The Drama of David and Bathsheba

Transcript

um before we begin the thing we were told as far as what's going to happen with acts 1 is not acts 1. it's act one because this entire night is a drama and there is act one two and three and before we get started I'm moving or mentioning that you know some of the things we'll be covering tonight are pretty drastic and I'm going to begin with the genealogy of Christ as it appears in Matthew I'm going to read just a little bit of that so if you have your Bible and you want to turn to chapter one of Matthew that's fine if not I'll be reading several verses but not too much so this is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the Son of David the son of Abraham verse 2. Abraham was the father of Isaac Isaac the father of Jacob Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers Judah the father of Perez and Zera whose mother was Tamar Perez the father of hezron hezron the father of RAM the father of aminidab aminadeb the father of nation the father of Salman Salman the father of Boaz whose mother was Rahab Boaz the father of Obed whose mother was Ruth Obed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of King David was the father of Solomon whose mother had been uriah's wife who is Bathsheba but the genealogy continues and then when we get to verse 16 it says and Jacob the father of Joseph Joseph the mother the husband of Mary and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah so what I want to do here is note that there are five women listed in the genealogy of Matthew in verse 3 it's Tamar who acted as a prostitute with our father-in-law Judah in the beginning of verse 5 it's Rahab who was a prostitute also in birth five it's Ruth who was a moabitus an outsider to the Israelites and in verse 6 Bathsheba and adulterous according to the law and finally in verse 16 Mary of whom was born Jesus and whom many believe had improperly become pregnant before marrying Joseph so these five women are an unlikely group to be included in the genealogy of Christ yet there they are if we look at Isaiah 54 and again you don't have to look this up I'll just read a few of these verses we find a message about women of the Bible who were divided and maligned maybe you could call them almost Misfits but they were ultimately redeemed as part of the plan and purpose of God beginning at verse 4 and Isaiah 54. do not be afraid you will not be put to shame do not fear disgrace you will not be humiliated you will forget the shame of your Youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood for your maker is your husband the Lord Almighty is his name the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer he is called the God of all the Earth the Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit a wife who married young only to be rejected says your God for a brief moment I abandon you but with deep compassion I will bring you back in a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment but with Everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you says the Lord your Redeemer so for tonight's class I want us to think about Bathsheba the mother of Solomon and her involvement with David the king if you'd like to follow along we'll be primarily at the beginning here in verses second Samuel chapters 11 and 12. and to get started we'll look at verses two and three and start identifying the cast of characters who are involved in the drama of David and Bathsheba verse 2 says one evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace from the roof he saw a woman bathing the woman was very beautiful and David sent someone to find out about her the man said she is Bathsheba the daughter of a lion the wife of Uriah the hittite now we know because of scripture that she is also the granddaughter of a heathophel David's counselor who later conspired with Absalom against David because a lion was the son of the hitherfell the gileonite they had a vested interest in Bathsheba their daughter and granddaughter she was the wife of Uriah the hittite one of the mighty soldiers in David's Army and just to get this out if anyone has comments or wants to add anything please jump in at any time so then next there was David king of Israel doing what was just and right for all his people as it says in second Samuel 11 1 it tells us that this is the time Kings go to battle or springtime David should have been at War but instead he sent joab his army Commander to do the fighting now we're told that David was 30 when he became king he ruled for 40 years which made him 70 when he died Solomon was about 20 when he became king at the time of David's death so this would make David about 50 when this drama takes place with Bathsheba perhaps he fell at 50 years old he was old enough to cease going to war possibly he was thinking that he would follow the example of the priests and reading from numbers eight it says in verse 23 the Lord said to Moses this applies to the Levites men 25 years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting but at the age of 50 they must retire from their regular service and work no longer and they may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting but they themselves must not do the work this then is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites the next chapter character in our story is Uriah the hittite Uriah lived next to or near David's Palace his name means the Lord Yahweh is my light he was a convert to Judaism and married into a notable Jewish Family that family of the hithervel and eliam he fought in the Army and was