His sins of omission finally blossomed and came into full bloom. I must point out that the messenger does not do as he is told, at least the way I read the account. He plays the role of a benevolent master. Uriah is listed among the mighty warriors of David (2 Samuel 23:39; 1 Chronicles 11:41). First, “Can a Christian fall?” Yes. 13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. David and Bathsheba, Uriah and Nathan: Bible stories told for children. It was the attempt to cover up the crime which led to massive repercussions. I take it from the context that Uriah is sent to Jerusalem on the pretext that he is needed to report directly to David on the state of the war. Uriah speaks with such conviction, David knows that he will never violate his duty as a soldier with all of his mental faculties. There, surrounding the city of Rabbah, are the Israelite soldiers, led by Joab. Uriah is one of those Gentile converts whose faith and obedience puts many Israelites to shame. Uriah is now acting like the David we knew from earlier days. In effect, David is saying, “Well, don't worry about it. 3:1), raped his half-sister, Tamar. But then David received word from Bathsheba that this one night resulted in Bathsheba's pregnancy. How insensitive of Uriah not to go home to be with his wife and to sleep with her. When one entered his house, he usually took off his shoes and washed his feet, in preparation for eating and for going to bed. 16 When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. Let us see if we can find the answer to this question as we look more closely at these verses. I am certain David does not want Uriah to know the real purpose of his journey to Jerusalem. Let me suggest a few as I conclude this lesson. David's sin blossoms so that it transforms a true and loyal friend (Uriah) to his enemy, and his enemies (the Ammonites, and in some senses, Joab) into his allies. Uriah's death has to be viewed as one of a group of men, rather than merely one man. I doubt David wants Uriah to know he has ordered Joab to send him. 6 David then sent word to Joab, 'Send me Uriah the Hittite,' whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David. How strange it is to see David, the mighty man of valor, (1 Samuel 16:18) dealing with Uriah, another mighty man of valor, like the enemy. Have you experienced it, my friend? They have to be sacrificed to conceal the murder of Uriah. She came to him, and he slept with her. More and more people become aware of his sin, and a cover up becomes impossible. But when Uriah faithfully serves his king (David), he loses his life. It looks as though Bathsheba never enters David's mind after their encounter described in verses 1-4. Fifth, when we seek to conceal our sin, things only get worse. They seem gracious and understanding, even sympathetic. Let them think carefully about the example of Uriah for their own lives. The inference is that this is a military (or at least official) mission. He may even have heard about David's liaison with Bathsheba. He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion (Proverbs 28:13). There are those who might conclude that Uriah's elevator may not “go to the top floor” (as my neighbor used to say of those she considered less than bright). Uriah leaves David's presence. Is Uriah gullible? 10 When it was reported to David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a journey? Bible Gateway Plus makes studying Scripture easier than ever. It will not be long before her pregnancy will become obvious to anyone who looks at her. Instead, his sins only multiply. Key Verses . 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. Joab knows that David will react (perhaps hypocritically) to the report of the attack and the resulting losses. He does not wish to deny himself, so he takes the wife of another man and sleeps with her. Seventh, Uriah is a reminder to us that God does not always deliver the righteous from the hand of the wicked immediately, or even in this lifetime. Uriah has just told David that he will not go to his own house, that he will not eat and drink and sleep with his wife.41 He has put this matter emphatically: “By your life, and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing” (verse 11). Uriah should not be criticized or looked down upon for his loyalty and submission to David. 2 Samuel 11:2-4 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. How sad to read of David's hypocrisy. Now why does this messenger not wait for David to respond in anger, as Joab instructed? As we take up where we left off in our last lesson, a few more bits of background information are vital to our understanding of this text. All in all, several weeks or more have passed. In heart and soul, Uriah is still with his fellow-soldiers. Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? This is what makes his loyalty to David and to God's Law so striking. The priest had nothing but the sacred bread, which he would allow David and his men to eat, if they had only “kept themselves from women” (verse 4). This is not the David of a few chapters earlier. David's one preoccupation is to cover up his sin, to get Uriah home and to bed with his wife, and thus to get David off the hook. And explain he does; Uriah's words to his commander-in-chief are as stinging a rebuke as David receives from Nathan in the next chapter. I have heard people say, “I don't know how a person who _______ could have ever been a Christian.” There are times -- like this time for David -- when others will hardly know we are saved by the testimony of our actions. Worse yet, David sets out to convince -- even to compel -- Uriah to go to do so, even though it will cause him to violate his conscience. Mission accomplished: Uriah is dead. In this letter David clearly orders Joab to murder Uriah for him. Here is Uriah, a man who will give his life for his king, and David, a man who is now willing to take Uriah's life to cover his sin. The word “Selah,” although a musical term has a similar meaning to Amen, and means to pause, reflect, think about it. It is assaulting the glory of God, rebelling against God. He should be highly commended. His sin first acted out by his taking another man's wife, and then taking her husband's life, and along with his life, the lives of a number of men who must die with him to make his death credible. The problem was that he didn't know how to stop what he started, and so more and more helpers came on the scene as the apprentice tried to reverse the process. In this one facet, we may in fact see David as a model worth emulating. Joab and Uriah may have sensed that this was no “mission impossible” (as you would give a mighty warrior), but that is a “mission incredible.” In any case, the web of deceit and deception is already being woven, and more people are being drawn into the conspiracy. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She was originally the wife of Uriah the Hittite, a trusted soldier in David… . One of the tragic aspects of our story is that the sequence of sin in David's life does not end with his adulterous union with Bathsheba. David is in trouble. 2 Samuel 11 - CEB: In the spring, when kings go off to war, David sent Joab, along with his servants and all the Israelites, and they destroyed the Ammonites, attacking the city of Rabbah. 28 Afterward when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. (Had this been true in the earlier days of Israel's history, there would not have been another generation of Israelites, since Israel was almost constantly at war with one of their neighbors.) He has been called to his king's presence, away from the battle. By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing” (2 Samuel 11:11). For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. It is amazing how quickly David falls into the sins depicted in this one chapter. Rumors must have been circulating around Jerusalem about David and Bathsheba, and could easily have reached the Israelite army which had besieged Rabbah. “ABISHAG WAS MARRIED TO DAVID BEFORE SHE LAY WITH HIM, AND WAS HIS SECONDARY WIFE, appears from its being imputed as a great crime to Adonijah that he desired to marry her (1 Kings 2:22) after his father’s death.” If not, why not confess your sin now and receive God's gift of forgiveness in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary? (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Uriah, like all of the Old Testament saints of old, died without receiving his full reward, and that is because God wanted him to wait. This means that she has missed at least one period and probably another. You may remember that when David first fled from Saul he went to Ahimelech the priest and asked for some provisions and a sword. Upon one idle evening while he was walking on his rooftop, he saw Bathsheba bathing. One way or the other, David is making these servant-spies co-conspirators with him. Our lesson from 2 Samuel 11 is one of the great cover-up attempts of all time, and like so many, it too fails miserably. But David remained in Jerusalem. 39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect (Hebrews 11:13-16, 32-40). However, it doesn’t seem that it’s really going to be done to David himself; instead, someone else will suffer for his wrongdoing: “ Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. This is David's sin and his responsibility, and so she informs him. David very delicately encourages this man to go home and go to bed with his wife. It seems to me that our text strongly implies that even drunk, a man cannot be forced to violate his convictions, unless of course he wants to do so. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall (1 Corinthians 10:11-12). And so, rather than wait for David to hypocritically rant and rave about the stupidity of such a move, he just goes on and tells him first, so that he will not receive any reaction from David. 19 He commanded the messenger, “When you’ve finished telling the king all the details of the battle— 20 if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Amnon, David’s eldest son by Ahinoam (1 Chron. He can now marry this woman and raise the child as his own, which of course it is. It is clear that Uriah understands exactly what David wants him to do (to have sex with his wife), and that he refuses, even when the king virtually orders him to do so. One finds this difficult to explain if Uriah is ignorant of what happened between David and Bathsheba. They virtually equal the length of the account of David's dealings with Uriah. Is this not the time for him to concern himself with his needs and desires? Was the present some “food and drink”? From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. Many lessons can be learned from this tragic episode of David's life, which if heeded, will keep us from duplicating them in our own lives. The elders in his family came in and tried to get him off the floor, but he wouldn’t budge. He is not only a believer, he is a model believer. 