THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Samuel: God's Shift Of Israel From Apostasy Under The Judges To David's Reign

II. 2 Samuel: The Reign Of David Over Israel

N. Taking The Upright Path Regardless Of The Persecution

(2 Samuel 11:5-27)

 

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

            The Bible teaches us believers in Christ that if we live a godly life, we will suffer persecution for it (2 Timothy 3:12) since an upright life exposes sin in others, and they do not like it. (John 15:18-22)

            The question we may then ask is: "Since we will suffer persecution for doing so, is it worth living uprightly?!"

            This is a very relevant question in view of what we believers already face (as follows):

            (1) The Barna Group, an evangelical research organization, recently found, "If you call yourself a Christian, you are an extremist" such as an Islamist extremist according to 45% of atheistic, agnostic or other groups of Americans with no church affiliation. (Answers, May-June, 2017, p. 45-46)  Of those polled, 11% think even silently reading the Bible in public makes one an extremist, and 7%  claim attending church weekly makes one an extremist, revealing a recent strong shift in American culture toward secularism, with more negative views of Christians, Ibid.

            (2) We believers in Christ face persecution locally even from fellow professing Christians: if we do not hold to the "King-James-Only" view, but use another Bible translation, if we do not adhere to the Calvinist or Arminian view of election or if we believe in freewill offerings instead tithing, we are strongly opposed by various believers.

            (Actually, there many other issues of "soft" persecution that believers often face that could be named here!)

 

Need:  So, we ask, "Is it worthwhile choosing the upright path in life even if it costs us persecution?!"

                                                                                 

I.                 When Bathsheba notified David that she had become pregnant by his adulterous affair with her, he tried to get her husband Uriah to have a conjugal visit with Bathsheba that Uriah might be considered the father of her unborn child, thus concealing David's adultery, 2 Samuel 11:5-8:

A.    Bathsheba became pregnant through David's adulterous affair with her, giving both her and David panic over being discovered for a sin that called for the death penalty of them both, 2 Samuel 11:5 with Leviticus 20:10.

B.     David thus sent a message to Joab at the battlefront to send Uriah to him that David might arrange for him to "wash thy feet," i. e., "spend some time at home" where he could have a conjugal visit with his wife and  be credited as the father of her unborn child, 2 Sam. 11:6-8 NIV; Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 2 Sam. 11:8.

II.              However, Uriah refused to be with his wife due to his devotion to God's calling, 2 Samuel 11:9-13:

A.    Though a soldier given leave from war would be expected to want to be with his wife, Uriah slept at the door of David's palace with David's other servants instead of going to his home to be with Bathsheba, 2 Sam. 11:9.

B.     When David heard of it, he asked Uriah why he had not gone home, and Uriah replied that doing so would have violated his calling, 2 Samuel 11:10-11.  Uriah explained that the ark of God, the soldiers of the northern tribes of Israel and of the southern tribe of Judah were living in tents, that his commander, Joab and the servants of David were camped in the open fields at war so that he could not in good conscience return home to be with his wife when his calling from God was to be at war.

C.     This explanation would have greatly critiqued David for his absence as king from the battlefield (cf. 2 Samuel 11:1a,b), and he tried to get Uriah to change his mind about going home: David asked him to wait one more day before returning to the battle front (2 Samuel 11:12), and then invited Uriah to a meal where he managed to get Uriah drunk in hope that Uriah would lose his inhibitions against going home and thereby yield to his desire to have a conjugal visit with Bathsheba so that David's adultery could remain concealed, 2 Sam. 11:13a.

D.    However, even when drunk, Uriah still had enough self-discipline to sleep on his mat among David's servants at the door of the palace instead of returning home to be with his wife, 2 Samuel 11:13b.

III.          Consequently, to keep his adulterous affair secret, David arranged for Uriah to be slain in combat at the battlefront followed by David's taking Bathsheba to be his wife, 2 Samuel 11:14-27a:

A.    In a desperate effort to keep his adultery concealed, David wrote a letter to Joab, telling him to arrange for Uriah to be slain in combat by the Ammonites, and he sent the letter by the hand of Uriah, the murder victim himself, directing Uriah to return to Joab with the message, 2 Samuel 11:14-15.

B.     David knew Joab would agree to his order that Uriah be slain, for it would give Joab damaging information on David's murder of Uriah that Joab might use as leverage to keep David from ever executing him for murdering Abner (2 Sam. 3:22-30).  Just as David presumed, Joab arranged for Uriah to die in battle, 2 Samuel 11:16-17.

C.     Joab then sent a messenger to David, cryptically explaining that the army of Israel had suffered a temporary setback, but that lest David become upset at the supposedly foolish way Joab had led his men to be so dangerously exposed to the Ammonite soldiers on the city wall where its best soldiers could easily kill them, the messenger was to tell David that Uriah the Hittite was among the fallen, 2 Samuel 11:18-21.