at the siege of rabba against the ammonites that was taking place while David stayed back and was on his rooftop next enters the prophet Nathan Nathan was in David's Court and he is the one who told David that he would not build the house of God but his offspring would and the last character in this drama is joab the commander of David's Armed Forces and he was Leading The Siege against the ammonites and Israel was with war with the ammonites because they had rejected David's expression of sympathy over the death of the ammonite King nahash in second Samuel 10 it says in the course of time the king of the ammonites died and his son Hanan succeeded him as king David thought I will show kindness to hanith son of nahash but just as his father just as his father showed kindness to me so this is David's thinking so David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanan on his father's death but he was rebuffed by the ammonites the ammonite commanders said to Hainan their lord do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy hasn't David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it so Hayden and sees David's envoys shaved off half of each man's beard cut off their garments at the buttocks and sent them away when David was told about this he sent messages to meet the men for they were greatly humiliated the king said stay at Derek Jericho till your beards have grown and then come back so again in second Samuel 11 if you follow up if you're in the Bible in verse 1 through 5. it's about David and Bathsheba in the spring at the time when the Kings go off to war David sent joab out with the King's Men and the whole Israelite Army they destroyed the ammonites and besieged a rabba but David remained in Jerusalem and that's a big butt and it came to pass at Eventide that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the King's house and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself and the woman was very beautiful to look upon and David sent and inquired after the lemon and one said it's not this Bathsheba the daughter of eliam the wife of Uriah the hittite and David sent Messengers and took her and she came in unto him and he lay with her for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned unto her house and the woman conceived and sent and told David and said I am with child now sometimes because human nature is involved there can be what is called a quote a combination of circumstances which really amounts to self-justification quoting from the interpreters Bible it says this is about the combination of circumstances had the ammonites not rejected David's sincere offer of a renewed Treaty of peace that would have been no war had there been no war Uriah would have remained home and David's strong initial Temptation would have had no opportunity to bring forth the sinful Act David couldn't help what he saw from the roof of his Palace just as we always can't help what we see we can't unsee it but David kept looking and didn't turn away so David had no one to blame but himself in James 1 we're reminded reminded of this but each person is tempted when they are dragged Away by their own evil desire and enticed then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death continuing into Samuel verse 2. of chapter 11 . it's important to note that it says a woman washing herself which was part of a woman's purification after her monthly cycle it it's important because it proves that she wasn't pregnant by her husband Uriah It also says in verse 2 that the woman was very beautiful to look upon how similar to the Temptation in Genesis 3 and 6. and when the women saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes she took of the fruit thereof and did he so David too was guilty of the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life back in Samuel 2 Samuel 11 David sent an inquired after the woman that word inquired Means To Tread or frequent usually to follow or pursue his inquiry resulted in his learning that the woman was Bathsheba a lamb's daughter and the right wife of Uriah in verse 4 the King James version it says that David sent Messengers to Bathsheba and they took her so now at this point his actions and his intent had gone public now here's something to think about with this whole incident did Bathsheba have a choice was she intimidated could she refuse the king what would happen to her if she had refused the king in Deuteronomy 22 24 it says if you're in the city and you don't cry for help you're complicit all right well what is missing in this whole thing where is God did God didn't ask excuse me David didn't ask God to lead him in the paths of righteousness Bathsheba didn't ask God to help her in her desperate situation after that rest bathsheba's only recorded words were I am with child these words would influence Israel's history which brings us to that exp timely Timeless expression what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive continuing on in verse 6 of chapter 11 so David sent this word to joab Send Me Uriah the hittite and joab sent him to David when Uriah came to him David asked him how joab was how the soldiers were and how the war was going then David said to Uriah go down to your house and wash your feet an indication of go back to your house and get comfortable take it easy so Uriah left the palace but David sent a gift there was a gift from the King that was sent after after Uriah now the distance between rabba where the siege was taking place and where um Uriah was a soldier and Jerusalem was 40.4 Miles that's up to possibly a two-day