Lesson of Amnon

....and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;

2 Samuel 3:2
---The Story Plot---

 "King David’s daughter, Tamar:

A selfish brother, blinded by lust,

 horrifyingly violates his sister;

a wicked friend helps plot the incestuous transgression;

 a father passively lets a crime done to his daughter go unpunished;

 a brother takes justice into his own hands committing murder on behalf of his sister;

and a girl, once beautiful and pure, now scarred and scorned for the rest of her life."

UF

 ---The Lesson---

"Absalom’s revolt attempted to remove his father from the throne for the sin of omission.  David had chosen the path of least resistance regarding the rape of his daughter Tamar, Absalom’s sister, by her half-brother Amnon. In the line of succession, Amnon held preeminence by reason of the birth order.  And by failing to do the justice required by the law in such instances, David proved exactly what would happen when the law is ignored as an evidence of misguided, unconditional love. (KJV, 2 Samuel 13:1-22.)
Though David was very angry at what Amnon had done, he did not provide the necessary justice, thereby sinning against his daughter and bringing dishonor to God.

“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….

Like other sons of David, Amnon had been left to selfish indulgence. 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.

David had neglected the duty of punishing the crime of Amnon, and because of the unfaithfulness of the king and father and the impenitence of the son, the Lord permitted events to take their natural course, and did not restrain Absalom.  When parents or rulers neglect the duty of punishing iniquity, God Himself will take the case in hand.  His restraining power will be in a measure removed from the agencies of evil, so that a train of circumstances will arise which will punish sin with sin” (Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, 727, 728).

The influence of the king’s weak approach to justice in the case of Amnon & Tamar appears to have affected the execution of justice in other matters as well.  The demeanor of subordinates in roles of authority imitated the king’s apparent attitude, resulting in negligence and delay."
Fulcrum7