Episode Details

10/16/2022, Remsen Bible Fellowship

Introduction:

Do you long for a just world? Justice is a word which gets a bad wrap, depending upon who is using it. If someone on the left cries out for social justice, half of our society assumes they mean Marxism. If someone cries out for criminal justice, the other half of the society assumes they mean a strategy to maintain structures of power and privilege. We are very suspicious of the word justice, and the people who use it.

Nevertheless, it remains a word with an enormous amount of purchase in our society. Despite our rampant skepticism and perhaps even cynicism regarding justice, we still want it. We want a world that is fair, where good is rewarded and wickedness punished. This desire is good, and it’s right. It’s a reflection of our being made in the image of a just God. If you remember back to our sermon about a month ago, we asked the question, “how can God forgive?” Given God’s justice, for him to forgive our sins required there to be a mechanism by which sin was atoned for in order for we sinners to live in God’s presence. God’s justice will not be mocked or compromised.

So when we come to a text like 2 Samuel 13, we are right to cry out with the Psalmist, “how long oh Lord?” How long will God allow sin to run rampant, how long will God permit terrible abuse like Amnon’s rape of Tamar? And how long will he allow indolent kings like David to sit on the throne?

All of this longing for justice makes someone like Absalom a sympathetic character in our eyes. He, too, saw the injustice. He saw the evil committed against his sister, and the king’s refusal to act. But Absalom was a man with a plan. He seethed in bitterness, and he schemed. 13:22 reads, “22 But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.”

Trusting Himself for Justice

Absalom trusted himself. He trusted his own wisdom, his own cunning, his own charm and good looks. And when you have a great deal of cunning, wisdom, charn and good looks, that may well seem like a reasonable plan of action. But as we read this text, the perspective the author wants us to have is that of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:35, where we hear these words from the Lord, “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.” The Lord is the one who brings justice, and he is not slow as some count slowness. But he’s too slow for Absalom.

Which says something, because Absalom is a patient man. He refuses to speak to Amnon, but we read that two years later, as those who work for him shearing sheep are hard at labor, he invites David and all the brothers up to a party. If you remember the story of David and Nabal in 1 Samuel 25, there seems to be a great deal of festivity attached to this time of year. That connection should also put us on alert to potential parallels in the story. A time of sheepshearing, and an enemy of David.

David doesn’t want to go though, “lest we be burdensome to you,” v25. Nonetheless, he gives leave for the other brothers to attend. And so Absalom has Amnon right where he wants him - once Amnon is drunk and can’t defend himself, Absalom has his servants murder him, v28-29. This, understandably, makes the rest of David’s sons feel like the party is over, and it’s time to saddle up the mules and head home. Which is where that old snake Jonadab comes back into the story. While David has heard news that his sons have all been killed, Jonadab offers the comfort that, “it’s only Amnon, and of course Absalom has been planning this a long time - so don’t take it to heart.” The cold and ruthless calculation of Jonadab is obvious here. Of course Amnon wouldn’t be dead if he hadn’t raped his sister, which wouldn’t have crossed his mind as an option unless Jonadab basically told him “if you wan