RAPE
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The Wicked will continue to be Wicked
If your Brother Repents, Forgive Him
Forgiveness is as much for the Abuser as it is for the Abused
The Abused can become Abusers if they Don't Forgive
Forgive or you won't be Forgiven
You are possessed by the one you Love
God will Give you the desires of your heart
Deuteronomy 22:25-27
But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor, for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her.
Rape is to sexually violate somebody by force. It is against the victim's will. The victim has no choice in the matter.
To put it another way, rape means to disrespect the boundaries of another person and to force something upon them, particularly with regard to sexual relations.
Even before the Law was given through Moses, rape was considered one of the most detestable acts. (Genesis 34) It was punishable by death.
If a person is a willing participant in a sexual act, they have not been raped.
Exodus 22:16-17
"If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29
If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
When going out on a date, it is important to establish the boundaries of the relationship.
If you don't tell your date how far you are willing to go, they may violate your boundaries without knowing it. This is particularly true if you are dating somebody who has not been taught good values as they have grown up.
The Bible teaches us not to be yoked with unbelievers. Unbelievers may believe it is OK to have sex before marriage and think nothing of initiating sexual activity with somebody who has agreed to go out with them.
Unless you tell somebody what your wishes are, they cannot be held guilty of deliberately violating them.
Unless you make some attempt to enforce your boundaries when they are violated, then the other party has not forcefully violated them.
If you have grown up as a Christian, you should know that sex before marriage is wrong. To engage in such an activity would be to violate your own spiritual values (conscience). As a result, you will loose your peace and find that it is difficult to have fellowship with God until such sin is dealt with by confession and repentance.
Date Rape is the forceful violation of somebody's wishes whilst on a date. It is hard to do this accidentally for a long time. It would imply very poor communication or perhaps loss of self control due to addiction or intoxication.
The Bible says that we should not get drunk with wine (or intoxicated with other drugs). Being drunk is not an excuse. Rape is still rape, whether it was a deliberate or an unintentional violation of somebody's boundaries; it has the same effect.
Repeated violation of a person's boundaries may lead to a sense of helplessness.
People need to learn how to enforce their boundaries in order to prevent themselves being raped.
One of the first steps is to communicate your boundaries to your partner and ensure that they are understood as soon as possible.
As soon as somebody oversteps your boundaries, tell them to stop. If they won't listen, then get help.
Try not to put yourself in a situation where this might happen and try not to give out misleading messages as to what you want.
DELIBERATE RAPE BY STRANGER(S)
Genesis 34:1-31
Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her. His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife." When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home. Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. Now Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter--a thing that should not be done. But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it." Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife." Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. They said to them, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go." Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen. "These men are friendly toward us," they said. "Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us." All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised. Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed." But they replied, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"
The Hivites were descendants of Canaan the fourth son of Ham. They were not circumcised and did not walk in God's ways. They were living in the land of Canaan which was the land that was promised to Abraham by God. Jacob was had considerable wealth in the form of livestock and property. The Hivites thought that if they married one of Jacob's daughters, Jacob's property would become theirs.
Shechem fancied Jacob's daughter Dinah. He violated her (raped her) and then asked his father to get her as his wife. Because he was uncircumcised, he also defiled her. Hamor, (Shechem's father) and the Hivites did not rebuke Shechem for this but carried out his wishes. As a consequence, the whole Hivite people became guilty of disrespecting the boundaries of Jacob.
Dinah's brothers went along with the Hivites who were greater in number and pursuaded them to be circumcised. While the Hivites were incapacitated by the pain of circumcision, Dinah's brothers put the men to death and carried of their women and children as slaves.
This represented God's judgment on the Hivites for raping and defiling Dinah. This was before the Law of Moses was even given.
In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father's house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
His father-in-law, the girl's father, prevailed upon him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there. On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go." So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the girl's father said, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!" So the two of them ate together.
Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Now look, it's almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home." But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night." His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah."
He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places."
So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.
There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.
That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields.When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"
He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house. We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants--me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don't need anything."
"You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."
The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing.
Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."
But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.
Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!"
Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah.
The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords.
(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened."
So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.
During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died.
I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.
Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict."
All the people rose as one man, saying, "None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house.
But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the lot directs.
We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel."
So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.
The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you?
Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel." But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites.
From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites.
At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah.
Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men.
The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?" The LORD replied, "Judah shall go first."
The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.
The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.
The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.
But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.
The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, "Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?" The LORD answered, "Go up against them."
Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day.
This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.
And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, "Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?" The LORD responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."
Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah.
They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.
The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads--the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.
While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before," the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads."
All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah.
Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was.
The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.
Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten. Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah.
The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.
The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle. The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle."
But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky.
Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them.
So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of the towns cut them down there.
They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.
Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.
As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.
On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters.
But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months.
The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.
The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite."
The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly.
"O LORD, the God of Israel," they cried, "why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?"
Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
Then the Israelites asked, "Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD?" For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah should certainly be put to death.
Now the Israelites grieved for their brothers, the Benjamites. "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel," they said.
"How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?"
Then they asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?" They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.
For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.
So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children.
"This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin."
They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.
So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.
And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left?
The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
We can't give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.'
But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah."
So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin.
When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'"
So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.
At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
This passage is notable for several reasons:
It shows God's abhorrence of rape and sexual immorality.
The Women of Benjamin were held just as responsible as the Men.
It has many parallels with Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah
God punished the people of Jabesh Gilead because they turned a blind eye.
Here, Israel was aware of God's Law and was responsible for it's execution. (In Lot's time, Angels revealed God's law and were responsible for it's execution).
Benjamin and Levi were tribes of Israel.
Here, a Levite was traveling back to his home in Ephraim from Bethlehem in Judah. They found lodging in Gibeah, a city of the Benjamites.
As with Lot in Sodom, evil men surrounded the house and wanted to rape the visitor who, in this case, was an Israelite from the tribe of Levi.
As with Lot in Sodom, the owner of the house tried to protect the visitors and offered his daughter to them instead.
Unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, the Levite handed his concubine to them and the men of Benjamin mercilessly raped the Levite's concubine and she died. This showed what horrible people they were.
The Levite broadcast to all Israel what a terrible thing had happened. If Israel had stood back and done nothing, God would have held them guilty too and they would not have fulfilled their destiny.
Israel had to purge themselves of this evil. So did the tribe of Benjamin. If Israel had not done what they did to the Benjamites, God would have had to destroy them. (This happened much later in their history: Babylon and Assyria took them into captivity)
The Israelites assembled and marched against the city of Gibeah and demanded they give up the men who did this. When Benjamin decided to protect them, they became guilty of their sin too.
Benjamin in it's pride could not see the wrong that it had done.
In order to purge itself, Israel had to stand up to Benjamin.
Israel lost 40,000 men before they started to overcome the Benjamites.
If they had not persevered, these wicked men would have grown stronger and corrupted all of Israel.
Israel persevered and set an ambush for the Benjamites. Benjamin fell in one day and it's army of 26,000 was destroyed leaving only 600 survivors who fled to the mountains.
All the towns of Benjamin were put to the sword. Their women and children were completely destroyed. Even their animals were put to the sword.
All of Israel were grieved that one of Jacob's sons would be cut off.
Israel assembled afterwards and found that the town of Jabesh Gilead had not attended to help them.
Because Jabesh Gilead had turned a blind eye to the Benjamites, God told the Israelites to kill every man women and child in the city except the virgins who numbered about 400.
These were given to the surviving Benjamites as wives.
200 women from Shiloh were also given to the Benjamites so that they would continue to have descendants and not be cut off from Israel.
