On Prodigal Sons and Daughters

 The Parable of the Prodigal Son is also known as the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or Lovesick Father. We think of “prodigal” as a big-spender, but is more of a person who returns after an absence regardless as to why the absence.

  That parable means much to me because I have my own prodigal son. I even wonder who will be heir to my estate!

  The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of grace and restoration. The parable found in Luke 15:11-33 uses an unnamed family, son, brother, and father. That is good because the sons represent types of people. Hopefully it should be clear that the youngest, prodigal son represents Christians who leave the fold, the older brother one who has always followed the rules, the honored father, and the Father Himself – God. Of course, God at that time had a “face” and was called Jesus. The parable is more about the grace of the Loving Father than it is the sons.

  Where have we heard that story before, not as a parable, but as history? David was a loving father, and Absalom the prodigal son (2 Sam 14:25).

Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom. (2 Sam 14:32-33)

  In this real case, David is symbolic of the loving father, and of God Himself as can be seen from the following:

My lord (David) is wise, according to the wisdom of an (the) angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. (2 Sam 14:20).

  The KJV uses “an angel of God” and the NKJV “the angel of God.” Both are accurate and convey different thoughts. “An angel” is generic; just a messenger. On the other hand, “The Angel of God” represents God Himself throughout scripture. David indeed was an angel as God’s messenger, but his wisdom did come from The Angel of God. Angels can be seen. Jesus is God manifested (John 1). David’s wisdom came from pre-incarnate Jesus. We don’t know if David saw Jesus or not, but the Word – who Is Jesus – spoke to him.

  Think on the profundity of that: Spiritists have wise ancestors who speak to them. Spiritual David had his all-knowing descendant speak to him!

  Absalom, in that story, was the prodigal son. Who in that story is the “good” son?  Like the good older son of the parable, who was not quite so good, perhaps Amnon, the elder son of David was the faithful son of the parable! Because he was eldest, by primogeniture, Amnon was heir to the throne and all that David had. Amnon fit the definition of “prodigal” of spendthrift. How so? He squandered his inheritance by disrespecting his father (David).

  At first glance, it appears that Amnon’s sin was incestual rape (2 Sam 13:14). However, look what the abused sister had said, “Thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.” (2 Sam 13:13).

  Intermarriage between half brothers and sisters was not considered so wrong by the people at that time. However, dishonoring a woman was. Tamar was speaking of honor when she suggested that her brother do the honorable thing and get the blessing of King David. The problem with Amron was that he dishonored his sister, his father, and The Father by raping his sister.

  In other words, Amron wasted away his inheritance due to a moment of lust. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, did the older brother do something similar? We find that the eldest son was angry with his father because of his grace. Amron was to receive the greater inheritance, and he squandered his heritage. The older son in the parable lusted as well. He wanted the love that the father showed the younger son!

  Amron, the eldest, lusted as well. He soon found out that the satisfaction from his sexual lust was only temporary; after raping Tamar he no longer wanted her!

  We don’t know the penalty for the elder son in the parable, but Amron’s penalty was death. In the parable, the younger son was rewarded by grace:

And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:31:32).

  The elder son, by primogeniture, was to have the bulk of the estate of the father. He said, “All that I have is thine.” Compare that to Amron; the Kingdom of David would have been his!

About the younger son, the father in the parable said, “Thy brother was dead, and is alive again.” When Absalom hid out from David in Geshur for three years, David subsequently allowed his return because he loved his son so much! To David, his son had been as dead, but upon his return, Absalom was alive again! Absalom was lost but now he was found.

  Absalom came home to Jerusalem but could not see the king in person. “The king’s face” was forbidden for him to see. With that, David was symbolic of Jesus. In scripture, “the face of God” is Jesus Christ. Moses did not see “God’s face” until he was summoned to Jesus’s transfiguration.

Unlike the father in the parable who received his son immediately, it took David two years to meet face to face with Absalom! David had some apprehension in that Absalom was a pretender to David’s throne, and it would have been his by primogeniture. (The second son had died). Absalom was dead and made alive. He was lost but then was found. David had his son and heir back, but Absalom’s attitude was different than the prodigal son’s. Why?

  The prodigal son had no rights to the inheritance and expected nothing. Absalom, although a prodigal son, in the sense that he remained greedy, he still expected David’s grace, and coveted the throne with David still alive. Absalom was not truly made alive. He was spiritually dead. Unlike the prodigal son, Absalom, faithful for a while, fell back to his usual attitude of expectance. He was ungracious and disrespectful to David, and was to God as well.

  Absalom, it turned out, “crucified” his father a second time. Of course, the first was when he was lost, but the second was when he returned home by grace and fell away. Paul commented on that type of attitude:

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Heb 6:6)

  What had Amron done? Put David to shame. Tamar said so! What did Absalom do? Put David to shame by turning against his father. That was disrespectful to the Fifth Prescription for eternal health: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” That one “Prescription” offers a prognosis: “That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exod 20:12).

Absalom failed to honor his father and had an early demise. He was just as prodigal, but in different ways than Amron. Both would be king, and live long lives, but they both were irreverent to their father.

  Reverence to one’s father, is how reverence is shown to God the Father. If someone is irreverent to their parents, most often they too are irreverent to their Father in Heaven.

  Absalom was lost then found. That implies that by grace he was safe. He blew his safety by coveting what his father had. He wanted his inheritance before the time came, just as the prodigal son.

I believe that in the parable, both sons were prodigal but by different definitions. Both expected something from the father, coveting what he had, but the lost son was more forthright. The older son coveted as well, but was more dutiful, albeit they both desired what the father had.

In the case of Amron and Absalom, they were both prodigal, and Absalom even tried to “crucify” his father a second time. Paul was surely thinking of that when he wrote to the Hebrews who knew the story of Absalom well!

  The Parable of the Prodigal Son means much to me because I am the Loving Father. In my own family, my prodigal son left me for the lust of Maryjane. He fled to his own Gushur and remains there. Whenever he chooses to come home, I am here with welcoming arms. That’s because I am the loving father much like in the parable.

  There are terms to grace. The younger prodigal son came home humbled and had reverence for his father. However, Absalom came home on his terms and never had reverence for his father, David. A short-term reconciliation was not enough. The story of Absalom transmits the message that grace is contingent on the attitude of the recipient. When Absalom dishonored the father, he dishonored God and his life was cut short. Reconciliation must be forever!

  I pray for my son; not for that we share only mutual love, but that he will come to love and trust God for solace. Maryjane won’t do the trick, and neither would Amron’s “maryjane” – Tamar. We all have our love… she just goes by different names, but when she is obtained, it is found that lust is not love!