Sexual abuse in the Bible. God cares.

Read 2 Samuel 13:1-22. To read the Bible, please click the link below

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2013:1-22&version=31

The following article was taken from the Bible, "NIV: Women of Faith Study Bible"

Innocence Betrayed

Tamar was beautiful and confident, a daughter of a great king (David). She was an innocent young woman, full of compassion. Any who want to put the blame on victims of rape will get no help from Tamar. There is absolutely no evidence in Scripture that she shared responsibility for the disaster that befell her.

When David, her father, asked her to help her eldest half brother, she agreed without a murmur. But in one horrific act by Amnon, Tamar's life passed from one of great promise to one of desolation. A man she knew as a brother made her a woman who, in that culture, could no longer marry, a woman striped of her dignity and made her a desolate woman.

Amnon was bot the only man to betray Tamar. His friend, Jonadab, a cousin of both Amnon and Tamar, had helped him plot the unspeakable act. Tamar's brother Absalom took her into his home, but he said, "Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother. Don't take this thing to heart" (2 Samuel 13:20). He gave the appearance of dismissing this devastating crime against his sister. (Two years later he took revenge on Amnon by killing him.) But how could a woman not "take this thing to heart," especially when the assailant was a close relative?

And why didn't her father comfort her? "When the King heard of all this, he was furios" (2Sa. 13:21). He certainly was amgry that Amnon, his firstborn, had made him complicit. But no thought for Tamar? Did David's failure to intervene merely reflect the value of his time? Tamar is David's only daughter mentioned by name in Scripture. God wanted us to know her story. As shown in David's response, people prefer to ignore crimes of sexual exploitation, molestation and rape, expecting victims to "just get over it." Tamar was deeply damaged by her experience-the rest of her life was affected by it: "Tamar lived in her brother Absalom's house, a desolate woman" (2Sa 13:20).

Tamar reaped what she did not sow. People who loved her failed her. But God grieved. He saw; He cared. He recorded the details of the crime against her and vindicated her to all generations. We don't know to what degree she recovered over time. Tamar reminds us of all women who have suffered sexual abuse. Scripture does not minimize her suffering. If you have suffered such abuse, God doesn't minomize your suffering either. Turn to Jesus Christ for the help and healing you need.

Oprah talks about her child sexual abuse experience

Child sexual abuse is a global issue. The following article shows Oprah Winfrey talking about her own sexual abuse experience as a child.

This is what Oprah said to Jessica Coleman, a then 15-year old girl who killed her own baby out of fear of letting her family know about her pregnancy.

"Did you know that at the age of 14, I hid a pregnancy? I was raped at 9 and sexually abused from the time I was 10 to 14. At 14 years old, I became pregnant," Oprah tells Jessica.

"I hid that pregnancy from everybody. One day my ankles started to swell. I was taken to the hospital and the doctors said, 'Are you pregnant?' I didn't even know what pregnancy was. I'd been abused all this time, but I really wasn't even sure that the outcome was you have a baby. So I confessed that I had been having sex with people who had been abusing me for years. The stress of that confession caused me to go into labor, and the baby died.

"And my father said to me at that time what I'm going to say to you," Oprah continues. "What you have done is the past, and you alone get to determine what your future will be.

"You have five more years to serve in prison. There are a lot of teenagers out there right now who are hiding their secret, just as I had mine, because I didn't think there was anybody I could tell about the abuse. I didn't think there was anybody I could share it with, just like you didn't feel that there was anybody you could tell. Your speaking out today is going to give a lot of girls the courage to do that. You are not your past. You are what is possible for you. Own this truth and move forward in your life. Forgive yourself, and others will be able to forgive you."

To view the full story on this article, please click on the link below:

http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200611/20061103/slide_20061103_284_113.jhtml

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On a personal note:

We can prevent abuse, may be not globally yet. But we can start in our own country, our own community, our own home. This is the land that God has given us. The children of today, are the ones that God has entrusted us to protect.

The STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW! (SCAN) campaign is but the first step to "making the Philippines a safer place for all kids." Join this campaign...NOW!

Be trained to become one of the SCAN advocates. Call 816-4960 for more details.

Sponsors as many children as possible for the personal safety training. One child's registration is P5 only.

Join the stand on abuse at the QUEZON CITY MEMORIAL CIRCLE, November 25, 7 am to 12 nn.

See you there!

STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW!

It doesn' take much to give 1,000,000 children a fighting chance against abuse.

It takes only P5 to register one child. Your P5 never had as much value as today. You can make a difference in as many children's lives as you want.

Donate now!

Call HOPE worldwide Philippines: 816-4960 or e-mail ingridc_le@yahoo.com for more information.

Attend the launch of the the campaign to "STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW!", November 25, 2006, 7am to 12nn at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. Come with your friends, your family, your organization, your company and let us all stand together against child abuse.

We can make this happen...NOW!