Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

A little background for this passage may help.

This story is set at a time when David’s family, his sons in particular, began to cause trouble within the family. Of course, this trial of David’s was prophesied by Nathan years back when David got with Bathsheba and had her husband killed.

The outworking of this trial included David’s son Amnon. You see, Amnon had been given no boundaries, and he had a father who enjoyed the ladies. Given these two characteristics in his life, he saw no trouble in deceiving his sister Tamar into his bedroom and raping her. Yes – he raped her and then rejected her. Amnon, her brother, violently used her and then threw her away.

Tamar’s life was over. She was defiled and would be subject to national shame and a life of desolation. A life of rejection based on circumstances outside of her control.

Now as we venture through this series of “Jesus in the Old Testament” we are going to see glimpses of Jesus in characters that are somewhat unsavory. Dang – everyone we consider in the Old Testament has a dark side, and Absalom is no different. We will see him enter into rebellion against his own father later on, but at this point in his life, he is acting as a redeemer for his sister.

Granted, Absalom’s motives may not have been altruistic, but his action’s were that of a redeemer, one who came to the rescue of someone in need.

Tamar, through the sin of her brother, was under a curse. This curse would follow her through her life, condemning her to the shame of rape in the nation of Israel. David provides no rebuke of Amnon, and amazingly does nothing for Tamar, his own daughter. To think that her father, the King of Israel does not act in judging her violator or in consoling and comforting his daughter is shocking. Unless this scene is just a bit to close to the King, reminiscent of a time not long before, when he also shamed another man’s wife, but that is for another time.

Absalom came to Tamar’s rescue, bringing her into his house and gives her a place to recover, to heal if that was possible.

Though we will see Absalom became a much larger character in the destruction of David’s family, his actions at this time toward his violated sister reflect a quality of mercy and of redemption.

Jesus though, has redeemed us perfectly and with the highest motives, pulling us out of shameful conditions and providing us a place of escape, in order to experience healing.

Jesus is the perfect Redeemer!

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