2 Samuel 13:15-22

Relax, Read and Reflect

Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.

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 here and bolt the door after her." ¹⁸ So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing a richly ornamented 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 ornamented robe she was wearing. She put her hand 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 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 Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

Sometimes, people can be jerks. Even princes who are first in line to the throne can act selfishly. Amnon was deeply in "love" with his half sister Tamar. The passion he felt for her drove him crazy-literally. After he acted on the feelings, after he raped her, she disgusted him. He kicked her out and slammed the door. The walk of shame began.

Tamar was upset, and her full brother Absalom tried to comfort her. He basically told her to be quiet, things will work out. David heard of what happened in his family. He became upset with his son Amnon, but did nothing.

Questions:

1. What's up with Amnon? Why the sudden change of heart?

2. Why did Tamar tear her clothes and make a production of her pain?

3. Why did David do nothing?