1-2 Samuel Week Thirty-Nine: 2 Samuel 11 – 12

Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

² Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³ So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵ The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king was sent out after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ Now when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, 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? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ He had written in the letter, saying, “Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. ¹⁹ He charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰ and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

²² So the messenger departed and came and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ Moreover, the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” ²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and overthrow it’; and so encourage him.”

²⁶ Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.

12

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,

“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
² “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
³ “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. ⁶ He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

⁷ Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! ⁹ Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ So Nathan went to his house.

Then the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm!” ¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” ²⁰ So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.

²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²² He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ ²³ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

²⁶ Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and captured the royal city. ²⁷ Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. ²⁸ Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, fought against it and captured it. ³⁰ Then he took the crown of their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in great amounts. ³¹ He also brought out the people who were in it, and set them under saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

—2 Samuel 11 – 12

Sermon Notes

Weekly Study Guide

I remember very clearly the feeling I had when finishing a particularly challenging course in school. Those semesters were indeed challenging but also rewarding. I just wanted to say that you should be proud of yourself for taking this journey and making it this far. This is not easy material to navigate. But it will prove dividends down the road in your understanding, not only of the big picture of God’s plans throughout history, but of God Himself. I also want to encourage you. Don’t feel like you need to fully grasp all that we are talking about the first time around. I have read some of my favorite Christian books several times—sometimes decades apart. And I get something completely different in subsequent readings. So, glean what you can and hear what the Spirit is communicating to you as we grapple with His Word.

We have made it to the end of book three in our series of four books on 1^st & 2^nd Samuel—as well as our exploration of the meaning, purpose, and destiny of the nation of Israel in God’s plan. This portion of our study had led us to examine the covenants God makes in scripture as the lens through which we are discovering the centrality of Israel in salvation history. We’ve seen that in the Abrahamic Covenant, God makes promises of Land, Seed, and Blessing—each of which is elaborated upon in subsequent covenants. Unpacking the Land Covenant is where we find ourselves.

We left off last time in the middle of Deuteronomy chapter 30, where Moses is encouraging and instructing the people who were about to enter the Promised Land that, despite their disobedience, God’s promise of the land is eternal. Moses tells them that even though they will experience the consequences of their sin, God is faithful and will bring them back into the land.

Moses goes on to say, in the rest of the chapter, that God will circumcise their hearts and ultimately redirect all of the curses Israel had experienced to now be upon their enemies—upon those who persecuted them. Just as Joshua would later remind them, God sets before them life and prosperity, but also, death and adversity. And He challenges them to choose life—so that God may bless them in the land they are about to inherit. We see in this passage that one day, after their worldwide scattering, Israel will repent and will be regathered. They will possess the Promised Land, they will be regenerated, their enemies will be judged, and Israel will receive the full blessings of the Messianic Kingdom. This Land Covenant reaffirms the title deed to the land as belonging to Israel. Despite her disobedience, that right would never be taken away. The Abrahamic Covenant highlighted the unconditional ownership of the land forever, while the Land Covenant highlighted the fact that enjoyment of the land was conditioned upon obedience.

Yet this passage in Deuteronomy 29-30 is not the only mention of the Land Covenant in scripture. It is also reconfirmed in Ezekiel 16:1-63. Centuries after this Land Covenant was first given to the generation of Israel who were about to enter the Promised Land, Ezekiel describes it again for a new generation. As God often does, He reminds His people of His promises precisely when they need to hear them. Because of her disobedience, Israel was eventually taken captive to Babylon and Ezekiel himself was among the captives. In chapter 16, he points the people’s attention back to this promise God made to them in the beginning of their history. The land is theirs. Their enjoyment of it is only being hindered by their disobedience.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum describes it well when he says that in Ezekiel 16, God recounts His love of Israel back in her infancy (vv. 1-7). Ezekiel shows that Israel was chosen by God and became the wife of Jehovah (vv. 8-14). Yet Ezekiel, in extremely graphic imagery, then describes how Israel played the harlot and was guilty of spiritual adultery by means of idolatry (vv. 15-34). Thus, they were punished by means of dispersion (vv. 35-52). But as God has promised all throughout their history, their dispersion will not be final. There will be a future restoration of Israel based on this Land Covenant (vv. 53-63). God will remember the covenant He made with Israel and will establish a New Covenant that will result in Israel’s salvation (vv. 61-63).

