From: Jeff Harrison (:Jeff@totheends.com)
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: To The Ends Of The Earth--Teaching Letter #18
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH--Teaching Letter #18
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DAVID AND BATHSHEBA
David's great sin is set "at the turn of the year,
when the kings go out [for war]" (2 Sam. 11:1). This
meant springtime, the time of blossoming flowers and
ripening grain, when the cool winter growing season
had passed (Song 2:11-13).* Military campaigns required
firm footing for the troops, which first became available
in the springtime, when the sun dried up the winter
muds.** A springtime raid before harvest meant that
crops standing in the fields could be seized by an
invading army, which would also weaken the defender
by reducing his food supply.
* In David's day, the year was considered to begin
with the springtime month of Aviv (the first month,
later known as Nissan), which falls in March or April.
Only in later Judaism did the new year come increasingly
to be celebrated in the fall, as it is today, at the
Feast of Trumpets (today's Rosh Hashannah).
** In the wetter, agricultural areas, where there is
more rain.
This year, David's army went out against the Ammonites,
descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham (Gen. 19:38).
The Ammonites lived east of Israel, in the territory
of the modern nation of Jordan, around their capital
city, Rabbah (Rabbat-Ammon, the "Great city of the
Ammonites").*
* The remains of Rabbah can be seen in the center of
downtown Amman, the capital of modern Jordan, which
preserves the ancient tribal name (Ammon/Amman). The
Ammonites were idol-worshippers, whose god Molech (or
Milcom) had a taste for human blood--specifically the
blood of children, a Biblical claim proven by the discovery
of an ancient worship site at the Amman airport with
evidence of child sacrifice (Lev. 20:2-4, 1 Kings 11:7).
The modern/ancient city is 38 miles from Jerusalem,
high up in the hill country east of the Jordan River.
David's war with the Ammonites had started the year
before, when their new king, Hanun, insulted David's
ambassadors by shaving off part of their beards and
cutting off their tunics at the hips (2 Sam. 10:4,5).
David responded with an invasion to the gates of Rabbah,
where Israel faced the combined forces of the Ammonites
and 30,000 mercenaries from Aramean kingdoms in the
Golan and modern Lebanon (10:6-13). Israel's victory
here led to an even greater clash at Helam, east of
the Sea of Galilee, with the main forces of these kingdoms,
in which Israel was again victorious, and all these
Aramean kingdoms were subdued (10:15-19). With this
important victory, David suddenly found himself the
most powerful king in the region.
Now, in the following year, David's troops returned
to beseige Rabbah in hopes of taking the city. But
David himself was not with the army. He remained behind
in his palace in Jerusalem (11:1). David's absence
from what now seemed by comparison a minor campaign
may reflect his new status as a regional overlord.
His impressive victories had extended his dominion
as far as the Euphrates River in the north, over most
of what is today Israel and Lebanon as well as parts
of Syria and Jordan. This was a heady time for the
humble shepherd boy from Bethlehem.
On rising from an afternoon siesta, David took a stroll
out on the palace roof (11:2).* From here, he had
a view over his capital city, which he had wrested
from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5), another reminder of
his new-found fame. The fragrant spring air and golden
sunlight provided an intoxicating setting, in which
his new-found glory had every opportunity to eclipse
his former humble devotion to God.
* The hours from 1 to 4 in the afternoon are an ideal
time for a nap in Israel. Most businesses close because
of the heat. Roofs, which often served as an outdoor
living room, were flat with a low wall built around
them for safety (Deut. 22:8).
The palace sat at the top of the hill on which Jerusalem
was built, giving David a commanding view over the
entire city.* The houses built along its steep-sided
flanks had their entrances at the same level as the
roofs of the houses below--and so on down the hill.
This meant that from the roof of the palace, David
could see most of the houses in the city, including
one in which he caught sight of a beautiful woman bathing--Bathsheba.
* David's Jerusalem occupied the hill known today as
the City of David, which slopes down to the south of
the Temple Mount. The palace probably sat above the
"stepped structure" discovered by archeologists on
the top northeast corner of this hill (Area G of the
excavations in the City of David).
David's ability to recognize Bathsheba's beauty ("and
she was very beautiful in appearance," 2 Sam. 11:2)
indicates that she was not so terribly far away. Since
her husband, Uriah the Hittite, was among David's top
warriors (one of "the Thirty," 2 Sam. 23:24,39), this
would likely put his residence up near the palace,
assuring that the line of sight from Bathsheba's bath
led to only one higher rooftop.
When David sent for her, there is no indication that
she objected to his advances--evidence that she was
a willing participant in all that followed (11:3,4).
His lying with her constituted adultery, which bore
the penalty of death both for the man and the woman
involved (Deut. 22:22). This was a deliberate and
willful sin, a sin of the "uplifted hand," for which
no sacrifice could atone in the Temple (Num. 15:30).
Bathsheba remained in the palace until she "purified
herself from her ritual uncleanness" (2 Sam. 11:4),*
that is to say, until sunset, likely the next day,
when the one-day uncleanness that results from sexual
activity expired.** How strange that she should be
so careful to obey this minor precept of the Law just
after violating one of its greater commandments (Ex.
