Bathsheba - Unexpected Legacy

Intro

[Thank worship team]

Good morning Bethel Church, and good morning to our network of rural churches that are joining us live on YouTube. And if you are new here, I want to extend a special welcome to you. If you would, there are “Connect” cards in the seat in front of you. If you would fill that out there or at the Welcome Center outside of the sanctuary. We even have a free gift for you if you are new to Bethel. We would love to get in touch with you and discuss how to get connected to our church family.

Announcements:

Marriage Retreat Video

[Announcement 2]

Today we will be continuing our study called “5 Women.” If you are reading out of the Bibles in front of you, our passage can be found on page 262. If you do not have a Bible, please stop by the Welcome Center and take one. It is our gift to you.

TRANS: Pray

Opening Hook

Fred was an ordinary man with an unordinary amount of confidence.

He decided one Saturday morning that he was going to save money by cleaning his own gutters. “Why pay someone $150,” he thought, “when I own a perfectly good ladder?”

He leaned it against the house, climbed up, and realized pretty quickly that he hadn’t thought this all the way through. The ladder was just a little too short. If he leaned just a bit to the left, he could reach the last section of gutter.

He leaned.

The ladder wobbled. But he still could not reach

So Mark did what any reasonable person would do—he leaned further.

He didn’t fall. He didn’t get hurt. In fact, it worked. He cleaned the gutters, climbed down, and thought, See? Totally fine.

But something interesting happened. Mark learned a lesson—not the right one, but a lesson. He learned that cutting corners can work.

Fred’s mindset carried to his work. The accounts were not adding up, but instead of investigating and finding the problem, Fred thought “I can fix this” and changed a few numbers so they added up correctly.

Again, it worked. No one noticed the change, the accounts looked good, and life went on.

Fred realized he could also “fix” his family by telling them what they wanted to hear. When he could tell an argument was about to start with his wife, he would lie to calm her down. The lies were always different, just what seemed right in the moment, but the fighting stopped.

But Fred also had a hidden addiction, not a serious one, he thought. But one that would be best if he didn’t let others know about while he was working on it. “I can fix this” he said to himself. And no one noticed, it seemed. And life went on.

Until, life didn’t go on. The truth started to come out. Fred’s attempts to fix things just caused the problems to grow.

There he was, at the end of his rope, unable to fix his way out of this mess… and finally he realized he couldn’t be the one to fix his life.

When Things Go Wrong

We ask: “How can God fix this?”

For some of us, we get to this point very quickly. Asking, “how can God fix this?” But I suspect that if we ask that question quickly, one of two things is going on:

We are blaming God. “When are YOU going to fix it?”

We have learned that God is the only one who can redeem our sinful actions

The first is a reaction, the second is a likely from learning it the hard way.

Well, in our time together, we will discuss the story of the 4th woman in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus: Bathsheba.

Interestingly, she is not actually named in the geneology, yet there she is, plain as day,

Matthew 1:6 ESV

6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

TRANS: I smell some drama. If you smell it too, that’s because the Bible does not sugarcoat its stories. So let’s begin this story that, where they make a mess of things and God has to fix it,

2 Samuel 11:1–5 ESV

1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

Unexpected Legacy

Bathsheba was wrapped up in David’s sinful choices.

2 Samuel 11:1-5

It is impossible to make a definitive case from the text alone if Bathsheba was a willing participant or a victim. I could make a, what would sound to you, a compelling case, from the text, either way. But the truth is that there is no definitive case.

Bathsheba does not speak in this portion of the story, aside from sending a messenger to tell of her pregnancy. We do know what she was thinking.

We know that David likely knew Bathsheba prior to this incident, so there could have been some attraction long before this unfolded. Victor Matthews notes,

The father of Bathsheba is Eliam, a member of David’s special cadre of “mighty men” (2 Sam 23:34) and therefore the head of an influential household. This Eliam is the son of Ahithophel, one of David’s most respected advisors (2 Sam 15:12; 16:23). This information, along with the fact that her husband, Uriah the Hittite, is also one of the “mighty men” (2 Sam 23:39), suggests that David knew exactly whose house he was looking at and was well acquainted with Bathsheba (an alternative translation suggests that it was David who said “Is this not Bathsheba?”).1

1 Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 2 Sa 11:3.

She was bathing on the rooftop, but that was a normal thing to do. However, some have noted that she may have known David was looking and was attention-seeking.

