2 Samuel 11-12[i]
David was established as King of
Israel.
It was the spring of the
year. With the winter being over, armies
could move about and wars resumed. By
this time, David had been king over Israel for approximately 20 years. He had made treaties with many nations, and
he had fought many wars.
At one point, David had been friends
with the king of the Ammonites. 2 Samuel
10 tells us that when King Nahash of the Ammonites died, his son Hanun made
himself David's enemy. As we enter into
chapter 11 of 2 Samuel, David’s army is still at war with the Ammonites. However, David stayed behind in
Jerusalem. We are not told why he did
this, but I've heard lots of speculation.
Nevertheless, he was king and had that right. He also had many responsibilities.
For our purposes here today, let's
just say that David was firmly established as ruler and king. He had a general he could trust with the
fighting. He had a palace, and he could
afford to take an afternoon rest. David
was not lazy. At least, we have no
biblical evidence of him being lazy, and he was prosperous.
There is nothing wrong with
prosperity. Furthermore, sometimes
prosperity is a blessing from the Lord.
A lack of prosperity does not mean the Lord is not blessing us. For many years, David lived as a fugitive
without a home and yet during the whole time the Lord blessed him. Prosperity and poverty each have their own
unique temptations. It is necessary for
each of us to be aware of our own weaknesses and temptations.
The text tells us that as David was
walking on the roof of his palace he looked out over the city and noticed a
woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
He sent a person to find out who she was. A literal translation of the answer he
received is: "Is not this Bath-Sheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the
Hittite?"[ii] (2 Samuel 11:3, YLT)
The form of this answer reveals some
interesting information.
David had 30 mighty men. Many of these men had been with him from his
time in the wilderness fleeing from Saul.
2 Samuel 23:39 gives the name of Uriah the Hittite as one of David’s
mighty men.
Being a foreigner, a
Hittite, Uriah was a convert to Judaism.
2 Samuel 23:34 gives the name “Eliam son of Ahithophel from Giloh” as one of the mighty
men. Eliam was one of David's elite
warriors and the father of Bathsheba.
About the time David was ascending to the throne, Eliam would have been
celebrating the birth of his daughter Bathsheba. David might have even held and/or blessed the
child.
What is more, Eliam was the son of Ahithophel.
From 2 Samuel 15:12, we learn that Ahithophel
was one of David's counselors. As a
matter of fact, later in chapter 16 we learn, “Now in those days the counsel
that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God.” (2 Samuel 16:23, ESV)[iii]
In other words, Ahithophel, Bathsheba's
grandfather, was David's top advisor.
The “Is this not Bathsheba!” answer David received is
probably based on a “You know her!” assumption.
This makes David's crime more heinous.
Uriah, who he killed, was a friend.
Bathsheba, who he seduced, was the daughter of a friend,
and the granddaughter of a very close friend.
Every part of this crime was a gross misuse of the power of
David's position.
2 Samuel 11:27 says, “But the LORD was displeased with what
David had done.”
Then in 2 Samuel 12:9 it says, “Why, then, have you
despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed?”
Here then is God's conclusion, David despised the word of
the Lord. The first word used to define "despise"
is the word "contempt."
This is sin in all of its ugliness.
Murder, betrayal, thievery, it is all there,
and from a godly man. Galatians 6:1
tells us, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some
sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the
right path. And be careful not to fall
into the same temptation yourself.” This
should warn us that we are all capable of falling into any sin. We can condemn David and at the same time be
blind to the sin that lies hidden in our own heart.
Our biggest fear quite possibly should be that we should
ever despise the word of the Lord. In
Jesus’ day, the most careful observers of the Law were the Pharisees. However, Jesus criticized them for their
contempt for the word of the Lord. In
Matthew 15:3 Jesus chastises the Pharisees for setting aside the law of God for
their traditions. He says, "And why
do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?" Then in the same talk, he quotes from the Old
Testament and says this:
These
people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach
man-made ideas as commands from God.
(Matthew 15:8-9)
Do we despise the word of the Lord by what we allow in our
lives?
As serious as David's sin was, God forgave him.
