Within the past two nights, God led me to 2nd Samuel 13:33-34 and Matthew 14:3-6, and it has been quite interesting journey.
While reading these verses and their whole chapters, there were some connections I started to see. However, one of the connections that jumped out to me the most was lust. Lust, to me, can be seen as harmless or unsuspecting. Slowly creeping up on you, little by little, convincing the hearer that it is not as bad as it seems.
Lust can be defined as the “1) intense or unrestrained sexual craving, or 2) an overwhelming desire or craving” (Gotquestions.org). Lust is so much about the focus of one person and their sole needs, that it makes that person forget about everybody else and not care about the consequences that follows. It is all about personal greed and possession being fulfilled no matter who many people who have to run over top of to get it. Lust is so dangerous in the aspect that it has the hearer turn a blind eye to everything that is right and true, and embrace the wrong.
How so? Well let’s take a look at King David, his sons Amnon and Absalom, his daughter Tamar, and the tragedy that occured:
2nd Samuel 13:33-34 (VOC) reads,
“33 So, my lord, don’t grieve as though your line was extinguished, for only your son Amnon is dead. 34 Absalom fled. When the young watchman at the palace looked up, he saw a group of people coming down the road behind him around the mountain.”
In this chapter, Amnon, one of David’s sons, was lusting after his half-sister Tamar, who was a virgin. His desire that he had for her was so strong that it left him depressed. Jonadab, his cousin and confidant, asked him why he was upset. After explaining his “dilemma”, Jonadab helped Amnon set up an elaborate plan of playing sick and requesting that from King David that only Tamar attend to his needs.
Unfortunately, the plan worked. No one had a suspecting idea of what was going on: Not the guards, the servants, no one. He was able to get Tamar alone and made his sexual advances towards her. When, in disgust and horror, she refused to have sex with him, he raped her.
King David, and his other son, Absalom found out what happened to Tamar. Once they found out it was their own blood, Amnon, they were furious. However, the fire behind the fury was not enough for King David to punish Amnon, therefore, he was let free and punished with no crime.
Absalom was furious and filled with anger. Two years passed, and Absalom was seeking revenge. Absalom ended up killing Amnon and fled to his grandfather’s house, where he stayed for 2-3 years. David, filled with anger and sorrow, eventually wanted to pursue Absalom after he found solace after Amnon’s death.
Not only was lust a factor, but so was incest. What a horrific and terrible thing that happened to Tamar, as well as the whole family. Because justice was not avenged through the hands of King David for Tamar, Absalom grew hate in his heart for his brother and killed him.
Maybe you are saying, “Rightfully so! He should have been killed”, which can be understandable because of what happened with Tamar. However, nobody should have been killed and justice should have been served to right this terrible wrong.
Now, let’s look at Herod —> Matthew 14:3-6 (VOC) reads,
“3-5 Herod’s brother Philip had married a woman named Herodias, who eventually married Herod. John denounced Herod’s marriage to her as adulterous. Herod was incensed (not to mention a little fearful) and wanted to kill John, but he knew the people considered John a prophet. Instead, he bound John and put him in jail.
6-7 There John sat until Herod’s birthday. On that night, Salome, Herodias’s daughter by Philip, came and danced for her stepfather and all his birthday guests. Herod so enjoyed her dancing that he vowed to give her whatever she wanted.”
Herod, also know as Antipas, was also involved in an incestuous relationship with his brother’s wife, Herodias. Herod divorced his wife in order to marry Herodias after his brother, Phillip, died. John the Baptist, who was very adamant about the teaching of Jesus, rebuked Herod for going against the teaching of Jesus and Mosaic law by divorcing his wife and having an incestuous relationship with Herodias. Herod was so embarrassed and angered, he had John the Baptist locked up, instead of killing him.
Not long after, Herod began to lust after his stepdaughter, Salome. During his birthday, she danced for him, which pleased him. It pleased him so much that he told her that he would do anything for her.
Bad choice made by Herod because that is when Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist. Unfortunately, he kept to the request, killed John the Baptist, and served his head on a platter for Salome.
Herod’s lust completely and totally blinded him. Not only did he become blind, he also became deaf. He definitely did not want to hear any of what John the Baptist was saying because he was satisfied in his lust; he had no desire to hear of Jesus, nor to live by His Word.
So, how is this all of this connected?
Well, with both stories, you see that Amnon and Herod became so consumed with their own desires, that they turned a blind eye and deaf ear to truth, which literally produced death: The death of the spirit; the death of abundance; the death of not experiencing and embracing truth. They were surrounded by D E A T H.
Lust killed everything in it’s pathway, including them. Lust within itself is all about self-consumption, so why would it care about them and what they consume?.
Can we say that it was all their fault?
Yes and no. Yes, because they had autonomy and could operate on their own, seeking God for decisions filled with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. However, no, because of their bloodline.
King David lusted after a woman named Bathsheba. He lusted after her so much that he had sex with her knowing that she was a married woman. Then, she became pregnant with his child, to which he tried to urge her husband (which was a soldier in his army!), Uriah, to have sex with her so it would seem like it was his child. However, Uriah was not having it and did not want to have sex with wife. For David, he only saw one other option: He ordered that Uriah would be put on the front line of war so he would be purposely killed. After Uriah died, David ended up marrying Bathsheba.
How disgusting, right? However, David did not get away with it. God sent the prophet Nathan to show David his wrongs and David did repent, however, he suffered thereafter in the wake of losing four sons, which includes Amnon and eventually Absalom.
Concerning Herod, his father, Herod the Great, was a great ruler. However, he sought to kill Jesus when he was an infant by mandating a mass killing of all infant boys.
The residue of sin, specifically lust, was trickling down into their families, and ruining them.
Lust came to Amnon and Herod as a sweet fruit, just like it did with their parents, and convinced them to take a long-lasting bite which ended up ruining them and their bloodline for a long time.
Being so consumed with self is a very dangerous thing because you can no longer hear nor see what was in front of you, except the desires of your own heart. You no longer are concerned about others, and if you feel like you do and you are not, trust me, you are operating in a hidden agenda that you may not even be aware of in order to fulfill the self-desire.
Doing this will leave you in a place of not knowing the voice of God, or, end up killing the messenger which embodies His Voice.
What consumes you? What takes your focus off of God? What is your personal desire?
Mine? Easy… Social media. It is easy to get caught up in fantasy world filled with quotes and pretty pictures of lavish lifestyles that do not have a big enough pixel to tell the whole picture.
It’s time for us to stop. It is more important now, more than it has E V E R been to be open and obedient to the voice of our Almighty God.
He is speaking; it is time for us to listen.
Take Care Fam,
With love,
T.
Enjoying the sweetness of god 