20:14). Jesus noted a similar inconsistency in the
Pharisees, whom he rebuked for carefully observing
the minor matters of the Law, while neglecting its
more important provisions (Matt. 23:23).
* Unlike the King James, which translates the phrase
"for she was cleansed from her impurity," implying
that David lay with her because her menstrual impurity
had passed (Lev. 15:19). Even less likely is the New
Revised Standard (NRS), which implies that she was
in her menstrual impurity at the time of their union.
** The uncleanness resulting from marital relations
was remedied in the Law of Moses by bathing in water,
and remaining impure until evening (Lev. 15:18). In
later times, this "bathing" was interpreted to refer
to ritual immersion in a "mikvah" bath.
When Bathsheba later discovered she was pregnant (2
Sam. 11:5), David formulated a plan to hide their sin:
He sent for Uriah, her husband who was at the seige
of Rabbah, to return so it would appear that he was
the father of the baby (11:6-8). But after reporting
to David, Uriah slept at the gate of the palace, rather
than return to his home (11:9). "Why did you not go
down to your house?" asked a frustrated David the next
morning (11:10). "The Ark [of the Covenant] and [the
armies of] Israel and Judah are staying in temporary
shelters, and my lord Joab [the general in charge]
and the servants of my lord are camping in the open
field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink
and to lie with my wife?" (11:11).
Uriah's devotion to God and to Israel is in dramatic
contrast to the behavior of David. Uriah wouldn't
even take legitimate comfort for himself while the
battle was going on. This is all the more remarkable
considering that Uriah was not an Israelite, but a
Hittite, a member of one of the Canaanite peoples that
lived in the land from before the conquest of Joshua
(Gen. 15:20). But Uriah or his family before him had
joined in the worship of the God of Israel, for his
name is Hebrew: "Uriah" means "YHWH is my light."*
Uriah, the foreigner, acts with perfect faithfulness
to God, while David, the native king of Israel, is
grossly unfaithful to God.
* Uriah was, therefore, a proselyte, or a descendant
of proselytes. YHWH is the four-lettered name of God
(the tetragrammaton), sometimes vocalized "Yahweh"
or (incorrectly) "Jehovah." The original pronunciation
has been lost.
For two more days, David tried to get Uriah to return
home (11:12,13). But when he remained true to his
commitment to God and to Israel, David formulates another,
more destructive plan: to have Uriah killed. The
next morning David sent Uriah to the battlefield with
a letter for Joab in his hand: instructions to put
him in the front lines of the fighting to be killed
(11:14-16).
The camp of Israel to which Uriah returned probably
looked down on Rabbah from one of the hills that make
a circle around the city.* This served not only to
protect the camp, should the enemy venture outside
the city walls, but also provided a strategic view
for coordinating the attack. The city itself, in the
middle of the valley, was built on a steep-sided hill,
surrounded by a huge, strong stone wall. From the
top of the wall, Ammonite defenders shot down arrows
or threw rocks at any Israelite that got too close.
Against such a well-defended city, only a seige could
starve out the inhabitants when more direct military
action failed.
* This was standard procedure, followed by the Assyrians
in their seige of Lachish (2 Kings 18:14), and the
Romans in their seige of Jerusalem.
The battle that took place after Uriah's return is
described three times in the verses that follow (11:16,17;
20,21; 23,24). If we harmonize them, it appears that
the Ammonites made a sudden charge out of a city gate,
pushing back the Israelite line. But the Israelites
soon gathered their forces and forced the Ammonites
back to the gate. This put the front line of the Israelite
army in range of the bowmen on the wall, who shot at
and killed some of them, including Uriah. David's
plan had succeeded in destroying an innocent man.
You may wonder how David could live with himself, knowing
the horrible crimes he had committed--crimes that in
God's eyes were worthy of death. But that's the question,
isn't it? How are we so good at covering up our sin?
As it says in Proverbs, "Every man's way is right
in his own eyes..." (Prov. 21:2). But God looks at our
motives: "the Lord weighs the heart." And what does
he find? "For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). A godly person recognizes
this, and is willing to openly confess and admit his
sin before the Lord. The natural man and the sinner
resist admitting or even recognizing that their actions
are sinful (1 John 1:8-10). If God did not intervene
to reveal our sin to us, we would probably never repent
and be delivered.
In David's case, God used Nathan the prophet to convict
him with a parable. Nathan told the story of a rich
man who took the only sheep of a poor neighbor, rather
than one from his own flocks (12:1-4). The parallel
was direct: while Uriah had only one wife, David already
had many (5:13). David was quick to recognize the
sin of the rich man in the parable. He declared him
worthly of death, and decreed a fourfold restitution
for the lamb he had taken (12:5,6). David even identified
the heart problem of the rich man: no compassion,
which was in fact the problem of his own heart.
The four-fold restitution ordered by David is exactly
what the Law of Moses provides as the penalty for the
theft of a sheep (Ex. 22:1). This proves that David
knew the Law of God--he knew what is right and wrong.
