OUR STORY TODAY IS ABOUT ADULTERY AND THEN MURDER TO COVER IT UP. IT’S A STORY OF LUST, DESIRE AND COVETOUSNESS BY THE ANOINTED KING OF YISHARAL ... THAT RESULTS IN BLOOD GUILT ...
AND NO WHERE IS THE DEVIL BLAMED FOR THIS !
KEEP IN MIND THAT THE JEWS CONSIDER THEIR PRECIOUS ANCESTOR DAVID ALMOST PERFECT AND NOTHING HE DID WAS SIN, BECAUSE FROM BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD (APARANTLY) IT WAS DESTINED THAT DAVID WOULD MARRY BATHSHEBA AND IN TIME THEY WOULD PRODUCE SOLOMON. THEREFORE WHILE IT MAY APPEAR IN THE SCRIPTURES THAT WHAT DAVID (AND BATHSHEBA) DID WAS AWFUL AND REBELLIOUS, IN FACT IT WAS ALL PERFECTLY FINE WITH YAHUAH SINCE THE END RESULT WAS ALL THAT MATTERED. RABBIS EVEN STATE THAT IT WAS BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT DAVID DID THESE TERRIBLE ACTS, BECAUSE THE CREATOR'S PURPOSE WAS SO DAVID WOULD REPENT, THEN IT WOULD BE RECORDED IN THE SCRIPTURES (IE PSALM 51), AND SO ALL FUTURE FOLLOWERS OF THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL WOULD HAVE A MODEL OF REPENTANCE TO FOLLOW. THEREFORE THIS WAS ALL TO DAVID’S MERIT AND YAHUAH FOUND NO FAULT WITH HIM !! ... WHAT !!
IN ANOTHER AMAZING CASE (OF TURNING THE WORD OF YAHUAH ON ITS HEAD) SOME OF THE ANCIENT SAGES SAY THAT IN THOSE DAYS THE COMMON PRACTICE WAS FOR ALL YISHARALITE SOLDIERS TO ISSUE A WRIT OF DIVORCE TO THEIR WIVES BEFORE THEY LEFT FOR BATTLE THUS ALLOWING THEM TO REMARRY IF THE SOLDIER NEVER RETURNED. RASHI SAYS THAT THE DIVORCE WAS (OF COURSE) NOT IN EFFECT IF THE SOLIDER DID RETURN; BUT IT WAS RETROACTIVE TO WHEN HE LEFT, IF HE WAS KILLED OR CAPTURED. THEREFORE BY THIS RULING BATHSHEBA WAS NOT ACTUALLY MARRIED TO HER HUSBAND URIYAH WHEN DAVID SEDUCED HER BECAUSE URIYAH WAS EVENTUALLY KILLED. ACCORDING TO SOME MEDIEVAL RABBINICAL COMMENTARY ON THE TALMUD CALLED THE TOSAFOS, THE MILITARY WIVES ACTUALLY WERE DIVORCED BEFORE THE SOLDIERS LEFT FOR BATTLE, BUT THEIR HUSBANDS REMARRIED THEM WHEN THEY RETURNED. THUS EVEN IF URIYAH HAD RETURNED, BATHSHEBA WAS UNATTACHED DURING THE TIME OF HIS ABSENCE, SO NO ADULTERY HAD OCCURRED !
SO THE IDEA IS THAT ADULTERY NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND URIYAH’S MURDER WASN’T REALLY MURDER IT WAS JUSTICE FOR HIS INSOLENCE AND INSUBORDINATION. BUT PERHAPS THE FINAL INSULT TO THE SET-APART WORD OF YAHUAH COMES WHEN TRYING TO EXPLAIN AWAY THE LAST VERSE THAT SAYS: “BUT YAHUAH SAW WHAT DAVID HAD DONE WAS EVIL”.
THE EXPLANATION IN THE SECTION OF THE TALMUD CALLED SHABBOS 56A SAYS THAT THIS PASSAGE DOESN’T MEAN THAT DAVID HAD ACTUALLY DONE EVIL, IT JUST MEANS THAT WHILE DAVID MAY HAVE INTENDED TO DO EVIL, HIS ACTIONS WEREN’T JUDGED AS EVIL BECAUSE YAHUAH HAD INTENDED THE RESULT ALL ALONG ... STILL LISTENING TO FREAKY RABBIS ??
