In the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament to Christians), there are a number of explicit commandments which defined the parameters of sin for the children of Israel. Jews have traditionally claimed that there are 613 individual commandments contained in Torah. These commandments also covered all aspects of the life of an Israelite: moral/ethical, clean/unclean, ritual/sacrificial, sanitation/health, slave/property, crops/livestock, wealth/tithing, defense/war, vows/oaths, and legal/justice. Moreover, at the apex of these laws, stood the Ten Commandments which underscored the fundamental responsibilities of the people of the covenant. These, in turn, were summarized by Two Great Commandments: Love for God and love for each other.
These commandments were meant to reflect and outline God's expectations of his people. Now, just as these laws were intended to be comprehensive in their scope, they were also meant to apply to whatever circumstances the people might find themselves: wandering in the wilderness, conquering the Promised Land, the rule of the judges, and the kingdom(s). In other words, this legislation was meant to cover or apply to whatever circumstances the people happened to find themselves in at any given time. Nevertheless, as with any such body of laws, there is always some confusion over the theoretical and practical application of those laws.
There is, however, a story in the Hebrew Scriptures which perfectly illustrates the real-world application of these principles, along with the scope and ubiquitousness of the sins defined by Torah. This is the story of King David's dalliance with a married woman. In short, this narrative clearly illustrated why God established some of the boundaries outlined in Torah.
In the Second book of Samuel, we read: "In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem." (II Samuel 11:1, NLT) This is the first in a long series of bad decisions by the king. Instead of leading his men into battle, he decided to remain in Jerusalem where there really wasn't anything to occupy his mind and energy.
Continuing, we read: "Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, 'She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.'" (II Samuel 11:2-3) After a nap, the king decided to take a rooftop stroll and spotted a beautiful woman taking a bath. Now, even though David already had seven wives, his sexual lust went into hyperdrive, and he sent one of his servants to find out the identity of the woman. Notice too, that he was informed that the woman was already married!
As the narrative continues, we see that this last tidbit of information was completely ignored. Resuming our story, we read: "Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, 'I’m pregnant.'" (II Samuel 11:4-5) We are only five verses into the story, and David has already violated a number of Torah commandments! As King and individual Israelite, he has failed to remember God's Law. He has also placed something before his duty to God, dishonoring God's name, committing adultery, coveting his neighbor's wife, and taking what did not belong to him. In short, his decisions demonstrated a less than whole-hearted devotion to God and a failure to love his soldiers, Uriah, and Bathsheba and the life which she carried within her womb as himself!
Continuing with the account, we learn that David told his commander to send Uriah back to Jerusalem, and then he attempted to get the unsuspecting husband to sleep with his wife - to trick him into thinking that he had impregnated his wife. (II Samuel 11:6-8) Uriah, however, thought about his fellow soldiers who were still fighting in the field and decided that it would be inappropriate for him to enjoy the company of his own wife while they were deprived of the comfort of their families. (II Samuel 11:9-13) In short, Uriah was more honorable than the king he served.
How did David respond to this turn of events? We read: "So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, 'Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.' So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers." (II Samuel 11:14-17) Thus, David added bearing false witness and murder to the long list of his sins! He made one bad decision after another and had completely alienated himself from his God and fellow Israelites. Worse yet, David appeared to be oblivious to the horror which his decisions had wrought. (II Samuel 11:18-27)
The account of the fallout from David's sins continues into the following chapter. We read there: "So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: 'There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.'" (II Samuel 12:1-4) A moral fog had descended over the king, and he appeared to be incapable of recognizing and acknowledging what he had done. God's response was to send one of his prophets to tell him a seemingly unrelated story about a wealthy man's treatment of a man with very modest means.
The recognition was not immediate. We read: "David was furious. 'As surely as the Lord lives,' he vowed, 'any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.'" (II Samuel 12:5-6) Interestingly, David immediately recognized the horrible injustice in the story, but he appears to still not have connected it to his own behavior in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba!
Of course, God didn't leave him hanging! We read: "Then Nathan said to David, 'You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.'" (II Samuel 12:7-12)
In short, David's bad decisions had led him into a horrendous series of sins which had devastating consequences for himself, Bathsheba, their child, Uriah, the king's family, and the entire kingdom. More importantly, David had not just violated many of the individual commandments within the framework of God's covenant with Israel, he had also violated the Two Great Commandments which served as the foundation of God's eternal Law - the one which applied to all of the peoples of the earth. In other words, King David failed to love the Lord his God with all of his heart and soul, and to love his neighbors as he loved himself - to treat others the way that he would like to be treated.
In the words of the New Covenant, David had failed the basic expectation which God has of all of his people. That is "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world." (I John2:15-16) Likewise, David had violated another principle of the New Covenant related to both the first and second of the Great Commandments. John also wrote: "If someone says, 'I love God,' but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers." (I John 4:20-21, NLT) In other words, David could NOT have truly loved God while simultaneously treating other people the way that he had!
Yes, our great and merciful God forgave David's sins. Nevertheless, this story was recorded for our benefit. It demonstrates the insidious, pervasive nature, and far-reaching consequences of sin. It is also a cautionary tale about the deceptiveness of sin - how one bad decision can lead to others. Thank God we have this example to help us avoid the pitfalls of sin! Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment