part0044

II Samuel 11:1-4 says, "And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle , that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem . 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." When a person looks at the above passage, the first thing that he or she might notice is that David had NOT been in the place that he was supposed to be. The time of the year had been when the kings of the various nations had led his people in battle against other nations. But the passage is very careful to point out that David had remained in Jerusalem.

That had been a mistake that he had made that had greatly contributed to his sin with Bathsheba. However, it had NOT been his first sin with respect to that whole transgression. I Samuel 18:27 says, "Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife ." I Samuel 27:3 says, "And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife ." II Samuel 3:2-5 says, "And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith ; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital ; And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron." From those three passages, it should be clear that David had had at least seven wives. His first wife had been Michal the daughter of Saul. But then he had also married Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah. He had even taken Michal back again after Saul had earlier taken her away from him. II Samuel 3:14 says, "And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal , which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines."

So David had taken many wives. One should first note that II Samuel 3:2-5 had identified Abigail as the wife of Nabal. Thus, even though Nabal had been evil and had died, the author of the text under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit had still recognized her first marriage. One should additionally note that David seems to have married the daughter of at least one foreign king. He had married the daughter of the king of Geshur possibly to establish an alliance between the two nations. However, the Bible NEVER endorses any man or woman having multiple spouses. In fact, it does just the opposite. It very clearly declares one man for one woman for one lifetime except in the case of fornication. Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh ." Matthew 5:32 says, "But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." The Greek word used for "fornication" in that verse means to commit illicit sexual intercourse. Some examples by definition of the Greek word are adultery, homosexually, lesbianism, and sodomy. Thus, David had tried to be one flesh with at least seven women.

He may have married for political expediency. He may have married because he had genuinely been attracted to ALL of those women. But his behavior BEFORE that night when he had seen Bathsheba washing herself had NOT been biblically correct before the Lord. He may have been a man after God's own heart, as was indicated in the previous chapter of this text by Acts 13:22. But he had NOT been living in accordance with the Scriptures when he had become intimately involved with so many women. One might conclude that being a king has its privileges. However, whether a king or not, no one ever prospers when going against sound biblical teaching and principles, not even David. So his obvious weakness for the opposite sex had ultimately proved to be his own undoing. Bathsheba and he had birthed a child into this world that had eventually died.

But when one reads about his life after his sin with Bathsheba, another even more disturbing observation becomes apparent. David's weakness for the opposite sex and his disregard for biblical instruction had terribly affected his whole family. II Samuel 3:2 says that Amnon had been the son of Ahinoam and also David's firstborn son. II Samuel 3:3 says that Absalom had been his third son. Tamar according to II Samuel 13:1 had been Absalom's sister. A family conflict had resulted because Amnon had been sexually attracted to Tamar. So he had forced her to have sex with him. Tamar's life as a result had been ruined. So to get even, Absalom had arranged to have Amnon murdered. Later in David's life, Absalom had tried to overthrow his father and take away his throne. The end result of that attempted rebellion had been that Absalom was killed in his battle against his father's troops.

In looking at David's family, no one can possibly understand all of the dynamics that had been at play in that family. But what is clear is that his bad example with his multiple wives, with Bathsheba, and with his poor fathering had cost him the lives of Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom. A person can only begin to sense his true sadness and grief over everything when he or she sees how he had reacted to knowledge of the death of Absalom. II Samuel 18:31-33 says, "And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !" At that moment he would have probably gladly turned the clock back to the beginning of his wives and not let himself be so weak concerning the opposite sex. So as good a person as David had been the spiritual lesson of his life is that his sin had found him out. Furthermore the wage for that sin had been a much greater price than he had ever wanted to pay.

But David's life had not been totally defined by all of his wives or by his role as a parent. Despite his many shortcomings in those areas, he had still been a man after God's own heart. In fact, he had repented in the same moment that he had been confronted about his sin with Bathsheba. Throughout his life, Scriptures consistently show him turning around from those bad things that he had done or had been doing and changing his course to live more righteously and godlier. Thus, the personal relationship of the Old Testament saints with the Lord is never clearer than one reads about David's interactions with the Lord. He may not have been indwelled by the Holy Spirit in the same sense as New Testament saints. But there is no doubt that he and the other Old Testament saints had been in some sort of personal relationship with God. After he had faltered with Bathsheba and after he had repented of his sin, the two of them had married and had fathered Solomon. In time, Solomon had become the king in his father's stead. Then, he had built the temple that his father had wanted to build. Eventually the line to the throne of Jesus had also led through David and Solomon. So the clear message is that the Lord NEVER just throws anyone away if that person truly and sincerely repents of his or her sins.