Amnon violated his sister, Tamar, in the worst way. He tricked his dad into having her come to his house to nurse him back to health when he wasn't sick. Once she got there, he forced her into sexual relations with him. He had lusted after her so deeply that his conscience thought nothing of violating her and destroying her future.

 

I have often told my children that lust takes, but love gives. The Bible says that Amnon "loved" her, but the word used here is better translated "lusted". His sinful desire for his sister cost her her virginity and her chance of marrying and having a family. The Bible says that she "remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house". Since we never read of her again in scripture, it is safe to assume that she lived as a widow in her brother's home until she died.

 

Tamar lived out the rest of her life in a certain bondage. There was no deliverance for her based on Jewish law at the time. But there is deliverance for us, even if we have been violated in similar manner. It is not a simple fix, and it certainly will not happen overnight, but God can deliver us from the guilt, shame and hurt caused by sexual abuse. I know several people who are in bondage to some sort of sexual misconduct, and it has turned into bitterness in their hearts. They cannot maintain healthy relationships because of the hurt that was never healed or the forgiveness that never came. To obtain the necessary healing, one would have to begin by crying out to the LORD for healing that only He can give. He loves us and cares about what happens to us, which is why He sent Jesus to die for us. His salvation and deliverance are available to us if we will come to Him in sincerity.