CHRIST IN THE MARGINS | BATHSHEBA
Speaker: Helen Jenkinson (Elder)
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever been in a situation where you have been misunderstood, where someone makes a judgement about you without understanding all the facts? You might have been falsely accused of something. At school, someone else is talking out of turn, but you get blamed for it. You do something in good faith to help someone and your motives are questioned. You go through a difficult time and people say you’ve brought it on yourself. Have you ever felt like you are responsible, even when the truth of the situation says that you are the victim?
If you do, you will most likely understand the woman we are going to look at today in our first week looking at the cross through the overlooked women in the Old Testament.
Last week Tristan took us on the Road to Emmaus, where Jesus met his 2 followers and gave them the best bible study ever, highlighting all the hints and clues to his death and resurrection in the scriptures. I wonder if Jesus mentioned Bathsheba?
When people (including bible commentators!) hear her name, there are a number of ways they view her: A temptress who was an unhappy housewife, entrapping King David (the man after God’s own heart) in order to get to live at the palace. They might view her as someone complicit in the events that occurred and therefore sharing equal guilt with David. Some might have some sympathy for her, but think she was unwise and so feel sympathy towards David. Others might view her as a victim in the events that transpire.
We will look at the biblical text, whilst remembering that the bible is written FOR us but not TO us, so in order to fully understand the story we need to understand a little more about the life and times of David and Bathsheba and what was really going on in this story. Lastly, we will dig deep to find the truths of the gospel and the cross that are beneath the surface here, rather like buried treasure.
BACKGROUND
David is a major character in the Old Testament. He is the shepherd boy who fights the giant Goliath and is anointed as king of Israel. He is the one who has acted honourably throughout the all the hardship he’s suffered at the hands of Saul, and is now eventually King of Israel. David is the one who in 2 Samuel 9 shows mercy to Mephibosheth, the disabled son of his best friend Jonathan who has been killed, taking him into his house and treating him as one of the family. He is the one from whom the promised Messiah will be descended from.
And then we come to chapter 11.
The story spans 2 chapters so we’re only going to read parts of it today.
BATHSHEBA LAID LOW
Remembering that the bible is written FOR us, but it’s not written TO us, we also need to remember that 2 Samuel is written as factual history, not as a work of fiction, so we need to truffle out the heart of the matter from within the facts presented to us.
In verse 1 we read that the incident took place in the spring - a time when kings went to war. David’s responsibility was to lead his troops into battle in order to secure the safety of his people. But he wasn’t on the battle field. He was at home in the comfort and safety of his palace- the highest building in Jerusalem built for the most important person. From there he sees a beautiful woman bathing.
Here is where our 21st century interpretation differs from the original context. We imagine Bathsheba to be reclining in a bath of water and petals, eyes closed, maybe a glass of wine in the side. We wonder why she would do this outside as a sort of exhibitionism. But the reality wouldn’t be like that at all. People would often bathe on their roofs or in enclosed courtyards because of a lack of space. Privacy was a luxury. Bathing in ancient Israel wasn’t like bathing now.
Commentators suggest Bathsheba would have been stood near a basin of water, probably NOT naked, and the Hebrew word for washing used here might also indicate she was only washing her hands, feet and face. This was not a woman tempting a man, David was acting like a peeping Tom!
Next, we find out a little about who Bathsheba was. Her name means ‘Daughter of the Oath’. The daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah. Commentators believe Eliam was a member of David’s personal bodyguard. Uriah was also listed among his royal guard, his name suggesting that although he was a Hittite, he had adopted Judaism as his faith. Uriah means My Light is the Lord. Bathsheba was someone who was part of a family loyal to David, whose mission was to protect David. David knew exactly who and whose she was. The fact that she is married means nothing to him. Not even the fact that adultery was a capital offence in Israel. They were BOTH married.
In v 4 we read he sent messengers to get her. Again, we can read this as the equivalent of someone writing a love note or a valentine’s card and getting their friend to deliver it. Not so! Think more KGB saying ‘Come with us, Madam!’ Remember David is king. He has absolute control, absolute power. When the king sends for you, you don’t refuse. Power doesn’t seek permission. This was not an invite from David. This was a summons.
There is nothing in the text that suggests she was a willing participant in the events that follow and the writer is keen to point out that Bathsheba was following the purification rules set out in the Torah to be observed after a woman’s monthly period. Bathsheba was acting in accordance with the law. David was definitely not. This small detail is also there to indicate to us that the child she would conceive couldn’t possibly be Uriah’s.
Often the bible makes massive under statements, doesn’t it? v 4 Then she went back home. Don’t think that this was a Romeo and Juliet ‘parting is such sweet sorrow’ moment with Bathsheba and David looking longingly at each other before she says good bye. This was David taking what he wanted from her and discarding her. Sending her home. I wonder did he leave her to walk home by herself? What was she feeling? She couldn’t share with anyone what had happened. It was the king. Who would believe her? How would she feel in the weeks after? A month goes by and no period, then another, and another. Remember there was no such thing as a pregnancy test. Can you imagine her stress, seeing her waistline getting bigger and knowing her child couldn’t be Uriah’s.