But though he was willing to impose the Law on another,
he was not willing to do so to himself.
That's when God intervened. "You are the man!" Nathan
charged, as he outlined the incredible blessings David
had been given by God--blessings far beyond what most
men could even dream (2 Sam. 12:7-9). But for these
blessings, David had returned evil in God's eyes.
So Nathan went on to prescribe God's punishment for
David's evil deeds.
In Nathan's prophecy of judgment, we see the nature
of God's justice: David had a man killed, therefore
the sword would never leave his own family (12:10).
He had violated another man's wife, therefore his
own wives would be taken from him and violated in broad
daylight (12:11-12).* The same areas in which he had
sinned were those in which he would himself be punished.
* This took place in the rebellion of Absalom several
years later (2 Sam. 16:22).
Only then, after hearing the punishments decreed against
him, does David repent: "I have sinned against the
LORD" (12:13). In this simple confession was an admission
to sins worthy of death, for which he deserved to die.
But the prophet immediately spoke out again, and pronounced
forgiveness from the Lord. The Hebrew says literally,
"The Lord has caused your sin to pass over; you will
not die" (12:13). Like the angel of death that passed
over the Israelites in Egypt, David is spared destruction.
The forgiveness of David, who is himself a symbol
of the Messiah, points to the forgiveness brought by
Messiah: pardon for sins, and rescue from the destruction
of eternal death.
David had finally faced and admitted his sin. He had
turned from being a sinner, hiding and covering his
sins, to being a man of God, confessing and repenting
of his sins--sins to which he never again returned.
But there was one additional consequence for David's
actions: "Since you have caused the enemies of the
LORD to greatly despise him because of this matter,
the son born to you will also surely die" (12:14).
David had given the enemies of God a reason to reject
God, a sad reality repeated today when God's people
sin. But God cannot let it appear that sin is acceptable
to him. Therefore, David's son born to Bathsheba would
die.
To some, this is a very difficult passage of Scripture.
How could God allow this innocent son of David to
die for David's sin? But this, too, points to the
ministry of Messiah, the greater "Son of David," who
died for the sin of the world. The suffering of the
innocent for the guilty is the basis of the entire
sacrificial system of Israel, and its perfect fulfillment
in Jesus. There is a price to pay for sin. Jesus,
the "Son of David," himself innocent of sin, had to
die to pay that price.
All this is wonderful at the symbolic level. But what
about this particular child? Why did it have to suffer?
This same question can be asked of the millions upon
millions of innocents, including Christians, that have
suffered over the years. Why does God allow the innocent
to suffer, and the wicked to prosper? David himself
answered this question long ago: "Do not get angry
because of evildoers...for they will wither quickly like
the grass.... Evildoers will be cut off, but those who
wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.... and
will delight themselves in abundant prosperity" (Psa.
37:1,2,9,11). Like many other places in Psalms, this
points beyond this life to reward in the next. The
suffering of the innocent is a testimony against the
wickedness of this present world, and reason for punishment
of the wicked in the next (2 Thess. 1:6). But those
who suffer in godly innocence risk nothing from death.
They will be raised even as Jesus himself was, to
inherit the kingdom of God.
But what about the "ungodly" innocents, that is to
say, those like this child, or aborted babies, or other
infants who died before they had any opportunity to
hear or understand the gospel? What will happen to
them? Here we must first draw the line between humanity's
idea of innocence and God's. For the Bible says "all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom.
3:23). "There is none righteous, not even one" (Rom.
3:10). "All our righteous deeds are as a filthy garment"
(Isa. 64:6). In God's sight, all of humanity is worthy
of death, and none deserves the "right" to salvation.
"Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?... Or
does not the potter have dominion over the clay, to
make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another
for dishonor?" (Rom. 9:20,21). It makes us uncomfortable
to see the world from God's perspective. For to recognize
the world's completely fallen condition is to recognize
our own completely fallen condition.
But do all such children have no hope? The Bible provides
no specific instruction in this situation. The bottom
line is that we don't know what will happen, and must
leave these infants completely in God's hands. He
is the righteous judge, not we. And he will have mercy
on whom he has mercy, and compassion on whom he has
compassion (Ex. 33:19, Rom. 9:15), not because of any
works that we have done, but because of him who calls
(Rom. 9:11-17).
A ray of hope, though, can be seen in the way God extended
mercy to the Old Testament saints, like David, whose
salvation resulted from their interaction with and
belief in the Son of God manifested directly to them
(as in the case of Abraham and Moses) or by the Spirit
of Messiah within them (as in the case of David and
the prophets, see 1 Pet. 1:11, Luke 13:28, Matt. 22:42-45).
There are also the rare testimonies of people being
saved through a vision of Jesus even in non-Christian
societies. These facts leave open the possibility
that God may choose to extend mercy through Jesus to
some of these children, too, even as he did to David.*
* Though God chooses to use the church in extending
salvation to the nations, ultimately the work of salvation
is under his sovereign control. The sower sows the
seed, but only God can lead a soul to salvation.
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Copyright c 2001 by Jeffrey J. Harrison. All rights
reserved.
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