Naming and describing the evil done to you does not ensure automatic personal healing. However, it does provide clarity regarding sexual assault, and it allows for acknowledgment. If sexual assault is not defined, named or described, then it remains hidden. Telling the truth about sexual assault by acknowledging the traumatic experience is one important aspect […]
Sexual Assault Defined
Our definition of sexual assault is any type of sexual behavior or contact where consent is not freely given or obtained and is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of authority. This definition gets beyond our society’s narrow understanding of the issue and expands the spectrum of actions to be […]
Jesus Entered Your Pain and Shame
However, there was one who later came and entered her pain and shame. Jesus Christ was killed, not for revenge but to bear her shame on the cross and to offer her a new robe of righteousness to replace her torn robes of disgrace. How Tamar felt after the assault, described in verse 19 [2 […]
Eternal Weight of Glory
When weighed against eternity and its glory, the hardest of lives will be seen as light and brief.” (Tripp, Keeping Destiny in View, pg.16.).
Aimless Despair
The image produced is one of Tamar wandering aimlessly, with her torn dress, wailing like one in mourning, publicly announcing her grief and her disgrace. The assault has reduced her to a state of aimless despair…Tamar’s body language portrays deep pain….She has been grievously wronged by Amnon and left alone by everyone else. Her brother […]
An Expression of Hatred
Regarding biblical accounts of sexual assault, Mieke Bal writes, ‘Rape is an expression of hatred, motivated by hate, and is often accompanied by offensive verbal language.’ Amnon failed to consider Tamar as a complete person, created with dignity in the image of God. The intensity of Amnon’s desire for Tamar was matched only by the […]