A
reflection for the Bible Study at Second Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, TN,
June 16, 2016
Reading passage: 2 Samuel
11:26-12:18a
Many of us have an idealistic or at least respectful view of the kings
of Judah, and since Solomon, Israel. We tend to see Saul, the first king, and the
later kings of Judah and Israel during the subjugation by Assyria and Babylon (for example, Rheobam,
Hezekiah, Zedehiah) as derelict exceptions to an otherwise respectfully
religious lineage inaugurated by David and Solomon.
Our New Testament gospels encourage this thought since they indirectly refer
to Jesus, the Son of God, perhaps to emphasize his humanity, as coming from the lineage of David by Joseph’s genealogical
connection to the royal line. Perhaps by the end of this lesson we may see
something important in this confusing assignation as we appreciate a truer
picture of weaknesses of human kings.
1 Samuel explains clearly that the people of Israel demanded kings at
the end of the time of Judges. They
asked for a king ignoring their Divine King. I encourage you to
explore the passage in the previous link and its surrounding verses; however,
here it is for those who chose otherwise:
1Samuel 8
4Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel
at Ramah, 5and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow
in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” 6But
the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.”
Samuel prayed to the LORD, 7and the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to
the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected
you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8Just as
they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day,
forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9Now
then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them
the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
10So
Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for
a king. 11He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will
reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to
be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12and he will
appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some
to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war
and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to
be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your
fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15He
will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his
officers and his courtiers. 16He will take your male and female
slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He
will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And
in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for
yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
Having read this, you are quite challenged to find anything noble
in the call for a human king. The call for a human king was (is) a rejection of
the Divine Lordship, and the one, including religious leaders, who accepts the heavy mantle of such royalty
surely bears a substitute Divine responsibility. Yet kings are human burdened
by irresistible human foibles that we all face. Those foibles, royal error and
dereliction of theological duty, began not so much with the first king, Saul, as
it did with David and Solomon, and continued to the end of the two kingdoms as the
Lord said it would.
Our passage today and its companion history in Kings captures the character of this call by the Hebrews for this human royalty. It exacted exquisite spiritual
pain for ruler and subject. It describes a heritage of adultery, treachery,
murder of father and son, and anyone who gets in the way, and flagrant disregard for the responsibility to rule according to Divine expectations:
David sent his troops into battle, defying the expectation
that the king lead his army. He remained behind, lounging in his palace and acting the peeping tom, he espied his general Uriah’s wife bathing and seduced her,
leaving her pregnant. David recalled Uriah, hoping he would sleep with his wife to remove the stigma of illicit pregnancy,
but adhering to the principles of Jewish battle, Uriah refused professing loyalty
to David and Judah. Finally, in exasperation, Davis sent Uriah back with a
letter to the leader of the army to place Uriah at the head of the battle
charge where he was slain along with many Hebrew soldiers. The Lord was angered and sent a prophet Nathan to David with
a tale of treachery:
12:1and the LORD sent Nathan to David. He
came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one
rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had very many flocks and
herds; 3but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which
he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children;
it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his
bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4Now there came a traveler
to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to
prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb,
and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5Then David’s
anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD
lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6he shall restore the lamb
fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7Nathan said to David, “You are the man!
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I
rescued you from the hand of Saul; 8I gave you your master’s house,
and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and
of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9Why
have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You
have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to
be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now
therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised
me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11Thus
says the LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house;
and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor,
and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12For
you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the
sun.” 13David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan said to David, “Now the LORD has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14Nevertheless,
because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born
to you shall die.” 15Then Nathan went to his house.
The LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it
became very ill. 16David therefore pleaded with God for the child;
David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground. (…on the seventh day
the child died.)
Reflection:
As some commentaries do, you ought to call this scheme callous
and exceedingly despicable. King David, the one that our childhood Sunday School
lessons glorified, was charged to protect the rights of the people and to
defend Divine justice. However, not only does he murder his loyal servant, Uriah (who name
in Hebrew means “The Lord is my Light”), he precipitates the death of many Hebrew soldiers while he remains at home
lounging and sleeping with Uriah’s wife rather than leading the charge in
battle. In these acts he disgraces everything he is anointed to defend. Does it sound familiar?
This passage
describes the true nature of evil. It is a blindness inspired by power even in
those who are anointed to serve the Lord as king. Why did David have Uriah killed?
