It was such a scandalous event,
such a mar on the life of King David, such an embarrassment in the history of
Israel, that Matthew doesn’t even list her by name. She is called “of Uriah”, and rightly so, for
that was her legitimate marriage. Unlike
Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, Bathsheba is not remembered for her faith or for her
character. She is remembered for two
things--the one whose husband was murdered., and the queen mother to King
Solomon. It was not Bathsheba’s fault
that she ended up in this predicament, except I suppose, that she could have
refused and fought King David possibly ended up dead like her husband. Would a martyr’s death have been better? When one thinks of David and Bathsheba, one
has to wonder, “Where’s the love in this story?” I don’t see much love. There’s lust, murder, adultery, scandal, and
pride, but not much love.
We
know that David was so repentant over his sins with and against Bathsheba that he
wrote no less that three psalms about it.
He was repentant because he realized what he had done when Nathan
confronted him. That story of Nathan’s
confrontation can be found in the first part of II Samuel 12, prior to today’s
reading. A pastor friend of mine always
wanted to have some T-shirts printed that said, “You’re the man!” on one side
and the reference II Samuel 12:7 on the back.
“You’re the man!” is no complement!
What
do we know about Bathsheba, other than she was really hot! We know her hometown was Gilon in southern
Judea. Gilon means “exile,” and was a
city where many of the Gentile remnants from the people who originally
inhabited the promised land lived. She
married Uriah, a Hittite, a Gentile. Uriah
was a believer in Yahweh, very devoted to his wife and to King David. Bathsheba probably was not Hittite but may
have been part Gentile. Her father was
Eliam, also very loyal to King David.
Her grandfather was Ahithophel, loyal and wise counselor to King David
for quite a while, but joined in the first revolt against King David, that of
Absolom. Ahithophel committed suicide
when Absolom refused to take his advice, and Ahithophel could see that
Absolom’s revolution was doomed. One
wonders if Ahithophel supported Absolom in part because of what had happened to
his granddaughter and her husband.
What else do we
know about Bathsheba? Her name means
“daughter of an oath, or daughter of wealth.”
We also know that she actually had 4 sons in addition to the one that
died, and that despite today’s reading, Solomon was the youngest of these sons,
not the next one. In genealogies, children
are always listed in birth order, and in II Sam. 5:14 and I Chron. 3:5, Solomon
is listed last. The brother next oldest
to Solomon is Nathan, the son of David listed in Luke’s genealogy. Yet it is Solomon that is the chosen king,
the son who is loved by God, which is what Nathan the prophet called
him—Jedediah, Beloved of God. Solomon in
Hebrew is Schlomo, from the word Shalom, peace.
It is Solomon, not the other sons who is called the child of Bathsheba’s
consolation.
We
read the story of Solomon’s rise to kingship in our second Old Testament
reading this morning. This doesn’t seem
like much of a redemption of the scandal of David and Bathsheba. Once again we see conniving, rebellion,
manipulation, unfaithfulness, and not much love. Adonijah is much like his older brother
Absolom. He is handsome and loved by
people. Like Absolom, he was neglected
and spoiled by his father by turns.
David certainly does not win any father-of-the-year awards. He was a terrible father. King Saul was actually a much better father
than David ever was, even to Michal and Jonathan, who both tricked him. Saul loved them both and we see
reconciliation between Saul and Jonathan before their demise. Too many parents today though are following
David’s style of parenting. They don’t
spend much time with them and then let them do whatever they want and have
whatever they want. David is even
reluctant to step in when Adonijah declares himself king until Nathan and
Bathsheba remind him that he has made a promise in regard to Solomon.
There
is a division between David’s loyal supporters.
Most go with Adonijah, including Joab, who killed Absolom and Abithar,
one of the priests. Adonijah even
invites all of his half-siblings to his coronation feast, even Solomon’s
brothers, all except Solomon, probably because he knew of his father’s promise.
There
was no logical reason Solomon should have been king. He wasn’t next in line. Adonijah was the 4th son of David,
next in line since Amnon, Absolom, and the one in between, Daniel or Kileab,
son of Abigail, must have also been dead for some reason. Solomon wasn’t even the first son born in
Jerusalem, as we learn that he had older brothers. But Solomon was the one whom God chose and
David had promised to Bathsheba. Having
one of Bathsheba’s sons be King would protect her and also promote her to a
position of power. Wives of kings were
not usually called queens. But the
mother of a king was called a queen and given some power. This would be redemption for her. Otherwise, since the marriage was never
really legitimate, she did face the possibility of being killed. The other families of David would be fine as
long as no one challenged for the throne.
