Skeletons in Jesus' Closet: Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)

By: Mark Lowenstein
July 6, 2008

At some point in our lives - someone will turn our heads; it could be when we're out shopping, or in a bar, or just watching a film. Whether we're in a relationship or not, every now and again perhaps our gaze lingers for a little longer than normal when someone catches our eye. What we chose to do about it remains up to us.

BATHSHEBA PROMOTED LUST?
Today's reading features one of the most famous biblical figures letting his hormones get the better of him. Reading the chapter, the text places the blame solely on David; however, over the years people have continued to heap the blame squarely on Bathsheba and as such she remains one of the most maligned women of the Bible. She is our last skeleton in the closet.

David - the famous king was now either too old to go campaigning with his officers, or perhaps he felt that kings were supposed to govern the battle from home. The writer tells us David stayed home while everyone else went to war. Obviously, he was not where he was supposed to be, which can often open the door for trouble in our lives.

David was walking on the roof of the king's house, which meant he was far above all that occurred around him. And he spots the figure of Bathsheba. The Bible does not tell us where Bathsheba was bathing. She may have been close for David can make out she is beautiful. We don't know if Bathsheba knew David was watching her, or that she "flaunted" herself at him. What's more, David does not fall in love with Bathsheba, he just fancies her.

BATHSHEBA PROMPTED AN INVESTIGATION
David had to track Bathsheba down - he had to investigate her. At that point he learns she is married, yet even that doesn't stop him. So David sends out his messengers to summon Bathsheba to court.

If any blame at all could be placed on Bathsheba, it would be because when the king sent for her, "she went". Yet, could she have said no to the King? David sent "messengers" to get her. Not only had the king commanded her presence (the messengers were sent to get her, not to pass on an invitation), but also he sent more than one person to relay that command. David didn't want her around after he'd bedded her and he packed her off back home. This was no adultery on Bathsheba’s part but “royal rape”. David had blatantly abused his authority as king, shepherd of God’s flock, to indulge his own desires.

Remember the king was an old man - in agreeing to sleep with him, chances are she wasn't caught up in passion. As she went back to her normal life, was she trying to forget what had happened? Was she spending her days praying her husband wouldn't find out? What was the worst thing that could happen? She got pregnant. Imagine her panic. Her husband is off to battle, and she becomes pregnant. She has to send to the king, the child's father, and hope for help. It's a stark contrast between David's behavior and that of Uriah. Uriah’s name means “My light is the Lord”, a Hittite by birth converted to Judaism. While David has been home, bedding Uriah's wife, Uriah has been warring for Israel.

NOT-SO-FOOLPROOF PLAN
Hoping to cover up his indiscretion, David plots to give Uriah and Bathsheba an opportunity to spend some intimate time together - hoping that Uriah will then assume the child is his own. But it didn't matter how much David had things worked out; Uriah was not co-operating with David's plans. Sometimes no matter how hard we try to cover up our mistakes they refuse to stay buried.

At this point, David has to change tactics, and had Uriah killed in the name of battle. David murders a man whose very name means, “My light is the Lord.” What irony! David, a man after God’s heart, has allowed his own heart to become so dull, so darkened, that he sets out to extinguish the light of the Lord in Uriah. In Psalm 32:3, David records how he felt while he was trying to cover his sin: “When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long.” For several months, he tried to live with a guilty conscience.

And then Bathsheba becomes David's wife. Quite often we assume that Bathsheba arranged or instigated all this, but the Bible tells us David planned and implemented the liaison, the deception and the murder....then finally the marriage. Even today, we don't have to look far for a famous and influential 'David' who commits adultery and hopes to get away with it because of who he is. Down the ages this story still resonates with us today "I did not have sex with that woman" "I didn't send those text messages".

DAVID’S FALL & RISE
Often we remember that David was a man after God's own heart, yet forget that God said David had "despised" God. Good people can do very bad things. Though David was a great man of faith, he was also a man of great deceit and sin. Bathsheba, Tamar, Ruth and other women of the Bible were just as flawed, and just as gifted.

God loves David so much that He sent a prophet to stop him from damaging himself and His kingdom. Through the prophet, Nathan, David acknowledges the terrible thing he has done. He falls before the Lord on his face. He did four things:

HE CONFESSED
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” (Palm 51:3-4a) Solomon said, “ If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will receive mercy.” (Prov.28:13)

HE WAS CONTRITE
“The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.” (Psalm 51:17). David truly was repentant.

To be “contrite” does not mean “feeling bad” about sin, but feeling crushed under the weight of guilt for what we have done. It means a genuine disgust of our as well as a determination to do differently.

HE DESIRED A CLEANSING
"Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (v.7) The Hebrew word for “wash” is not the word used for simply washing your face, or rinsing a dish. It refers to the washing of clothes by beating and pounding them against a rock or a scrub board. David is praying for a thorough cleansing from sin and from the dullness that it brings. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me, Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” [vs.10-12]

David and Bathsheba had been punished with the loss of their son, but their next child was Solomon. Bathsheba had to assert herself to ensure that Solomon took his place as David's successor.

HE GAINED CONFIDENCE
If you jump ahead to 2 Samuel 22, David has composed a Psalm (18) to commemorate the power and works of God throughout his life and administration. "(The Lord) delivered me because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.” (vs.20-22)

Bathsheba might have just been a forgotten name in history, just another scandal in a scandal-ridden monarchy. But, like many other women of dubious sexual history in the Old Testament, she has an important part in one of the major events in history.

"...and Jesse was the father of King David.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah."

A woman with a shady past, linked with adultery and murder, was part of our Lord's heritage.

Amen!