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Sibling Drama - The Book of 2 Samuel · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And it came to pass while they
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  Speaker 1: were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying,
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  Speaker 1: Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is
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  Speaker 1: not one of them left. 2 Samuel 13.30 Dear Lord,
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  Speaker 1: as the tragedy in 2 Samuel 13 comes to light,
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  Speaker 1: I thank you that you are setting a hedge of
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  Speaker 1: protection around me, so that I am protected from others
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  Speaker 1: taking advantage of me and my kindness. When the grip
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  Speaker 1: of manipulation seems to overpower me, I lean on the
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  Speaker 1: fact that you will provide a way of escape. Even
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  Speaker 1: when the amnons of this world seem to have the
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  Speaker 1: upper hand, I choose to praise you, because in the
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  Speaker 1: end you will always vindicate and validate me, because I
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  Speaker 1: am your child. With this truth, I know that whatever
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  Speaker 1: is done to or against me will not stop the
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  Speaker 1: plans you have for my life, because you are careful
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  Speaker 1: to bring every word you speak to fruition. It's through
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  Speaker 1: your power and through your might that I can boldly
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  Speaker 1: speak this over my life. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for
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  Speaker 1: an incredible Bible story brought to you Sibling.
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  Speaker 3: Drama In our last story, we saw the restoration of
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  Speaker 3: David after a heinous sin. He had an affair with
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  Speaker 3: one of his most trusted soldier's wife. When she became pregnant,
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  Speaker 3: he covered it up by murdering him. As a result,
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  Speaker 3: David's heart grew hardened and distant from God. Nathan showed
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  Speaker 3: David the error of his ways, which began the process
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  Speaker 3: of bringing David back to God. Sadly, the child he
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  Speaker 3: had had with Bathsheba passed away from sickness, but a
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  Speaker 3: new son was born, who God would use to do
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  Speaker 3: great things. In this story, we learned about the descent
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  Speaker 3: of David's family. As predicted by Nathan, conflict and sin
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  Speaker 3: breaks out among David's children, and the neglect of David
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  Speaker 3: creates brokenness among his family, as inspired by the book
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  Speaker 3: of 2 Samuel.
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  Speaker 2: This is Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 2: Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
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  Speaker 2: heard how Nathan confronted David for his sin of adultery
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  Speaker 2: and then murder, and then the cover-up. God would spare
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  Speaker 2: David's life because of his repentance, but he took the
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  Speaker 2: son conceived in sin and promised that there would be
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  Speaker 2: acrimony and war and chaos in his household. David repented
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  Speaker 2: and turned back to God, worshiping him and drawing near
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  Speaker 2: and found comfort and strength and assurance in his grief.
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  Speaker 2: But while God had forgiven the sin, there would be
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  Speaker 2: consequences for David's choices. And today we'll see how David's
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  Speaker 2: failure creates conflict and drama among his children. It is
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  Speaker 2: a lesson on the brokenness that is caused by sin.
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  Speaker 2: Not only David's sin with Bathsheba, but his choice to
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  Speaker 2: marry many wives and disregard God's design for marriage between
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  Speaker 2: one man and one woman. So let's listen now to
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  Speaker 2: today's reading.
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  Speaker 3: David was blessed with many children. Yet because he had
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  Speaker 3: taken several wives, the family lines were blurred and skewed.
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  Speaker 3: Just as his ancestors, Abraham and Jacob, David found himself
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  Speaker 3: in the middle of a civil war between his wives
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  Speaker 3: and children. Tamar, David's daughter, was incredibly beautiful and sought
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  Speaker 3: after by many men throughout Israel. Amnon, David's son, and
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  Speaker 3: Tamar's half-brother lusted after her with great passion. He would
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  Speaker 3: watch her from a distance, pining after her relentlessly. He
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  Speaker 3: was tormented by his desires and greatly disturbed. Amnon vented
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  Speaker 3: to his friend Jonadab. Jonadab was a crafty man and
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  Speaker 3: had an unashamed darkness in his heart. My silly prince,
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  Speaker 3: Jonadab scoffed, here is what you shall do. Pretend to
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  Speaker 3: be ill, near death in bed. Ask for her to
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  Speaker 3: come and bring you food, and when she does, you
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  Speaker 3: can make your move. Amnon did as Jonadab suggested. He
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  Speaker 3: lay in his bed coughing and feverish. Tamar dabbed his
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  Speaker 3: head with a wet cloth and fed him stew from
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  Speaker 3: a spoon. Amnon could barely hold himself together around her.
