Ezekiel Kimosop - Pastor & Bible Scholar

DAVID'S SIN AND HIS TAKING OF BATHSHEBA AS WIFE

2 Sam 11 carries the account of David's temptation and adultery and his subsequent cover-up attempt by instructing Joab his commander to place Uriah the Hittite in harms way as a surest guarantee of his death. 

Everything went according to his script until God burst in through Nathan the prophet and made it clear to David that he deserved no mercy for the royal disgrace and sin. Mosaic Law was resolute that both David and Bathsheba were to be stoned to death on account of the sin and David was on a double sin because of murder (Lev 20:10)

David was spared by God's grace and partly perhaps because of the royal authority that he bore. First God determined to take the life of the child from the illicit affair as one way of dealing with David's sin. 

Secondly David's royal authority was not business as usual. He would be humiliated by the palace coup mounted by one of his sons. His Kingdom was divided after Solomon.

Turning to the question on why David took Bathsheba after the death of Uriah, my reading of scripture shows that Uriah was a Hittite (2 Sam 11:3). David drew some of his elite officers from person's of non Israelite descent perhaps due to their bravery and exceptional military distinction. The fact that Uriah's family lived within the precincts of the royal palace suggests that Uriah may have been a member of the elite royal guard that guarded the King and his family. 

The Jewish culture and law provided that when a man died his brother or nearest male relative took his wife. It is not clear if this rule applied to the Hittite migrants living among the Jews but even then, Bathsheba was free to remarry after her husband's death. There is no evidence that she had children by Uriah, suggesting that she was newly wed. 

David also took over other women such as Abigael the wife of Nabal, the wicked man who arrogantly dismissed his request for support during his days as a fugitive of Saul. He had also been promised Saul's daughter in marriage though Saul went back on his promise and David was only able to take much later. Polygamy was a culturally accepted norm but it was certainly not God's idea. It was a reflection of the fallenness of the human race since the Genesis generation.

I do not agree with Kelli Hamann that David may have been sparing Uriah the disgrace of moving around with other men. There is evidence from Scripture that David loved this woman and she was perhaps his favorite above all his other wives. The fact that he made a promise to her that her son would reign after him is evidence that she touched the king's heart. Adonijah made his short lived rebellion as he attempted to take the throne from his aged father but David stuck to his promise to Bathsheba even in his sunset years. She reminds the King in 1 Kings 1:17 saying "My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne." 

I believe that God in his sovereign grace permitted David's marriage to Bathsheba and through his divine wisdom made Solomon her second son to be King. Though God forgave David, he and his sons paid for the consequences of his imprudence and sin. 

David's story with Bathsheba should remind us that God uses the tragedies of our lives to create a future. We need not lie down in sin and defeat but we must rise up (Psalm 34:19). It also shows the mystery of God's grace in that God uses the most unusual of people to advance the course of his divine will. Our election or choice of God as believers is also an act of grace because none of us deserved it but in his mercy God chose us to his children. 

God chose Ephraim in the place of Manasseh' Jacob in the place of Esau; Isaac in the place of Ismael; David instead of Eliab his eldest brother (1 Sam 16:6). He has also extended his grace to us Gentiles who were not children of promise. 

This God is loving merciful, gracious and just.

November 16 2013 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kelli Trujillo Supporter Minister, Mother, Grandmother, Teacher, Musician

As it is in many cultures, it was a great disgrace in Israel for a woman to be pregnant out of wedlock. With Uriah dead, people were likely to assume that Bathsheba had been sleeping around, and David wanted to spare her this dishonor.

In addition, it is clear that David cared deeply about the welfare of his child. 2 Samuel 12 tells us,

15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth[b] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

Bathsheba became part of David's harem of many wives; it would seem that she may have been somewhat special to him in that her son, Solomon, became the king that succeeded David. However, she was one of many who vied for his attention. 

David's "continuing to be with her" was probably more about preserving her honor and caring for her due to the great injustice he had done to her by killing her husband. In addition, going through the painful loss of their son may have strengthened the bond between them.

November 16 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

JD Abshire

Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Polygamy was no more acceptable in the eyes of God during David’s time than it was in the garden or now. Neither are lust, rape, adultery and premeditated murder. 

With Uriah out of the picture Bathsheba was not under any legal restraint that would prevent her from remarrying. She was a Jew, married to Uriah a Hittite which was prohibited and should have never happened in the first place. The atrocities David committed in making that possible are another thing.
 
2 Samuel 11:27 states “And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife….”. “Fetched her” was probably consensual on Bathsheba’s behalf which is in stark contrast to “took her” (by force) in 2 Samuel 11:4. David was initially “in heat” but as Kelli stated, I believe a deep mutual love relationship had developed. Regardless, David took her to wife and to discard her or take her back would have only been another grave sin. Two wrongs do not make a right.
 
The Lord forgave David and blessed his union with Bathsheba but as Nathan the prophet told him in 2 Samuel 12:10 “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.” David experienced tragedy upon tragedy within his own household. Oh yes, he was forgiven but as Paul stated in Galatians 6:7, we reap what we have sown.

David had truly repented of his sin evidenced by the fact that he named one of his sons “Nathan” in honor of the prophet who pronounced God’s terrible but righteous judgment upon him. Through Nathan comes Mary, the mother of Jesus! (Luke 3:31)

November 16 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report