Reading #593 a Bad Choice

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2 Samuel 11: Reading #593 A bad choice When Balaam was called to curse the Hebrews he could not bring evil upon them, even with the help of the devil, for the LORD had not “beheld iniquity in Jacob”, neither had He “seen perverseness in Israel” and “the LORD his God was with him”. Numbers 23:21. In fact, there had been plenty of sins in the past, but obviously at that moment the majority had been cleansed of them. But when through yielding to temptation by rejecting His power, the bulk of the people transgressed God's law again, their Defender had to depart from them yet again. Thus the story goes in this trial, the witnesses are sometimes good – sometimes bad. Not until the last moment will it remain good, for the last enemy to be defeated is death. (1 Corinthians 15:26.) When we are faithful to His commandments, “there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel” which can succeed, for in obedience comes the strength. Numbers 23: 23. However, while we are in that condition of faithfulness, all the power and wily arts of Satan are exerted more strongly to seduce us into sin. Therefore if we who profess to be the depositaries of God's law become transgressors of its precepts, we separate ourselves from God, and we are unable to stand before our enemies.

It was in such circumstances that the Israelites, who could not be overcome by the arms or by the enchantments of Midian, fell a prey to her harlots in the exodus. “And Israel abode in Shittim [just before crossing the Jordan to enter the Promised Land] and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab [they entered into religious prostitution]. And they [the Midianite women] called the people to the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself to Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel”. Numbers 25:1-3. (They accepted that the Midian religion was the same as theirs, with nicer(!) rituals. After all, Moses had come from there forty years before!) Such is the power that woman, enlisted in the service of Satan, has exerted to entrap and destroy souls. “She has cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her”. Proverbs 7:26. It was thus that the children of Seth were seduced from their integrity, and the holy seed first became corrupt. “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons [followers] of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose”. Genesis 6:1-2. They married unbelievers!

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We are told, “Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has he that believes with an infidel? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people’. ‘Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate’, says the LORD, ‘and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters’, says the LORD Almighty”. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. It was thus that Joseph was tempted. Genesis 39:7-9. Thus Samson betrayed his strength, the defence of Israel, into the hands of the Philistines. Judges 16:16-21. Here David stumbled also.

***************(Begin Quote) 2 Samuel 11: 1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed [defeated] the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. ***************(End Quote) Before the conclusion of the war with the Ammonites, David, leaving the conduct of the conflict to Joab, returned to Jerusalem, while the army stayed in the field, ready to renew hostilities when the time came. The Syrians had already submitted to Israel, and the complete overthrow of the Ammonites appeared certain. David was surrounded by the fruits of victory and the honours of his wise and able rule. It was now, while he was at ease and unguarded, that the tempter seized the opportunity to occupy his mind. The fact that God had taken David into so close connection with Himself and had manifested so great kindness toward him, should have been to him the strongest of incentives to preserve his character unblemished. But when in ease and self-security he let go his hold upon God, David yielded to Satan and brought upon himself the stain of guilt. He, the Heaven-appointed leader of the nation, chosen by God to uphold His law, himself trampled upon its precepts. He who should have been a terror to evildoers, by his own act strengthened their hands. In this story there’s a warning that we should occupy every spare moment in doing something. In this way an effectual door will be closed against a thousand temptations. Had David been engaged in some useful employment, he would not have been guilty of the murder of Uriah, for Satan is ever ready to employ him who does not provide work for himself.

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The best occupation, of course, is meditating on the word of God. The LORD advised Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth [or mind]; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success”. Joshua 1:8. The mind which is continually striving to rise to the height of intellectual greatness by deciphering the will of God, will find no time for cheap, foolish thoughts, which are the parents of evil actions. For this reason it is written, “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the LORD has promised to them that love Him. Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God’: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust [in his mind, Matthew 5:28], and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth [the action of] sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. Do not err, my beloved brothers [and sisters]”. James 1:12-16. But few are meeting the mind of God. Of the slothful servants God will inquire: “What have you done with the talents I gave you?” Many will be found in that day who, having had one talent, bound it in a napkin and hid it in the earth. These unprofitable servants will be cast into outer darkness; while those who had put out their talents to the exchangers and doubled them will receive the plaudit: “Well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter you into the joy of your LORD”. Matthew 25:21.