In a way, God was merciful to them and gave them a second chance.
Background
David, the king of Judah, the grandson of Ruth (a Moabite), had been fighting the Ammonites.
He had committed adultery with Bathsheba and sent her husband, Uriah (a Hittite) to fight on the frontline where he died.
He had taken Bathsheba as his wife but the son she was pregnant with died. She got pregnant again and had given birth to Solomon who had found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
The battle ended with the defeat of the Ammonites.
2 Samuel 12:7-12 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'
"This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'"
2Samuel 13:1-19:43
In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.
Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.
Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man.
He asked Amnon, "Why do you, the king's son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won't you tell me?" Amnon said to him, "I'm in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister."
"Go to bed and pretend to be ill," Jonadab said. "When your father comes to see you, say to him, 'I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.'"
So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, "I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand."
David sent word to Tamar at the palace: "Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him."
So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it.
Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat. "Send everyone out of here," Amnon said. So everyone left him.
Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand." And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom.
But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me, my sister."
"Don't, my brother!" she said to him. "Don't force me. Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don't do this wicked thing.
What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you."
But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
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!"
"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.
He called his personal servant and said, "Get this woman out of here and bolt the door after her."
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.
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.
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.
When King David heard all this, he was furious.
Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.
Two years later, when Absalom's sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king's sons to come there.
Absalom went to the king and said, "Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his officials please join me?"
"No, my son," the king replied. "All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you." Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go, but gave him his blessing.
Then Absalom said, "If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us." The king asked him, "Why should he go with you?"
But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king's sons.
Absalom ordered his men, "Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,' then kill him. Don't be afraid. Have not I given you this order? Be strong and brave."
So Absalom's men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king's sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.
While they were on their way, the report came to David: "Absalom has struck down all the king's sons; not one of them is left."
The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.
But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, "My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom's expressed intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar.
My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king's sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead."
Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, "I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill."
Jonadab said to the king, "See, the king's sons are here; it has happened just as your servant said."
As he finished speaking, the king's sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his servants wept very bitterly.
Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned for his son every day.
After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years.
And the spirit of the king longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon's death.
Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart longed for Absalom.
So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, "Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don't use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead.
Then go to the king and speak these words to him." And Joab put the words in her mouth.
When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, "Help me, O king!"
The king asked her, "What is troubling you?" She said, "I am indeed a widow; my husband is dead.
I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him.
Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, 'Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir as well.' They would put out the only burning coal I have left, leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth."
The king said to the woman, "Go home, and I will issue an order in your behalf."
But the woman from Tekoa said to him, "My lord the king, let the blame rest on me and on my father's family, and let the king and his throne be without guilt."
The king replied, "If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not bother you again."
She said, "Then let the king invoke the LORD his God to prevent the avenger of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed." "As surely as the LORD lives," he said, "not one hair of your son's head will fall to the ground."
Then the woman said, "Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." "Speak," he replied.
The woman said, "Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.
"And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king; perhaps he will do what his servant asks.
Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from the inheritance God gave us.'
"And now your servant says, 'May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning good and evil. May the LORD your God be with you.'"
Then the king said to the woman, "Do not keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you." "Let my lord the king speak," the woman said.
The king asked, "Isn't the hand of Joab with you in all this?" The woman answered, "As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant.
Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom like that of an angel of God--he knows everything that happens in the land."
The king said to Joab, "Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom."
Joab fell with his face to the ground to pay him honor, and he blessed the king. Joab said, "Today your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant's request."
Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
But the king said, "He must go to his own house; he must not see my face." So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.
In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.
Whenever he cut the hair of his head--he used to cut his hair from time to time when it became too heavy for him--he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels by the royal standard.
Three sons and a daughter were born to Absalom. The daughter's name was Tamar, and she became a beautiful woman.
Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king's face.
Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come.
Then he said to his servants, "Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire." So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
Then Joab did go to Absalom's house and he said to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?"