AND OF COURSE FOR CHRISTENDOM THIS STORY IS A COMFORTING CHILDREN’S TALE OF THE LOVE OF A HANDSOME, POWERFUL MAN FOR A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, OF CONFESSION AND REPENTANCE AND THE UNCONDITIONAL FORGIVENESS OF OUR CREATOR! - GO TICKLE YA`EARS MATE!
SO THE RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS HAVE PLAYED FAST AND LOOSE WITH SOME OF THE ORIGINAL HEBREW WORDS TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOAL, AND MANY HAVE GLOSSED OVER DAVID’S ACTUAL SINS AND YAHUAH’S CURSE UPON HIM, IN FAVOR OF FOCUSING SOLELY ON DAVID’S REPENTANCE AND THE FATHER’S MERCY, TO HARMONISE THEIR FALSE DOCTRINE WITH SCRIPTURAL WRITINGS. HEBREW SCHOLARS (IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THEIR IMMUTABLE STANCE THAT DAVID WAS NEAR PERFECT AND MESSIAH-LIKE IN EVERY WAY, (SINCE MOST REJECT THE ACTUAL MESSIAH) TURN EVERY DIVINE CONDEMNATION AGAINST DAVID INTO PRAISE FOR HIM, AND DISMISS EVERY YAHUAH-DIRECTED CONSEQUENCE OF DAVID’S SIN AS THEORETICAL BUT NEVER ACTUALLY BEING INFLICTED UPON HIM.
DESIRE (2 SAM.11)
And at the turn of the year (springtime when most kings took their soldiers out to battle), David stayed in Jerusalem and sent Joab (his General) out in charge of his men and the whole Army of Yisharal, and they destroyed the Ammonites and put the city of Rabbah under siege.
THE SUBTLE DESCENT OF DAVID THAT WE SAW BEGIN IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS IS NOW BECOMING MORE OBVIOUS AND VISIBLE. DAVID IS BEHAVING LIKE THE TYPICAL KINGS OF THE NATIONS, DETERMINED TO SIT AND STAY WITHIN THE PALACE - A CONSCIOUS REFUSAL TO NOT GO OUT. WHO IS DAVID REFUSING? YAHUAH, WHOSE COMMAND IS THAT A YISHARALITE KING “GO OUT” AND LEAD RATHER THAN “SIT” AND “BE SERVED”. SO THIS STORY BEGINS WITH INTENTIONAL DISOBEDIENCE TO YAHUAH ON DAVID’S PART, AND IT ONLY GETS PROGRESSIVELY WORSE.
One evening, David rose up from his bed and was walking around on the palace roof, and from there he saw a beautiful woman bathing, and she was very good to look at.
DAVID IS LIVING THE HIGH-LIFE OF LEISURE WHILE HIS ARMY IS AWAY FIGHTING THE ENEMY WITHOUT HIS LEADERSHIP. ONE HOT AFTERNOON HE’S NAPPING ON THE ROOFTOP AND AWAKENS TO SEE A SIMPLY GORGEOUS WOMAN IMMERSING HERSELF IN WATER. HIS LUSTFUL DESIRE KICKS IN TO OVERDRIVE AND INSTANTLY THINKS HE MUST HAVE HER FOR HIS HAREM.
DAVID’S PALACE HAS BEEN DISCOVERED BY ARCHEOLOGISTS; IT IS LOCATED ON THE EASTERN SLOPE, AT THE NORTHERN END OF THE RIDGE THAT THE CITY OF DAVID IS BUILT UPON, SO EVERYTHING OTHER THAN HIS PALACE LAY AT A LOWER ELEVATION. BATHSHEBA’S RESIDENCE WAS NO DOUBT JUST INSIDE THE CITY WALL OF THE CITY OF DAVID, NEAR THE KIDRON RAVINE, BECAUSE HER HUSBAND URIYAH WAS A HIGH-RANKING MILITARY OFFICER AND SO WAS ALLOWED A PRIVILEGED RESIDENTIAL LOCATION.
So David sent someone to find out who the woman was, and the answer came back that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriyah the Hittite. Uriah was one of David’s officers who had gone to war with the rest of his troops.
