God Still Speaks in the Whirlwind

God Still Speaks in the Whirlwind

2 Samuel 13:1-39

 

Illus. Storm Chasers.

 

As we pick up in 1 Samuel 13 this morning, we find David’s family in the middle of a whirlwind. We have seen a storm on the horizon coming for some time, but to know it’s coming, and then see the reality are two different things. The facts are that David, throughout much of his life, had been a man who was in pursuit of what was right in God’s sight. But once he became king, we began to see and exception. He had taken many wives for himself, though the Lord had given his instructions surrounding marriage and family of one man and one woman for life (Genesis 2:24), David did differently. Though the Lord had spoken that the king he had chosen was “not to acquire many wives for himself,” what we see transpire in David’s life is detailed different when it came to marriage and family. As we continued we saw different wives, different children, and then in chapter 11, David’s great sin. We covered it in detail, but it was in chapter 11 that David stayed home at a time kings would normally head out for war, and he ended up seeing, sending for, and then sleeping with a woman named Bathsheba. Bathsheba became pregnant and David, in an attempt to cover it up, called her husband in from war and then tried to trick him into sleeping with her while he was home. He would not go home as he was a man of war and David ultimately had him killed at war.

David then took Bathsheba in as another wife for himself. And for nearly a year, he hid his sin. It was in 2 Samuel 12 that a prophet, Nathan, came to confront David and David confesses his sins, he would not die, he was forgiven. But it was at that same time, Nathan revealed to David that his sin would have consequences. Essentially, he had sown to the wind, and in his family, there was going to be a whirlwind. David family had become a tangled web, and much of it was tied to what he had, and had not done.

As chapter 12 closes, we see David again with another great military victory, but at chapter 13 open, we see the beginning of several great family tragedies in David’s family.

 

Read: 1 Samuel 13:1-22

David’s family is in the middle of storm, the Bible also calls this the whirlwind. Proverbs 11:29 reads, “whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind.” In Hosea 8, a famous scripture is given. It came to God’s people at time when they had turned from God, they had disregarded him and were walking in their own ways apart from Him.

 

Hosea 8:7, They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

 

David had sown to the wind and was reaping the whirlwind in his family. But whirlwind continues as we see his son sow the wind and stir up a whirlwind of his own. While it can be difficult to see, through the whirlwind in his family, the Lord is showing us some things. While difficult to hear, the Lord is still speaking. And my prayer is that the Lord would speak today as we take a close look at the whirlwind from 1 Samuel 13, and seek out how the Lord might speak when in the whirlwinds of our lives presently. 

 

 

1. Cling to His Counsel

 

2 Samuel 13:1-3, Now it was after this that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David was in love with her. But Amnon was so frustrated on account of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for she was a virgin, and it seemed too difficult to Amnon to do anything to her.

 

• We know from David’s story that he had eight wives that we are aware of, and he also had concubines. From his wives, David had at least 20 children that are named in Scripture.

 

• Three specific children are mentioned in 1 Samuel 13…

 

• The first was Amnon. Amnon was David’s firstborn, which in those times, according to ancient standards, would have made him the son who was set to assume the throne after David.

 

• Also mentioned is a son named Absolom who had a mother was named Maacha, and her father was the king of Geshur.

 

• The other child written of is Tamar who had the same mother at Absalom, but was the half-sister of Amnon, same dad (David), but a different mom. Tamar is only named daughter of David immediate family in the Bible.

 

• Immediately from verses one and two we are told that Amnon was “in love” with her, but he was frustrated because of her status as a virgin, and it was too difficult to do anything to her.

 

• Amnon was so frustrated by the situation, that he made himself sick. He was indeed sick, as we will see, but here he is essentially lovesick.

 

• Other translations of rather than saying he was “in love” with her, say that he “loved her,” but we will see that he did not have love for her, but rather he had lust for her.