D.    When the messenger told David all of Joab's words, including the news that Uriah was also slain, David told the messenger to encourage Joab, not to be concerned about the loss of life, 2 Samuel 11:22-25.

E.     Bathsheba then heard of her husband's death, so she grieved over his loss, 2 Samuel 11:26.

F.      When her mourning was ended, David sent for her and wed her, and she gave birth to his son, 2 Sam. 11:27a.

IV.           Nevertheless, GOD was NOT PLEASED with David's adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11:27b):

A.    In the Hebrew text, there is a strong literary contrast between David's words in 2 Samuel 11:25 of "let not this matter (dabar) be evil (ra'a') in your eyes ('ayin)" and the comment by the author of 2 Samuel 11:27b when he wrote, "and the matter (dabar) which David had done was evil (ra'a') in the eyes ('ayin) of Jahweh." (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 473; B. D. B., A Heb. & Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 182-184, 949, 744-745)

B.     The author of 2 Samuel thus expressed his sharp critique of David, that though David had wanted his cover-up of adultery by the murder of Uriah not to seem evil, God judged it to be evil, and God's verdict mattered!

V.              Thus, David paid a big price for sin while Uriah ended up being greatly blessed for taking the right path:

A.    We will learn in 2 Samuel 12:9-10 that the sword would plague David's household due to his sins re: Uriah.

B.     Conversely, though Uriah at first seems to be the "loser" for doing what was right, he ended up a big "winner":

1.      The instant he was slain in battle while performing God's will, Uriah the Hittite went to heaven to dwell with God where other deceased Old Testament believers dwell (2 Corinthians 5:8; Hebrews 12:22-23).

2.      In that heavenly abode, Uriah has ever since experienced fulness of joy and pleasures, Psalm 16:11.

3.      Daniel 12:11-13 with 12:2-3 then reveal that at the end of the Great Tribulation, Uriah will rise from the dead and be blessed of God to shine as bright as the sun forever for his wisdom and righteousness!

4.      Revelation 20:4-6 reveals that Uriah will also rule with Christ in His Messianic Kingdom.

5.      However, most of all, Uriah's reward for having made the right decision to focus on God's calling as his priority opposite David's temptation to the contrary will be eternally rewarded, Revelation 22:12.

C.     In contrast, David, though a saint, will suffer loss of eternal reward for his adultery and his murder of Uriah:

1.      In summing up David's life, 1 Kings 15:5 KJV claims he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his life "save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite,"  where "matter" and "eyes" respectively render the same Hebrew words dabar and 'ayin that are used 2 Samuel 11:25 and 11:27 respectively first by David in his claim that Uriah's death was no evil matter in the eyes of man and second of the 2 Samuel author's comment that this matter of Uriah's death was evil in God's eyes (see IV, A above; Ibid., Kittel, p. 538). 

2.      That blemish on David's record will follow him into eternity, making him the "loser" in this "matter"!

 

Lesson: David's cover-up his adultery did a terrible immediate wrong to Uriah, but God holds all men accountable, so David paid a huge price in his life and a loss of eternal reward while Uriah enjoyed eternal bliss and honor.

 

Application: If we wonder if going the righteous route in life is worth suffering for it, (1) may we recall that God is the final Judge, and (2) trust in Christ for eternal life, John 3:16.  (3) Then, may we recall the final outcome of Uriah and heed his example to live uprightly regardless of the current cost in view of God's eternal accounting!

 

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)  

            Years ago, a certain Christian teen boy was told by his parents to date a certain Christian girl.  The teen boy knew that this girl was immoral, but he was afraid to tell that to his parents lest they severely punish him for slander, for the girl's parents were good friends of his parents.  The boy viewed the situation as a "no win" one for him!

            The boy chose to flee immorality while also honoring his parents through simply neglecting to date the girl, hoping his parents might think him immature and drop the issue.  However, in time, his Dad spanked him over it!

            Decades later, the girl's immorality surfaced publicly in the life she lived as an adult.  The former teen boy's Mother then asked her adult son if he had known in his teen years that this girl was immoral, and he said, "Yes!"

            His mother immediately shot back, "Then why didn't you SAY something?!"

            He gently muttered, "You wouldn't have believed me!"  His Mother froze, realizing the truth of his claim!

            However, the price the boy paid in terms of suffering proved to be small!  God led him to marry a great girl, and he will enter eternity blessed for making the choice not to date the immoral girl though getting spanked for it!

            May we trust in Christ to be saved.  Then, regardless of the cost, may we choose Uriah's godly path!