Sin Like a Cancer
First David, then his family,
then a nation
2 Samuel 18:33: "O my son Absalom! My son, my
son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!"
Sins: Many people think of
them as parking tickets. If you get too many, the cops may track you down or
give your car "the boot." However, one or two here and there won't
make a big difference.
The Bible views sins more as
cancer cells. One or two here and there do make a difference-often the
difference between life and death. Because cancer cells grow, multiply and take
over, major surgery may be needed to save your life.
Second Samuel 11-20 reads
like the history of a spreading cancer. In the beginning, David was on top of the
world-and so was Israel Israel
The Cancer Grows
That celebration never began.
One night David caught a glimpse of Bathsheba's beautiful, naked body and
impulsively sent for her. The cover-up required a murder. Nobody could deny it
was an ugly business: Even David admitted it when Nathan confronted him.
However, it was soon over. He repented. He married Bathsheba. He did not intend
to fall for that temptation again.
But the consequences of the
sin were far from over. Unknown to David, cancer was growing in his own
household. David's oldest son Amnon had an eye for women too. He tricked his
half sister Tamar into his bedroom, then raped her. Afterward, filled with
disgust, he threw her out.
David was furious. But, maybe
because he felt his own sin had robbed him of moral authority, he did nothing
to punish his son. According to the law (see Leviticus 18:9,29), Amnon deserved
exile, but he got off free. David apparently wanted the matter forgotten.
A Cold-Blooded Character
The cancer merely disappeared
from view. Absalom waited two full years to avenge his sister's rape. Then he
murdered Amnon in cold blood. Again David was long on regret, short on
punishment. He wept over Amnon's death but perhaps recognized his own
responsibility for it. After three years David let Absalom return to Jerusalem
unpunished; two years later, when Absalom angrily demanded either a murder
trial or full acceptance back into the palace (see 2 Samuel 14:32), David
kissed and made up completely.
Again the cancer disappeared
from view. But it was not gone; it grew. Now an arrogant Absalom started a
program of public relations designed to make him look better than his aging
father. At the end of four years, having become quite popular, he set his coup
in motion. Taken completely by surprise, David was driven out of Jerusalem
The shock seemed to awaken
David. Though dazed and weeping as he left the city, he had enough sense to
make some clever plans. When the battle came at last, David's army won, and
Absalom was captured and killed.
Weeping for His Son
For David the king, Absalom's
defeat was a great triumph. For David the father, it was a horrible tragedy.
The worst thing that can happen to a father had happened to him. His own son
had tried to kill him, and in trying, had been killed. David could not stop
weeping over his son's death until Joab, his general, warned him that he was
insulting the troops who had fought for him.
David pulled himself
together. Piece by piece, he put his kingdom back in order. He sent
conciliatory words to the rebellious leaders of his own tribe. He rewarded his
supporters. He took no revenge on any rebel faction, but showed remarkable
fairness. A second rebellion broke out but was soon put down. The cancer seemed
finally to have run its course.
Yet it had not. David had no more trouble with
rebellion in his lifetime, but after his death Solomon killed a brother whom he
thought was scheming for the throne (see 1 Kings 2:25). After
Solomon's reign, the old tribal tensions rose again, and the north and the
south, which David had so carefully knit together, split for good (see 1 Kings
12). Such may be the consequences when a leader sins. His cancer not only
poisons him; it grows to affect all those he he leads-and it undermines
his work.(Bible Gateway)
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