Bathsheba

That was quite the Biblical story we just heard and believe it or not there’s even more we need to know to fully understand what is going on. In fact, we need to go back to the first Bathsheba story in 2 Samuel 11-12. The reason why I feel this is so crucial is because it really sets the stage for everything that has happened in David’s family ever since David had Bathsheba’s husband killed and then married her. After that all happened Nathan confronts David about it and at the end in 2 Samuel 12:10–11 “Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house. “This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family.” we hear that the sword will never leave David’s own house and then more specifically says that it will be within his own family.

Now lets take a look at some of David’s sons and see how this plays out. Amnon, who is David’s firstborn, is killed by his brother for having relations with his sister. Then Absolom mounts a rebellion against his father David and is killed by Joab who was the commander of David’s army. Absolom was known to be very handsome. Then we have Adonijah who we hear about today and we have these conflicting reports about how he will rule as king and even parades around Israel to essentially show that he will be king next which sounds like rebellion, but David doesn’t stop him or question his actions so it almost seems like succession. He even recruits Joab, who again was David’s commander of his army to join his cause as well as the priest Abiathar who was high priest when David became king. At the same time he celebrates his almost self-proclamation as king, and he doesn’t invite any of his family including Solomon nor does he invite Nathan the prophet or other key figures in David’s court.

So in the eyes of people like Nathan and others this does seem to be a coup of sorts. The other part of the text that doesn’t help us unless we know the rest of the family affairs is the key phrase that Adonijah was very handsome. I randomly slipped in that his brother Absolom was also declared very handsome when he started his coup, so in the words of the Bible Project team, this use of the phrase he was very handsome being mentioned as he attempts to ascend the throne is a ‘hyperlink’ to the story of Absolom’s failed coup. Now our text singles out Nathan, but I would assume everyone who was left out of the planning and celebrations of Adonijah’s ascension/coup would be very worried hearing what Adonijah has been doing and who he has and hasn’t included in this matter.

Does your head hurt yet, because I know mine does. Now if your livelihood and most likely life were going to be in imminent danger, you would do something about it right? Well Nathan agrees and he seeks out the one person he feels would both be able to convince David of another outcome and would be just as invested as Nathan was in securing their lives and futures, as well as the lives and futures of their family members. With 8 wives, 18 plus children, minus those who have died, and David nearing the end of his life, Bathsheba had to make a snap decision on what to do about Nathan’s request.

Bathsheba listens to what Nathan suggests she say, but she chooses to add some important parts of the conversation. She tells him what Adonijah has done, which would remind him of his other son’s Absolom’s rebellion. She tells him essentially that his legacy rests with who he decides will be king next, and that David is the one who should make that decision. While ascension of the oldest son is something that was happening in other countries at that time, and we see throughout history, this is the first real succession in Israel and no law, statute, or tradition has been set. He truly can declare whoever he wants. With that idea now planted in his head, Bathsheba plays on his emotions by saying that if Adonijah does in fact ascend to the throne that Bathsheba and Solomon will live in exile and never be welcome back to Israel let alone Jerusalem.

It’s at this point that I have to feel that all the history between David and Bathsheba has to be playing through David’s mind. Everything he did to make her his wife, losing their first son as an infant, and everything else that she had to go through as his wife. I don’t think that David could stand the thought that she and her sons, including Solomon would be at best exiled and at worst killed. The reason why Solomon is so important is he is the son that was born after their first baby died. Bathsheba is really appealing strongly to all of this when she makes this request of him.

David, as we read, grants the request and makes Solomon king over all of Israel. While we can never know the outcomes of things that never happened, what we do know is that Bathsheba was able to secure peace for her whole family and quite probably the entire country of Israel. The coup that happened with the other son, Absolom, caused a lot of turmoil for both the land and for David, and now that Bathsheba had secured Solomon as king, the land could now know with certainty that David had chosen a king to succeed him. We can question the ethics of all of it until we are blue in the face, but the bottom line is that Bathsheba saved the country from more coups and more widespread bloodshed. She also secured the future of her entire family as well as that of Nathan and whoever else wasn’t a part of Adonijah’s coup.

Like I said before, I don’t think anyone else could have done what Bathsheba did because of her relationship and history with David. It is amazing to me that there are certain people placed in our own lives and in this world that are able to bring about change that helps bring peace and stability to people’s lives. So take this time to think of people in the world past and present that have been able to bring peace into the world and in your own life and give thanks for them as we give thanks for the way that Bathsheba stepped up and had the courage to make the changes that need to be made in a world that was rapidly crumbling around her. For yet another incredible woman of faith and strength we give thanks. Amen.