During home games at the Atlanta Braves’ stadium, they have a contest where one fan can challenge the person they call The Freeze, to a foot race around the warning track of the baseball field. Recently, one particular racer went viral across social media, when, at the start of the race, he blew a kiss to The Freeze, to mock him. It was as if he said, “Bye, bye, you won’t catch me.”
Let’s see if the runner was right or not:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PoyM3MbItCs.
What made the race go viral, is that we like to see people who are cocky get their comeuppance. We like to see un-humble people, humbled. In other words, we like to see justice happen in real time.
It’s this idea of justice being served, that brings us back to our summer series in the book of Second Samuel, where we’ll be picking it back in Second Samuel Chapter 13, verses 23-39. As we open up to Second Samuel 13:23, let’s look back at how we go to this point.
David’s sin with Bathsheba led to the murder of Uriah. This broke down the spiritual covering that a father has over his family. God told David this would happen and that it would be a punishment because of his sin.
From this breakdown we saw David’s oldest son, Amnon, violate his half-sister Tamar. Then, if that wasn’t horrible enough, David compounded that violation, but not bringing justice for his own daughter, allowing his son to go free. However, David’s third oldest son and Tamar’s full brother, Absalom held anger towards Amnon, and waited for a time to enact revenge. We walked away from last week with the understanding that, God calls us to not allow the festering of sin, but to do right by others through godly judgment. David allowed sin to fester. He allowed Amon’s sin against Tamar to fester, and by not taking action, he allowed Absalom’s anger to fester.
It’s Absalom’s festering sin that we now see come out as we read Second Samuel 13:23-39.
23 After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons. 24 And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” 25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing. 26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. 28 Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” 29 So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.
30 While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king's sons, and not one of them is left.” 31 Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments. 32 But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. 33 Now therefore let not my lord the king so take it to heart as to suppose that all the king's sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead.”
34 But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain. 35 And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king's sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.” 36 And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.
37 But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day. 38 So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. 39 And the spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom, because he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead.
v.23-27 - So we see that two years had gone by as Absalom’s anger brewed over the injustices that were done to Tamar. Where he has held his tongue toward’s his older half-brother. But he is given the opportunity to take his anger out toward’s Amnon.
Now it seems like Absalom is calling his entire male family members to a grand feast as his sheep are being sheered. Could Absalom be plotting to expose Amnon’s sins to other people, or because David declined the invitation, did Absalom decide it was the perfect opportunity to get his revenge on Amnon? We don’t know. However, Absalom takes the opportunity to gather his men together and kill Amnon.
v.28-29 - However, it’s interesting that when calling for his servants to help him killing Amnon, he uses a variation of what God first said to Joshua, in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed …” Absalom uses God’s words, which has probably become a saying to encourage people by this time, to help him in killing Amnon.
This works, and the servants kill the brother. Now, I’m not is disagreement with Absalom at this point. Amon’s violation deserved death, David, who should have brought justice to Tamar didn’t, so I’m not mad at Absalom for what he did.
It reminds me of Gary Plauché. In 1983, Gary’s son Jody began taking karate lessons from Jeff Doucet (dew-say). Eventually, the karate instructor became part of the family. He attended game nights and other family activities. Soon Jeff the instructor began to groom Jody, by touching him passively at first, and then aggressively. The parents found out what was going on when Jeff abducted Jody and took him to Disneyland. The police got involved, and Jeff and Jody were found at a hotel in Anaheim, California. When the tests came back for positive sexual assault, Jeff was sent back to Louisiana. Jeff got off the plain, with officers escorting him, and reporters taking video. Then, out of nowhere, a man who had been on a payphone brought out a gun and shot Jeff. It was Jody’s father, Gary. Gary plead no contest to manslaughter and was given 300 hours of community service.
I get where Gary’s coming from, and I’m not sure he deserved the 300 hours of community service. I get Gary’s rage, and I get Absalom’s too. He did what he believed was justice. But we’ll see later on, how this act led him down a darker path.
v.30-39 - But after Amnon dies, the report first comes to David that Absalom has killed all of David’s sons. If that were true, it would make it seem like Absalom was making a move to become king. In that instance, David might be thinking that this was the breaking apart of his kingdom that God had told him about.
