If I Could Ask One Question of King David, I would ask “Was Bathsheba Really Worth All That….?”

“It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “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.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.” 2 Samuel 11:2-13

King David reigned over Israel for almost forty years. They would later refer to his time as king as “Israel’s Golden Age”. In many ways, David was seen as a model king. He would go on to unite the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. He would bring the Ark of the Covenant back to the City of David. He allegedly assembled and wrote many of the Psalms. These are just a few of the accomplishes of King David.

But, like all men, and women, he had his flaws. He struggled with his power as king, often wanting things he did not need. He would go on to amass a lot of power, and many wives. And in the end, is lusting for one woman would lead to his eventual unraveling.

This is how we can summarize the story of David and Bathsheba. The events begin with King David choosing to stay home in Jerusalem while he sent the rest of the Israelite army to fight other nations and kings. David is relaxing and walking on the palace roof when he sees a beautiful woman bathing on her roof. David was immediately drawn to her and sent messengers to find out who she was. The messengers returned and told David that her name was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah. Despite David knowing that she was married, he sent for her and slept with her. Bathsheba later send word to David that she was pregnant.

David was nervous that his sin of adultery would now be found out. The King called for Uriah to come home so that could spend a night with his wife, Bathsheba and cover up the sin that Bathsheba was pregnant with David’s child. However, Uriah refused to sleep with his wife while his fellow men were off fighting. David was filled with anger that his plan did not work. When Uriah went back to war, King David sent a note to the army commander with instructions to have Uriah put at the frontline and to withdraw so that he would die. Bathsheba mourned her husband’s death and was then brought to King David to be his wife.

The prophet Nathan visited King David and told him of the Lord’s disapproval and displeasure with David. Even though David repented of his sin, Nathan told David that the son Bathsheba was expecting would die. And the Lord tells David that “Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.” 2 Samuel 12:10-14

The story of David and Bathsheba reminds us of how even great men who are called by G-d are still humans and struggle with sin.

That is why the one question I would ask David is “Was it worth it?”. What is your question?

Pastor Dave

If I Could Ask One Question of John The Baptist, I would ask “What Was Your Cousin Really Like?”

“In the sixth month of Elizabethʼs pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virginʼs name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting. So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.” Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.

“And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! For nothing will be impossible with God.” So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her…”
Luke 1:26-38

One thing we know about John the Baptist is this: he and Jesus were cousins. As such, since families in the first century Palestine lived together in clans, we can assume that John and Jesus would have spent a lot of time together as children. They would have played together — wandered the hills of Palestine together — talked about G-d together. Perhaps they argued about how we come to know G-d -what a relationship with G-d should really look like. Maybe they even argued about how a prophet or itinerant preacher should dress.

John and Jesus were born six months apart. In essence, they were the same age. As such, they would have gone through major life experiences at about the same time. Jesus was about thirty years old when the Gospels begin to report his ministry. So, we have very little information about most of Jesus’ and John’s lives. Perhaps John and Jesus did spend much of that time growing up together. Perhaps he would be able to tell us things about Jesus — things like “Did he tell jokes?” “Was he funny?” “What was it like to see the Holy Spirit descend into him?”

One of the weaknesses of the Gospels (this is just my opinion) is they leave out so much of Jesus’ day to day life — outside of the teachings, healings and other ministries. John would be able to fill in a lot of those details.

That is the one question I would ask John the Baptist. What is your question?

Pastor Dave