I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 8-11.

    There are four story lines in today’s passage. The first story line is about David establishing dominance in the region. Previously I discussed how most of the nations in the region gained wealth by raiding their neighbors and general banditry. David appears to have put a stop to this. The second story line is about David remembering his promise to Jonathan and tracking down Jonathan’s son. By bringing Mephibosheth into his household, David eliminated the possibility of him being used as a rallying point for those opposing David’s rule. The third story line is about David’s war with the Ammonites. A war which started when David’s gesture of condolence was misinterpreted as a spying mission. The fourth story line, which grows out of the third one, is the story of David and Bathsheba.

    The writer starts the story of Bathsheba by subtly telling us that none of this would have happened if David had done what he should have done. The whole situation arose because David sent his army off to war, but did not go with them. If David had led the armies to war, he would not have been in Jerusalem to be tempted. On the other hand, if he had not sent the armies to ware without him, there would have been no opportunity to succumb to the temptation because Uriah would have been at home with his wife. The important lesson here is that if we do the things which God wishes for us to do we will face fewer temptations, and will find it easier to resist those we do face.
    I want to point out one other thing about this passage. We can neither absolve, nor convict Bathsheba on the the basis of this passage. We cannot tell from this passage if Bathsheba willingly joined David in his bed, or if she did so because she felt coerced by the fact that he was king. Bathsheba may have chosen to bath when she did in order to catch David’s eye, or, it may have just been that David happened to be on his roof at the time she bathed (or perhaps he even had an idea of when she bathed and chose to be on the roof to get a look at her). Bathsheba may have been an innocent victim, or she may have been a social climber seeking to use her body to gain power. The biblical account gives us no basis for judging because it is irrelevant to the lesson it wishes to teach us. No matter which is true of Bathsheba, David would not have ended up in that situation if he had done as he ought.