result of David's sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, calamity would come to David from his own household. (2 Samuel 12:11) Amnon's actions of deception and lust sound familiar, huh? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Sin is so destructive. We must run from it! The wages of sin is DEATH! Sin is the seed of death. When we sow sinful seeds, death erupts from the soil and extinguishes everything around it! Families die, marriages die, friendships die, joy dies, love dies, peace dies, trust dies, and on and on.
This part of 2 Samuel vividly depicts the wages of David's sin. Yes, David was forgiven. Yes, God gave him a new start. But the consequences of sin, its ripple effects still exist as a stark reminder that sin is nothing to play with.
But thank God He took a dead tree, on a lifeless hill, on a cloudy day and gave us life through Jesus Christ!
Oh Father, help me to run from sin! Anything apart from you is sin. Let me draw closer to You and stay in Your Word that I might not sin against You!
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