David did nothing.
That was pretty much the king’s response to his son, Amnon’s horrific rape of his sister.
Interestingly, centuries earlier, David’s ancestor, Jacob, acted similarly.
Recall that the son of the King of Shechem raped Jacob’s daughter Dinah.
What did Jacob do in response?
Pretty much nothing.
Like David, he got upset…
And then accepted the King of Shechem’s proposal to make amends by allowing Dinah to marry his son, who had just raped her.
This was the solution provided by the Torah in Deuteronomy 22, though it would be hundreds of years later before the Law was handed down at Sinai.
It turns out that Jacob’s sons were not too happy that their father would accept the King of Shechem’s appeal for peace.
So what did they do?
They ended up killing the entire male population of the city (who were innocent, I might add), after duping them into being circumcised.
There’s an important lesson here.
If you’re a father and your children act like a bunch of baboons…
It’s on you to discipline them.
Our Father demonstrates this quality over and over again in Scripture.
He kicked His first children, Adam and Eve, out of the garden for disobeying Him.
He banished Cain to the land of Nod after he murdered his brother.
He even sent a worldwide flood to destroy every human being on the planet save for Noah and his family.
Our Father in heaven doesn’t have a problem disciplining His children, sometimes harshly.
So why should we?
I remember my dad used to whip my butt with a leather belt if I got outta hand (which happened a lot).
Given our current cultural climate, he’d probably be arrested today.
Unfortunately, my parents got divorced.
So it was up to my mom to discipline me.
Being a woman, she didn’t do an excellent job.
I know that sounds sexist as all hell.
But there’s an important point I wanna make here.
In America, it’s become the norm for the father to be relegated to the sidelines…
While the mother takes on the role of disciplining the kids.
I know this ain’t politically correct, but I’m gonna say it anyway.
I believe that God called men to be the firm hand of justice in the home…
Especially when the kids become teenagers.
That’s when they’re the most outta control.
In the coming chapters ahead, we’re gonna see David’s children act like a bunch of hog wild baboons.
Their lives are gonna turn out to be complete disasters.
Why?
Simply because David’s firm hand of discipline wasn’t on them when it should have been.
Are you feeling me here?
Let those who have ears to hear LISTEN!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“But I want you to understand that
the head of every man is the Messiah,
and the head of a wife is her husband,
and the head of the Messiah is God.”
-1 Corinthians 11:3
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