 

• The Hebrew word for love is “ahab.” Which is a term that can depict a sincere love, but can also depict a like, attraction, preference, or affinity toward a person, place, or thing.

 

• What we know is that his feelings about and attraction to her were a problem. We aren’t the only ones who know they are a problem; he seems to know it up to this point as well because he was sick about the fact that he couldn’t do anything to her.

 

• First, she was his sister. When the law was given in Leviticus, there was a long list of relationships that are immoral in God’s eyes and one’s sister, half-sister, immediate family are forbidden specifically. Secondly, she was a virgin and nothing was happening unless there was a marriage.

 

• Because of the familial situation there would be no marriage between them, it was forbidden. He knew it, she knew it, we know it, and he was sick about it.

 

2 Samuel 13:4  But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very clever man.

 

2 Samuel 13:4-6, And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.” Jonadab then said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please have my sister Tamar come and give me food to eat, and have her prepare the food in my sight, so that I may see it and eat from her hand.’” So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please have my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of pastries in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”

 

• Amnon was depressed in his wrong desire.

 

• When he described what was going on, he even twisted things around, “I am in love with the sister of my brother…” Which means it was his sister as well.

 

• His cousin saw situation and encouraged him the wrong way.

 

Illus. Counsel.  

 

John 8:32, You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

 

Romans 13:14, Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

 

Galatians 5:16-17, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.

 

James 1:13-16, Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

 

• Amnon acts on his own desire and evil advice. The whirlwind will continue, but if he had clung to God’s counsel, rather than being misled, he would have been led to the truth that could bring life and set him free.

 

2 Samuel 13:7-13, Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.”  So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was lying down. And she took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.  She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Have everyone go out from me.” So everyone went out from him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon. 11 When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” But she answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing! As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

 

• As Amnon carried out his wicked plan, Tamar pleaded with him…

 

• She asked him not to violate her. She appealed to God’s law “such a thing is not done in Israel,” she appealed to the reality that it is a “disgraceful thing,” to what his action would do to her “bring shame,” and what this would turn him into “one of the fools in Israel.”

 

• She suggests that he go and ask their dad, and likely her adding “he will not withhold me from you” was her trying to find a way out of the situation.

 

• She was trying to offer him counsel. She was attempting to reason with him. But nobody can reason with lust.

 

2 Timothy 2:22, Now flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

• God still speaks in the whirlwind; He speaks powerfully and abundantly through His word. The question is, are you listening? Amnon didn’t, he sowed to the wind, and it stirred up an even greater whirlwind.

 

2 Samuel 13:14, However, he would not listen to her; since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.

 

1. Cry Out to Him

 

2 Samuel 13:15-19, Then Amnon hated her with a very great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up, go away!”

 

• What is evident here was that he did not love her at all. He lusted after her, and after he got what he craved, we are told he hated and wanted to do away with her.

 

• Biblically defined, “lust” is to set the heart upon, crave, long for, or desire for something that is forbidden…

 

1 John 2:16-17, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.

 

Illus. Forbidden.

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

Illus. Watch out.

 

2 Samuel 13:16-19, But she said to him, “No, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have done to me!” Yet he would not listen to her. Then he called his young man who attended him and said, “Now throw this woman out of my presence, and lock the door behind her.” Now she had on a long-sleeved garment; for in this manner the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then his attendant took her out and locked the door behind her. Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her long-sleeved garment which was on her; and she put her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.

 

Illus. Going to God.

 

• Amnon had his way and sent her away. She pleaded with. Him and said that sending her away was worse than what he had already done. What he had done was terrible, and wrong, but she realized that he had taken her virginity, which would make her far less likely to ever be married in that society.

 

• The picture we get, ashes on her head, a torn robe, we an outward expression on her inward grief.

 

• She did not pretend that nothing happened, she did not stay silent about it, rather she cried aloud as she went.

 

• I am stuck that she was crying aloud as she went. In the verses just before that, it is clear that nobody at that time was there physically listening.

