When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?” Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.”
2 Samuel 11:10-11
I feel so bad for Uriah. This guy is just genuinely good. It breaks my heart. And poor, stupid, sinful David...what the heck is he supposed to do now?
“Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.
1 Samuel 11:12-13
David is now desperate. He has tried over and over to con Uriah into sleeping with his wife with no success. And this deal just goes from bad to worse.
So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.
2 Samuel 11:14-17
There's no way to sugar-coat this situation. David slept with his friend's wife. He got her pregnant. And when he couldn't figure out a way to pass his child off as Uriah's, David murdered him.
And you know what I really hate? I hate that David killed Uriah in such a cowardly way.
What happened to our brave young David who took on Goliath?
It just gets more horrible. Joab (who is an informed accessory to Uriah's murder) concocts this elaborate story to send back to David. I assume it is his way of telling David that Uriah has been killed while making it look like it happened in the midst of a great battle. This is how David responds.
“Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!”
2 Samuel 11:25
It's real hard not to hate David's guts at this point.
So let's ignore David for a bit and focus on Uriah. A good man who served his king and his country. A man who had real integrity. And reading this story it's hard not to think that Uriah is just a biblical footnote.
But God doesn't treat Uriah that way.
This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
Matthew 1:1,2,6,7,16
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
Matthew 1:1,2,6,7,16
God remembered Uriah.
1 comment:
Beautiful, I love it.
Jen
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