Series: What Are We Doing To Ourselves (5)

2 Samuel 13:6-7

New International Version

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.” David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.”

For Meditation

She did not ask for what came upon her—something she never thought nor considered could happen to her. Her darling father told her to render a service to her sick brother. Who on earth would assume any conspiracy to harm her? But that was precisely what came upon her.

Somewhere in the recesses of a half-brother’s heart, a sinful emotion was erupting. People call it love, but it is cruelty dressed in decent garbs to deceive, violate, and destroy the purity of an unsuspecting royal maiden of Israel. Amnon hatched the plan with Jonadab, an accomplice cousin who was crafty as a fox. Amnon feigned sickness, King David read nothing into it and sent his daughter into his trap (2 Sam. 13:1-7). What followed was a tragedy then, and a tragedy today, too—the rape of a young virgin princess by her half-brother.

Three things happened that worsened Tamar’s plight. To preserve family honor, Absalom, Tamar’s full brother, did not allow her to share her story and find relief (20). Second, she became desolate in her brother’s house with no counseling to help her heal and restore her dignity. Thirdly, King David heard everything but failed to punish the perpetrators of the crime (21). Maybe his guilt over the Bathsheba issue assailed him, but that is the plight of all the millions of young women and men who suffer rape and other forms of sexual attacks. Those who have to deal with the offenses dishonor their authority.

Globally, unsuspecting parents send their innocent teenagers into the den of wicked men who hunt them like wild game. The reasons cover a broad spectrum, but the motive is the same—to do the bidding of the evil one whose goal is to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn. 10:10a). These young ladies become helpless pawns in the hands of the rich and powerful, who have no sense of reason and decency except for money and fame—the type going on in the USA and Britain now.

The net has also widened to trap young men. The ancient practice of homosexuality and lesbianism, those sleazy degradations of the human body at temple shrines during cult gatherings have exploded into the public spaces today, aided by TV, the internet, and social media. Governments have capitulated to a few loud, wealthy advocates of these sexual perversions, and have normalized them in society, with the worst results shaking our schools, colleges, workplaces, and sports.

It is time to call a spade a spade. All those sexual practices are sinful perversions God hates, and His wrath is coming on those who practice them (Rom. 1:18-27). Nations suffer God’s judgment for normalizing these abominations, and the kingdom of God has no room for their practitioners (1 Cor. 6:8-9; 1 Tim, 1:9-10). God requires sexual purity for His children and He avenges such offenders (1 Thess. 4:3-8).

Jesus Christ is the only answer. His Gospel offers mercy and grace to the repentant sinner, providing a place with God in eternity (Jn. 3:16; 1:12-13; Rom. 10:9-10, 13; Acts 2:38).

Will you repent today? 

Pray with Me

Father in the name of Jesus Christ, grant Your church the wisdom and power to confront these perversions; and to know how to help those who have fallen victim to them. Amen.

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