Journey David was hopeful the tire traveler would go home be with his wife and then everyone might believe that bathsheba's child was her husband uriah's but in verse 9 Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house David was told Uriah did not go home so he asked Uriah haven't you just come from a military campaign why don't you go home Uriah said to David the ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents in my commander joab and my Lord's men are camped in the open country how could I go to my house to eat and drink and to make love to my wife as surely as you live I will not do such a thing then David said to him stay here one more day and tomorrow I will send you back so Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next at David's invitation he ate and drank with him and David made him drunk but in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants he did not go home Uriah the hittite was more honorable honorable than David the king so the drama continues in second Samuel 11 beginning at verse 14 where David's sinning becomes even greater verse 14 in the morning David wrote a letter to joab and said it with Uriah in it he wrote put out put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest then withdraw from him so he he will be struck down and die so while joab had the city under siege he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest Defenders were when the men of the city came out and fought against joab some of the men in David's Army fell moreover Uriah the hittite died and we find the final scene of act one of this drama is at the end of this chapter verse 26. when uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead she mourned for him after the time of mourning was over David had brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son but the thing David had done displeased the Lord so reviewing this these incidents what sins were committed well first there was David and bathsheba's guilt they were guilty of adultery Leviticus 20 and 10 says if a man commits adultery with another man's wife with the wife of his neighbor both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death and again in Duty Deuteronomy 22 22 it says if a man is found sleeping with another man's wife both the man who slept with her and the woman Must Die you must Purge the evil from Israel but it continues what about David's guilt David's guilt was the murder of Uriah and in Leviticus 24 17 it says anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death in numbers 35 31 says do not accept the ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die they are to be put to death and here's the critical point there was no sacrifice to be offered for the sin of adultery or murder both demanded the death penalty so by the law both David and Bathsheba were dead people the second act of this drama takes place in the next chapter chapter 12 where God sends Nathan the prophet to David where he tells David a parable and it's one of the most significant parables in the Bible verse 1 of chapter 12 of second Samuel and the Lord sent Nathan unto David and he came in unto him and said unto him there were two men in one city the one rich and the other poor the rich man had exceeding many flocks and hurts but the poor man had nothing save one little you lamb which he had brought a nurse up and they grew up together with him and with his children it did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter and there came a traveler unto the rich man and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him and David's anger was greatly kindled against the man and he said to Nathan as the Lord liveth the man that has done this thing shall surely die and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity and then comes another quote which really is a great accounting of David's sins and the four words that would change his life Thou Art the man Nathan continued with all the Lord had done for David and how David would be accountable for his sins thus saith the Lord God of Israel I appointed the king over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul I gave thee thy Masters house and thy Masters wise into thy bosom and I gave Thee the house of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight thou has killed Uriah the hittite with the sword and has taken his wife to be thy wife and has slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon now therefore the sword shall never depart from nine house because thou Hast despised me and has taken the wife of Uriah the hittite to be thy wife thus saith the Lord behold I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house and I will take thy wives from before thine eyes and give them unto Thy Neighbor and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the son for thou didst secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun so up to this point David was blind of his own sin but he was to be held accountable fourfold his child with Bathsheba would die his sons amnon and Absalom died and adonijah his son betrayed his father by declaring himself King after Nathan's words David acknowledges his sins he had not just sinned but sinned against the Lord and David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David and here's a critical thing for us to keep in mind the Lord has also also has put away thy sin Thou shalt not die how be it because by this deed thou Hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also that is one unto thee shall surely die the first step of repentance is the admission and