Rev. Don Campbell
2 Samuel 13-15
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, May 15, 2019
“WHEN THE CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST”
Campbell
The expression “The chickens always come home to roost” has been around for centuries, originally referring to the curses one pronounces coming back on oneself. My mother often used the expression to warn me that my bad deeds would come back to haunt me.
David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then added sin to sin as he tried to cover up the first one. Through Nathan, God had warned David that the chickens would come home to roost: the sword would not depart from David’s house and another would openly sleep with David’s wives. The hurt was compounded by the fact that this was perpetrated not by some foreign foe, but by Absalom, David’s own son.
The first example of the chickens coming home to roost was when one of his sons, Amnon, raped his own half-sister, Tamar, who was a full sister to Absalom. Either David was oblivious to what was going on in his own household, or he chose to ignore this evil. Absalom did not ignore it. Biding his time, he waited two full years before acting against Amnon.
David’s heart went out to Absalom and David’s chief general, Joab, worked a subterfuge to get Absalom back in Jerusalem if not back into the good graces of his father. He was not allowed to return to the royal residence but had to live apart in his own house for two full years. Finally, David and Absalom met, and David kissed his son Absalom.
Absalom was patiently conspiring to build a constituency and have himself declared king. Looking ahead to Friday’s reading, Absalom pitches a tent on the roof so all could see, and he had sex with all of David’s concubines, just as God had said (12:11).
The chickens had come home to roost.
CONNECTIONS
1. When his burning passion subsided, Amnon cast Tamar aside, like garbage. When she begged him not to compound the evil by sending her away, he called one of his servants and said, “Put this thing out of my presence and bolt the door.” Translators have inserted the word “woman” in 13:17, but it is not in the original. He didn’t even recognize her as worthy to be called a woman. Stories abound in our culture of women who have given the best years of their lives to a man who, when he becomes very successful, casts her aside like a dirty rag and consorts with a woman half his age. Does this tell us something about the difference between lust and love?
2. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” is a line from Leo Tolstoy’s book “Anna Karenina.” What are your thoughts on this?
