David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? (2 Samuel 12:5-9)
Are you a man or woman who deserves to die? The wages of sin are death, after all.
How many of the Ten Commandments have you broken? One or two occasionally, perhaps? Have you thought about any sin you 've committed that you feel was too terrible to be forgiven?
Are you a man or woman who deserves to die? The wages of sin are death, after all.
How many of the Ten Commandments have you broken? One or two occasionally, perhaps? Have you thought about any sin you 've committed that you feel was too terrible to be forgiven?
How many commandments did David break?
David broke the ever-popular Commandment Number Seven, that's obvious. He committed adultery.
I'm willing to go as far as to say he may have even committed rape. There is not anything saying what Bathsheba's complicity was in all this. We are told he saw her bathing, he sent messengers to get her and she came to him, and he slept with her. The literal translation may shed a little light on this:
...and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king's house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman [is] of very good appearance, and David sendeth and inquireth about the woman, and saith, `Is not this Bath-Sheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the Hittite?'
And David sendeth messengers, and taketh her, and she cometh unto him, and he lieth with her...[2 Samuel 11:2-4 (YLT)]
It says at evening time he got off his couch and went to his roof. That may sound odd to us today, but there was nothing unusal about this behavior. This was fairly common, especially if it were a warm night. It was cooler on the roof, easier to sleep. David didn't sleep, though, did he?
In the literal translation it says he sent messengers "and taketh her". She may not have been given the choice of refusal.
In the literal translation it says he sent messengers "and taketh her". She may not have been given the choice of refusal.
It needn't matter. I know today everyone likes to throw around the term, "mutual consent" when caught in such an involvement, as if that makes it okay. However, there is also the matter of "equal power". You are just a soldier's wife and the supreme commander of the armed forces has you brought to him and indicates he wants to have sex with you, well, you may not want to, but...
And could we honestly expect she would begin yelling, "The King is raping me"? There was no #MeToo movement at the time.
Even if Bathsheba was willing (I think Nathan's story of the man who had a lamb actually indicates that Bathsheba [the lamb] is innocent and Uriah [the poor man] is a victim of the Rich Man [David]'s lust) David still committed adultery. In the Midrash, the ancient book of Rabbincal writtings and opinion, the Rabbis seem to agree that Bathsheba was an innocent party.
The Rabbis do try to somewhat extricate David, though. They claim that Bathsheba was bathing behind a modesty screen and there came a bird. David tried to shoot the bird (bow and arrow, spear, slingshot) missed the creature, but knocked the screen askance, thus exposing Bathsheba to his view. I don't see any mention of screen or bird or David shooting at anything in the Scripture.
If you wonder whether Bathsheba was trying to entice David by bathing outside au natural, well, the passage doesn't take her to task for anything. What she was doing was not unusual for that time period in Israel anymore than walking on roofs was. The homes didn't have indoor plumbing and running water. They did have courtyards with cisterns for collecting water. It was common for the residents to bathe in the courtyards duing the warmer seasons. The courtyards generally were surrounded by walls, which could afford privacy. David was sort of invading the people's privacy. He was above the walls.
The Rabbis do try to somewhat extricate David, though. They claim that Bathsheba was bathing behind a modesty screen and there came a bird. David tried to shoot the bird (bow and arrow, spear, slingshot) missed the creature, but knocked the screen askance, thus exposing Bathsheba to his view. I don't see any mention of screen or bird or David shooting at anything in the Scripture.
If you wonder whether Bathsheba was trying to entice David by bathing outside au natural, well, the passage doesn't take her to task for anything. What she was doing was not unusual for that time period in Israel anymore than walking on roofs was. The homes didn't have indoor plumbing and running water. They did have courtyards with cisterns for collecting water. It was common for the residents to bathe in the courtyards duing the warmer seasons. The courtyards generally were surrounded by walls, which could afford privacy. David was sort of invading the people's privacy. He was above the walls.
David was certainly breaking Commandment Number 6, "You shall not commit murder." (Open the Clue envelope please: "It was the King on the Battlefield with a Direct Order".) David may not have weilded a sword in his own hand, but his command to Joab assured Uriah's death and that is murder by hire.
He broke Commandment Number 10, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife...or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
David went to some lengths to cover up his sin by trying to get Uriah to go home and have sexual relations with his wife so David could claim it was Uriah's baby. Thus, David was trying long and hard to break Commandment Number 9, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."
David eventually took Bathsheba as his own wife, so in some sense he broke Commandment Number 8, "You shall not steal."
Do you think such behavior reflected well on David's parents? What in the world would Jesse think? There goes Commandment Number 5, "Honor your father and mother."
If David had kept his eyes and mind on Jehovah, he would not have let lust become his God and break Commandment Number One, "You shall have on other god before me," nor Commandment Number two by making Bathsheba his idol.
As King of Israel, David represented God. He ruled by the Grace of God and in the Name of God. So technically, David broke Commandment Number 3, "You shall not misuse the name of your LORD your God."
It doesn't say what day of the week it occurred. Hopefully not on a Friday evening after sundown, because then we would have to add Commandment Number 4, "Keep the Sabbath Holy," to the list.
Probably when David first sent for Bathsheba he thought, if he was thinking at all, what harm was there, nobody would be hurt. After all, any woman should be thrilled to have this handsome, rock star of a King's attention and no one else need ever know. A victimless crime if you could call it a crime.
If you saw (and it is hard to avoid at Christmas) the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" you will remember what Clarence told George. "When a man isn't there he leaves an awful big hole."
Sometimes when a man is there, he digs a mighty big pit and then falls into it. David certainly did: a pregnant woman not his wife and her husband murdered.
What should have happened to David according to the Law?
He pronounced it himself after Nathan told the story of The Man Who Had a little Lamb.
He pronounced it himself after Nathan told the story of The Man Who Had a little Lamb.
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
In those days in Israel, what was the punishment for both adultery and murder?
It was death.
These sins were pretty grievous. Have you committed sins this heinous? Can such things possibly be forgiven?
NEXT TIME: FORGIVENESS AND CONSEQUENCES
These sins were pretty grievous. Have you committed sins this heinous? Can such things possibly be forgiven?
NEXT TIME: FORGIVENESS AND CONSEQUENCES
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