Verse 5. Again, the text gives us no commentary, just dialogue. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying ‘I am pregnant.’ We can misread this and think Bathsheba was giving David an ultimatum. But I don’t think that is the case. I think this was a desperate woman who didn’t know which way to turn. Was she stressed out by the fact that Uriah could come home any day and see that she was pregnant but he couldn’t possibly be the father? How would she explain it? So, she sends David a message. Think about the complexities of that. She wasn’t sending him a text or a letter. She wouldn’t be able to go into his presence for a one-to-one chat. She must have had to give her message to one messenger, who would pass it to another, then another higher up the chain of command in order to get it to the king.
Can you imagine the embarrassment and humiliation, seeing the reaction on the faces of the messengers, their look of surprise, maybe their ribald joking or sniggering. This wasn’t a woman who was giving an ultimatum in order to get herself a new home in the palace. Bathsheba hasn’t told David to sort her problem out. She hasn’t asked anything of him. She has just told him the truth of the situation as she is desperate.
You know, God will never snigger or roll his eyes at anything we tell him. We can tell him the things that are deepest and darkest in our hearts. And we don’t need to go through a series of staff members to get to the King of Kings. We can have access to the throne room of God any time we like. How amazing is that?
The next part of chapter 11 shows us how David’s plan to sort out the problem spirals downwards into treachery and murder. He thinks that if Uriah can go home to his wife for a visit, the pregnancy could be passed off as a result of the visit. But Uriah proves himself more honourable than David and out of respect for his colleagues sleeps at the entrance to the palace instead of going home for a conjugal visit.
David’s attempts to get him drunk so he would go home amount to nothing and so David, getting more desperate, puts Uriah in the front line of the fighting and withdraws the other troops. Uriah is abandoned by the one who he is seeking to serve.
With Uriah dead, David thinks his problems have been solved and, maybe with a false show of compassion, he brings Bathsheba to live in the palace as his wife. But notice verse 26. Bathsheba is still called Uriah’s wife. Not David’s. She mourns for him. It also says David ‘had her brought’ to his house. Rather like a parcel. Nowhere in the text does it say how Bathsheba felt. Nowhere in the text does it say she gave consent. David had at least 6 other wives and numerous children. How did she feel going from being the wife of just one man, to becoming one wife in a sea of wives, all vying for David’s attention. How was she treated? Did she have any friends? Or were the other women dismissive of her? We don’t know. But what we do know is that her sorrow was going to increase
In chapter 12 we read of David’s repentance for his sins as Nathan, the prophet challenges him about his adultery by using a parable of a rich man who had all the cattle he could wish for, using the prized lamb of a poor man. Using a lamb in the story is significant, which we’ll look at in a few moments. But we can see all through Nathan’s challenge to David, no blame at all is attributed to Bathsheba. She is innocent of any wrong doing. In verse 7 we read what must have been chilling words to David ‘YOU ARE THE MAN’.
How often have we read her story and made Bethsheba the villain? Sometimes the people at the margins are not there because they made terrible choices, but because someone with more power has done something terrible to them. One of the first things we need to learn from Bathsheba is this: BE CAREFUL WHO YOU BLAME. Before we judge someone’s story, we should ask whether we really know it. God does, and unlike human beings, God sees what happens when nobody else is watching. He sees the truth beneath the assumptions, the victim beneath the label, and he doesn’t confuse the actions of the powerful with the responsibility of the powerless.
READ 2 SAMUEL 12:13-18.
The text describes David’s reactions to his child being ill and dying, but what about Bathsheba? The agony of experiencing the death of a child is a truly awful thing. She carried her child for 9 months, experienced the pain of labour, but never saw her child grow up. This woman experienced the sadness of her husband dying, now her child. She must have been traumatised.
The Bible doesn’t give us a long speech from Bathsheba explaining how she felt, but silence in the text doesn’t mean absence of pain. Sometimes the people who suffer most don’t get the longest speeches, but simply have to endure.
Thankfully that is not the end of her story.
BATHSHEBA LIFTED UP
READ 12:24-25
Verse 24 is the first time we see Bathsheba being treated with any dignity by David, and, in a culture where childlessness was seen as disgrace, Bathsheba is blessed with a son: Solomon. God’s love and grace is poured out on her, but also David. God’s grace means He pours blessing on us when we least deserve it.
The name Solomon means peace. This child is born into a house that is more familiar with violence. Nathan the prophet also gives Solomon the name Jedidiah: Beloved of the Lord. How gracious and merciful God is to reassure this grieving mother that that her pain and anguish is not the end. God doesn’t change. He still says to each of us this afternoon that our grief and pain is not the end for us. He still has plans and purposes for us. He still longs to bless us.