11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. It seems like another version of, “The Devil made me do it.”, Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. He sends a “present from the king” after, or with, Uriah. David sends word to Joab, ordering him to send Uriah home to Jerusalem. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. I think it is safe to say that there is no sin of which the Christian is not capable in the flesh. But even worse, David does not really care about Joab, the people, or the war. I think the messenger figures out that if David knows Uriah has been killed, he will not raise any objections to this needless slaughter. To cover up the scandal, he then had Uriah killed. BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO. He confidently assured the priest that he and his men had kept themselves from women, almost incensed that the priest would think otherwise. The woman becomes pregnant, and so David calls Uriah home, hoping it will be thought that he has gotten his wife pregnant. The hypocrisy of David's actions and words are hard to accept. Go see your wife and sleep with her.” David wanted Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba because he wanted to trick Uriah and make Uriah think that he had made Bathsheba pregnant instead of David. He left his safety and future in God's hands, and God did not fail him. To my knowledge, there is no specific law in the Law of Moses which forbids a soldier to have sex with his wife during times of war. David simply puts this sinful event out of his mind, until a messenger is sent by Bathsheba informing the king that his night of passion has produced a child. In giving this order to Joab, David makes him a part of this conspiracy, making him share the guilt for the spilled blood of Uriah. Three police officers responded to find five unauthorized individuals inside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. It was not Bathsheba's indiscretion in bathing herself (as I understand this story), for she was simply obeying the ritual of purification outlined in the law. 7 When Uriah reached him, David asked how Joab was and how the army was and how the war was going. She came to him, and he slept with her. David does not wish to endure the adversities of the war with Rabbah, and so he goes to Jerusalem, to his home, and to his bed. The Counsel of Ahithophel and Hushai … 21 Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. Contrast his response to the death of Uriah with his responses to the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:11-27), and even of Abner (2 Samuel 3:28-39). 27 So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother. One does not need to send a military hero as a messenger (nor is it good practice). Fourth, sin snowballs. David speaks of Uriah returning from a journey (verse 10). Until that time, he will think and act like the soldier he is. . Joab has carried out David's instructions to the letter. This will certainly end any protest or criticism on David's part. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home. He had an affair with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who was one of his most loyal soldiers. He begins to stack one sin upon another, certain that each one will somehow wipe out visibility of the previous sin. 12 “Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. In our first lesson, we devoted our attention to the first four verses of chapter 11, which depict David's sin of adultery with Bathsheba. As Saul sought to kill David unjustly, because he was jealous of his successes, so also David submitted himself to faithfully serving Saul, his master. Sin, by definition, is … To fully grasp the impact of Uriah's words, let us turn back a few pages in Samuel's writings to recall David's own words, spoken to Ahimelech the priest, as they relate to this encounter with Uriah: 1 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone and no one with you?” 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.' 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. 