Last week we met David and discovered he had a heart like
God’s. That can be disturbing to
realize if you know about David and Bathsheba. It is such a big thingsthat we will need to unpack it some
more this week. Let’s focus in on
how the affair happened and what the consequences were.
Look at 2 Sam 11: 1-5.
Skip ahead to verse 15 to see how David just made matters worse. Verse 17 tells us that “Uriah the
Hittite died.” Let’s get a few
things straight. David stayed in
Jerusalem when all the other kings were off at war. Talk about wrong place, wrong time! He had an affair with Bathsheba and
proceeded to have her husband killed.
We don’t read much about Bathsheba’s feeling on the matter here. I imagine she fell in love with David
almost immediately. With a heart
like God’s, how couldn’t she? So
know she finds herself an adulteress, in love with her King and her husband
dies. Could things get worse? Yes!
Read verse 27.
She was also pregnant. So
now she moves in with her King and they live happily ever after, right? Nope. Let’s look at 2 Sam 12:1-7. “You are the man.”
Such chilling words! Can
you imagine how David felt? But,
David has a heart like God’s so God lets them off the hook right? No. Look at verse 10.
All sin, including guys like David’s, has consequences. Look at verse 14. David pleaded with God, did everything
he could think of to spare the life of his child, but to no avail.
Many would believe that is where the story should end. Two people sinned and hurt people and
they ended up getting what they deserve.
That’s not how God works, thankfully. Cause I don’t know about you, but I could use a story with a
happy ending for us sinners. Look
at verse 24. Bathsheba bears
another son, Solomon.
This is where Bathsheba’s story turns around. I hope mine does too. Don’t you? Throughout it all, all of the sin and heartbreak, David and
Bathsheba have hearts that long to serve God and bring forth goodness. That is exactly what happens, they
bring forth Solomon, possibly Israel’s greatest king. We will talk about him next week.
Bathsheba is redeemed by God through Solomon and by David’s
love. Theirs was not a neat and
tidy love story, but it was one of power.
One that brought forth much good in the end.
When David died and Solomon took the throne, Bathsheba
became the Queen Mother. She
advocated for her son in 1 Kings 1:11-14, 16-21, and 28-30. This is the role Bathsheba played for
the rest of her life. God forgave
her sin and granted her a position of power, that of mother.
The role of the Queen Mother in ancient Israel cannot be
understated. She advised her
son. She had a throne right next
to him. She was an advocate for
the people. In fact, the Queen
Mother was one of the most important members of the King’s entourage. Bathsheba is the Old Testament Queen
Mother. Can you think of the Queen
Mother of the New Testament?
The dictionary describes a mother as “a woman in authority,
the ultimate example of its kind.”
Bathsheba was that person, even though she sinned.
As mothers we can learn a great deal from Bathsheba. She was a sinner and she was
forgiven. She was given many
wonderful things even after she sinned.
Bathsheba shows us that we can’t outsin God. She loved, protected and defended her son. She advised him. She sat right next to him. I’m not advocating that you get on the
school bus and sit next to your kids.
I am saying we should be very present to them. She advocated for his needs and the needs of others. She was the most important influence on
her son. Are you?
I am so thankful that Bathsheba didn’t get written off. She gives us such a story of hope. Embrace forgiveness and move on and
create wonderful things. When you
do, think of Bathsheba and love those entrusted to your care fiercely.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Do I believe I have outsinned God? If so, what can Bathsheba teach me?
Where are my Solomons, the good things that come, even after
I sin?
What can Bathseba teach me as a mother?
Am I the most important influence on my children? Do I use that to bring them to God?
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