Even if she was attention-seeking, that does not mean that she was necessarily complicit in the affair. That may have crossed a line that even she did not want to cross.

Yet, we see in verse 4, “and she came to him, and he lay with her.” Scholars have noted that this at least appears to be consensual, although others have noted that she did not have a choice given the power dynamic of the King sending for her.

Do you see why I say it is unclear if she was a willing participant or a victim? This is why I say that Bathsheba was “wrapped up” in David’s sinful choices. David bares the responsibility here. I personally believe that Bathsheba began as a victim, but then she became complicit as the story continued to unfold.

But the question remains…

Why would David do this?

I’m going to venture a guess, but it is not without support.

in 1 Samuel 16:11, The prophet Samuel was sent to Jesse to find the new King that God had chosen. Jesse brings out all of his sons, and Samuel says no to each one of them. So Samuel asks a dumb question…

1 Samuel 16:11 ESV

11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” (why would he even ask that? Jesse said that these were all of his sons) And [Jesse] said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”

David is then brought, chosen to be the next King, and the Spirit of God comes upon him.

The Father Wound

But I want to focus in on one word in Jesse’s answer, “there remains yet the youngest.” That word “youngest” is critical. Here’s how the word is used in Hebrew:

Young

Small

Insignificant

David’s father didn’t bring him out because he did not think David was up to the task. “oh yeah, that’s the little one. The youngest. He’s the least significant of my sons. I mean, I guess if Jesse wants to talk to him we could go get him…”

David’s father saw David as insignificant. Now, this is what Psychologists call a “father wound.” Men with a father wound typically have a deep hole in their heart. They find the need to overcompensate in order to feel worthy. They feel inadequate, yet mascarade as manly men. They often seek out sexual gratification as a way of feeling manly.

This is not a belief that is “thought,” rather it is *lived.* It goes like this: “fine, if my dad didn’t think I was man enough, I’ll show him.” So they seek women as a way of providing to themselves, and their father, that they are manly.

Women have father wounds too, and it also leads to self-destructive choices. Though typically not from inadequacy, but from insecurity. They did not feel protected by or loved by their their father, so they seek out relationships (whether healthy or not) that fill that void.

So, side bar, Fathers, your job is incredibly important.

But I think this explains, not excuses, why David did what he did.

TRANS: David was God’s chosen king, he was a wounded man. And that woundedness led him to commit this grave sin… but then the spiral continued.

David tried to get Bathsheba’s husband to come back from the war and sleep with her, so as to explain the pregnancy by making it look like the child was actually his. But Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, was honorable. He would not go home while his men were at war. So David devised a plan to kill Uriah but make it look like an accident.

David instructed his general, Joab, to place Uriah at the front lines and attack the gate (the most fortified part of the city, a losing battle to be sure). And then, once Uriah was in the heat of the battle, for the rest of the army to step back — leaving Uriah without help or cover.

2 Samuel 11:23–27 ESV

23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” 26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

David tried to cover up his sin, and Bathsheba grieved and remarried.

2 Samuel 11:23-27

Do you see how when we try to control our sin things just get worse? The cover up becomes worse then the crime itself?

David attempted to make the relationship between himself and Bathsheba look legitimate. If her husband died in war, what would anyone say about him marrying a widow? But this was murder. How many people went along with this plan too? And how many other soldiers died just so Uriah would die? Sin is like a wildfire that you are trying to control by yelling at it. Good luck.

Coming back to Bathsheba. We see that she is lamenting, mourning over her now dead husband. Then, after a period of time, David sent for her and they married.

And, silence. We get no indications that anyone said anything, presumably they had a beautiful wedding, and Bathsheba gave birth to their son.

Sin has a way of whispering to us, “you got away with it.” “No one noticed, or if they did, they are playing along.” But our God is just. This adultery and subsequent murder was evil, and God was about to send the prophet Nathan to David to confront him.

TRANS: The prophet Nathan arrives in chapter 12 verse 1, where Nathan tells a story that parallels David’s sin. David, of course, is enraged by the injustice and demands that the man be put to death. Nathan declares, “You Are The Man!”

2 Samuel 12:9–14 ESV

9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”

Bathsheba’s children bore the consequences.

2 Samuel 12:9-14

Though David and Bathsheba tried to hide their sin, their sin found them out. And God announced consequences for their sins.

Here’s the truth about sin: sin is orientated to eventually coming to the light.

