This morning I have been reading from 2 Samuel, and wrestling for understanding of a story about David. Here are the verses - 2 Samuel 12:7-14 NASB:
[7] "Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. [8] I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! [9] Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. [10] Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' [11] Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. [12] Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.'" [13] Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. [14] However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die."
So as I have been thinking about these verses several thoughts have come to mind:
1) The child is innocent, why strike the child for the sins of David?
2) Bathsheba was essentially innocent, why cause her grief for the sin of David?
3) Why forgive David and still strike the son?
4) Did God cause the child to die, or did He allow the child to die?
5) Is this representative of God's character, and ways? Isn't He the same always?
6) Does God do this today?
7) Why did David ever sin in the first place?
All of these are good questions, and while I don't have solid answers to them all, I think I have some understanding.
First, it is important to note that the Old Testament represents the progressive revelation of the character and nature of God. At the time of these events, they only had the received the Law, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had not lived yet, and these were major sources of Revelation of the character of God. Jesus, who is the perfect representation of the Father (Heb. 1:3) had not lived yet, nor provided His understanding and teachings. However, in reading this story it is important that we read it with all of that understanding in place, so that we do not misunderstand God's Character.
For reference - here are just a sampling of some of the verses I am referring to:
Isaiah 53:5-6 - The messiah would bear our sins
Jeremiah 31:30-34 - A man will die for his own sin, and God will make a new Covenant and write it on their hearts, and God will forgive their sins.
Ezekiel 18:3-32 - A man will die for his own sin, not for his fathers. God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, but desires repentance.
John 4:1-42 - story of Jesus interacting with the woman at the well, who is clearly an adulteress, yet He brings salvation to her, not judgement.
Second, God was operating within the context of the Covenant of the Law that He had given Moses, even though God had another better Covenant, and New Covenant planned through Jesus. He hadn't released the understanding of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel yet, so He (God) was operating within the constraints of His present revelation. This is actually quite merciful, as to expect David to understand something He had never heard or seen previously would not be just, nor would it bear witness to the Law's He put in place.
An analogy here that might be helpful, in elementary school there are certain rules that we need to follow, that are no longer necessary in Highschool or college. These are in place at the time to aid in our education and learning experience. However, if we applied the rules for seniors in highschool to a kindergarten class, but only to certain students, it would be confusing to all the students, would undermine their understanding of rules and how they work, and actually cause issues with their development.
Thirdly, according to the The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, when we read phrases where God says, "I will raise up" or "I will even take", we must understand that God is essentially saying the following ""That is, in the course of my providence I will permit this to be done." Such phrases in Scripture do not mean that God either does or can do evil himself; but only that he permits such evil to be done as he foresaw would be done, and which, had he pleased, he might have prevented." This is such an interesting a deep subject, for not everything God foresees happens, and often times His warnings are headed and what could have happened doesn't. The reverse of this is also true, God can foresee things that will happen, as a result of our free-will. He will often warn us about them, but if we continue down that path, we will suffer the consequences. Thus, He sees us, could intervene, but doesn't out of His respect for our free-will. (This is much too deep of a topic to cover in such a short meditation - so will leave the rest for another time.) In the story above, He doesn't intervene and answer David's prayers.
Fourthly, as I mentioned earlier, we really need to filter all such biblical accounts through the perfect representation of the Father, provided us by Jesus (See Heb 1:3). The simple question of whether Jesus would say this or do this (something which we read), should give us pause in our application of that something, found in the Old Testament, to our lives. For example, I referenced the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, found in John 4. While clearly not the same situation, we see Jesus dealing with someone who is clearly in adultery, (She was married 5 times, and now living with a man who wasn't her husband). We could argue that she wasn't a Jew and wasn't under the Law, but that really isn't the issue here, the focus is on the response of Jesus, representing God the Father to someone who is clearly sinning, and for who the punishment would be stoning (See John 8 for the other story of the woman caught in adultery). His response to her is to engage her in conversation, reveal His knowledge of her, and open her eyes to the truth of who He was, namely the Messiah. She is radically saved and becomes one of His first evangelists, getting most of her town saved by leading them to Jesus. This is nothing like what we see in the story from 2 Samuel, and yet it is the same Father. Both are true accounts, and true representations of the Father, but Jesus' actions and words represent the best understanding of the Father's heart and character.
So, in light of the above, how should we read and understand David's punishment and the words of the Lord, spoken to him by Nathan? We see God revealing to David that His sins are not hidden, neither from God, nor from others. We understand that our actions, and our sins, can have ramifications that are damaging to ourselves and to others. Sometimes that damage is done to our attitudes towards others, our relational paradigms, our thoughts and heart motivations, and other times they can have real world consequences. God, in dealing with David, was calling him to a place of transparency, humility, repentance, obedience and deeper relationship. We are all encouraged down this same path, regardless of the seriousness of our sins, and our lack of knowledge of God's ways and purposes. If we look at the response of the Samaritan woman at the well, we see this exact same flow of transparency, humility, repentance, obedience and relationship.
In this scripture from 2 Samuel, we see God intervening in David's life, causing him to stop his sinful ways, and turn back to the Lord. Bathsheba's next child is Solomon, who would become King after David, and we see in his birth and life, the redemption of all that had been lost by Bathsheba due to the consequences of David's sin. We see God redeeming their relationship, and blessing it, which should certainly tell us there is more to this story than just punishment for sin. We know from other scriptures (Matthew 1:5) that David's great grandmother is Rahab, who just might be the prostitute that provided Joshua a safe place to hide when they were spying out the land. Talk about redeeming one's life!
Hopefully this reflection provides some helpful insight and tools for understanding difficult passages in scripture. God knows us, loves us and wants to lead us into deeper relationship with Him. Sometimes that requires Him to intervene in our lives, calling us out of our sin in painful ways, but His heart is always for us! He desires to redeem all that has been lost due to our sins, and has this tendency to bless that which is restored with double blessings. Let us entrust ourselves to this loving God, who does not punish us as our sins deserve, but who took upon Himself the punishment for all our sins! Let us turn towards Him and acknowledge our need for Him, ask forgiveness humbly and enter into deeper relationship with Him.
Amen and Amen!
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