Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Samuel 13:14-15 (New Living Translation)

¹⁴ But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. ¹⁵ Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. “Get out of here!” he snarled at her.

This is a travesty that sets in motion a series of awful events in the kingdom of Israel during the time of King David. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar.

Amnon was captivated by the beauty of Tamar. He “loved” (or was it lust?) her more than life. He would do anything to be with her. He gave 100% of his attention to thoughts of her 100% of the time.

After the rape, Amnon hater Tamar. He hated her with 100% of his hatred 100% of the time.

The situation of the royal family? Forgotten. God’s presence? Forgotten. Amnon devoted his life to this love-and-hate of Tamar. Life was all Amnon and Tamar.

Life is not all me-and-you. It doesn’t matter who “me” is and “you” is. That is not the totality of life. There are others around us. God is around us. I can never lose sight of God and all those created and cherished by God. Otherwise, me-and-you leads to the destruction of me and the destruction of you.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.