We saw last time how the Land Covenant can be seen as a prophecy that the nation is going to be judged for their sin of disobeying their covenant with God, and be evicted from their land and dispersed around the world. But then, in fulfillment of His promises, God will bring the Jews back into their land and restore them not only physically, but spiritually as well. We also mentioned how there are two worldwide regatherings regarding Israel in scripture. The question then becomes: what do we do with the modern state of Israel? Is this modern Israel the fulfillment of those prophecies of restoration, or is this just an accident of history—that a nation that was dead for some 2,000 years was miraculously reborn—despite the entire world being against it?

As faithful interpreters of the Word all throughout history have read prophecies concerning Israel, they were confronted with a challenge. They read about the Land Covenant, which promised Israel restoration to their land after they experienced the consequences of their sin. The problem was that ever since 70 A.D. Israel no longer existed. How then, in that context, could these prophecies about Israel’s future be understood? This is where they had a choice. They could trust that God keeps His word despite the odds, or they could reinterpret these many passages to mean something completely different. Even though centuries of church history and tradition tried to compel them to do otherwise, many of these readers of scripture trusted that God would do what He said, despite the seeming impossibility of these promises being fulfilled literally. Then in 1948, the impossible happened. Israel became a nation again, and the shock waves of this event were felt all throughout Christian scholarship. Allegorical hermeneutics should have been destroyed right then and there, once and for all. The truth was clear that God did indeed have a future for national Israel. All of the attempts to allegorize Israel out of existence and out of relevance throughout the years had been proven baseless.

In both passages we have looked at, in Deuteronomy 29-30, as well as Ezekiel 16, we see the promise of restoration back to the land. However, many scholars have struggled with what this restoration looks like. In some passages, Israel seems to be restored for the purpose of blessing, while other passages show that Israel will be restored for the purpose of judgment. How do we reconcile these seemingly opposing ideas? We do it the same way we reconcile the messianic passages in the Old Testament that describe the coming of Messiah. Some passages seem to refer to the coming of Messiah in power and glory as He overthrows the kingdoms of this age, while other passages describe His coming as a suffering servant.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can easily see that there were two different comings of Messiah being described. The same is true with these regatherings of Israel. There will be two different regatherings. The first one will be a regathering in unbelief, for the purpose of preparation for judgment, and the second one will be a regathering in faith, for the purpose of preparation for blessing.

In Ezekiel 20:33-38, God describes the first regathering. This is the regathering that has been happening since the late 19^th century, flowing into the 20^th. God miraculously paved the way for millions of Jews from around the world to come back to live in their historic homeland. But as miraculous as this is, the sobering reality is that this regathering is for the purpose of preparing them for judgment—which will happen in the tribulation period. Here is what Ezekiel says:

“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.”

Just two chapters later Ezekiel says again:

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.” (Ezek 22:19-22)

Clearly, this initial regathering has a purpose of judgment—a final cleansing before the return of the Lord. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says of this first regathering: “It should be noted that it is a regathering out of wrath, and a gathering for wrath. They were gathered out of the wrath of the Holocaust. The events of the Nazi Holocaust, when six million Jewish people died, created the world stage for Israel to become a state, for the regathering in unbelief.” The truth is that Israel was promised such blessing by God that nations around them could not but marvel at the fact that God must be with them. But Israel was also promised such horrendous curses for rejecting the God that created them, and rejecting the offer of the Kingdom when it finally came, that those looking on could not help but realize that only a nation that was God’s own possession could be so cursed and still survive. This was the burden of being God’s chosen people. Great was their benefit, but greater still was their responsibility.

So that is the phase of salvation history we find ourselves in today. God has regathered the nation of Israel and will enter with them into a period of judgment. But that is not the end of the story. At the end of the tribulation, after God has traumatized Israel into looking to Him for their salvation, God will regather them a second time. At the midpoint of the tribulation, the antichrist will unleash terror on the Jews, so much so that they will flee their nation and hide. God will have to supernaturally protect them from being completely destroyed. This is what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 24:15-22):

Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 

The second regathering is described in Isaiah 11:11-12 where Isaiah says:

Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people, who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

This second regathering will take place at the end of the tribulation as God gathers His people to Himself to reward them with the promised Kingdom.

