The Rape of Tamar, c 1640, by Eustache Le Sueur (French, 1616–1655), The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2 Samuel 12:11 - Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.
There is a never ending supply of things that are most difficult to read, and understand, in the Bible.
The whole book of 2 Samuel is about David's rise, and subsequent fall.
Here we have the man who heart is after God's! He is at the very pinnacle of his kingship, and then, WHAM, he commits coveting, adultery, and murder.
Then God tells David that his sin is forgiven, but that he (God) will raise up evil against him out of his own house.
This is hard to understand. If God forgave David, why would he raise up evil against David?
In the very next chapter we see David's son Amnon raping his sister Tamar. And then we find another of David's sons (Absalom) killing Amnon for this horrific offense.
Imagine the high's and lows in King David's mind. It was just a short time ago that he was dancing before the Ark of God. It was just a short time ago that God honored David by telling him that his throne would be established forever.
And now this!
Is there anything more painful than watching your children suffer in sin, and bearing the fruit of its tree?Evidently, as I read the notes in my ESV Study Bible, the next 7 chapters are devoted to the sin of David's family.
Questions:
What are we to make of this? Why has God presented this in his word to us? How are we to understand God raising up evil against David? Does God's forgiveness mean that David shall live, but yet bear the consequences with pain, and suffering in his family?Where does all this sin, and violence in David's family come from? Was there a strain of sin in David that was passed down to the generations?
Should we understand that even the greatest faith, while sojourning on this earth is still marred with the potential for great sin? Can great faith, and great sin coexist?
When Paul said that he was the chief of sinners, was there a pattern of great sin that he struggled with that is hidden from our view?I suppose, if we step back and try to understand this, perhaps we need to understand that God is always working through sinful man. We tend to think of ourselves more highly, perhaps, than we should. We think ourselves better than Hitler, because of the scale of Hitler's sin.
Yet the sin that I committed yesterday, regardless of how small, is an affront to the holiness of God, and if we understand that, a capitol offense.
Another thing to remember in all of this is that Samuel told us that this whole idea of kings for Israel was a great sin, and that we will learn that no earthly king can, or will, supplant the original King, Holy God.
As you can see, I have a great many questions. I welcome dialog on any of them? What do you think of all of this?
