Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. David has sinned and repented, but there are still three of the fourfold consequences of his sins that have yet to unfold in his life. And a lot of that happens in today's reading. When you have a palace filled with wives and concubines and children, there's bound to be trouble. But David probably never saw today coming. Amnon, David's first born son, falls in love with his half sister, Tamar. He talks to his cousin, Jonadab, about it, who gives him some advice that isn't just bad, it's wicked. Jonadab tells Amnon to pretend to be needy so he can pray on Tamar and rape her. Amnon sets the plan in motion, and when Tamar tells him no and even tries to reason with him, he overpower her. Lust is impatient, selfish, not open to reason. This is the opposite of what we read about love in 1 Corinthians 13. Then Amnon's so-called love turns to hate, and he kicks Tamar out. This is doubling down on his wickedness. According to Exodus 22, the law requires him to marry her or at least honor her with a bride price.

So now he's shirking responsibility. We're starting to see that he has perhaps inherited some of his father's worst traits. Tamar's life is ruined. No one will marry her now, not in this culture. So she'll be consigned to live childless and alone. As she's warning her situation, her brother Absalom, David's third son, sees she's having a hard time and basically says the worst thing you can say to an upset woman, which is, Calm down. Absalom doesn't really know how to deal with emotions, even though he feels lots of them himself. In fact, he hates Amnon because of what he did. And after two years, he hashes a plan to murder Amnon. Absalom tricks him into coming into a road trip with him, gets him drunk, and has his servants murder Amnon. And here we see the sins of the Father manifesting in Absalom's life, too. Like his dad, he's giving orders for a murder. At this point, Absalom is now the oldest living son of David because he just killed the first born, and apparently the second born had died at some earlier time. David gets a fake news report that Absalom killed all his remaining sons and he mourns.

I wonder if his first thought was, This is exactly what Nathan told me would happen. But then Jonadab, the one who gave the wicked advice to Amnon, speaks up and tries to smooth things over by saying, Hey, calm down. It wasn't all of your sons, just one of them. All this calm down talk is infuriating. Absalom knows this won't go over well with his dad, so he flees to live with his maternal grandfather among the trans-Jordan tribes. David really misses him and wants to make things right. He's already forgiven Absalom in his heart. He probably even feels responsible and maybe even commiserates with Absalom in his guilt. But the thing is, Absalom isn't looking to reconcile. He wants to take over. He's waiting for David to die. In fact, remember how he tried to convince David to go on the same road trip that David declined? It's likely he was planning to murder David, too, so he could slide right onto the throne unhindered. Meanwhile, Joab, David's nephew and military commander, decides to tug on David's heartstrings via a little manipulation. He hires an actress to tell David a fake story about having one son who killed the other so she can segue into telling him to bring Absalom back.

David says, Hey, did Joab put you up to this? And she's like, Oh, man, nothing gets past you. Then David calls Joab in and tells him, Okay, bring Absalom home, but I will not see him. Absalom comes home, but they don't interact with each other at all for two years. Absalom just sits in his house down the street being beautiful and growing his hair. It's too bad locks of love didn't exist back then because he could have been their best donor. He grows five pounds of hair every year. After 10 pounds of hair have come and gone, Absalom tries to summon Joab twice, but Joab sends him to voicemail. So Absalom burns down his field in order to get his attention. The two-year mark really seems to be Absalom's boiling point. It's how long he waited to kill Amnon, and it's how long he waited to go rogue on the field. Joab asks what he wants, and Absalom says he just wants to talk to David, even if David tries to kill him. But David doesn't kill him. He kisses him. This is a sign of reconciliation between them. But it's all a ruse on Absalom's part.

Meanwhile, he's acquiring a chariot and horses and other signs of wealth and power. He's making strides to take over the throne. He even undermines David's kingdom by intercepting people who want advice from David and taking their side in every argument. So they all fall for his deceptive charisma and his luxurious man bun. After two more years pass, Absalom asked David for permission to go pay a vow, but this is all just a cover because he's staging a coup. He brings 200 men in on this plan, including David's personal advisor, Ahithophel. Word gets back to David, and he makes an escape from Jerusalem, possibly because he may expect that Absalom has brought the military in on his conspiracy. As they flee Jerusalem, David decides to leave the Ark of the Covenant behind because he really hopes God will bring him back to Jerusalem eventually. He asks a Levite priest and a Hithafel to keep him posted on what's happening. But then he gets word that a Hithafel is a traitor and is on team Absalom. Here's an interesting sidebar. Ahithophel is Bathsheba's grandfather, so it could be that he's finally seeking revenge for what David did years earlier.

David prays that anyone Ahithophel counsels won't listen to him. And pretty immediately, God brings the answer to the prayer David just prayed. Here comes Hushai, David's friend. David asked him to subdue Ahithophel's advice and keep him posted on what happens. And as Hushai continues on his journey, he makes it to Jerusalem right as Absalom arrives there. Wouldn't you know it? Wow, what a day. My God shot in the midst of this family feud is God's sweet timing here at the end. David has been betrayed by the man who is basically his mentor, who has now joined forces with his estranged son. And it looks like David might lose everything on top of that. His palace, his kingdom, even the city named after him. But God made David a promise. And even though David broke their covenant, God is still showing mercy and still honoring his side of things. He's still working out his plan to bring the Messiah through David's line despite David's sin. And in the way that only God can, he works out the precise timing of having David get news of a Hithepel's betrayal, then run into Hushai, then have Hushai run into Absalom.

It doesn't matter how many people the enemy ropes into his conspiracy against God's plan and God's people. Nothing beats sovereignty. What a relief. He's still in control, and he's where the joy is.

Ecclesia is the Greek word in the New Testament to describe the church. It's also the name of our new tour to Greece and Turkey brought to you by our partner ministry, Israelux. In June 2025, you could join me on a life-transforming trip following the routes of Paul's missionary travels. We'll get to experience the sights and culture Greece and Turkey as we sail the Agenci on a ship exclusively chartered for our private tour. For more information or to apply for this trip, go to israelux. Com/ecclesia, or click the link in the show notes because you might need some help spelling those words. I don't know. Maybe you know how to spell those words. One of them isn't even a real word, but there you go.

The link's in the show notes.

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