confession of sins first Peter tells us humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time now here we can think about something put ourselves in David's shoes what do we see from our rooftop when we look out at the world more importantly how do we React to what we see something we see cannot be unseen or something we think cannot be instantly forgotten the important thing is how we respond that makes all the difference so David pleads have mercy on me in Psalm 51 which says at the beginning a Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had been with Bathsheba have mercy on me o God according to thy loving-kindness according unto the multitude of thy Tender Mercies blot out my transgressions wash me throughly for mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against thee the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judges behold I was shapen in iniquity and incended my mother can save me behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts and then the hidden part thou shall make me know wisdom Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou has broken May rejoice hide thy face from my sins Blood Out All Mine iniquities create in me a clean heart o God and renew a right Spirit In Me cast me not away from my presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit so we might ask ourselves this question how could someone who committed such Grievous sins be considered by God to be a man after his own heart although there is no reference that God said this directly in Acts 13 22 Paul testifies that the Lord said of David I have found David the son of Jesse a man after mine own heart which shall fulfill all my will an explanation might be that David when David understood what he had done and that actually he had sinned against God he immediately owned his sin and asked for forgiveness as we read just now in psalm 51. and contrast this with Saul who after his great sin made excuses and put the blame on someone else with no repentance and there is a great lesson in this drama for us to take to heart our own sins and we need to ask for forgiven forgiveness mercy and to repent so David and bathshebra's firstborn son would die but God would choose their second son Solomon to be heir to the throne and of the lineage of Christ God often chooses the second son because in his plan they were more suitable than the firstborn so in a sense the first child unnamed who died could represent represent the old David destined to die the Second Son Solomon named peace and the light of the Lord who was destined to live could represent the new David now we come to the next ACT in this drama approximately 20 years go by with brings us to First Kings chapter one beginning at verse 1. when King David was very old he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him so his attendant said to him let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him let us look she can lie beside him so that our Lord may keep warm then they searched and throughout Israel excuse me for a beautiful young woman and found Abhishek a shunamite and brought her to the king the woman was very beautiful she took care of the king and waited on him but the king had no sexual relations with her now he has a little digression I found that Michael Perry had said in the Bible reading uh comments many of us will remember him from Bible School several years ago the practice of supplying body heat from a woman has carried down through the centuries it's called bundling it's to occupy the same bed without undressing in England a guest would be offered one of the host's daughters to keep him warm at night often the woman's ankles would be bound to ensure that no untoward Behavior would occur the practice came to America with the colonists and was a legitimate custom bundling occurred when beds were scarce and there wasn't proper Heating in a house husbands frequently permitted travelers to bundle with wives and daughters as it was an acceptable gesture of hospitality so while David was bundling his son adonija aware of David's weakened condition and age attempts to take the throne so in verse 5 of First Kings 1 now adonijah whose mother was hageth put himself forward and said I will be king so he got chariots and horses ready with 50 men to run ahead of him and here's something to note his father David had never rebuked him by asking why do you behave as you do he was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom now adonija conferred with joab son of zarawaya and abayathar the priest and they gave him their support so as I mentioned here in first king 6 it mentions that David had been quite lacks in disciplining his children especially adonija so his attempt to be king shouldn't have been surprised once again Nathan the prophet goes into action and we're also introduced to a completely different Bathsheba and with Nathan's collaboration Bathsheba goes to David and says my Lord you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God Solomon your son shall be king after me and he will sit on my throne and she continues but now adonaija has become king and you my lord The King do not know about it he has sacrificed great numbers of cattle fattened calves and sheep and has invited all the king's Sons abayathar the priest and joab the commander of the army but he has not invited Solomon your servant my lord The King The Eyes of all Israel are on you to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my Lord the King after him otherwise as soon as my Lord the king is laid to rest with his ancestors