Absalom said to Joab, "Look, I sent word to you and said, 'Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, "Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!" ' Now then, I want to see the king's face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death."
So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.
In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.
He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel."
Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you."
And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice."
Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.
Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the LORD.
While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: 'If the LORD takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.'"
The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he went to Hebron.
Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, 'Absalom is king in Hebron.'"
Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter.
While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept on increasing.
A messenger came and told David, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom."
Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword."
The king's officials answered him, "Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses."
The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace.
So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at a place some distance away.
All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.
The king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland.
You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your countrymen. May kindness and faithfulness be with you."
But Ittai replied to the king, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be."
David said to Ittai, "Go ahead, march on." So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.
The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the desert.
Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.
Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again.
But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him."
The king also said to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer? Go back to the city in peace, with your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan son of Abiathar. You and Abiathar take your two sons with you.
I will wait at the fords in the desert until word comes from you to inform me."
So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.
Now David had been told, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." So David prayed, "O LORD, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness."
When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head.
David said to him, "If you go with me, you will be a burden to me.
But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; I was your father's servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,' then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's advice.
Won't the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king's palace.
Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear."
So David's friend Hushai arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.
When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.
The king asked Ziba, "Why have you brought these?" Ziba answered, "The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the desert."
The king then asked, "Where is your master's grandson?" Ziba said to him, "He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, 'Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather's kingdom.'"
Then the king said to Ziba, "All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours." "I humbly bow," Ziba said. "May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king."
As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out.
He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left.
As he cursed, Shimei said, "Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!
The LORD has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!"
Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head."
But the king said, "What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, 'Curse David,' who can ask, 'Why do you do this?'"
David then said to Abishai and all his officials, "My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.
It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today."
So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt.
The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.
Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.
Then Hushai the Arkite, David's friend, went to Absalom and said to him, "Long live the king! Long live the king!"
Absalom asked Hushai, "Is this the love you show your friend? Why didn't you go with your friend?"
Hushai said to Absalom, "No, the one chosen by the LORD, by these people, and by all the men of Israel--his I will be, and I will remain with him.
Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you."
Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give us your advice. What should we do?"
Ahithophel answered, "Lie with your father's concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench in your father's nostrils, and the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened."
So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel's advice.
Ahithophel said to Absalom, "I would choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.
I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed."
This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.
But Absalom said, "Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say."
When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, "Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion."
Hushai replied to Absalom, "The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time.
You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops.
Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first, whoever hears about it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.'
Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.
"So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba--as numerous as the sand on the seashore--be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle.
Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive.
If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a piece of it can be found."
Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel." For the LORD had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, "Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so.
Now send a message immediately and tell David, 'Do not spend the night at the fords in the desert; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.'"
Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A servant girl was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city.
But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left quickly and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.
His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it.
When Absalom's men came to the woman at the house, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman answered them, "They crossed over the brook." The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.
After the men had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, "Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you."
So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father's tomb.
David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.
Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Jether, an Israelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.
The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows' milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, "The people have become hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert."
David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
David sent the troops out--a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, "I myself will surely march out with you."
But the men said, "You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city."
The king answered, "I will do whatever seems best to you." So the king stood beside the gate while all the men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands.
The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.
The army marched into the field to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
There the army of Israel was defeated by David's men, and the casualties that day were great--twenty thousand men.
The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword.
Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.
When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree."
Joab said to the man who had told him this, "What! You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior's belt."
But the man replied, "Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king's son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.'
And if I had put my life in jeopardy --and nothing is hidden from the king--you would have kept your distance from me."
Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this for you." So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree.
And ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.
Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them.
They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.
During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King's Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, "I have no son to carry on the memory of my name." He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day.
Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Let me run and take the news to the king that the LORD has delivered him from the hand of his enemies."
"You are not the one to take the news today," Joab told him. "You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king's son is dead."
Then Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.
Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, "Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite." But Joab replied, "My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward."
