Re Born

“David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife.”

 (Matthew 1.6)

Bathsheba, aka Uriah's wife—the last of the women mentioned in Matthew 1 as part of Jesus' bloodline. Lets just say from the beginning, Bathsheba gets a bad rap. 

If you know the story, you can skip this paragraph. If you don't--Cliff Notes version. King David hangs out at the palace while the other men go off to war. He sees a beautiful woman bathing. He summons her and sleeps with her. She gets pregnant. Oops. As a last ditch effort, David has her husband killed in battle, marries her, and believes it's all covered up happily ever after. Like that ever happens.

It seems like we can't bring ourselves to say that King David could commit anything so heinous as he does, though we have plenty of evidence both in Scripture and in our own lives to prove that good people can do rotten things in the name of self-interest.

So often, commentators and scholars dole the blame out to her, as if bathing on your own house was just asking for the king's salacious attention. (Times have not changed, in far too many ways, ladies. Sounds like a familiar argument.)

The simple fact is, we don't know. We don't know if she was a willing participant in adultery or if David exercised his kingly privilege to take any woman he wanted. We don't know if she adored her husband and mourned his death. We don't know if she had a happy content life or if she coveted the higher plane she got. We don't know anything. 

Perhaps it's right that she's mentioned in Matthew only as “Uriah's wife.” She is the beautiful but invisible woman, whose life is played with and altered by those around her rather than under her own control.

Aren't there Bathshebas all around us? Girls working in sweat shops as young as eight? Fourteen-year-olds branded by their pimps as property with which they do what they please? Wives and girlfriends locked in abusive relationships because they fear an unknown alternative? If you don't think so, think again. It's right in front of you, and you're not seeing it. In the hallowed “Christian” upper class suburbs around where I live, it's far more common than we want to believe.

But what about the lesser slaveries? Girls who believe their bodies have to look like Victoria's Secret posters in order to be wanted? People who have made so many mistakes they believe there is no road back? Women who are convinced by various conflicting doctrines of their culture that they have to be submissive, aggressive, young, working, stay-at-home, sexually “free,” obedient—anything and everything but what they feel in their God-gifted souls they were created to be. 

We are all slaves of what we choose to listen to. And so many have lost the ability to hear the message God spoke into their souls when He created them.

I'm sure Bathsheba did. The despair she must have felt at the loss of her old life, her husband, and her child must have crushed all belief that her life would ever be her own.

Of course, the message of Christmas is that it isn't. It never was. But when it's given to Christ, it's returned in fuller form that we ever imagined. The baby born under the star gives us birth as well.

Bathsheba is included in the list because she had to muster the ability to begin again. And beginning again is the Christmas specialty. It's what Jesus came to explode into our lives. The chance, the vision, the flat-out non-theoretical capability, to start over. From wherever you are. To have control of your life—just as soon as you turn it over to the only One who wants to set you free.

“How silently, how silently,

The wondrous Gift is giv'n!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of His heaven.

No ear may hear His coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him still,

The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,

Descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sins and enter in,

Be born in us today.”

Be born in us. No matter what our mistakes. Regardless of what has been done to us. Despite any and all circumstances of our past. Be born in us, and let us be born again.

Not a cheesy, televangelist born again. Real, sweat and tears, labor and screaming, born again, away from all the hell of the past and toward the promise of the future.

It's the promise. It's yours. You just have to ask. Because it's Christmas.

That's Not Fair! Part 3 of 3

What’s the big deal?

Click here for Part 1  or Part 2
If you’ve read parts one and two of this post, then you know that Saul started out his reign with a good heart that was displayed through his actions. He seeks of the Lord when a decision must be made. Good job Saul. He listens to the Holy Spirit and defends the citizens of Jabesh-Gilead. 

But somewhere along the line he changed. Let’s look at Saul’s reactions when he didn’t obey God and see what we can learn. 

After Saul didn’t wait for Samuel and offers the burnt sacrifices himself. Samuel comes to camp, he knows what Saul has done and tells him that he has “acted foolishly, and not kept the commandment of the LORD. That is why the kingdom was taken from him. Saul’s response to this accusation tells us what his heart is like. Vs 11-12 “. . .you (Samuel) did not come in the appointed days . . .I forced myself and offered the burnt offerings.” 