Adonijah’s
fair-weather friends abandon him when David finally steps in and has Solomon
crowned king. They don’t, however, run
to Solomon, but instead pledge loyalty to King David. Adonijah clings to the altar for his life,
seeking refuge. His refuge is granted by
the new king at first, until Adonijah asks for Abishag to be his wife. This is considered an act of treason, whether
Adonijah meant it or not. Why did
Bathsheba tell Solomon? She most likely
knew this would end not only in Adonijah’s death but also Joab’s, the man who
gave the order to have the troops leave her husband, Uriah, hanging out there
by himself in battle so that he would be killed. Is Bathsheba getting her revenge? Is she protecting her son? What are her motives? And poor Abishag, what happens to her? This poor girl who was taken from her home to
take care of an old, dying man, is she locked away forever with the rest of
David’s concubines? Solomon isn’t
legally allowed to have her either. Is
she set free? Again, there doesn’t seem
to be much love in this story. It’s all
violence and people using one another for their own profit, not caring who they
hurt to get the power they want. And
sadly, it isn’t too different from the way people act today.
So
where is the love in this story? Isn’t
the fourth Sunday of Advent supposed to be about love? I suppose you could say that David did love
Bathsheba. After all, she had multiple
children by him. David loved Solomon,
because he made Solomon king. Bathsheba
loved Solomon; he was the son of her consolation. But the real love in this story is the love
of God. God loved Solomon from the time
Solomon was born. It had nothing to do
with Solomon. Solomon didn’t earn it or
deserve any more than any other child of David.
We see from Solomon’s later life that he did a lot that was very
unloving and not worthy of being loved.
But God loved Solomon and chose him.
God has this same love for us. We
don’t deserve God’s love any more than any one else, but God chose us before
the foundation of the world. God loves
us despite what we do. God loves us
before we are ever aware of it and able to express our love in return. God loves us not for anything in us, but
simply because. Because God is love.
Secondly,
God loved David. Despite David’s gross
sins, despite being a murderer, despite breaking multiple commandments. Even God’s discipline of David was evidence
of God’s love for David. God forgave
David for everything. If God can forgive
David for all that, surely God can forgive anyone, and indeed God can! The Lord forgives the darkest, most wicked,
and depraved sins. The same love that
forgave David for lust, adultery, murder, greed, and arrogance forgives our
sordidness. God forgives us for all of
our sins. No matter how serious we think
they are, no matter what we’ve done, God can and does forgive us in Christ
Jesus, if we will receive that forgiveness.
Even though we may have to endure the Lord’s chastening and face the
consequences of sins, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love us and forgive
us. In fact, the New Testament tells us
that God disciplines those God loves, like a loving Father. God even blesses us despite our continual
failings, just as God continued to bless David.
This
same love of God took away Bathsheba’s shame and gave her a place of honor as
the Queen Mother of Solomon. The one who
had everything taken away from her is protected and honored, just like Tamar
and Rahab were loved and honored by God.
This same love of God takes away our shame and replaces it with
honor. We are honored as children of the
King, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We
are offered protection in God our Refuge and Strength, out Mighty Fortress, and
Strong Tower, our Hiding Place, our Shelter in the Time of Storm.
And
finally in this story we see God’s love in the gift of a peace child to David
and Bathsheba. This child comforted both
of them, enabled them to be at peace with each other, and most of all showed
that God was at peace with them. This
same love blessed the world with a peace child when God Himself took on human
flesh and came into the world as a baby boy.
The peace child Jesus was love with skin on, showing us who God is. The child grew up and died on a cross so that
we could be at peace with God, so we could be reconciled to God. And in being reconciled to God we are able to
be reconciled to one another. The risen
man ascended so that a new family could be formed, the Church, a place of love
and reconciliation and from which the message of the love of God is taken to
the world and demonstrated for the world.
The love in God’s story is in Christ Jesus. He is where love is! May you know that God is love and be found by
Love.
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