April 7th

April 7th -- 2 Samuel 13:1-19 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2013:1-19&version=NLT)

The rape of Tamar

So David's son Absalom had a sister named Tamar who was very beautiful. Another of David's sons, or Tamar's half-brother, Amnon became sick because he was so obsessed with her. She was a virgin and he thought he could never have her. So Amnon goes to his crafty cousin, Jonadab, for advice. Jonadab tells him to go to bed and pretend he's sick, then when his dad comes, ask if his sister Tamar can come and prepare his some food and feed him, as that will make him feel better. So Amnon does this. Tamar is sent to prepare him food. She baked him his favorite dish, as she had been told to. When she goes to feed him as she had been told, he refused, and sent away all his servants. Then he tells Tamar to bring the food into his room and feed it to him there. She does this, but as she feeds him, he grabs her arm and tells her to come to bed with him. She is upset and tells him not to be foolish, saying that is wicked and they cannot. She says he should just ask the king to let them be married. Amnon wouldn't listen, though, and ended up raping her because he was much stronger than her. Yet then his love became hate, but much stronger hate than it had been love. He tried to send her away, but she protested, saying that would only make things worse. Yet he sends her away anyways. She tears the robe she wore to symbolize that she is a virgin and goes off weeping.

Yeah, so... this is an odd topic. I guess really what stands out most to me is the idea of how destructive lust is. Amnon doesn't LOVE Tamar. If he did, he'd have respected her and married her instead of raping her. Instead, he lusts after her, obsessing himself until he gets sick and then rapes her later. Lust is not godly. Love is. People commonly seem to confuse love and lust. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 has the Biblical, Godly idea of love. What Amnon displayed went so againt those traits. Love is not lust, and lust is not love. That is all. Lust will not cause you good, but only harm. Please remember that.

Well, that's all! God bless! Shalom!