Chapter 72—The Rebellion of Absalom
This chapter is based on
2 Samuel 13-19
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“He shall restore fourfold,” had been David’s unwitting sentence
upon himself, on listening to the prophet Nathan’s parable; and ac-
cording to his own sentence he was to be judged. Four of his sons
must fall, and the loss of each would be a result of the father’s sin.
The shameful crime of Amnon, the first-born, was permitted by
David to pass unpunished and unrebuked. The law pronounced death
upon the adulterer, and the unnatural crime of Amnon made him
doubly guilty. But David, self-condemned for his own sin, failed to
bring the offender to justice. For two full years Absalom, the natural
protector of the sister so foully wronged, concealed his purpose of
revenge, but only to strike more surely at the last. At a feast of the
king’s sons the drunken, incestuous Amnon was slain by his brother’s
command.
Twofold judgment had been meted out to David. The terrible
message was carried to him, “Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons,
and there is not one of them left. Then the king arose, and tare his
garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with
their clothes rent.” The king’s sons, returning in alarm to Jerusalem,
revealed to their father the truth; Amnon alone had been slain; and they
“lifted up their voice and wept: and the king also and all his servants
wept very sore.” But Absalom fled to Talmai, the king of Geshur, his
mother’s father.
Like other sons of David, Amnon had been left to selfish indul-
gence. He had sought to gratify every thought of his heart, regardless
of the requirements of God. Notwithstanding his great sin, God had
borne long with him. For two years he had been granted opportunity
for repentance; but he continued in sin, and with his guilt upon him,
he was cut down by death, to await the awful tribunal of the judgment.
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David had neglected the duty of punishing the crime of Amnon, and
because of the unfaithfulness of the king and father and the impenitence
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