It’s a relatively obscure passage tacked on to the end of II Samuel 12.
What’s REALLY important is what fills the preceding vignettes:
·
Chapter 11 –
David stays home from the battles of Judah [against the Ammonites] and ends up sinning with Bathsheba!
·
She becomes
pregnant!
·
David conspires
to have her husband come home from the battlefield and sleep with her – but the
plan fails!
·
So, David
conspires again by ordering Joab to put Uriah [her husband] in the thick of the
battle and then withdraw – leaving him to die!
·
Joab follows
David’s orders and Uriah dies in battle; however, eighteen others also die with him!
·
David brings
Bathsheba to the palace and takes her as his wife.
·
Chapter 12 – God sent
Nathan the prophet to David with a story about a wealthy man who takes his
neighbor’s pet lamb and butchers it for guests that have come to visit!
·
David becomes angry
with the injustice of this story!
·
Nathan pronounces
the judgment: “Thou art the man!”
referring to David taking Uriah’s wife!
·
David realizes
that he has sinned against God! Through
Nathan, God announces a sad reality: “you have given occasion to the enemies of
the LORD to blaspheme…”
·
God then
announces through Nathan that Bathsheba’s child will die!
·
David fasts and
prays, but the child does die!
Then comes our relatively obscure passage.
All this time, Joab – David’s military commander – has been battling the Ammonites. He has them ALMOST DEFEATED! He sends a message to David:
“I’m fighting at Rabbah, and I’ve just captured the city’s water supply. Hurry and get the rest of the troops together and set up camp here at the city and complete the capture yourself. Otherwise, I’ll capture it and get all the credit instead of you.”
David is so distracted! He’s lost his sense of mission and obedience to God! He never should have stayed home from the battle! All his pain and future misery could have been avoided – if he had just stayed focused! There’s mockery in Joab’s message! He – of all people – knows how far David has fallen! Yet, in his dedication, he still honors David!
David has sown seeds of adultery and murder and those seeds will – unfortunately – grow to fruition very quickly! In the next chapter, one of David’s sons rapes his own sister! Further down the path, David’s sons will scheme against and kill one another! All because of the seeds David planted in his own life!
______________________________________
Almighty and Ever-Watching God,
We can never allow ourselves to stray from Your ways! We don’t want to plant seeds of destruction in our family! Temptations are a part of life! They’re real! They often have to do with sex, power, and greed! We must be ever on the alert! We must not give in to temptation! We must stay focused and determined and faithful! We want to finish well and preserve the integrity of our family for future generations!
Help us! Oh, God, we need Your daily help!
Amen!