URIYAH THE HITTITE : THIS DID NOT MEAN HE WAS A NATIONAL HITTITE (A CITIZEN OF THE HITTITE EMPIRE) RATHER THAT HIS FAMILY LINEAGE WERE HITTITES WHO SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE SWITCHED ALLEGIANCE TO YISHARAL AND BECAME YISHARALITES. HIS NAME MEANS `LIGHT OF YAHUAH', SO WITH SUCH A DEVOUT NAME THAT INVOKES THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL THERE IS NO REASONABLE SCENARIO THAT HAS HIM RETAINING HIS HITTITE IDENTITY.
And David couldn’t get her off his mind, so he sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. FIRST HE’S SENT HIS MEN TO WAR INSTEAD OF GOING WITH THEM, NOW HE’S SENDING MEN TO FETCH THIS WOMAN TO FULFIL HIS DESIRES! She came, and they had sex together. But soon after she returned home, Bathsheba realised she was pregnant, and she sent this news to David. Since their encounter occurred just after the purifying bath after her period, her husband Uriah could not have been the father.
BATHSHEBA'S BATHING CONCERNED RITUAL PURITY. IT WAS NOT ABOUT PERSONAL HYGIENE BUT ABOUT OBEDIENCE TO YAHUAH’S COMMANDS.
ONCE A WOMAN STARTS HER PERIOD SHE BECOMES RITUALLY UNCLEAN. DURING THE ENTIRE TIME OF HER FLOW SHE IS NOT TO HAVE INTERCOURSE WITH HER HUSBAND OR HE BECOMES RITUALLY UNCLEAN AS WELL. AFTER THE FLOW ENDS, SHE REMAINS UNCLEAN FOR 7 MORE DAYS, THEN ON THE 8TH DAY SHE IS TO SACRIFICE 2 CLEAN BIRDS AT THE TEMPLE, IMMERSE HERSELF IN A MIKVAH (A RITUAL BATH), AND NOW SHE IS ONCE AGAIN RITUALLY CLEAN.
SO A WOMAN IS RITUALLY UNCLEAN DUE TO HER CYCLE FOR ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 14 DAYS TOTAL, OR THEREABOUTS. AND SO ABSTINENCE ALL DURING THAT TIME IS CALLED FOR, OTHERWISE THE MAN BECOMES RITUALLY IMPURE AND HAS TO GO THROUGH THE PRESCRIBED LEVITICAL PROTOCOL TO BECOME CLEAN AGAIN. AND, WHEREAS IT IS NOT SIN FOR A WOMAN TO BE UNCLEAN DUE TO HER PERIOD (AFTER ALL IT IS NOT IN HER CONTROL NOR IS IT HER FAULT), IT IS SIN HOWEVER FOR A MAN TO HAVE SEX WITH HER BECAUSE IT IS A CHOICE TO DISOBEY YAHUAH’S COMMAND OR NOT.
SO WHEN WE FIRST HEAR OF BATHSHEBA (THE MOMENT DAVID SEES HER) IT IS THEREFORE THE DAY OF HER MIKVAH, THE 8TH DAY AFTER HER PERIOD HAS ENDED, AND SHE IS CARRYING OUT THE LAST OF THE STEPS NECESSARY TO BECOME RITUALLY PURE AGAIN. DAVID IS FULLY AWARE OF THIS AND SO WHEN DAVID TOOK HER TO BED SHE HAD INDEED COMPLETED THE PROCESS OF RETURNING TO RITUAL PURITY. DAVID WAS ABLE TO RATIONALISE IN HIS MIND THAT COMMITTING ADULTERY WAS FINE, BUT AS LONG AS SHE WAS RITUALLY CLEAN (SO HE DIDN’T COMMIT THAT PARTICULAR SIN AS WELL) !!
SO, GET THE PICTURE. DAVID HAS A SEXUAL ENCOUNTER WITH BATHSHEBA A DAY OR TWO AFTER SHE HAS BECOME RITUALLY CLEAN; AND THAT MEANS IT IS AROUND 10 DAYS OR SO AFTER HER PERIOD HAS ENDED. MEDICALLY SPEAKING, THIS IS AROUND THE PEAK TIME FOR THE WOMAN’S FERTILITY. AGAIN, BECAUSE ANCIENT HEBREWS (AND MODERN ONES TOO, FOR THAT MATTER) ARE FULLY AWARE OF ALL THIS FERTILITY TIMING, THEN ONE UNDERSTANDS ALL THE MORE WHY THIS INFORMATION WAS RECORDED AND SEEN AS IMPORTANT. SINCE SHE WAS A HEALTHY YOUNG FEMALE IT WAS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT PREGNANCY WOULD BE THE RESULT; AND DAVID KNEW THAT. WHETHER HE FACTORED THAT IN OR HIS HORMONES JUST GOT THE BETTER OF HIM AND IT DIDN’T MATTER IS HARD TO GAUGE. BUT BY NO MEANS WAS HE IGNORANT OF THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES.
