“Avshalom her brother said to her, ‘Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now, my sister, keep quiet; because he’s your brother. Don’t take the matter to heart.’ But Tamar remained desolate in her brother Avshalom’s house.“-2 Samuel 13:20
Tamar is in a bad situation.
After being raped, she can no longer return to her bedroom at the virgin compound.
The fact is, she is no longer a virgin.
And even if she did show up…
Looking the way she did…
With torn clothing and ashes and blood all over her…
She would have immediately been shunned.
And if word got out about what happened…
There would’ve been no end to the vicious gossip that would’ve spread like wildfire.
So what’s Tamar to do?
We’re told she had no choice but to flee to her brother Avishalom’s house for shelter.
There, Avishalom comforted her and told her to keep what happened under tight wraps to avoid malicious rumors from spreading.
However, King David heard what happened.
His response?
We’re told he got angry.
And that’s it.
There’s no record of him taking any action whatsoever.
No calling Amnon to his palace for a royal butt kicking…
No scolding…
He did absolutely nothing.
This exposes a major flaw in David’s character.
As the King of Israel, he should have known the Law of Moses…
And carried out justice per God’s Torah…
Yet he did nothing.
In this case, what was the justice that was to be carried out?
It’s not so cut and dry.
So lemme close today with a quiz question on this.
I’m going to provide three statutes from the Torah that I feel are relevant to what Amnon did.
Here they are:
STATUTE 1:
“If a man comes upon a girl who is a virgin but who is not engaged, and he grabs her and has sexual relations with her, and they are caught in the act, then the man who had intercourse with her must give to the girl’s father one-and-a- quarter pounds of silver shekels, and she will become his wife, because he humiliated her; he may not divorce her as long as he lives.” –Deuteronomy 22:28-29
STATUTE 2:
“You are not to have sexual relations with your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with them.”-Leviticus 18:9
STATUTE 3
“For those who engage in any of these disgusting practices, whoever they may be, will be cut off from their people. So keep my charge not to follow any of these abominable customs that others before you have followed and thus defile yourselves by doing them. I am ADONAI your God.”-Leviticus 18:29-30
So, based on these, how should justice be carried out in Amnon’s case?
Take a moment to think about it.
Use your brain…
Don’t be like the unwashed masses who never take the time to think for themselves.
Alrighty, did you use your noggin a little bit?
Let’s get into the answers.
So Statute 1, while relevant, can’t be put into practice because Tamar was Amnon’s sister.
There’s no way Amnon would be able to marry Tamar.
And can you imagine Amnon paying the king some silver to make amends for raping his sister?!
Quite laughable, right?
So I’d say in this case, Statute 3 is the most relevant.
This verse clearly says…
“For those who engage in any of these disgusting practices, whoever they may be, will be cut off from their people.
So this is the answer.
Based on Torah, Amnon wasn’t to be put to death…
But he was to be KARET or cut off from his people.
Banishment would be his punishment.
However, David never carried that out.
As I mentioned, David did nothing.
We’ll talk about that next time we meet.
But for now, let’s transition to the takeaway.
So here’s the lesson.
As we just saw…
Applying the Torah to sticky situations can be a complex matter…
But we’re called to do it…
That’s why Torah study is so important!
I believe this is where Christianity has utterly failed.
Because they believe the Law has been done away with…
They’ve thrown God’s Torah in the trash.
Instead, they’ve come up with a doctrine that says all sins are the same in God’s eyes.
Ridiculous, right?
Based on that logic, Amnon’s raping his sister is on the same level of ripping off a Snicker’s bar from the local 7-Eleven.
I’m telling you right now that even a basic understanding of the Levitical sacrificial system exposes the stupidity of that idea in a second.
I leave you with these verses from the Psalmist…
Ironically written by King David, who failed to apply the law to Amnon’s despicable behavior.
“How blessed are those
who reject the advice of the wicked,
don’t stand on the way of sinners
or sit where scoffers sit!
Their delight
is in Adonai’s Torah;
on his Torah they meditate
day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams —
they bear their fruit in season,
their leaves never wither,
everything they do succeeds.”
-Psalm 1:1-3
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
-2 Timothy 3:16-17
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