In the church year we are between Pentecost and Advent. We are looking at women of the Bible who found God within the challenges they faced. Each of us has our own problems, fears, and desires. Walking for a little with the women of the Bible can offer new insight for our lives of faith.
Last week we saw how Esther, a Jewish girl forced into the
king’s harem overcame the threat of death to the Jews by prayer and courage.
This week, we meet Bathsheba who also was the victim of a king’s misguided
desires and stands up for her rights.
We meet Bathsheba in her own courtyard, bathing. She is wife
of Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in King David’s forces. All King David’s forces
are away fighting the Ammonites at Rabbah (which is the present-day city of
Amman, Jordan). The King has remained in Jerusalem. When he sees Bathsheba, he sent
messengers to fetch her, and she came to him, and he lay with her…[she]
conceived; and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’ (2 Samuel 4-5)
This image "Bathsheba Mourns" is also called "Before the Hashtag" a reference to #MeToo. Like the women of the MeToo movement, Bathsheba stood up for herself.
Instead of accepting that she can do nothing about the forced
pregnancy, Bathsheba informs David. She speaks up for herself, and for other
women across time who have been forced to bear a child, whether that child is
the result of rape or incest or other victimization. Bathsheba, a woman who had
very little power in the society of Israel around 1000 BCE, sends a message to
the King saying, “I am pregnant (and the child is yours).” The underlying
question is, what are you going to do about it?? She is demanding that David
take responsibility.
David now does something rather underhanded. He sends for
Uriah hoping that the soldier will go to his wife and then think that the child
is his. However, Uriah is honorable and tells the king, “The ark and Israel
and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are
camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink,
and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do
such a thing.” (2 Samuel 11:11-13)
The King now compounds the evil by telling his commander,
Joab, to put Uriah in the forefront of the fighting, where he is killed. Then
Bathsheba made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent
and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.
(2 Samuel 11:27)
It seems that David is trying, belatedly, to do the right
thing by marrying Bathsheba. However, the Bible says what David did displeased
the Lord. (Lust—trickery—murder…there’s a lot there to dislike) Nathan the
prophet comes and confronts David using a story about a poor man whose lamb is
stolen by a rich man to feed a visitor. David repents, but the child dies.
Bathsheba isn’t cast off, though. David consoled his wife Bathsheba, and
…she bore a son, and he named him Solomon. (2 Samuel 12:24)
Bathsheba then disappears into the background. Then in 1
Kings, chapter 1 we hear that Bathsheba and Nathan conspire together to ensure
Solomon’s succession as King (1 Kings 1:11-31). In the genealogy of the Gospel
of Matthew, Bathsheba is one of the few women mentioned, although she is simply
listed as the wife of Uriah (perhaps a subtle reminder that her
relationship started out with David’s sin of adultery).
Where is God in this convoluted tale of rape and murder and
conspiracy? We don’t hear God mentioned much in this saga, except for Nathan’s convicting
story and David’s prayer pleading for the life of the child. Even when we don’t
think God is present, God is. God can be found in the darkest of places,
transforming them into hope.
Bathsheba was doing her own personal, private things when
her life is interrupted by the lust of the king. She probably didn’t have much
choice in going with the messengers. However, she was not silent when she
discovered she was pregnant. She immediately informs David. God gives her the
courage to name the abuse and demand a response.
Bathsheba was a probably oblivious to David’s sly attempt to
have Uriah claim the child, and subsequent death of the soldier. When David
takes her into his household as one of his wives, she was no doubt relieved.
When the child dies, she grieved, just as David did. God offers comfort to them
both in the form of the birth of Solomon, who became a great king, heir to
David’s throne and expander of the kingdom.
Sometimes we must take action to find God’s hope. We are
part of the work of bringing God’s kingdom closer. Rather than sitting
passively by Bathsheba acted. She had the choice of doing nothing, but she
chose to demand that David respond. We too can take action and speak up when we see injustice.
In what dark places in your life story has God shown up to bring hope?
Is there action you are feeling called to do in order to bring
hope of God’s love to the hurts of the world?