BUT ANOTHER CLEAR MATTER IS THAT THERE IS NO WAY THAT THIS PREGNANCY COULD HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO BATHSHEBA’S HUSBAND (SO THAT NOBODY WOULD BE ANY THE WISER OF HER ADULTERY) BECAUSE HE WAS AWAY ON ACTIVE MILITARY DUTY AND HAD BEEN FOR SOME TIME. THAT SHE HAD A FLOW AND WAS THEREFORE IN NEED OF A MIKVAH (A RITUAL BATH) AND PURIFICATION TELLS US THAT INDEED SHE WAS NOT PREGNANT AT THE TIME OF HER AND DAVID’S ENCOUNTER.
THERE ARE SOME OTHER COMMON SENSE AND SELF-EVIDENT FACTORS THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER AS THE STORY CONTINUES. FIRST IS THAT DAVID DID NOT ENSURE SECRECY BY GOING HIMSELF, PERHAPS AFTER DARK, TO BATHSHEBA AND BRINGING HER TO HIS PALACE; RATHER HE SENT MESSENGERS. MESSENGERS ARE PALACE SERVANTS, WHO TALK AMONG THEMSELVES, AND DAVID COULD NOT HELP BUT TO BE AWARE OF THAT FACT. THERE IS NO WAY THAT WHAT DAVID DID WAS GOING TO BE KEPT A SECRET FOR VERY LONG.
SECOND IS THAT THERE IS NO HINT OF COERCION.
BATHSHEBA WAS NOT KIDNAPPED, NOR WAS SHE FORCED. WHILE SHE WAS PROBABLY RELUCTANT ON THE ONE HAND, NO DOUBT (ON THE OTHER) TO BE INTIMATE WITH THE KING OF YISHARAL HAD ITS ALLURE. AND, AS A NORMAL HEALTHY WOMAN IT MUST HAVE BEEN TEMPTING SINCE HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN AWAY FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AT THE LEAST.
FURTHER IN 1ST KINGS 1 AND 2 WE FIND A VERY AGGRESSIVE AND AUTHORITATIVE QUEEN MOTHER BATHSHEBA; A WOMAN WHO HAD SOME AMBITION AND WAS NOT EASILY INTIMIDATED. SO TRADITION AS WELL AS LATER SCRIPTURAL STORIES ABOUT HER LEAVES LITTLE ROOM FOR DOUBT THAT SHE WAS COMPLICIT IN HER SEXUAL FLING WITH DAVID AND COULD NOT BE VIEWED WHATSOEVER AS A VICTIM.
NOW THAT DAVID KNOWS SHE IS PREGNANT HE’S GOT A PROBLEM. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HER HUSBAND FINDS OUT AND MAKES A FUSS? BY ALL RIGHTS DAVID OUGHT TO BE EXECUTED FOR THIS. OF COURSE NOBODY EXECUTES THE KING, BUT THINK ABOUT HOW THIS WOULD SOIL DAVID’S STERLING REPUTATION AND WHAT THE OTHER MILITARY OFFICERS OF PRETTY WIVES WOULD THINK THE NEXT TIME DAVID SENT THEM OFF TO WAR.
DAVID CANNOT HAVE THIS HAPPEN SO HE DEVISES A PLAN TO HIDE HIS SIN. THE THING HE SEEMS TO HAVE COMPLETELY PUT OUT OF HIS MIND (JUST AS HIS PREDECESSOR SAUL HAD DONE) WAS THAT DESPITE ANY AMOUNT OF CUNNING PLANS TO HIDE HIS MOTIVES AND DIRTY DEEDS FROM HIS SUBJECTS, YAHUAH SAW AND KNEW ALL. AND THERE WOULD BE CONSEQUENCES.
So David sent a message to his general Joab on the battlefield, “Send me Uriyah the Hittite”. So Joab sent Uriyah back to David in the palace, where he was taken before the King, and David asked how Joab was doing, how the army was getting along, and how the campaign was progressing (SUPERFICIAL CHIT-CHAT).
IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN A FEW DAYS FOR THE MESSENGER TO ARRIVE AT THE BATTLEFIELD IN THE TRANS-JORDAN, AND THEN FOR URIYAH TO GET BACK TO YERUSHALIM. WHEN THE KING SUMMONS YOU, YOU MAKE A BEELINE FOR HIS PALACE WHEN YOU ARRIVE; YOU DON’T EAT, YOU DON’T VISIT ANYBODY, YOU DON’T FRESHEN UP. URIYAH ARRIVES AND DAVID IS CONCERNED NOT TO SEEM ANXIOUS OR BEHAVE SUSPICIOUSLY SO HE MAKES SMALL TALK WITH HIM AND TRIES TO BE COOL AND FRIENDLY. THERE IS NO MENTION OF URIYAH’S ANSWERS BECAUSE THE QUESTIONS WEREN’T SINCERE ANYWAY.
When they finished discussing the news from the front, David suggested that Uriyah go to his own house to clean up, relax, and visit his wife, “Now that you’re back here, why don’t you go down to your house and be with your wife?” And David sent a gift after him when he left, but Uriyah did not go down to his own house, but instead he spent the night at the entrance of the palace with all the King’s servants. “Uriah didn’t go home last night”, David’s servants informed him, so David called for Uriyah again,
“You’ve just come home from a long trip, so why didn’t you spend the night with your wife in your own house?”
DAVID IS FRUSTRATED BECAUSE IF URIAH DOESN’T GO HOME AND HAVE SEX WITH HIS WIFE, THEN EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT BATHSHEBA HAS BEEN UNFAITHFUL, AND THEY MIGHT JUST REMEMBER HER SECRET LITTLE TRIP TO THE PALACE THAT NIGHT.
“The people of Yisharal and Judah and the precious Ark of the Blood-Covenant of Yahuah are in tents and my general Joab and the King’s other servants are sleeping in the open fields. Do you think I would go to my home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife while everyone else suffers? As you live, good king, I could never do such a thing,” Uriyah said.
URIYAH HAD TO KNOW THAT MORE WAS GOING ON THAN DAVID SIMPLY MAKING A GENERAL INQUIRY ABOUT JOAB’S HEALTH AND HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE DOING. YOU DON’T BRING A MILITARY OFFICER HOME ON A SEVERAL DAYS JOURNEY TO DO WHAT ANY COURIER COULD DO. CERTAINLY THE KING MUST HAVE WANTED SOMETHING ELSE FROM HIM, SO URIYAH, BEING A TRUSTWORTHY SOLDIER, HUNG AROUND TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE.
“Ok, then stay here with me today and tomorrow I’ll send you back to the battle”.
So Uriyah remained in Jerusalem that whole day and the next day too and David invited him to eat and drink in the King’s royal company, and David got him drunk. After the party, Uriyah fell asleep on a bed with the servants of the king, and again he did not return home to be with his wife.
FIRST NOTICE HOW THIS MUST HAVE PRICKED DAVID’S CONSCIENCE TO HEAR SUCH WORDS OF UNSWERVING LOYALTY AND GENUINE CONCERN FOR THE SET-APARTNESS OF THE ARK AND SAFETY OF HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS. WHAT URIYAH COULDN’T BRING HIMSELF TO DO WAS SOMETHING THAT (EVEN THOUGH HIS COMRADES WOULD NEVER HAVE FOUND OUT) ... IS THE VERY SAME THING THAT DAVID WAS SELFISHLY DOING FOR HIMSELF. HERE WAS THE ARK OF YAHUAH, THE TRIBAL PRINCES OF YISHARAL, ALL THE TOP MILITARY COMMANDERS, AND THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS AWAY IN A FOREIGN LAND FIGHTING AND LIVING IN HARSH, TOUGH CONDITIONS WHILE DAVID WAS HOME IN A LAVISH LIFESTYLE OF COMFORT AND HIS OWN HAREM (MANY WOMEN TO CHOOSE FROM) ... AND NOW SEDUCING A SOLDIER’S LONELY WIFE.
BY NOW THE REASON DAVID WAS TRYING SO HARD TO GET URIYAH TO GO HOME TO HIS WIFE IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE TRANSPARENT, IN FACT THE SAGES SAY THAT BY NOW URIYAH HAD A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT WAS GOING ON AND THUS WAS POSSIBLY REFUSING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DECEPTION ... (HOW DARE HE!)