He said, "Come what may, I want to run." So Joab said, "Run!" Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.
While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone.
The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, "If he is alone, he must have good news." And the man came closer and closer.
Then the watchman saw another man running, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look, another man running alone!" The king said, "He must be bringing good news, too."
The watchman said, "It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." "He's a good man," the king said. "He comes with good news."
Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, "All is well!" He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, "Praise be to the LORD your God! He has delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king."
The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king's servant and me, your servant, but I don't know what it was."
The king said, "Stand aside and wait here." So he stepped aside and stood there.
Then the Cushite arrived and said, "My lord the king, hear the good news! The LORD has delivered you today from all who rose up against you."
The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man."
The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O Absalom, my son, my son!"
Joab was told, "The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom."
And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, "The king is grieving for his son."
The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle.
The king covered his face and cried aloud, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"
Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines.
You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead.
Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the LORD that if you don't go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come upon you from your youth till now."
So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, "The king is sitting in the gateway," they all came before him. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.
Throughout the tribes of Israel, the people were all arguing with each other, saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies; he is the one who rescued us from the hand of the Philistines. But now he has fled the country because of Absalom; and Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?"
King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: "Ask the elders of Judah, 'Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace, since what is being said throughout Israel has reached the king at his quarters?
You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring back the king?'
And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my own flesh and blood? May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab.'"
He won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. They sent word to the king, "Return, you and all your men."
Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan. Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan.
Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba, the steward of Saul's household, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was.
They crossed at the ford to take the king's household over and to do whatever he wished. When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell prostrate before the king and said to him, "May my lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind.
For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first of the whole house of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the king."
Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said, "Shouldn't Shimei be put to death for this? He cursed the Lord's anointed."
David replied, "What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? This day you have become my adversaries! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Do I not know that today I am king over Israel?"
So the king said to Shimei, "You shall not die." And the king promised him on oath.
Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.
When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, "Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?"
He said, "My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, 'I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.' But Ziba my servant betrayed me.
And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever pleases you.
All my grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who sat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?"
The king said to him, "Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the fields."
Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has arrived home safely."
Barzillai the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and to send him on his way from there.
Now Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years of age. He had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.
The king said to Barzillai, "Cross over with me and stay with me in Jerusalem, and I will provide for you."
But Barzillai answered the king, "How many more years will I live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king?
I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of men and women singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
Your servant will cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance, but why should the king reward me in this way?
Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever pleases you."
The king said, "Kimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever pleases you. And anything you desire from me I will do for you."
So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and gave him his blessing, and Barzillai returned to his home.
When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel had taken the king over.
Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king and saying to him, "Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him and his household across the Jordan, together with all his men?"
All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "We did this because the king is closely related to us. Why are you angry about it? Have we eaten any of the king's provisions? Have we taken anything for ourselves?"
Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, "We have ten shares in the king; and besides, we have a greater claim on David than you have. So why do you treat us with contempt? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?" But the men of Judah responded even more harshly than the men of Israel.
Summary
Amnon was David's son. He had fallen in love with his half sister Tamar. Absalom was Tamar's full brother and David's son also.
Amnon tricked his sister Tamar into attending him by pretending to be ill. When she came to his room, he raped her.
After doing this, he began to hate her more than he had loved her. Instead of taking her as his wife he threw her out.
Tamar went away; she put ashes on her head and tore her robe. She lived the rest of her days in Absalom's house as a desolate woman. She had been disgraced.
Absalom hated Amnon. When David heard what had happened, he was furious but did nothing to Amnon.
Two years later, Absalom took things into his own hands and killed Amnon in front of his brothers.
Absalom fled to Geshur for three years. David mourned for his son every day. He longed to go to Absalom as he had been consoled concerning Amnon's death.
David discerned God's will and sent for his son Absalom, to bring him back. He sent Joab to Geshur to bring him back.