When Nathan the prophet confronted David, David immediately
confessed and was repentant. Psalm 51
records David's repentance and confession.
Therefore, God said to David:
“Yes,
but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter
contempt for the LORD by doing this, your child will die.” (2 Samuel 12:13-14)
1 John 1:9 tells us, “But if we
confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all wickedness.”
David is a good example of this. If we confess our sins, God forgives us.
However, we should consider the
far-reaching consequences of David's sin.
When Nathan the prophet confronted David he said, “From this time on,
your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking
Uriah’s wife to be your own.” (2 Samuel
12:10)
Let me list a few of the things that
happened in David's life as a consequence of his sin with Bathsheba.
1.
His
son Amnon raped his half-sister, Tamar.
2.
His
son Absalom murdered Amnon for his rape of Tamar.
3.
His
son Absalom died in an unsuccessful attempt to take the throne.
At the death of his son Absalom,
David wept saying, “O my son Absalom! My
son, my son Absalom! If only I had died
instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my
son.” (2 Samuel 18:33) The pain of loss was so great that David
wanted to die. David was forgiven, but
God did not erase all the consequences.
To be sure, God saved David from the worst of the consequences, but
those He did not save David from were more than David could bear.
God warns us against sin for our own
good. When Cain was contemplating the
murder of his brother, God warned him that sin was crouching at his door
desiring him. (Genesis 4:7) Along with this, we have the warning of 1
Peter 5:8, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour.” (ESV) The consequences of sin are always worse than
we imagine.
There are those who thought David
should have died. However, having been
forgiven, David’s death would have sent him to heaven and he would not have lived
to suffer the consequences of his sin.
Consider the story of Ahithophel with
me.
Ahithophel, as has been mentioned,
was David's top advisor. He was also
Bathsheba's grandfather. It appears from
the story that Ahithophel never forgave David.
Therefore, when Absalom rebelled against David and made his move to take
the throne, Ahithophel joined Absalom as his advisor. His advice to Absalom was brutal and
efficient.
It went like this:
Now Ahithophel urged Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men to start
out after David tonight. I will catch up
with him while he is weary and discouraged. He and his troops will panic, and everyone
will run away. Then I will kill only the
king, and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride returns to her
husband. After all, it is only one man’s
life that you seek. (2 Samuel 17:1-3)
Ahithophel wanted David dead. It was most likely because of what had
happened with his granddaughter.
The Lord frustrated the advice of
Ahithophel, and Absalom did not follow it.
When this happened, Ahithophel knew that the battle was lost. The end of his story is told in 2 Samuel
17:23. “When Ahithophel realized that
his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey, went to his hometown,
set his affairs in order, and hanged himself. He died there and was buried in the family
tomb.” This took place even before the
battle started between David and Absalom’s forces.
Ahithophel was wronged. However, his failure to forgive and trust the
justice of God destroyed him.
We have all been wronged at some
point. Some of us have been wronged in
particularly heinous ways. However, we
must forgive and trust the justice of God.
Jesus warns us, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly
Father will forgive you. But if you
refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)
Forgiveness does not mean
reconciliation.
I do not believe that relationships
can be restored without true repentance.
God forgives our sins when we confess our sins. This would imply that if we don't confess or
acknowledge our sins they go unforgiven, and we are not reconciled with
God. If a person has sinned against you
and done you harm, for your own sake you must forgive them based on the fact
that God has forgiven you. However, this
does not mean that you are reconciled with the offender. If the offender never repents, the
relationship can never be whole.
This is why Jesus said, "If
another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it,
you have won that person back."
(Matthew 18:15)
I tend to think that this never
happened between David and Ahithophel.
We all have sinned, and we can say
with Lamentations 3:22, “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.” (KJV)
However, we can learn many lessons
from David’s mistakes.
1.
Don’t
despise the word of the Lord.
2.
If
caught in a sin, repent.
3.
Seek
and give forgiveness.
4.
Seek
reconciliation as much as possible.
[i]
Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation. Copyright © 1996,
2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
[ii]
Young's Literal Translation, http://biblehub.com/ylt/2_samuel/11.htm
[iii]
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Very good!
ReplyDeleteGood applications.
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