***************(Begin Quote) 2 Samuel 11: 2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3 And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her [with her consent and love]; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned to her house. ***************(End Quote) “Now all these things happened to them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”. 1 Corinthians 10:11-12. Satan well 3 #593 29-May-18 19:19 a5/p5 knows the material with which he has to deal in the human heart. He knows – for he has studied with fiendish intensity for thousands of years the points most easily assailed in every character. Through successive generations he has wrought to overthrow the strongest men, princes in Israel, by the same temptations that were so successful at Baal-peor. All along through the ages there are strewn wrecks of character that have been stranded upon the rocks of sensual indulgence. As we approach the close of time, as we stand upon the borders of the heavenly Canaan, Satan will, as of old (at Baal-peor), redouble his efforts to prevent us from entering the goodly land. He lays his snares for every person, physical and spiritual. It is not the ignorant and uncultured merely that need to be guarded; he will prepare his temptations for those in the highest positions, in the most holy positions; for if he can lead them to pollute their minds, he can through them destroy many others. And he employs the same agents now as he employed three thousand years ago. By worldly friendships, by the charms of beauty, by pleasure seeking, mirth, feasting, or the wine cup, he tempts to the violation of the seventh commandment.

***************(Begin Quote) 2 Samuel 11: 5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, “I am with child”. ***************(End Quote) Amid the perils of his earlier life David in conscious integrity could trust his case with God. The LORD's hand had guided him safely past the unnumbered snares that had been laid for his feet. But now, guilty and unrepentant, he did not ask help and guidance from Heaven, but sought to extricate himself from the dangers in which sin had involved him.

Bathsheba, whose fatal beauty had proved a snare to the king, was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's bravest and most faithful officers. None could foresee what would be the result should the crime become known. The law of God pronounced the adulterer guilty of death, and the proud-spirited soldier, so shamefully wronged, might avenge himself by taking the life of the king or by exciting the nation to revolt.

***************(Begin Quote) 2 Samuel 11:

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6 And David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite”. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 And when Uriah was come to him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.

8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet”. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess [a parcel] of meat [food] from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

10 And when they had told David, saying, “Uriah went not down to his house”, David said to Uriah, “Came you not from your journey? Why then did you not go down to your house?” 11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into 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 this thing”.

12 And David said to Uriah, “Tarry here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart”. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. ***************(End Quote) Even while drunk, the man was a model of honour! Every effort which David made to conceal his guilt proved unavailing. He had betrayed himself into the power of Satan; danger surrounded him, dishonour more bitter than death was before him. There appeared but one way of escape, and in his desperation he was hurried on to add murder to adultery.

***************(Begin Quote) 2 Samuel 11: 14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set you Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire you from him, that he may be smitten, and die”.

16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that valiant men were. 17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab [daily challenges were part of a siege]: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

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18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; 19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have made an end of telling the matters of the war to the king, 20 And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say to you, ‘Wherefore approached you so nigh to the city when you did fight? Knew you not that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? Why went you nigh the wall?’, then say you, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also’.” ***************(End Quote) He who had compassed the destruction of Saul was seeking to lead David also to ruin. Though the temptations were different, they were alike in leading to transgression of God's law. David reasoned that if Uriah were slain by the hand of enemies in battle, the guilt of his death could not be traced home to the king, Bathsheba would be free to become David's wife, suspicion could be averted, and the royal honour would be maintained. Adding insult to injury, Uriah was made the bearer of his own death warrant! A letter was sent by his hand to Joab, and he, already stained with the guilt of one wanton murder, did not hesitate to obey the king's instructions, and Uriah fell by an arrow of the children of Ammon.