THE PLAN WAS THAT SINCE BATHSHEBA WAS NO MORE THAN PERHAPS 4 OR 5 WEEKS PREGNANT BY DAVID, THAT IF URIYAH SLEPT WITH HIS WIFE THE PREGNANCY COULD BE REASONABLY EXPLAINED AS A RESULT OF URIYAH’S SURPRISE RETURN HOME. THEN DAVID WOULD BE OFF THE HOOK (AND BATHSHEBA AS WELL). DESPERATE DAVID GETS MORE DRASTIC IN HIS COVER-UP ATTEMPT. THE IRONY OF THIS STORY IS GETTING THICKER; THE OBEDIENCE AND HONOR OF URIYAH IS EXPOSING THE DISOBEDIENCE AND DISHONOR OF DAVID. AND DAVID IS BECOMING RIDDEN WITH ANXIETY AND IS FURIOUS.
So the next morning, realising Uriyah would not go home to be with his wife Bathsheba, David wrote a letter to his general Joab and sent it back to the frontline of the battle with Uriyah.
REMEMBER THE JEWS HAVE MADE URIYAH THE BAD GUY IN ORDER THAT DAVID FULFILS THEIR VIEW AS A NEAR-PERFECT HUMAN WHO POSSESSES EVERY POSITIVE ATTRIBUTE OF THE MESSIAH (SINCE THEY REJECT THE REAL ONE). SO URIYAH’S REFUSAL TO OBEY DAVID AND GO HOME AND SLEEP WITH HIS WIFE IS VIEWED AS INSUBORDINATION AND REBELLION EVEN THOUGH BY NOW BATHSHEBA’S HUSBAND HAD A STRONG SUSPICION ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAVE OCCURRED. THE REALITY IS OBVIOUSLY OTHERWISE. WHILE INDEED URIYAH, THE BATTLE-HARDENED SOLDIER AND INTELLIGENT MILITARY OFFICER, PROBABLY SMELLED A RAT, EVERYTHING HE DID DISPLAYED A GREAT LOYALTY TO THE KING AND TO THE ALAHIM OF YISHARAL. IN FACT, WHAT COMES NEXT PAINTS URIYAH AS EITHER THE MOST AMAZINGLY LOYAL OF TROOPS OR THE MOST NAÏVE AND STUPID, AND THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT HE IS THE FORMER, RATHER THAN THE LATTER.
David's letter to Joab said, "Put Uriyah at the front of the battle, in a place where the fighting is most intense, then pull back and leave him in front of the line so that the enemy will strike him down and kill him!”
THE CONTENTS OF THE LETTER ARE CHILLING. DAVID KNOWS THAT HIS SEDUCTION OF BATHSHEBA WILL BECOME PUBLIC, AND THAT HE HAS NO CHANCE OF PINNING BATHSHEBA’S PREGNANCY ON HER HUSBAND BECAUSE THE ENTIRE ROYAL COURT WITNESSED URIYAH DOGGEDLY REFUSING TO LEAVE THE PALACE. SO NOW DAVID COMPOUNDS HIS ADULTERY WITH CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER. BY THE DIVINE LAWS GIVEN TO MOSES BOTH ADULTERY AND MURDER REQUIRE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. OF COURSE, DAVID IS THE KING AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THAT HE WILL SUFFER SUCH CONSEQUENCES AT THE HAND OF MEN. SO DAVID IS BY NO MEANS ATTEMPTING TO SAVE HIS OWN LIFE BY HIS ACTIONS; RATHER THIS IS ALL ABOUT POLITICS AND SEXUAL LUST (SOMETHING THAT HAS GONE HAND-IN-HAND SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL BECAUSE THE COMMON DENOMINATOR FOR BOTH IS THE DESIRE FOR POWER, POSITION AND PLEASURE).
NOW AS COLD-BLOODED AS ARE DAVID’S INSTRUCTIONS TO HAVE URIYAH KILLED, SO THEY ARE EQUALLY AS IMPROBABLE AND CLUMSY. ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE JOAB OPENING THE SCROLL, READING THE ROYAL ORDER, AND THINKING THAT HIS UNCLE (KING DAVID) MUST BE LOSING HIS GRIP BECAUSE THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FANCIFUL IF NOT DELUSIONAL. DAVID TELLS JOAB TO HAVE URIYAH SENT TO THE FRONT OF THE FIGHTING AND THEN HAVE ALL THE MEN SUDDENLY PULL BACK AND ABANDON HIM, THAT WAY THE ENEMY CAN EASILY KILL HIM. JOAB KNEW THAT THIS WAS IMPOSSIBLE.