I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals in second Samuel David was vital planning and Powerful here David is older and somewhat forgetful in second Samuel the only thing we hear from Bathsheba are the words I am with child now Bathsheba proved to be shrewd energetic and politically astute but it's important to know that her life and her son Solomon's life depended on it suddenly there's new life in the Old King and he announces that as the Lord liveth thou Hast redeemed my soul out of all distress even as I swear unto thee by the Lord God of Israel saying assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne in my Stead even so will I certainly do this day so Bathsheba and Solomon are saved by David's oath so Solomon is made King and Bathsheba appears once more in First Kings chapter 2 verse 19. where it says Bathsheba therefore went unto King Solomon to speak unto him for adonijah and the King rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto her and sat down on his throne and caused the throne to be set for the King's mother and she sat on his right hand a place of honor bathsheba's name means daughter of an oath so from birth she had been purposed for God's plan and David's oath that Solomon would inherit the throne saved her from adonijah who would have eliminated any competition for the throne Bathsheba probably would have been responsible for Solomon's upbringing because as we have already noted David was a bit lacks in his childhood so let's finish up here by looking at proverbs 31. now here's an interesting thought from Brother Lane ritmeyer he's a Christian archaeologist and a Bible scholar and he says and with his collaboration he says verse 1 says the words of King Lemuel the prophecy that his mother taught him the first few verses of his mother's advice describes what a king should not do and they are followed by things the king should do the rest of proverbs 31 demonstrates the character of a virtuous woman and here's where there may be a reason why those five women be read of are mentioned in Matthew's genealogy Tamar had been given judah's firstborn to carry on the family lineage but the Lord considered him Wicked and put him to death Judith's second born was also Wicked in God's eyes and he was put to death as well the Third born son grew up but wasn't given to Tamar so in order to continue the family line so the name wouldn't be lost she disguised herself as a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law who had violated the law because he hadn't given his next son to her when Tamar was exposed Judah said that as an adulteress she should be burned to death but as a pledge or an oath Judah had given her his seal his cord and his staff as a promise that he would pay for her services she produced the items he pledged and when he acknowledged that the items were his he said she is more righteous than I so Tamar was saved by an oath Rahab a prostitute was also saved by an oath Rahab and her family were spared at Jericho because she had hidden the spies under her Flags and they swore an oath to save her if she hung a scarlet cord out of her window she hung the light cord her life was spared or saved and then she married an Israelite and became the mother of Boaz Ruth a moabite Outsider went to Boaz who recognized her as a woman of noble character and in front of witnesses in order to maintain the name of the dead so it wouldn't disappear from the family gave an oath that he would marry her and in Ruth 4 and 12 the elders say may you have standing in ephratha and be famous in Bethlehem though this though Through The Offspring The Lord gives you by this young woman may your family be like that of Perez who Tamar bore to Judah now Beth Sheba means daughter of an oath she was an adulteress in the eyes of the Lord but she gave birth to Solomon the king of Israel and she and Solomon were saved by David's oath and Mary who appeared to have an inappropriate relationship with Joseph before they were married gave birth to Christ after an oath from God the Lord God will give him the Throne of his father David and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever his kingdom will never end for no word from God will ever fail these five women were Misfits as far as Society was concerned but God considered them Noble and knew he could work through them as Isaiah said the Misfits would later be redeemed the advice lemuel's mother gave to him in proverbs 31 was to find a noble woman with the qualities that these five women were found to have in the sight of God the end of proverbs 31 tells us many women do noble things but you surpass them all charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised honor her for all that her hands have done and let her Works bring her praise at The City Gate one final thought according to the talmud Solomon was called call by several names Solomon Jedediah the name Sullivan Nathan gave to Solomon agar the son of Jacob and Lemuel I thought it was interesting think to think that proverbs 31 as possibly the advice of Bathsheba to Solomon a mother to her son the king based on her own experiences and knowledge of the noble qualities of women that God found acceptable unfortunately Solomon didn't listen and yet the oath is still ongoing and will not be broken and all of us need to remember and to be assured as it says in Galatians 3 for as many of you has been as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ for ye are all one in Christ Jesus and if ye be christs then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise we're all children of the oath