I giggle a little at the dramatic wording. Must be because I have one or two dramatic children, and I can hear them saying this. Notice that Saul is never repentant. He seems to believe that he didn’t’ do anything wrong and if he had, it was someone else’s fault. 

God really wants to tell us about Saul and his choices, so in chapter 15 we see how defiant Saul is and God reiterates that He has rejected Saul as king. 

God tells Saul that He is sending him to punish the Amalekites for their treatment of Israel after they left Egypt. You can read about that in Ex 17:8-16 and Deut 25:17-19. In both of these passages God says, “. . . you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven. . .” 

We already know that Saul doesn’t obey the specific instructions to (1 Sam 15:3): utterly destroy them, and put to death every man, woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. He took Agag the king alive and only destroyed the animals that were “despised and worthless.” 

Surprisingly, Saul doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with this. When Samuel arrives Saul is so proud of himself. This is what he says, “. . . I have carried out the command of the LORD.” 

I wonder if Samuels jaw fell open. When he asks why he hears sheep bleating and oxen lowing, Saul explains that he “. . . kept them to sacrifice to the LORD your God.”

Good intentions are never a good substitute for obedience. Again Samuel asks Saul why he didn’t obey and Saul insists that he did obey. (v. 19-20 ) Saul never repents from his disobedience. Samuel tells him that to obey is better than to sacrifice, rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination (Saul placed himself above God) is as the iniquity of idolatry. Because Saul rejected the word of the LORD, God rejected him as king. (v. 22-23)

That brings us to David. What did David do? (2 Sam. 11,12) 

 

He slept with another man’s wife and got her pregnant. To cover it up, he tried to get Bathsheba’s husband to sleep with her so that people would assume the child was his. 

Now I always thought that Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, was just some soldier in David’s army and that they didn’t really know each other. But in 1 Chron. 11, Uriah is listed as one of David’s mighty men. These men had been with him, since he started running from Saul. I know that there were anywhere from four hundred to six hundred men with David during this time, but there were only thirty mighty men. Over a period of about eight years, I think that David could have known Uriah quite well. 

Uriah is fiercely loyal to his fellow soldiers, so when he is brought home from the battle front, he refuses to go home and sleep with his wife. He sleeps in the door way of David’s house and then begs to go back to the battle. David convinces Uriah to stay in the city one more day. That night he gets Uriah drunk, still hoping that he will go home and be with his wife. Uriah just won’t cooperate with David’s plot. He sleeps with David’s servants, but doesn’t return home. 

The next day, David writes a letter to Joab, his commander, and explains that he wants Uriah placed in the front lines and when the battle is fiercest, Joab is to withdraw the men around Uriah. David wants to be sure that Uriah dies. He does die. David marries Bathsheba and anyone who knows about the secret sin of the king isn’t talking. Until the prophet Nathan comes to visit. David’s actions did not escape God’s notice.

When Nathan confronts David, David’s immediate response is one of repentance. All deceit falls from him and he admits his sin. I believe that this is why God doesn’t remove David from the throne of Israel. He sinned, but his heart was one of repentance and reconciliation with God.

Now, don’t think that David got off scot free. No, his sin had devastating consequences. First, the son that Bathsheba bore him was struck by God with sickens and died after seven days. Nathan also prophesied that the “sword shall never depart from your house.” David’s reign was characterized by war. Not only that, but God tells us that one of David’s companions will take his wives and lie with them in broad daylight. For what David did in secret, this man would do before others. This was fulfilled in 2 Sam. 16:20-23 by his son, Absalom. These are horrifying and sad consequences.

God knows each of our hearts and He will do what He must to get our attention in an effort to correct us and bring us back into relationship with Him. That’s how much he loves us. 

What has sin cost you? Your kingdom, your family, your pride, your status? God is the only righteous judge, and He seeks to shepherd our hearts. Will you let Him?

If you are interested in learning more about who God is through the Old Testament, I’ve written The Presence of Shadows. This book is the first in a young adult fantasy series in which I dramatize the lives and event of the Kings and prophets of Israel. Dive into the world of Ta-Val and take a journey with Brehane as he decides who to trust.
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