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  Speaker 3: The smell of her hair, the delicate touch of her skin.
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  Speaker 3: Amnon leaned over to Tamar and touched her leg. Lie
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  Speaker 3: with me, he whispered. Tamar swatted his hand away and said,
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  Speaker 3: How could you ask such a thing? You shall not
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  Speaker 3: violate me in that way. Where would I be able
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  Speaker 3: to go with that type of shame? You would be
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  Speaker 3: the greatest fool in all of Israel. Amnon's blood boiled
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  Speaker 3: within him at her words. He grabbed her leg harshly
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  Speaker 3: and threw her beneath him on the bed. Amnon was
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  Speaker 3: far stronger than Tamar, so he had his way with her.
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  Speaker 3: Nobody could hear her whimpering through the chamber doors. After
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  Speaker 3: Amnon was through, he threw Tamar off of the bed
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  Speaker 3: and said, Get out of here! Because she rejected him,
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  Speaker 3: he hated her with a greater intensity than he ever
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  Speaker 3: loved her. Tears filled her eyes as Amnon's servant was
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  Speaker 3: called in to throw her out of his home. She
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  Speaker 3: went to a secret place and wept before God, ashamed
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  Speaker 3: of what had happened. She ran to her brother, Absalom,
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  Speaker 3: and told him all that had happened. So she stayed
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  Speaker 3: with her brother, and Absalom plotted his revenge against Amnon.
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  Speaker 3: Two full years had passed, and Amnon had nearly forgotten
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  Speaker 3: his terrible crimes against Tamar, yet Absalom did not. He
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  Speaker 3: could never forgive him. He invited all of his brothers
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  Speaker 3: to feast in celebration of the sheep-shearing festival. Together they ate, drank,
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  Speaker 3: and celebrated with music. But Absalom drank nothing. He ate nothing. Instead,
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  Speaker 3: he observed Amnon closely. Amnon drank until his heart was
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  Speaker 3: merry without a care in the world. He danced and
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  Speaker 3: stumbled about, enjoying the company of his brothers. Soon, he
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  Speaker 3: passed out among the sheep. After this, the other brothers
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  Speaker 3: departed to leave Absalom alone with Amnon. He nudged Amnon awake.
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  Speaker 3: Amnon opened his eyes to see Absalom standing above him
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  Speaker 3: with his sword in his hand. Before he could say
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  Speaker 3: a word, a blade was driven straight through his heart.
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  Speaker 3: David was given word that Absalom had killed Amnon and
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  Speaker 3: was greatly disturbed. At first, he had thought that Absalom
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  Speaker 3: killed all of his sons, but was quickly comforted to
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  Speaker 3: know that Absalom had only killed Amnon. He was not
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  Speaker 3: surprised by Absalom's actions, for he knew that his son
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  Speaker 3: was capable of great violence. Nevertheless, He mourned his son's
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  Speaker 3: death and awaited the return of his other sons. Absalom, however,
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  Speaker 3: did not return. He remained in Geshur. A darkness had
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  Speaker 3: been unleashed that night in Absalom's heart. A bitterness towards
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  Speaker 3: his father arised. It was David that should have killed Amnon. Instead,
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  Speaker 3: he did nothing. So Absalom remained there for a while,
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  Speaker 3: plotting to seek revenge on his father David.
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  Speaker 2: Today's scripture opens with the echoes of Abraham and Jacob,
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  Speaker 2: but for all the wrong reasons. Like the patriarchs before him,
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  Speaker 2: David had not denied himself the pleasure of taking many wives.
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  Speaker 2: He was not ignorant of the sacredness of marriage, that
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  Speaker 2: God's design was for man to cleave to his wife,
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  Speaker 2: to be one flesh with her. But he was simply
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  Speaker 2: unwilling to deny himself the beautiful women that were available
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  Speaker 2: to him as a decorated warrior and a powerful king.
