David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, David sent out Joab with his officers and the entire Israelite army. They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
It is difficult to fight a battle in winter when the weather is harsh and the food is not as plentiful. Napoleon found this out when he attacked Russia and found himself caught in the winter. During the monsoons of the Vietnam War, the war came to a standstill. The rain kept all of the planes out of the air.
The Ammonites had not yet been completely defeated. They lost the support of the Syrians, so they ran back to their capital city of Rabbah. They stayed at Rabbah during the winter, possibly planning for an Israelite spring siege of their city.
It was unusual for kings to stay home during a battle. Usually, they camped with their troops to show their support, example, and leadership. David had grown up living in shepherd fields as a boy. He had lived in the caves of Addulam during the Saul persecutions. Now, he lived in a nice big comfortable castle in Jerusalem. He should have been with his army. Instead, he was enjoying the seductions of materialism.
Materialism is one of the worst judgments on men or society, because it brings a man down without him recognizing it. Before World War I, America was living it up in the materialism of the Roaring 20’s. Europe was doing the same. After World War II, all of the European nations were judged. Europe destroyed itself. They ended up spending their entire economy on rebuilding their cities. However, America was untouched by this inland destruction. Why was America not judged? First, America supported Israel. Second, they were judged by materialism. The rebellious sixties decayed the morals of America. America began spiraling down the tubes, just as Israel spiraled down during the era of the Judges.
11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive.
When a believer is idle in the Lord’s work, then he becomes preoccupied with the things of the world. The things of the world become addictions to the idle believer. David was idle. He should have been at war with his soldiers. He could not sleep that night, so he walked around on the roof of his house. The roofs of the houses in ancient Israel were used as family patios.
David’s palace patio was much higher than all of the other patios in Jerusalem. He looked down from his palace, and saw a woman bathing nude on an outdoor patio.
Why would a woman bathe in the nude on a lower patio unless she wanted to seduce the king? Bathsheba was beautiful, but she was not a woman of high morals. She used her beauty not for God’s glory, but for her own material benefits. She may have desired to find a more influential husband. It is interesting to note that this same patio will be used later by David’s son to fornicate with the royal concubines.
11:3 So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
David saw, he thought, and then he executed a plan to commit adultery with Bathsheba. Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam. Eliam was one of David’s mighty men. These mighty men were dedicated, loyal, disciplined, and dangerous elite soldiers of David. Eliam was the son of Ahithophel.
Ahithophel was a wise counselor of David who later defected to support Absalom’s revolt. Ahithophel most likely joined the revolt of Absalom to take revenge on what David did to Uriah and Bathsheba.
Uriah was also one of David’s mighty men. This was why he was living so close to the palace of David. Uriah was a Hittite. For centuries, the Hittites were a lost civilization. No one could find any archaeological evidence that they even existed. Skeptics laughed at the Bible and claimed that it was inaccurate. Then, Hugo Winckler found 40 Hittite cities. The skeptics no longer use this argument. The Hittite Empire ended by 1200 B.C., but there were still pockets of Hittites who were absorbed into other cultures.
Uriah’s name means “Yahweh is my light," so he must have been a Jewish proselyte. He may have been a mercenary soldier who converted from the pagan Hittite religion to the true worship of Jehovah.
11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) Then she returned to her home.
Purification after intercourse was required by the Mosaic Law. David was watching this purification ritual. Once David and Bathsheba committed adultery, then according to the Mosaic Law, they should have been executed by stoning.
11:5 The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”
Bathsheba was pregnant. Since her husband was at war, she would be accused of adultery and stoned. If she identified David as the father, then David would be stoned as well. This sin placed David in a dangerous political position with the people and a dangerous relationship position with Jehovah.
11:6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.
To protect David and Bathsheba from being executed by stoning, David attempted to cover up the crime.
11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going.
Uriah received a personal audience with the king. This was quite an honor in that day.
11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him.
David sent Uriah home, hoping that he would have marriage relations with his wife.
11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.
Uriah was a very loyal and disciplined soldier with very high morals. David was enjoying the luxury of his palace, while Uriah refused to sleep in his own house while his nation was at war
11:10 So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?”
David asked Uriah why he did not sleep in his own house.
11:11 Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations with my wife? As surely as you are alive, I will not do this thing!”
This was a rebuke to David, who should have been doing the same thing.
11:12 So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one.
Uriah most likely felt an obligation to rejoin his troops but he could not turn down an order from his King.
11:13 Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.
David use alcohol to weaken Uriah’s sex drive. One would have to know that Bathsheba grew frustrated while attempting to seduce her own husband. This night was important to Bathsheba, because it could keep her from being executed by stoning for adultery.
11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
Uriah was such a loyal and disciplined soldier, that David used Uriah to deliver his own death message to General Joab.
11:15 In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”
David was not only an adulterer and a liar, but he was also a murderer. This one sin caused the enemies of God for centuries to blaspheme Christ. They mock and say, “Is this the man after God’s own heart’?”
11:16 So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were.
General Joab should have questioned David’s orders.
11:17 When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David’s soldiers fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.
General Joab made himself an accomplice to murder. Some may argue that Joab was only “following orders." This was the defense that the Nazi war criminals used at the Nuremberg Trials. However, the international courts decided that there was a law of God which was higher than that of men.
11:18 Then Joab sent a full battle report to David.
Joab covered up David’s murder by sending a battle report to David.
11:19 He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish giving the battle report to the king, 11:20 if the king becomes angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the wall? 11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”
The reference here is to Abimelech. He was the son of Gideon. After Gideon died, Abimelech attempted to make himself king of Israel. Abimelech was not from the tribe of Judah and not anointed by a prophet of God. He attempted to take the city of Thebez by force. He came too close to the city walls. A woman dropped a millstone on his head and killed him. Only foolish generals allowed their men to get this close to enemy walls.
11:22 So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him.
It seems that Joab may have known the details about the adulterous affair between David and Bathsheba. If so, then it seems that Joab disguised the message so that the messenger would not be aware of this risky political situation.
11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way to the door of the city gate.
The messenger gave David the battle details.
11:24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”
The men were too close to the wall. The archers shot them and they died. Notice that many men died to cover David’s sin.
11:25 David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. Press the battle against the city and conquer it.’ Encourage him with these words.”
It seems that David had no remorse over the death of one of his most loyal elite mighty men.
11:26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for him.
The usual mourning period was seven days. Notice that Bathsheba mourned, but David did not.
11:27 When the time of mourning passed, David had her brought to his palace. She became his wife and she bore him a son. But what David had done upset the Lord.
David wanted to marry Bathsheba as quickly as possible so that the birth of the child would not be suspect to the public. Although this sin may have been concealed from the public, the omniscient God saw it. David’s secret sin was open sin before a holy God. Secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven. Every time a believer commits a sin, he is doing it before the face of God.