However, Jonadab, the one who hatched Amnon’s plan to violate Tamar, informs the king that it was only Amnon who Absalom killed. Even though Jonadab didn’t know this for a fact, he knew that Absalom must have been angry toward Amnon for violating Tamar. And Jonadab was right when David’s sons returned.
It’s here that Absalom flees for his life. The act of killing Amnon is seen as premeditated murder, and because of this, there was nowhere in Israel for him to go. He couldn’t return home, David would have to act this time. Absalom couldn’t go to one of the sanctuary cities, because they would have to turn him over immediately because of the act. So he goes to his mother’s father who is a king outside of Israel.
But why would David have to bring justice down on his son, when Absalom was bringing justice down on his sister’s rapist? My inclination is that, though Tamar’s violation was known by the royal court, the people didn’t know. They probably believed that Amnon was just a good son of the king. And when another son killed the other, it was the killer who was the problem. Perhaps David didn’t want it known that he didn’t give justice to his daughter, and that’s possibly the real reason why we get this end to the passage.
The passage ends with David coming to terms with Amnon’s death. Perhaps he realized that it was a just killing. Then we’re told that David wanted to go to Absalom to see him again, but David would not go to him. I think it’s because if David went out, he would have to face his own injustice, and be exposed to the nation. David has tried to hide his sin in the past, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for him to do the same thing here.
But whatever the case, David’s inaction with Tamar, has led to the death of one son, and his other son on the run. And, it just gets worse from here.
So what can we take away from this. In my flesh, I identify with Absalom. Every time I hear of an injustice, my blood boils. I have thought about how I would go about getting justice for people that have been hurt. Whether that’s someone I personally know, or someone I hear about.
And so one of the verses that I struggle with is, Romans 12:17-19, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” Paul is quoting Deuteronomy 32:35, and its a call to allow God to take vengeance for situations like these. In fact, when Paul says, “… but leave it to the wrath of God …” he is saying, “give room for it to take place.” Like everywhere else in our lives, there’s a place for God’s work to be done, and we need to let God work in this particular spot. Vengeance is his spot, not ours. When we are not the ones to enact the justice, we have to leave it with God who lets us know he will deal with it. And that’s a hard thing to do.
One of the reasons for this is because when we take wrath into our own hands, greater evils may come about. For Gary and his son, their relationship actually suffered because of it. In a People Magazine article in 2025, Jody was interviewed about the situation. The article reads, “‘I would advise any parent whose child's been molested to be there for their child and not to take the law into your own hands and put yourself in a position to be prosecuted.’ Child sex abusers, he says, ‘gain the trust and the affection of the child. And that's really kind of their protection, because I didn't want Jeff dead, I didn't want Daddy to hurt Jeff. I just wanted Jeff to stop doing what he was doing …’”
Because Gary took his wrath into his own hands, the healing separation of Jody from his abuser might have taken longer. I think Jody understands his father’s action, but as a child, his dad just killed his friend, even a friend that had hurt him.
For Absalom, that wrath eventually led him to despise his father, lead a rebellion against his dad, and to his own death. Where Absalom tired to do the right thing, it led him to become a villain in the end.
That’s why we must trust God in these circumstances. Not saying it’s easy, or that I wound’t do what Absalom, or Gary did, but God calls his people to a greater standard. And so, we must seek his way over our own, which is the more difficult path, but it’s always just.
My challenge for you this week is to pray for those who have been dealt injustices. Pray for those who have been violated the way that Tamar has been. Pray for those who have been abused and abandoned. Pray for those, who have been hurt by powerful people and couldn’t get justice from earthly courts. Pray that God would move to bring his vengeance upon people, that his righteous wrath would go out, and that through it, his healing would be experienced, and many would turn to him for salvation.
Let us be a people who, in our desire for vengeance to be released on evil doers, that we cry out to the one who is just in his vengeance, that we may be godly in seeking justice for all. Amen.
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