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