FIRST OF ALL, URIYAH HIMSELF COMMANDED THE TROOPS. SECOND, WHAT INTELLIGENT, EXPERIENCED AND AWARE SOLDIER WOULD SIMPLY STAND THERE AND ALLOW HIMSELF TO BE LEFT BEHIND AS THE OTHER SOLDIERS SUDDENLY LEFT. BUT JOAB IS HIMSELF A CONSUMMATE POLITICAL ANIMAL AND A FAMILY MEMBER OF DAVID’S, AND SO KEEPING HIS HIGH RANKING POSITION IS JOB ONE. SO HE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THAT WHILE DAVID’S PRESCRIBED METHOD IS ABSURD, THE INTENT IS OBVIOUS: GET URIYAH KILLED BY THE ENEMY SO THAT IT APPEARS THAT IT WAS JUST ANOTHER SAD BATTLEFIELD DEATH.
And after he received this message, Joab laid out his attack plans and assigned Uriyah to a place where he knew the enemy had put strong warriors. So when the warriors of the city came out to fight against Joab’s forces, some of David’s servants were killed, and Uriyah the Hittite (Bathsheba’s Husband) was one of them.
And Joab sent a messenger to David with news of the battle, saying,“Give the King all this news about the battle, and if he gets angry and asks, 'Why did the army go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realise that they would shoot from the walls? Wasn’t Abimelech, Jerubbesheth’s son, killed by a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall at Thebez? Why were you so close to the wall?' ... then tell him, 'Your servant Uriyah the Hittite was also killed in the fighting.'”
AND INDEED DAVID DID GET ANGRY WHEN HE HEARD THE REPORT. DAVID COULDN’T FATHOM WHY JOAB WOULD DO SOMETHING SO FUNDAMENTALLY UNSOUND FROM A TACTICAL STANDPOINT AS TO PUT HIS MEN DIRECTLY UNDER THE CITY WALLS WHERE THEY WERE VULNERABLE AND BOUND TO SUFFER CASUALTIES. HOWEVER DAVID’S ANGER STEMMED MORE FROM JOAB NOT GOING ABOUT THINGS AS HE HAD ORDERED (NO MATTER HOW RIDICULOUS AND IMPOSSIBLE THE ORDER) THAN ABOUT THE SOLDIERS BEING KILLED (AND HIS CALLOUS RESPONSE DEMONSTRATES THIS).
So the messenger went and told David everything Joab had instructed him to say, but he did not wait for the King’s reaction to the battle before telling him Uriah had died, “Their soldiers came out against us into the field surrounding the city. At first they had the advantage over us, but we drove them back to their gate. Then their archers fired on us from the wall and some of the soldiers were killed, including your servant Uriyah the Hittite”.
“Ok, now take this reply back to Joab, ‘Don’t let this trouble you, for the sword kills indiscriminately. Continue to push forward against the city, and capture it.’ ... And give him my encouragement”.
And when Bathsheba (now a widow) heard the news of her husband’s death, she was devastated and went into mourning for seven days.
And when her appointed time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her into his household, making her his wife, and in time she bore him a son.
But Yahuah saw everything David had done, and it was evil in His eyes.
THE MOURNING PERIOD WOULD HAVE BEEN 7 DAYS AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE 7 DAYS OF MOURNING DAVID SENT FOR BATHSHEBA AND MARRIED HER. THE REASON FOR SUCH HASTE (BEYOND HIS RAGING LUST AND IMPATIENCE) IS THAT BY NOW BATHSHEBA WAS PROBABLY BETWEEN 2 AND 3 MONTHS PREGNANT AND HER GROWING BELLY WAS SOON GOING TO SHOW. MARRYING THE WIDOW OF A DECEASED MAN WAS NOT UNUSUAL IN THAT ERA, IN FACT DAVID MARRIED ABIGAIL UNDER SOMEWHAT SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES AND IT WAS NOT AT ALL DEEMED EVIL BY YAHUAH. HOWEVER MARRYING BATHSHEBA SO QUICKLY WAS MERELY PART OF THE COVER-UP PLAN, AND IN SOME WAYS IT WAS FOR HER BENEFIT SO THAT SHE WOULD NOT BE HUMILIATED AND SHUNNED WHEN HER CONDITION BECAME APPARENT.