2 Samuel 12:15 | View whole chapter | See verse in context And Nathan departed unto his house. He gives very exacting instructions to him. And when Uriah swears by the life of the king that he will not do so, the king ends up taking Uriah's life. Documents of the Democratic National Committee had been photographed in the first break-in. He is among many of those who have trusted and obeyed God who have not received their just rewards in this life, but who will be rewarded in the coming kingdom of God. Uriah humbly but steadfastly refuses to do this: Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. How ironic! Sin is not stagnant; it is not static. As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”(E). The sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is God's provision for covering our sins. 12 Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David … In the very next verses, David compels Uriah to “eat and drink” with him, with the hope that he will lie with his wife. [c][d] Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? However, Uriah faced an untimely end when the king lusted after Uriah’s wife. David's sin continues to encompass more and more people, leading to greater and greater sin. [e] 27 When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. “Shame on you, Uriah!” Uriah has a lot of explaining to do, or so it seems to David. (3) Whatever it was, it was very carefully planned to facilitate David's scheme of getting Uriah to bed with his wife, as quickly as possible. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. After Nathan went home, GOD afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he came down sick. We all know that it doesn’t work. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. Some folks in the Bible may cause us to question whether they really ever came to faith in God, folks like Balaam or Samson or Saul. (1) It seems likely that David and Uriah are hardly strangers, but that they know each other, to some degree at least. He really wants to be back in the field of battle, and not in Jerusalem. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. 23 The messenger reported to David, “The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate. Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). David condemned Joab and put him under a curse because he shed the innocent blood of Abner. Sin grows. This is the conviction of Uriah as a soldier, and he will not violate his conscience, even when commanded to do so by the king. She came to him, and he slept with her. Too many Christians today want their blessings “now” and are not willing to suffer, waiting for their reward then. Throughout history, many attempts have been made to cover up incompetence, immorality, and even crimes. This attack provokes a counter-attack by the Ammonites against Uriah and those with him. 26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. Recognizing God’s Providence: Fellowship Restored (Gen. 45:1-28). There are three persons called Uriah in the Bible, but the most popular is Uriah the Hittite – the husband of Bathsheba, whom David killed after impregnating his wife (2 Samuel 11).The second Uriah mentioned in the Bible is in Ezra 8:33.The King James Version and New King James Version spell the name as Urijah (Nehemiah 3:4, 21; 8:4). Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. The truth is that Uriah has been called from the field of battle. The woman was very beautiful, 3and David sent someone to find out about her. Sin, by definition in the Bible, is not wronging another person. He has many witnesses to testify that any child borne by his wife during this time is not his child. Why didn’t you go home?”, 11 Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers[b] are camping in the open field. All rights reserved. Instead of obeying David’s orders, Uriah slept in the quarters of the palace servants, refusing to enjoy a respite with Bathsheba while his men on the battlefield were still in harm’s way (2 Samuel 11:9–11). I endeavored to demonstrate that David's sin with Bathsheba was the result of a sequence of wrong decisions and attitudes on David's part. They conclude with the messenger's actual report and David's response to it. The story of David and Uriah reminds me of the story of the “Sorcerer's Apprentice.” It has been awhile, but as I remember the plot (probably the Walt Disney version), the sorcerer goes away, leaving his apprentice behind to do his chores. Uriah, his servant, has “come home from a journey” (verse 10). This is the way he can serve his king in Jerusalem, and so this is what he chooses to do rather than to go home. He sleeps in the doorway of the king's house, in the presence of a number of the king's servants. The Israelites have besieged the city of Rabbah. David begins to eat and to drink, and he will not take no for an answer when he offers food and drink to Uriah. Now David adds a further touch. (G) Why did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” 22 Then the messenger left. Uriah left the palace and was followed by a present from the king's table. How can he when everyone knows Uriah has never been with his wife to get her pregnant? (D) Afterward, she returned home. In fact, spiritual intimacy with God is often the result of our sufferings (see Matthew 5). Nor could they get him to eat anything. I think it is important to see that there is no specific command here which Uriah refuses to disobey. Bible stories for Christian young children and toddlers. At least Uriah knows what David is trying to get him to do on this stay in Jerusalem. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” David is orchestrating this homecoming to appear as though it serves one purpose, while it actually serves David's purpose of concealing his own sin. It is at this point, Joab instructs the messenger, that he is to inform David of the death of Uriah. 