JANUARY 2, 2025
“And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.” (II Samuel 11:2-4)
At this point in 2 Samuel, we read that it’s the time of year when kings and armies would traditionally march to war, but King David remained in Jerusalem. He did this in spite of God’s direction to the contrary. He, instead, sends his commander, Joab, while he falls into this great sin of being conquered and led captive by his own lust. If David’s attention had been where God wanted it, he would never have put it where God didn’t want it. Staying home from the battle merely provided an opportunity for his long-standing lack of sexual restraint and indulgence of passion to display itself, as David likely knew it would. Had he been at his post at the head of his forces, he would have been out of the way of this temptation.
Perhaps David was not trying to see Bathsheba bathing, and it was a complete accident, but he at least did not practice according to his own prayer, “Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity.” Her marital status with Uriah the Hittite didn’t stop David from taking and lying with the woman. This week, we’ll continue our study of the fallout of this great sin by looking at how it affected David’s children.
Starting in chapter 13, there is a story of sexual assault among David’s children: Amnon, Tamar, and Absolom. Since David had many wives, Amnon had a mother (a woman named Ahinoam) who was different from Absalom and Tamar (Maacah). So, Tamar was Amnon’s half-sister, and his lust was so great that he violently forced himself upon her and afterward, sending her away in shame. David was naturally very angry, but he apparently did nothing about the assault. We are left to assume that David did not deal with the situation. Absalom loved his sister and understandably was very angry with Amnon, hating him for the evil he had done. Absalom’s anger with his brother comes full circle when, two years later, he plots the death of Amnon. He gathers all the king’s sons together for a feast. Absalom murdered his half-brother, fled to a country to the north, and lived there for three years (13:29). For David, this is like a nightmare that we only read about in the news. It’s always someone else, but now David’s son murdered another son: a nightmare and an unimaginable heartache.
David eventually allows Absalom back to Jerusalem, but their relationship remains frayed (something we’ll consider in the following article). It’s now been five years since Absalom killed Amnon and seven years since Amnon assaulted his half-sister, Tamar. On top of teaching David’s children a general lack of sexual restraint, all of this so far is part of the fulfillment of the prophecy on David and the fallout from his sin.
After David originally laid with Bathsheba, God sent the Prophet Nathan to reprimand him, where he tells him, “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.” (II Samuel 12:10) Everything that happens to David and his family from chapter 12 on is because of David’s great sin.
