Bible Passage: “Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her. And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.” (2 Samuel 13:1-2 ESV)
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 13:1-22; Romans 1:24-25; Philippians 4:12-13
King David’s son, Amnon, fantasized about his half-sister so much that it made him sick.
Maybe you’ve never gotten physically ill from sexual fantasy, but perhaps your soul has become sick due to your fleshly desire not being satisfied.
Fantasy is always about escaping present pain by pursuing an imaginary world of pleasure and perfection. Since fantasy is never reality, it only solidifies our belief that our present reality is one of suffering and lack.
God’s design for sexuality is that we serve our spouse in marriage, but Amnon’s fantasy world did to him what it does to all men:
It made everything about what he could do to Tamar, not for her.
Later in the chapter, we see Amnon’s “crafty” friend Jonadab getting Amnon to verbalize how disappointing his life is, which is interesting because the word “crafty” also describes the serpent who tempted Eve (Genesis 3:1).
Through people or life’s circumstances, whenever we start agreeing with a narrative that life is disappointing and just too hard, we’ll constantly feel a draw towards fantasy, rather than thankfulness and contentment in the Lord, no matter what we go through (Philippians 4:12-13).
Fantasy always promises pleasure but results in further pain. Therefore, it’s important that we learn to be content no matter what disappointments we are tempted to escape.
It’s also vital that we learn to be a blessing to others, even if nobody is bringing pleasure into our lives. In doing this, we won’t seek to take advantage of others or do things to them, but we will be living out our true God-given identity, which is a safeguard against the schemes of the devil and the desires of our flesh.
Once Amnon had verbalized his disappointment to Jonadab, Jonadab came up with a lie in order for Amnon to take advantage of Tamar, the object of his fantasy. Amnon ended up alone with Tamar in a room after sending everyone away, and then committed evil acts against his innocent half-sister.
The enemy wants us isolated, alone, and feeling sorry for ourselves. This is a breeding ground for immorality. God wants us to learn to be content in Him, no matter what happens in life.
Prayer: Father, I repent of every time I’ve taken advantage of someone in my life in any way. If I can make it right with someone, please bring that person to mind and help me show them my remorse. Thank You for being with me through every season and circumstance in life, and I pray that I will honor You and Your people in my sexuality. Open my eyes to identify the schemes of the enemy. Please lead me in righteousness and keep me in community with others, even when I feel the pull to isolate. Amen.
Reflection: We can isolate in our souls by not opening up to people, and/or we can isolate physically from people. What has isolation looked like in your life? What would it look like to take a step towards community today?
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