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  Speaker 2: And just as had happened with the men before him,
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  Speaker 2: David's choices produced a fertile ground for divided loyalties, family dysfunction,
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  Speaker 2: and animosity among siblings. God's design for marriage is not
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  Speaker 2: a trivial rule meant to deprive us of enjoyment. It
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  Speaker 2: is a wise guardrail to protect his own children, to
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  Speaker 2: produce flourishing in the family and peace in the community
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  Speaker 2: and world. And when it is violated, there will always
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  Speaker 2: be problems and terrible consequences. There's no greater reminder of
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  Speaker 2: this than the history of Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom. Amnon
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  Speaker 2: burned with desire for his own sister, and he listened
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  Speaker 2: to a wicked friend who told him to just take
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  Speaker 2: what he wanted, even giving him a plan for how
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  Speaker 2: to go about it. It's no mistake that the book
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  Speaker 2: of Proverbs opens with the truth that blessed are those
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  Speaker 2: who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked.
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  Speaker 2: But Amnon listened to the counsel of the ungodly and
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  Speaker 2: lured his sister into his room. When she properly rejected
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  Speaker 2: his advances, Amnon raped her, then cast her away, hating
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  Speaker 2: her for the rejection. So Tamar fled to another brother's home,
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  Speaker 2: the home of Absalom, and told him what had happened.
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  Speaker 2: And what about David? Was he even aware of what
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  Speaker 2: was happening? 2 Samuel 13, 21 gives us the answer.
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  Speaker 2: When King David heard of all these things, he was
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  Speaker 2: very angry. So he did know what happened, but apparently...
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  Speaker 2: He does nothing. Again, like others before him, men like
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  Speaker 2: Isaac and Jacob, David saw the strife and the sin
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  Speaker 2: of his own children, but did nothing to intervene. But
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  Speaker 2: Absalom was not going to sit idly by. Absalom is
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  Speaker 2: in a rage. because what has happened to his sister,
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  Speaker 2: and he is about to take revenge on his brother.
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  Speaker 2: One day he called his siblings to a feast. He
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  Speaker 2: waited until Amnon was good and drunk, and then he
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  Speaker 2: sent his servants to kill Amnon. His other brothers fled
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  Speaker 2: in fear of their brother. David received word of what
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  Speaker 2: had happened, and tore his clothing in mourning, thinking that
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  Speaker 2: all of his sons were dead. But Jonadab let him
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  Speaker 2: know that only Amnon had died as punishment for violating Tamar.
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  Speaker 2: Absalom knew now that he would be persona non grata
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  Speaker 2: in the kingdom and with the king, so he fled
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  Speaker 2: where he hid, letting his hatred and bitterness toward his
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  Speaker 2: father grow. He would one day return to Jerusalem, but
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  Speaker 2: would not find his father waiting in open arms And
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  Speaker 2: this rejection would fill his heart with murderous intent. We'll
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  Speaker 2: hear about Absalom's return the next time. Dear Lord, we
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  Speaker 2: are reminded in this passage of Scripture that there are
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  Speaker 2: always consequences for sin. And we pray that therefore we
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  Speaker 2: would turn from sin and never allow sinful choices to
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  Speaker 2: destroy our lives and our families. We do pray for
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  Speaker 2: grace and mercy for those who have failed. that each
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  Speaker 2: one of us would find in you and your grace
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  Speaker 2: and love displayed at the cross eternal life and salvation.
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  Speaker 2: We thank you that there is no sin that you
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  Speaker 2: cannot forgive and that your blood, the blood of Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 2: cleanses us from every sin. So, Lord, we turn to
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  Speaker 2: you and we trust in you and we find mercy
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  Speaker 2: and grace in Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 3: Amen.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 2: I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.
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  Speaker 2: This is Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can
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  Speaker 2: download the Pray.com app and make prayer the priority in
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  Speaker 2: your life. And if you have enjoyed this podcast, share
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  Speaker 2: can make a difference in someone's life. This podcast is
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  Speaker 2: being listened to all over the world by millions of people,
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  Speaker 2: and we are celebrating the fact that God's Word is
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  Speaker 2: being heard. And if you want more resources on how
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  Speaker 2: to tap into God's power for living, be sure to
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  Speaker 2: visit JackGraham.org. God bless you.