Absalom lived in Jerusalem and had three children; one was named Tamar.
After Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without seeing David's face he demanded to see David his father. David kissed his son when he saw him and they made up.
As time went by, Absalom gradually subverted David's authority and in so doing grew in favor of Israel.
He conspired against David to be King.
David was forced to flee. He left with the armies of Judah, taking with him the Levites and the Arc of the Covenant.
David sent the Arc back to Jerusalem with Zadock and Abiathar.
David went to the Mount of Olives and weeped.
David sent his advisor Hushai back to help Zadock and frustrate Absalom's advisor Ahithophel.
While David was in exile, he found a friend in Ziba (a servant of Saul's Grandson) but others from Saul's clan tried to stone David and his officials.
David's old advisor Ahithophel foolishly told Absalom to lie with his father's concubines (whom he left to take care of the palace) and in so doing, he would become a stench in David's nostrils an inspire Israel to follow him. (This fulfilled the Judgment that Nathan had pronounced on David for committing adultery.)
So Absalom lay with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
Ahithophel advised Absalom to send 12000 men after David to kill him, but spare his men. Hushai, David's servant, advised Absalom not to do this but to take all Israel and lead them into battle himself and wipe out David and all his men.
Hushai sent a warning to David and told him to cross the Jordan.
Absalom decided to take Hushai's advice. He appointed Amasa as commander of the armies of Israel. He pursued David with the armies or Israel across the Jordan.
Ahithophel went and hung himself.
David's men went out against all of Israel and defeated them.
There were 20,000 casualties. The forest claimed more lives that day than the sword.
Joab's men found Absalom caught in a tree. Joab killed him even though David had told him not to.
David mourned for Absalom and wished that he had died in his place.
This confused Israel.
David dismissed Joab as the commander of his army and appointed Amasa.
David was gracious even unto Saul's clan who were Benjamites.
The hearts of the people turned back to David.
When David died, Solomon, the child of Bathsheba, became king.
When Solomon died, the kingdom was divided between his two sons (Jeroboam and Rehoboam) into the Northern Kingdom (Judah and Benjamin) under Rehoboam and the Southern Kingdom (the ten tribes of Israel) under Jeroboam.
David, King of Judah, committed adultery with Bathsheba. This had a devastating effect on the rest of his family and the Kingdom of Israel.
David did find forgiveness for what he had done but had lost the respect of Israel and the Surrounding Nations.
His power had been weakened.
Because he knew God's grace and mercy, he was able to deal mercifully with Amnon and Absalom.
After his father, David, had disgraced himself, Amnon fell to temptation too.
He deliberately planned to get his sister Tamar alone.
When they were alone, he tried to seduce Tamar into having sex with him.
Tamar knew this was wrong and tried to get Amnon to ask David for her hand.
Amnon could not control his lust and raped his sister Tamar.
Tamar, was disgraced and humiliated. She covered her head with ashes and tore her robe. Her virginity was lost. She felt her future was destroyed.
She never recovered. She remained desolate for the rest of her life.
Although David was furious when he heard of what had happened, he was not able to deal with Amnon properly because he had sinned himself with Bathsheba.
He was not able to restore Tamar's dignity.
Absalom hated Amnon for what he had done to his sister.
He looked after Tamar in his house.
Eventually, Absalom took matters into his own hands and killed his brother Amnon in front of all his brothers.
The Bible does not say whether Amnon repented but it seems likely that this was so.
Absalom did not understand his father's mercy and forgiveness for Amnon.
Absalom's hatred of his Brother eventually caused him to fall into sin by rebelling against David and sleeping with his father's wives.
Although David forgave Absalom for killing his brother, Absalom rebelled against David and conspired to kill his father and become king.
Absalom was persuaded to sleep with his father's concubines in accordance with the judgment pronounced on David by Nathan.
What Absalom thought would win him favor and inspire the Israelites brought him shame and disgrace.
