Ever since I was a child, I heard about the story of Bathsheba through sermons and teachings. She was depicted as the “adulterous” women in the scandalous story of the great King David. God’s mercy and faithfulness was seen in the life of King David each time he humbled himself and repented. However, for some reason, people have overlooked his flaws and sins as insignificant. This was not the case for Bathsheba. She would be seen in an immoral light by many preachers and teachers. Although God indeed forgave David for his adultery and murder, there would be severe consequences. In fact, God’s judgement over David’s life was that “the sword” (violence) would not depart his house (family) and that Bathsheba’s child would not survive. In addition, God’s verdict stated that King David’s wives would be “taken” or “violated” from him publicly in front of Israel in contrast to how he privately took & violated the wife of Uriah.
In 2 Samuel, we read about the biblical historical account of Bathsheba and King David. It says that one evening, when Kings were at war, King David remained in Jerusalem, got up from his bed and went to the roof of His Palace. It was there where he saw a beautiful woman bathing. He inquired about this woman and his messengers told him that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. This did not seem to change David’s mind and he summoned her. I can only imagine the excitement in Bathsheba’s life. The King was summoning her. Her husband was one of King David’s soldiers who was fighting valiantly in battle. It’s not every day that you get summoned by a King. She must have gotten dressed up and to her surprise, when she came before the King, his intentions were not honorable. The Bible says that King David “took” her. He was the King, she was his subject. Her life would never be the same.
Some time passed, while her husband was still in battle, she sent word to the King & informed him that she was pregnant. This was not what King David anticipated. He quickly began his plot to cover up his sin. He sent for Uriah from the battle. When he arrived, he fed him and told him to go home to his wife. Uriah was a dedicated & loyal soldier and when he left the presence of the King instead of returning home, he stayed outside with his men and slept there in front of the King’s palace. King David invited him back to the palace the following night and again fed him and this time got him drunk. He told him to return to his home but Uriah would not leave his men, go to his home, and lay with his wife when his fellow soldiers were in battle.
When King David heard of this, he wrote a letter to Joab and sent it sealed with Uriah as he returned to battle. Uriah had no idea that his fate was sealed. King David ordered Joab to put Uriah in front of the battle toward the wall of the enemies and to retreat leaving him to die.
Joab did just this and Uriah died in battle.
The bible says that when word came to Bathsheba that her husband had died, she mourned for his death. David waited until the mourning period, and then made her his wife. Word would come to King David by the prophet Nathan informing him of God’s judgement over his sin of adultery and murder. Bathsheba would not keep this child. David repented and fasted but to no avail, Bathsheba’s child did not survive. Bathsheba would later conceive and become the mother of Solomon. The future King of Israel.
As I was reading and investigating this story, I encountered some significant insights. First of all, it was culturally appropriate for a woman to bathe in the evening hours on the roof of her home for privacy and because it was cooler in temperature. Also, this was part of the cleansing ritual for women after their period. Secondly, King David was supposed to be in battle with his men. The King had power of life and death over his subjects. When the King gave a command, it was obeyed. It appears that King David took advantage of his position of power and “took” Bathsheba. It doesn’t say she lusted after him nor that she fell in love. The bible says, he took her. In addition, the account tells us that Bathsheba mourned for her husband. When you mourn someone you are saddened, distressed, and severely heart-broken. After her mourning period which could be anywhere from 7 to 30 days, David made her his wife. Not only this, when Bathsheba conceived again, her son would be heir to the throne. Why her son? David had other male sons. Instead of a curse like David received that “the sword” would never depart his house, Bathsheba received a blessing and God would revenge what was done to her. Her son would be known as one of the wisest Kings after David. He would rule with “Peace” as his name established. Bathsheba had the King’s attention. I often wondered if Bathsheba ever found out that King David murdered her husband. We will never know this but what we do know is that she was violated, her husband murdered, and she lost a child. There was a lot of suffering & loss in Bathsheba’s life But God turned it around. Her sorrow turned into joy as she witnessed her son become the greatest & wisest King in history, the one who would build the house of the Lord.
I pray this blog post brings healing to your life. This article is for every woman who has been betrayed, hurt, disappointed and or have experienced a great loss of a husband or child. Through out history women have been accused of doing things to have caused such misfortune. Maybe they were too beautiful, maybe not pretty enough, maybe too seductive or simply overlooked, too out spoken or too quiet. God saw what was done to her and He did not take it lightly. He is absolutely a God of mercy and grace But He is always a God of Justice. God saw it! He sees! Don’t you ever forget it!!