To defend his own honor? To wed Bathsheba at the expense of the Law given by
the Lord? It is hard to keep night time visits and plots to kill secret in a
royal court. How could David think his acts would remain hidden not only from the people but from the Lord?
Scholarly interpretations of this passage about Uriah,
and the prophet Nathan’s confrontation with David seem to ignore the fact that 1
Samuel and particularly this story in 2 Samuel capture the heart of
human governance and the realities of power that point forward to
the climax of Divine Royal history of Judaism, if not our modern governmental crises.
This story at its core tells us that human kingship and leadership came into existence as a rejection of God by His people. Second it reveals in
detail the negative consequences of human leadership, not only a few thousand years ago, but also today.
The current hypercritical atmosphere of commentary by our
own emerging Presidential candidates (especially one in particular) fan fear and hatred. Such commentary cries
out for examination in the lens of this sad and corruptible behavior of King David
who many people still hold in high esteem.
Many of us choose to ignore the reason that Israel had human
kings. We claim that we are not Jews and we live in a democracy. However, one
can also persuasively argue that regardless of being a Jew or not, the passage
explains the consequences and failure that befall every nation and religious leader who chooses to be led by
human rather than Divine wisdom, and abandon their calling: Loss of
freedom, wealth, liberty and perhaps even of God.
Rejection of the Divine is not a pretty picture. We read
that kings will draft your children to die in wars the king initiates, you and
your children will be forced to reap his crops, make the king’s war machine, staff
the king’s army, and pay taxes to the king. The king will take your daughters
for harlots, bakers and cooks. The king will take the best of your possessions
and land, giving them to the members of the King’s court. You will be his
slaves.
But “No!,” you say, "We live in a democracy where none of
this can happen!"
I suggest you examine the sad state of affairs of our
elected leaders and particularly the commentary by those who aspire to “leadership” in the
upcoming November election.
Think about the fact that our children born in the 1980’s
have known nothing but continual war and growing terrorism inspired by our wars.
Legislators and governors enter into sweetheart deals to rob the public trust.
Some of them seduce your children and spouses.
But “No!,” you say. It was the Hebrews who said they need a
king. All those warnings are lost on us. We’ll go with the luck of the draw.
It is not exactly clear even today that the Israelites, or
us, understand the Lord’s admonishment about kings, neither vicariously nor by
personal experience. Royal King David had the responsibility to protect the
people and the Law, yet chose to sacrifice the people and act as though the Law
was of no consideration. To rely on our own strength, or that of another human
is folly of the worst sort.
The frightening thing today is we seldom use the opportunity
to look into the heart of the candidates before we go into the voting booth.
This passage should give us pause to look carefully at our candidates and
determine who is most fully seduced by a sense of power and disregard for human
and divine interests before we pull the lever in the voting booth.
You are forewarned.
Now, as solace, think about the crowning insight of this episode
on the abuse of power as an insight into the loving kindness of the Lord
that I suggest presages the Kingdom of God. The murdered general, The Lord is my Light, is a sobering
reminder. David who exercised and loved human power, much as the Romans did
killed The Lord is my Light.
That the Lord’s hesed,
or loving kindness, overcame theological dereliction is the primary comfort
for us. The Law demands death or other extremely harsh penalty for adultery and
flagrant spiritual corruption. Nathan masterfully led David to admit his sins, acknowledge
the right of judgment, and fear death, “I have sinned against the LORD!” Because
of the Lord’s loving kindness, Nathan can assure David that the LORD has put
away his sin; “You shall not die.”
“You shall not die.”
Even a dishonest adulterer who was also a schemer and
murderer who shirked his royal and divinely ordained duties can find grace from
the Lord.
This brings us to the last and most important point. Jesus
said he came to fulfill the Law citing the two greatest commandments. His claim
to descend from David perhaps is the literary claim to a special Kingdom of God.
Jesus came as the Son of God, not son of Joseph, with a message of
reconciliation and grace that bestows a reckoning of innocence to all who sin,
even reckless, would-be leaders.
In this way, Jesus is the culmination of not only of Samuel’s
story but of human history. The people of Israel, and us all, got what we first
rejected, a Divine King.
That King is Lord of All, who can heal and defend everyone who asks from the corruption of the forces of the world that contend with the Kingdom of
God, even human despots.
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