Life of David: 24. Amnon's Crime Against Tamar

This is week 24 in the Life of David series. It is found in 2 Samuel 13:1-39.

The application worksheet discusses lying and how God feels about liars.

King David had six sons. We are going to learn about two of them: Absalom and Amnon. David also had a beautiful daughter named Tamar. Tamar was the half-sister of Amnon. They had different mothers. Now Amnon loved his sister and wanted her to be his wife. He wanted to be with her all the time, and he thought about her until he made himself sick.

Amnon had a friend named Jonadab. Jonadab said to Amnon, "You're the king's son! Tell me why you are upset and making yourself sick?" Amnon told Jonadab how much he loved Tamar, Absalom's sister. Being a friend, Jonadab wanted to help Amnon, so he suggested that Amnon lay in bed and pretend he was very, very sick. "When your father sees how sick you are, ask him to send Tamar to care for you. Let her feed you the food that she has fixed also." Amnon thought that would be a good idea, so he did just what Jonadab had suggested. Amnon was going to lie to his father! He deceived King David and was going to trick Tamar into being alone with him.

David, like any other father, was worried about Amnon and wanted to do the best he could for him, so David asked Tamar to make meat and cakes and to take the food into Amnon and feed him

Tamar obeyed her father and took the food to Amnon her brother. Remember Amnon wanted to be alone with her, so he told all his servants to leave. Tamar brought the food to her sick brother's room and found that he had tricked her. She knew that they should not be alone.

Tamar told Amnon that it wasn't right and would bring embarrassment and shame to all of Israel. Amnon didn't care about Israel or his father. He just wanted Tamar. Amnon hurt Tamar (rape for older students) and she ran out of his room crying.

Tamar told her brother Absalom what had happened, and he convinced her to say nothing. He wanted her to stay at his house with him. Absalom hated his stepbrother for what he had done to Tamar. When their father heard what had happened, King David became very angry. How hurt he must have been because he had told Tamar to go and care for Amnon.

Absalom thought that Amnon should be punished for his wickedness. About two years later, Absalom asked King David to let Amnon go with the other brothers to Baal Hazor where they sheared the sheep. King David approved it.

Absalom told his servants when Amnon was drunk that he wanted them to kill him. The servants obeyed Absalom. The other brothers left on their mules because they didn't want to be a part of what Absalom was doing.

Application: Lies and Deceit never pay

The printables for David in this series are for an older age group than I usually post. Most of these lessons about David are not appropriate for early elementary. But David is a great study. So, as you can see from the above picture, there is a Q&A. This could be used with younger groups by using the answer sheet and just asking the questions for discussion. Each post in this series will have a maze and some type of puzzle. The additional application has thought questions about how the students can apply the lesson to their daily life. There are answer sheets for all worksheets except for the last application. Everyone will have a different set of answers. Click here to download.

Click here to download the lesson.

 

Click here to download the visuals.

Click here to download the Pictures to Color.
(Please note: Some of the Pictures to Color are not

 great quality due to cropping and other factors.)

 

Bible Verse:  2 Samuel 13:21

Click here to see the entire list and links for the Life of David series.

The basic lesson was written by Cathy Whitacre, with some changes (additional information) added for this extended post. Used with permission. All other ideas, worksheets and printables by Debbie Jackson.

Cathy Whitacre (1950-2015) was a Christian, wife, mother, Nana, sister, and friend. Cathy and her husband Gerry worshiped with the New Hope Church of Christ, in Bradyville, Tennessee.

Family was one of her crowning joys in life. Married to Gerry for over 47 years they had many years of adventure and love. Her children and grandchildren kept her busy and happy. Everywhere Cathy lived from Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and more she made dear friends who she considered family.

Cathy had the opportunity to participate in mission work for many years. She had the privilege of speaking at Ladies Days, teaching Vacation Bible Schools, and conducting workshops in Jamaica, Scotland, New Zealand, and in the United States.

Cathy was involved in teaching for over 50 years, from nursery to adults. Cathy believed that Christian Education is one of the greatest mission efforts we can be involved in, and the benefits are eternal.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Used by permission.