8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. He fasted, wouldn’t go out, and slept on the floor. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 11 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. The answer is quite simple, as is evident by Joab's own concerns. Joab has to assemble a group of mighty men, like Uriah, and including Uriah, to wage an attack on the city. Was it a night for two at the Jerusalem Hilton? David acts without Bathsheba's help. I wonder how many people get drunk because they want to do what they do drunk, and they think they can blame alcohol for their own sin? Only one thing is wrong with David's plan: he assumes Uriah is as spiritually apathetic as he, and that he will act to indulge himself, rather than act like a soldier at war. And God did deliver them. The author points his accusing finger at David, not Bathsheba. Adam and Eve thought they could cover their sins by hiding their nakedness, and if not this, by hiding themselves from God. I wonder. Bathsheba informs David that she is pregnant, not that she is afraid she might be. The king's faithful soldier spends the night guarding the life of the king, the king who has taken his own wife in the night, and who will soon take his life as well. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4Then David sent messengers to get her. 41 Is this, by any chance, a clue as to what the “present” was that David sent after Uriah in verse 8? Ten days later, God struck Nabal and he died, and Abigail then became David’s wife. I think it is safe to say that here Uriah is very much like David in his earlier days, in terms of his response to Saul. I believe the messenger gives the report in this way because he understands what is really going on here. In short, David will entice Uriah to think and to act as he himself has done. Because [אֲֶשר, here causative for יַעַן אי.Comp. “David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.” Matthew 1:6 Tucked into the lines of Matthew’s gospel is a little gem of Scripture that is filled with hope for each of us. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. There is no need for any attack. He intends to put Uriah in a position that will make it appear that he is the father of Bathsheba's child. Why is how the messenger reports this incident so important? From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Even drunk, Uriah will not violate his conscience!42 Once again, Uriah spends the night at the doorway of David's house, along with his servants. It leads to a deceptive plot to make her husband Uriah appear to be the father of David's child with Bathsheba and culminates in David's murder of Uriah and his marriage to Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. 42 Uriah’s actions raise some interesting questions about those who get themselves drunk. quod] David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Joab obeys David's command to send Uriah, and my guess is that Joab knows something is up. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? Psalm 32 was clearly written as a prayer when David was confessing his sins regarding Bathsheba and Uriah. He didn't even go home!” David then seeks to gently rebuke Uriah. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, … It all began when King David was walking on his palace roof one evening. All rights reserved. Western culture is on… (3) Bathsheba is not said to have any part in David's scheme to deceive Uriah or to bring about his death, much less any knowledge of what David is doing. Apart from God's sustaining grace, we can fall very far, very quickly. But we have no such questions regarding David. Sixth, our text makes Uriah a hero and a model, not a chump and not a sucker. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. This is not “causing a weaker brother to stumble;” this is cutting off a stronger brother's legs at the knee. Uriah has to understand what the king is suggesting. As much as possible, he will live the way his fellow-soldiers are living on the field of battle. David's plan is simple and, at least in his mind, foolproof. From there he spied Bathsheba, who was a beautiful woman, taking a bath. Joab complies completely with David's orders, and Uriah is eliminated, no longer an obstacle to David's plans. She became his wife and bore him a son. I think he also figures out that David wants to get rid of Uriah, and that Joab has accomplished this by this miserable excuse for an offensive against the enemy. His sin begins very privately, but as the story progresses, more and more people become aware of it, and worse yet, more and more people become participants in it. When she informs David that she is pregnant, David takes decisive action, but nowhere are we told that Bathsheba has a part in his schemes. In the fifth chapter, they cover the difference between an honor/shame and a right/wrong (also called innocence/guilt) culture. Then David sent messengers to get her. That's the way it goes.” Uriah, a great warrior and a man of godly character, has just died, and David does not express one word of grief, one expression of sorrow, not one word of tribute.
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