Israel was not inspired to fight.
The consequences of Absalom becoming king would have been catastrophic for Israel.
David, once again, found favor in the sight of the Lord and was victorious over the Armies of Absalom even though he was greatly outnumbered.
David was a Loving and Gracious father.
He was able to forgive Absalom because he himself had been forgiven.
Because he disobeyed David and killed Absalom, Joab was removed from commanding David's Army.
Amasa was made commander of his army even though it was he who had been appointed by Absalom to command Israel's army against David.
David was victorious because he had God's favor.
David obtained forgiveness for his own sin.
In so doing he became a gracious and forgiving father.
David's sin, however, had everlasting consequences for Israel.
If Absalom or Amnon had lived, God may have been able to bring them to repentance.
He may have been able to use them.
God uses people who the world would consider worthless.
This, however, is the Glory of God.
Genesis 18:16-19:28
When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.
For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."
Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."
Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."
Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
"My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.
Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,
because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.
As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please!
Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die.
Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.
Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens.
Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land.
But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Rape is one of the most detestable sins. In Sodom, homosexuality was very common and accepted by most people. It had become a way of life.
A number of people in the city were given over to to rape. They had become arrogant and Godless. They did not respect other people's boundaries. They forced their will upon others for their own sensual enjoyment.
They did not even respect the angels of God.
Abraham pleaded with God and said "surely you won't treat the righteous and the unrighteous alike?" (God said that he would not destroy the city if there were just ten righteous people there.)
Unfortunately, there were not ten righteous people in the city.
God did not just destroy the Men in the city, He destroyed the whole city; women and children, including Lot's wife who looked back as she was leaving with the angels of God. The women in the city were held just as responsible as the men.
God does not like it when his people turn a blind eye to the sin that is going on around them. This does not explain why the women in the city were held accountable. The women in the city had some how contributed to the situation.
A similar situation occurred in Benjamin (after the law of Moses was given). God destroyed almost all of Benjamin including the women leaving only a few men to repopulate the tribe. The other tribes had to give them wives because there were no women left!
For some reason, the Women were held just as responsible as the Men. In a way this is understandable because women are the back bone of society. If the women in the city are Holy then, somehow, the city gets sanctified.
In what way could the women of the city have contributed to this situation?
There are many ways that women can abuse men and degrade society.
Seduction, infidelity, prostitution, adultery, divorce are a few ways that society can be damaged and degraded.
Child abuse, rape and violence can damage the psyche of women as well as men and lead to a cycle of abuse against one another. Some times men and women can end up hating each other.
We know that hatred and bitterness not only destroy the person who is feeling this way, but it also hurts the person who is the object of the hatred.
If forgiveness does not prevail, the situation just seems to spiral down and down. Men and women find new and more evil ways of hurting one another until finally they cannot stand to see each other, let alone make love.
Finally, women abandon their natural relationships with men and seek solace in themselves. Men do likewise, but people of the same sex are no less likely to abuse you and hurt you as those of the opposite sex.
Homosexuality is barren and perverted.
Deep down, even the most proactive of homosexuals knows that it is wrong.
Men were not created to have sex with men and women were not created to have sex with women.
The same can be said of oral and anal sex.
When people are hurt; the victim of abuse, the natural tendency is to want to abuse somebody too. (may be not straight away)
Some of the perpetrators of the most heinous crimes have be the victims of cruel abuse themselves.
Poor self esteem, poor self control, temptation, drugs and alcohol all contribute to the cycle of abuse.
The only way to break the cycle of abuse is to forgive.
We cannot forgive others unless we ourselves have been forgiven too.
Only God can forgive us and make things right again.
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Salvation |
| Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will
give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with
the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered
with the transgressors. For he bore the
sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. John 3:14-21 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." Romans 6:10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, Romans 3:21-8 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, Galatians 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 9:22-10:14
Hebrews 10:16-23 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
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