So how do we know there will be two, and only two, regatherings of the Jews to their homeland and not 3, 4, or 17 regatherings? Fortunately, Isaiah is very clear on this. He speaks of a regathering “the second time”. The purpose of this second regathering is for the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom—thus, it is also the last worldwide regathering. Some commentators try to squeeze in the return from Babylon as one of the regatherings, but this was only a return from Babylon to Israel, not a worldwide regathering. Again, Fruchtenbaum describes this well when he says that Isaiah is speaking of the final worldwide regathering in faith:

Isaiah numbers the final worldwide regathering in faith in preparation for the Messianic Kingdom as the second one. In other words, the last one is only the second one. If the last one is the second one, how many can there be before that? Only one. The first one could not have been the return from Babylon since that was not an international regathering from the four corners of the world, only a migration from one country (Babylonia) to another (Judea). The Bible does not allow for several worldwide regatherings in unbelief; it allows for one worldwide regathering in unbelief, followed by the last one, the one in faith, which is the second one. This text only permits two worldwide regatherings from the four corners of the earth. Therefore, the present Jewish State is very relevant to Bible prophecy.

Despite what many teachers and commentators today want to believe, the modern state of Israel is a miraculous fulfillment of biblical prophecy. It is no accident of history. God is doing a work that is preparing not only the nation of Israel but the world, for His return. This is one of the reasons why understanding the Land Covenant is so crucial. Through it, we are given more and more clarity in how the plan of God is unfolding right before our eyes. Jesus chided the Pharisees for being able to read the sign in the sky, but not being able to discern the signs of the times. Some have called the days we are living in, “the times of the signs”. There are many signs that point to the return of Christ in scripture, but none more dramatic and significant than the rebirth of the nation of Israel.

Discussion Questions

1. Describe a time when you saw God’s hand in the midst of a trying time.

2. In the last chapter, we saw how Israel had unfinished business with Ammon and its capital city, Rabbah. We hear what happened to the Arameans after the defeat, but not the Ammonites. In these two chapters (11-12) we get that resolution. In the spring, David sent out the army to deal with Rabbah. This is the setting for our story. This is such a well-known story to many; what details stand out to you? What were some of David’s mistakes in judgment that led to this dark experience? What was David’s plan for covering his mistake? Why did this not work? What was his backup plan? What does this story reveal was going on in the heart of David?

3. What were some of the consequences of David’s actions (1 Sam 12:10-20)? How were they fitting consequences? What was David’s reaction to the castigation by Nathan? How did David react throughout the child’s sickness? How did he react after the child died? Was there anything surprising to you in David’s reaction? What happens immediately following the death of the child (vv. 24-25)? What does this say about the mercy and gracious love of our God? What do we learn about God in this rich and powerful story?

4. As the saying goes: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Outside the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit, I don’t believe there are exceptions to this. How do you see this show up in this season of David’s life? What does this episode teach us about the misuse of power? What does it teach us about how most of those around David enabled this behavior? Where do you see this abuse happening today—as well as the enablement of it?

5. God has given each of us responsibilities and stewardships in our life. This story is a powerful reminder of that truth. One of the questions we are forced to grapple with in reading this story is regarding what happens when we neglect our God-given responsibilities. What are some of the responsibilities God has given to you? How are you doing in fulfilling those duties? What are some areas you need to pay more attention to? What is one thing you can do this week to respond to this scriptural reminder about God’s expectations?

Going Deeper

1. There is a powerful verse that stands out in this episode that is worth discussing. After David’s child dies, what does he tell his servants (2 Sam 12:23)? What does David mean by this statement? Many grieving people who have unfortunately lost very young children cling to this statement by David in assurance that they will see their loved ones again in Heaven. What are your thoughts about what David says here? How can it serve as comfort for those who are hurting? What does this truth say about our loving and gracious God?

2. David had let down his nation and his God. He had neglected his God-given responsibilities in leading his nation into war. The consequences of that laziness, complacency, and neglect were disastrous. God gave David a warning back in chapter 10 that, although he tried to leave the battle to Joab, David was indeed needed at the front lines. But David faced that same dilemma when spring came around. What opportunity does God give David again in the following verses (26-31)? How does God give David a not-so-gentle wake-up call through the mouth of Joab? What do you think were some of the lessons David learned throughout this episode?

Transformational Activity

Bible Study

One aspect of our Bible Study that can be really enriching is to do a deep dive into significant passages. The story of David and Bathsheba is one such story. It has inspired many commentaries, books, articles, and notes about all the lessons we might glean from its details. Rather than merely doing a word study, perhaps take some time to do a search as to what different commentators have to say about the message God has for us. There are many helpful Bible websites that can facilitate a directed search, beyond just a generic Google search: BibleHub.com, BibleGateway.com, Bible.com, BlueLetterBible.org. But my favorite has to be PreceptAustin.org. This is a treasure trove of background and commentary on the entire Bible.