The next chapters of 2 Samuel tell of the consequences of David’s actions from his point of view, but we don’t hear anything more of Bathsheba during the wars and the rebellion of Absalom, David’s son. She reappears in 1 Kings 1 + 2 where we see Nathan coming to tell her about the plot to overthrow David, who is by now very old and frail. We see Bathsheba now as woman with power and influence to negotiate Solomon becoming king. When he does, she is given a throne at his right hand. Bathsheba becomes the first Queen Mother. A position of influence, power and privilege. Quite a turnaround for the woman who was abused.
That doesn’t erase what happened to her, make the abuse good, or mean the suffering was somehow necessary, but it does remind us that the worst chapter of someone’s story is not necessarily the final chapter.
Then there is something even more extraordinary - Bathsheba appears in Matthew 1:6, in the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew could have simply named her, but instead, he describes her as “Uriah’s wife”, which is significant. This is not Matthew having a dig at her, it is Matthew wanting to honour her. To not make light of her suffering. Her identity is connected to the suffering she endured, her story remembered, and neither she nor her pain erased.
Psalm 56:8 is beautiful. You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Isn’t that amazing. In God’s eyes, not one tear is wasted. He has noticed every moment when you cried alone, every grief you couldn’t explain, every injustice nobody else understood, every time you wondered whether anybody really knew what you were going through. God knows. He isn’t distant and dispassionate, telling us to get a grip. He doesn’t roll his eyes at our grief or lose interest because our pain is complicated. He keeps track of our sorrows, collects our tears, and remembers.
Most of us have parts of our story we would rather hide, things we regret, things done to us, things we can’t change, chapters we wish had never been written. But God is not finished. The margins, the tears, and the pain are not the end. There is still a God who restores, redeems and writes new chapters.
TYPOLOGY
As Tristan mentioned last week, this series aims to see the wonders of the gospel in the shadows of the Old Testament, as maybe Jesus would have described them on the road to Emmaus. Remember we are not saying that Bathsheba is a forerunner to Christ, but how does Bathsheba’s story illuminate what Christ has done for us?
Firstly, remember How Bathsheba is described by Nathan? A little ewe lamb. Blameless. Lambs were such a significant part of Jewish life. The sacrifice that the priests needed to offer again and again to cover sin.
Isaiah 53:7 He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
We don’t read that Bathsheba tried to explain herself or vilify David. The gospel writers all make the point that when accused, Jesus did not defend himself. He didn’t try to explain the truth of the situation. He was silent.
Bathsheba was an innocent victim caught up in machinations of men. Jesus also innocent, caught up in political underhandedness. Remember how the members of the Sanhedrin plotted how to get rid of the ‘Jesus problem’ because they were worried about his influence on the people?
Bathsheba was falsely accused of being a temptress, judged for things that were not her fault. Jesus was arrested on trumped up charges. In his agony on the cross, people passed judgement on him as they watched him die, not knowing why he was doing it. “He saved others; let him save himself is he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One” (Luke 23:35)
We saw that Bathsheba suffered the humiliation of unwanted pregnancy and had to humble herself to tell David she was pregnant. In Philippians 2 we read that Jesus humbled himself- even to death on a cross. Jesus suffered the humiliation of the cross because of his great love for you and me.
But Philippians 2 reminds is that death was not the end. Just as Bathsheba was restored and exalted to a position of sitting at the right hand of Solomon, Paul reminds us that Jesus is now exalted and sits at right hand of the father. Victory comes through tragedy.
We see echoes of the gospel in Jesus’ genealogy.
Isn’t it wonderful that God doesn’t choose perfect people, He doesn’t reveal himself in perfect situations. But he shows himself to be faithful in mess and in heartache. He brings people to be chosen as his heirs, who are not his people and gives them honour, gives their lives purpose and meaning in his plan for humanity. Solomon’s name might mean peace, but Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is also Jedidiah – Beloved of the Lord but even more wonderful is that He confers that name on each one of us that knows Him. What a Saviour. What a Lord!
God doesn’t waste our tears or abandon us in the margins. The God who met Bathsheba in the mess is the God revealed fully in Jesus, the God who enters suffering, bears shame, and brings life out of death. One day, every tear will be wiped away, every wrong put right, and with generations of God’s people we will sing: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Forever he shall reign.
And every prayer we prayed in desperation, the songs of faith we sang through doubt and fear. In the end, we'll see that it was worth it when He returns to wipe away our tears.
And on that day, we join the resurrection and stand beside the heroes of the faith. With one voice, a thousand generations sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain"
"Forever He shall reign.
There will be a day when all will bow before Him. There will be a day when death will be no more. Standing face to face with He who died and rose again, Holy, Holy is the Lord
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