1 & 2 Samuel Teaching the Text

The Lord disciplines his sinful servants, sometimes severely, because he is a just God and must punish wrongdoing appropriately.

Consequences are unavoidable, but restoration is possible. However, repentance precedes restoration.

Notice that David claims, “I have sinned against the Lord.” He’s right. It was true that he sinned against Bathsheba, and against Uriah, but ultimately his sin was against the Law-giver — The Lord. David confessed and repented, yet still faced the consequences of his choices.

Though the text does not say, it is long held that Bathsheba too confessed and repented of her sins. Like I said, even if she began as a victim, she became complicit as the story went on.

So their son passed away. David knew that this separation was not forever, as he would eventually see his child in heaven again (2 Samuel 12:23, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”)

TRANS: I will discuss consequences further when we think about how this story applies to us, but Bathsheba’s legacy does not end in pain:

Bathsheba’s legacy took hundreds of years to form.

Matthew 1:1

Matthew 1:1 ESV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

“The son of David.” By who? Bathsheba.

In their sin, their son bore the consequences. And centuries later, down the family tree, a new son would be born that would bare our sins and what should have been our consequences on the cross. Jesus is the perfect King that Israel never had, born of a family line filled with the very sins he came to pay for.

Bathsheba’s legacy is not one of an adulterous woman, but of the ancestor of Jesus who eventually brought good from such evil.

TRANS: Do you see why studying Jesus’ genealogy is so important? Because Jesus’ family tree is filled with broken and sinful people like you and I. If Jesus can save them, he can save us too.

Application

God’s people are not exempt from consequences.

There is a law of the universe that goes like this, “you reap what you sow.” In an AG community, this is not hard to explain. “You get out of it what you put into it.” — for better or worse.

God does not shield us from the consequences of our poor decisions. In fact, he allows us to feel the weight of our sins as a part of the process of growing in our faith.

Don’t you wish we could learn the lessons without going through the hard way? But we don’t.

But God also gives us these stories so that, perhaps, we don’t HAVE to learn the hard way. Let David and Bathsheba learn the hard way, not you. Or, if you’ve already made mistakes, don’t add to it by trying to cover it up. Step into the light, repent, or the consequences will only continue to grow.

David’s sin was sexual. Sexual sin has destroyed, demolished, families, careers, reputations. We only look fondly on David because he repented. Though he was broken, he was a man after God’s heart.

Don’t wait. Repent. If you fear the consequences of coming clean, trust me, the consequences of being “found out” are far worse.

So I will create an open invitation:

If you are struggling with:

Pornography

Have had an affair

Same-sex attraction

Lust

Are cohabitating

Premarital sex

Or any other kind that you can think of…

Talk to me. Confess. And start making it right. You cannot change the past, but you can change your direction.

TRANS: Lastly, Bathsheba’s reputation took hundreds of years to form. We think of her as the ancestor of King Jesus. But really, hundreds of years? Come on. Can’t we get this going a bit faster?

Be patient, God will restore in His timing.

“God, how are you going to fix this?” Remember that God’s timetable is not ours. Did Bathsheba see redemption in her lifetime? In smaller ways, yes. But she lived with the consequences of her sins. She had a husband and a child she could not get back in this life.

But this is why I say, “in His timing.” God considers eternity, not just here. Bathsheba’s redemption came as she looked forward in time to when God would send the messiah. In the same way, our hope is in Christ as we look back on the reason why he came this Christmas season: to pay for the sins of the world.

We come back to our opening question, “God, how are you going to fix this?”

Like Bathsheba, we look forward in time to when Jesus will come again, destroy all evil, and make a new heaven in earth. You may see glimmers of God’s redemption on this earth, but be patient, for full and complete redemption is coming.

Conclusion : Yes, God can fix our mess. He’s going to. Do you trust in that today?

Benediction:

2 Corinthians 13:11–14 ESV

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Talk About It/Think About It

Have you or someone you know ever been in a situation and thought, “there is no way God can bring good out of it?”

Why is it important to name sin clearly and honestly, especially when it harms others?

How does David’s attempt to cover his sin deepen the damage? What does Bathsheba’s silence and grief teach us about suffering we don’t choose?

How does seeing Bathsheba in Jesus’ genealogy reshape how you think about legacy and redemption?

Why is it difficult to accept that forgiveness does not always remove earthly consequences?

What does patience look like when healing or resolution feels delayed?