IT IS INTERESTING THAT WE FIND DAVID’S DESCENDANT, MIRIAM, MOTHER OF YAHUSHA, PREGNANT BEFORE FORMAL MARRIAGE AND HER BETROTHED, JOSEPH, MARRYING HER PARTLY TO SAVE MIRIAM THE EMBARRASSMENT OF BEING OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT OUT OF WEDLOCK. THE CIRCUMSTANCES AREN’T EXACT, NOR THE MOTIVES PURE IN DAVID’S AND BATHSHEBA’S CASE, BUT THE PARALLEL AND PATTERN CANNOT BE IGNORED.
WITHOUT EQUIVOCATION THE WRITER OF THE DAVID AND BATHSHEBA EPISODE SAYS THAT YAHUAH SAW WHAT DAVID HAD DONE AS EVIL. AND YAHUAH CANNOT ALLOW EVIL TO STAND. THE NEXT CHAPTER SHOWS THAT EVEN YAHUAH’S ANOINTED AND SPECIALLY CHOSEN AND BELOVED IS NOT ABOVE DIVINE JUSTICE AND JUDGMENT ... AND NEITHER ARE WE !! ... SO LET THIS BE A LESSON FOR THE BRIDE TODAY!
Just look at David’s forceful interactions with Bathsheba. Our worldly desires may not be specifically sexual (though most are in some form) however the chain reaction of events still follow the same course …. calamity and pain, out of Yahusha’s Favor ... blocked and eventually denied the Wedding Feast if we don't stop and surrender !
DESIRE
HEBREW UNDESTANDING:
Search results for "DESIRE":
To delight in and long for, wish, gush over, swell, lust after pleasure, beauty, pleasant, precious things. Eagerly coveting and rushing upon something only to fall into ruin, calamity, iniquity, mischief, naughtiness, perverse wickedness. To cling, join, to love, delight in, long for, set in love. Heavy breathing, creature, i.e. animal of appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, To become pale, to pine after; also to fear, be greedy, long, sore. To speak or boast about, to call, certify, challenge, charge, to demand. To ask or make petition, request, or search out by any method specifically in worship or prayer, to strive after, ask, beg, beseech, enquire, seek. A burden, tribute, utterance, chiefly a doom, especially singing; mental, desire:--burden, carry away, prophecy, they set, song, tribute. A mark or signature.
SCRIPTURE UNDESTANDING:
PSALM 37 ”Delight yourself in Yahuah, and he will give you the desires of your heart”.
JEREMIAH 29 ”You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek me with all your heart”.
MATT 5 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”.
PROVERBS 2 ”Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of Yahuah and find the knowledge of Alahim”.
1 COR 10 ”No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. Yahuah is trustworthy, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it”.
ROMANS 13 “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy, but put on Messiah Yahusha and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”.
As we can see, human beings were created to desire and seek pleasure and connection, however this was all satisfied in the garden between the man, woman and Creator through marriage portal connection. It was perfectly handled and balanced in His Divine Love. Then mankind chose the enemy’s way of self and were disconnected from Divinity (but still possessed the appetite for desire). The flesh (way of self) is insatiable (never satisfied) so without any seed of the Divine within us, mankind is destined to hunger and thirst, lust and desire after worldly pleasures, trying to fill the void (of their emptiness) for the rest of their existence.
Remember Satan wants us blocked from the Portal or Divinity just like him, so he's running rampant on this planet, sowing his seeds of filth into everyone. However those who’ve stepped out of this base-existence, into the higher-calling of deliverance, now have the power within them to reject the worldly forms of pleasure, instead hungering and thirsting after the righteousness, clean, clear conscience and joyous existence that Yahusha provides. We are the choosers. Desire is normal, lust isn’t a bad naughty word - but what will you focus it towards, the flesh or the spirit? The World or Yahusha?
We cannot be a mixture of both, we are either hot or cold, for anything else Yahusha will spew from His mouth. Friendship with the world makes us Yahusha’s enemy and the downward spiral of bad behaviour from having worldly desires will drive us insane and into very severe consequences. Yahusha has opened the door ... which life will we choose?
What is it you desire?
Is it healthy (of Yahusha)?
