2 Samuel 13:4

New King James Version

And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?”

Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

For Meditation

It happens every day—the fat lie of Eden.

The eyes see something that awakens impure desire, the mind plans a way to gratify it. The result has always been unrighteous or undesirable. Impure thoughts and desires lead to obsession, a deception and a big fat lie. Sensually, it is called infatuation and has nothing to do with love. It is a devilish temptation that has no respect for the personal relationship one has with the person of interest, and it will not stop until it has its way. Glory to God; He has given us His Spirit, who bears the fruit of self-control, the only spiritual power with the authority to arrest and chain that tiger (Gal 5:23). This ability of God is available to His obedient and submissive children in Christ Jesus.

Tamar was an innocent young lady who was also blessed with beauty. She did nothing to seduce his brother, Amnon (2 Sam. 13:1-14). Amnon had his problems with carnality and sexual immorality, which wagged war in his mind and tormented his body. He forcefully visited his sensual eruption upon a naive and unsuspecting Tamar. He had looked at the beauty of his half-sister long enough to arouse his evil desire, which conceived sexual immorality, that brought forth his triplets named seduction (6-10), rape (11-14), and hatred (15). James describes the process of temptation in the first chapter of his Epistle (Jas. 1:14-15). This undisciplined and ruthless sin of Amnon grew to full maturity, strong enough to kill him (2 Sam. 13:28-29). Job knew the power of impure thoughts and what they could lead to, so he made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman twice (Job 31:1).

Sadly, victims of this brutal and devilish behavior keep it to themselves, and society leaves the known ones to deal with their depressive and destructive tendencies alone, most of them into their marriages. Only the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus appear to heal and rehabilitate them.

Scripture does not tell us how it ended for Tamar, but what we know is equally depressing. Absalom, his full brother, silenced her for the sake of family honor, a practice that has left many young women broken and destroyed (2 Sam. 13:20).

Sexual temptation is one of the most potent sins to deal with, and we need to fight and conquer its allurement and pull. We cannot recount the carnage it has visited on marriages, homes, extended families, neighborhoods, society, friendships, and other social relationships, and with much horror, church fellowships. You know other biblical examples and those in your orbit. You have your own secret stories and trauma you may die with and those of others to which you have sworn the secrecy of nondisclosure.

The Lord warns us against this sexual impurity in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. God has set this warning in His will and revealed His wrath against it. You will find this warning in every list of sinful behaviors in the Bible for us to avoid because of the power of its defilement and spiritual consequences. But God is faithful. He has equally given us instructions on how to prevent it and to stay pure (Gen. 39:6-12; Job 31:1; Song of Songs 2:7. 3:5, 8:4; Matt. 18:9; 1 Cor. 6:14-18; 2 Tim. 2:22;).

The Good News is that Jesus has triumphed over this temptation and risen to become our empathetic High Priest who can help us join his victory ride to glory.

So, look to Jesus for mercy, grace, and power to overcome each time sexual immorality invites you to a secret dance (Heb. 4:15; 12:2). Tell your body it is a fat lie, and ride on the tide of grace God has poured on your way in Jesus. 

Pray with Me

Our dear heavenly Father, we are weak, but you are strong. When the rush of sensual desire captures our minds and hearts and our bodies want to yield, we call upon the power of your Holy Spirit for self-control and the victory of our conquering King, Jesus Messiah, to save us and place us upon the solid ground of faith where Joseph stood by your grace, and brought you glory. Thank you for this victory in Him. Amen.

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