Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 13 & 14 Can the story get any worse? Yes, it gets a lot worse! The next several chapters tell a story of the corruption within David’s family and kingdom. It is not a pleasant story to read – and probably is surprising to hear. Who would have thought that the great David would be head over such a messy family! But we ought not to be that surprised. After all, we have met dysfunction with the family of God’s people many times before. In fact, we may wonder if any of these families functioned well: Abraham and Sarah – Abraham and Hagar; Isaac and Esau – Rebekah and Jacob; Jacob and all his children; Joseph and his brothers – are there any good examples to latch on to? The story begins on a dreadful note – Ammon, David’s oldest son, is obsessed with his half-sister Tamar and ends up raping her. The story of how supposed love when it is little more than sexual lust is a good example of the fallacy of human beings and is often repeated in the heat of passion even in our own time. The story gets worse. Absalom, Tamar’s full-brother, avenges her rape by killing his half-brother, Ammon, only to need to flee from home. And all the while David seems totally out of control with regard to his family. He cannot put an end to all of this chaos and evil. Maybe David is still paying the price for his own adultery. Eventually Absalom is brought home, but the homecoming is not a happy one. And, believe it or not, the story will get worse.