Amnon’s Sin

“But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.”  — 2 Samuel 13:14

If you get a chance today, read 2 Samuel chapter 13, I promise you will be entertained by it whether you call yourself a Christian or not.  When I was reading it, I just thought “what in the world made Amnon do this?”  Of course it is easy to say “The Devil made him do it!”  And, of course the liar, thief, murderer, and destroyer did have his part in it…especially working through Jonadab just as he worked through the serpent in the Garden all those years ago.  But, I want to submit to you another thought…Amnon’s dad, King David, is possibly the primary reason that Amnon raped his sister.

Isn’t it amazing how many Christians King David inspires today?  I still love to quote verses from Psalm 23.  I still love to think about him writing these words as a young man just sitting in the field with his flock strumming on the closest thing they had to a guitar back then.  Without a doubt, David was the old testament version of a jam up Christian.  However, his boy Amnon wasn’t around, or at least was really young when David was doing all the cool stuff for the Lord that we read about and that other people that were carefully watching his life at the time were seeing.  Amnon, when he was figuring out this whole “following God” thing, saw his dad sin with Bathsheba.  He probably heard day after day what a “Godly man” his dad the king was.  But what they were saying and what his dad was actually doing just 2 chapters before in chapter 11 did not match up.  What Amnon saw was his dad wanting something, taking it, and doing whatever he had to do to cover it up, including the murder one of his best men…Uriah the Hittite.

So, when Amnon saw his half-sister…he wanted her.  He knew it was wrong to take her outside of marriage.  He knew just as David knew it was wrong to take Bathsheba outside of marriage.  Amnon saw his dad just take what he wanted…apparently God had forgiven his dad.  So maybe he could just take what he wanted and “God would forgive me.”  What Amnon did not know was that David told Nathan the priest “the man that did this deserves to pay four times what he took.”  The consequences of David’s sin hadn’t come to fruition yet.  In fact, Amnon would be the first payment for  the sin of his dad.  What he did made his brother, Absolom, so angry that he plotted to take Amnon’s life…and that is exactly what he did.

No matter what I say to inspire you to live a holy lifestyle…No matter how many people read WMD…No matter how good of a person you think that I am, I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old in my house watching my every move.  Right now, they could not care less about what I have done for the Lord up to this point in my life.  In just 2 weeks I will step in front of an entirely new group of 7th and 8th graders for 180 days.  They don’t care what I’ve done up until that point in life.  They will only know me by what they see.  Do they see me being inconsistent?  Do they see me saying one thing and then turning around and doing another?  Do they see me asking them to give 100% every day and then turn around and watch me not give them 100%?

Here is what I know…the most important people in my life are watching me to see if I’m the real deal.  My kids will not hear me tell them to flee from drugs and alcohol and then watch me turn around and use them.  I will not teach my kids the dangers of pornography while I secretly look at it myself.  I will not tell them how important it is to connect with God on a daily basis and not connect with God on a daily basis myself.  That is hypocrisy at it’s finest.  When I fail…I will tell them I failed and ask their forgiveness.  Did David have this conversation with Amnon?  I doubt it…if he had, 2 Samuel chapter 13 might not even be in there.

It reminds me of a quote that I’ve seen many times over the years:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

 Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Above all, know that if you say you are a Christian…others are watching to see if you the real deal.  You don‘t have to be perfect.   God is not looking for people made of gold or silver…but He is looking for people that are clean.

Later

Adam