Up till now David's record as a ruler had been such as few monarchs have ever equalled. It is written of him that he “executed judgment and justice to all his people”. 2 Samuel 8:15. His integrity had won the confidence and loyalty of the nation. But as he departed from God and yielded himself to the wicked one, he became for the time the agent of Satan. He did not cease to be a follower of the LORD, he just became a very bad follower! He still held the position and authority that God had given him, and because of this, claimed obedience that could imperil the eternal life of him who should yield it. And Joab, whose allegiance had been given to the king rather than to God, transgressed God's law because the king commanded it. David's power had been given him by God, but to be exercised only in harmony with the divine law. When he commanded that which was contrary to God's law, it became sin to obey. “The powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1), but we are not to obey them contrary to God's law.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, sets forth the principle by which we should be governed. He says, “Be you followers of me, even as [only as] I also am of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1.

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***************(Begin Quote) 2 Samuel 11: 22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. 23 And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were upon them even to the entering of the gate. 24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon your servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also”. 25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, Let not this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another: make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage you him”.

26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. ***************(End Quote) He whose tender conscience and high sense of honour would not permit him, even when in peril of his life, to put forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, had so jumped into sin that he could wrong and murder one of his most faithful and most valiant soldiers (and the others who were with him), and hope to enjoy undisturbed the reward of his sin. Alas! How had the fine gold become dim! How had the most fine gold changed! (See Lamentations 4:1.)

Bathsheba observed the customary days of mourning for her husband; and at their close “David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife”. This does not mean that Bathsheba was a total agent of Satan, although she does not appear to have resisted the approaches of David. No doubt flattered by the royal attentions and lonely during the long absence of her husband, she too, yielded to the temptation. However, God was able to give her later the privilege of producing the next great king of Israel! Lateral thought: It has always been a puzzle to me that so many people who claim to be Christians make the statement that Adam “fell” into sin, which implies that he could not help himself. Then they apply the same thought to themselves! But that is not what is written – he did not “fall” but “jumped”. The record states: “For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived [so he chose], but the woman being deceived was in the transgression”, which negates that thought. 1Timothy 2:13-14. And that’s how it was for David and Bathsheba, they chose.

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As Christians, most of us seem to have little idea of the potency that would be ours if we connected with the Source of all strength. We say that we “fall” into sin again and again, and think it must always be so (yet we are really choosing to do it). God says, “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me”. Isaiah 27:5. Many of us cling to our infirmities as if they were something to be proud of. Christ tells us that we must set our face as iron if we would overcome, not the temptation, but our own will. In taking Christian humanity, He has borne our sins in His own body on the tree; and through the power that He is willing to give us, we too may resist the world, the flesh, and the devil. Then let us not talk of our weakness and inefficiency, but of Christ and His strength. When we talk of Satan's strength, the enemy fastens his power more firmly upon us. When we talk of the power of the Mighty One, he is driven back. As we draw near to God, He draws near to us. That’s why it is written; “Submit yourselves therefore to God. [Then] resist the devil, and he will flee from you [and God]. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you [and the temptation will lose its hold]. Cleanse your hands, you sinners [sinning Christians]; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep [if necessary]: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the LORD [and accept His strength], and He shall lift you up”. James 4:7-10. We shall find as we read on that when David at last confessed his sin, he made no claim to helplessness, to having “fallen”, but admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness for having turned aside from the path of righteousness. From the beginning Satan has portrayed to men and women the gains to be won by transgression. Genesis 3:1-5. Thus he seduced angels. Thus he tempted Adam and Eve to sin. And thus he is still leading multitudes away from obedience to God. The path of transgression is made to appear desirable; “but the end thereof are the ways of death”. Proverbs 14:12. Happy they who, having ventured in this way, learn how bitter are the fruits of sin, and turn from it quickly. God in His mercy did not leave David to be lured to utter ruin by the deceitful rewards of sin, but for the sake of Israel also there was a necessity for God to interpose. We’ll find out how as we continue to read in the next few weeks. Bye for now, RonP

In this reading the old-fashioned words of the KJV have been modernised, and in some instances, the man-made punctuation has been altered for greater understanding. Some of the comments are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own. Some of these readings are available at http://ancient-sda.com/readings/books_index.html Past books will be available from time to time.