 

• The word for “cry aloud,” refers to a person audibly crying out for help.

 

• But from Psalm 34 we know that the Lord heard her cry…

 

Psalm 34:15-18, The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are toward their cry for help. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to eliminate the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 

• Perhaps you have been a victim in the whirlwind of someone else’s sin. There is a love that only God knows, and I pray as you cry out to Him, He will show you that love, remind you that He hears every cry and every prayer, that He is near to you, is against the evil that happened to you, and will speak to you in the whirlwind.

 

III.   Contend for What Is Right in His Sight

 

2 Samuel 13:20-23, Then Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent, my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained and was isolated in her brother Absalom’s house.

 

• When Absalom sees Tamar, the condition she was in with torn robe ashes on her head, hand on her head, he knew from these signs that something had happened.

 

• He circles Amnon as the problem right away, and this leads me to believe that Absalom knew Amnon was a problem.

 

• Absalom’s response is something that at first comes across unsettling. At first it seems as though he might be telling her to just be quiet about it, which to tell this to a victim of a crime is not a good thing.

 

• As I studied it out, it is translated a couple different ways, one is “keep quiet for now,” and the other is “hold your peace.” Those are all acceptable ways to interpret what he is saying.

 

• What Absalom seems to be doing, is trying his best to protect her. It does not want her exposed to public shame, he understood what this meant for Tamar’s life which in that day and that time meant she was not likely to ever marry and he took her into his house.

 

• He wanted Tamar to hold her peace, one commentator wrote, “Absalom was essentially saying ‘don’t have a broken heart, because I am going to break his neck.’”

 

• In Deuteronomy 22:25-26 we learn through God’s laws for His people that there was a punishment for rape, it was death. But it would have been her word against his.

 

• Absalom is going to take matters into his own hands. David on the other hand, does nothing.

 

2 Samuel 13:21,  Now when King David heard about all these matters, he became very angry.

 

• David heard about it, was angry about it, and that’s it.

 

• David didn’t demand justice, he didn’t show care and compassion for his daughter, didn’t correct and call out his son.

 

• David is seen here, and elsewhere as an indulgent, or passive parent. We see it here and will see it again. Absalom will turn on him, and their relationship will be marked by David’s inaction.

 

• Then he had another son to attempts to take the throne, David doesn’t address it, or correct him.

 

1 Kings 1:6, Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, “Why are you doing that?”

 

Illus. Soft?

 

Illus. Exceptions.

 

Illus. Right in God’s sight.

 

• Some suggest that David’s silence in the situation was due to his own sin. That he had made a mistake, that he had modeled the wrong way and had no room to talk.

 

• The reality is that his wrongs don’t change what is right in God’s sight. And his wrongs could have served as a warning to his family if he was willing to offer himself as an example of the wrong things.

 

• Speaking of things in the Old Testament that took place with God’s people, Paul wrote.

 

1 Corinthians 10:11, Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction…

 

Read: 2 Samuel 13:22-39

 

• As the chapter closes, we see the whirlwind even stronger in David’s family than it had ever been.

 

• Absalom held the grudge, held anger in his heart, hate, and took out revenge on Amnon.

 

• I am struck by a statement made by Absalom in the closing section to the king’s servants in the end, “have I not commanded you myself?”

 

• Absalom took revenge into his own hands. Amnon deserved death, but taking the matter into his own hands was not the right thing for Absalom to do.

 

Ephesians 4:26, Be angry and do not sin…

 

Romans 12:19, Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

 

Galatians 6:7-9, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary. 

 

Illus. Real life, real Savior.

 

• I noted earlier the text from Hosea 8, sow to the wind, reap the whirlwind. But the Lord will still speak, even in the whirlwind.

 

Job 38:1, The Lord answered Job from the whirlwind…

 

Romans 5:8-9, But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us… (NLT)

 

2 Samuel 13:1-39