A Bible Telenovela
The readings from the Hebrew Scripture (aka Old Testament) for last week and this week sound line soap operas, telenovelas or those true crime story shows. These Bible passages describe abuse of power, sexual violence, and murder. I found it difficult to respond, “Thanks be to God” after the members reading these passages said, “The Word of the Lord.” These stories are not parables invented to teach about faith and morality. The characters are real people in Biblical history. The central character, David, is a renown king and named as the author of the Book of Psalms. The tomb of David exists and can be visited in Israel. Many lessons can be gleaned from these texts. For me the primary lesson is that the Bible is relevant. It is the product of actual experiences and relationships of people who believe God. The Bible, especially texts like the ones we will consider today, is relevant and immediately applicable.
It is spring, the time of year when kings go to war to expand their territories and wealth and protect what they have amassed. This spring is a spring after David moved into a house made a cedar. This spring is a spring after the people, prophets and judges of Israel (the northern kingdom) recruited David to rule over them in addition to Judah, where he had been king for decades. It is a spring when David is powerful and popular; comfortable and accomplished. David stays home and sends others to fight for the security of the nations he leads. He is not interested in giving up his comforts or risking his life. Today, presidents, prime ministers and kings do not accompany soldiers and commanders into battle. In David’s day, they did because if they did not, a victorious general or commander could be enthroned in their place. David’s ignores this political possibility in order to enjoy the comforts of home. While taking in the view from his house, David sees a beautiful woman, Bathsheba. His house of cedar was grander and taller than every dwelling in the city. This allowed David to see his citizens on the streets and roof tops. While enjoying the view, David saw Bathsheba taking the ritual bath required of Jewish women after each menstrual cycle. Instead of privately praising God for her beauty, respecting Bathsheba’s privacy and honoring her status as a married woman, David sends messengers to bring her to his house. An invitation she did not have the power to refuse. An invitation that should never have been issued because Jewish law prohibited males from interacting with females who were not members of their family.
Bethsheba’s grandfather, Ah-i-to-phel, is a counselor in King David’s court. Her father, El-i-am, and her husband, Uriah, are members of David’s elite vanguard. Because of the roles the men in her life play, David probably knew of her or had seen her before. David taking advantage of the absence of Bathsheba’s father and husband, had sex with her and then sent her home. David had no intension of legitimizing his actions by making her a concubine or wife. Bathsheba after a few months, informed David that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy was evidence of adultery. She would be punished to protect the reputations of her grandfather, father and husband and to preserve incomes that sustained her grandmother, mother, sisters, and sister-in-laws. If Bathsheba, was courageous enough to inform David, she would have been brave enough to tell the men in her life who had fathered the child she was carrying.
David recalled Uriah from battle to protect his reputation. Uriah was a Hittite. His people had lived in the land of Canaan (the land now occupied and controlled by Judah and Israel) before the time of Abraham. The race, ethnicity, and religion of his family of origin was not Jewish. His ancestors managed to survive the orders God gave to the armies of Israel to destroy all the property and people of Canaan to remove the temptation to adopt the faith practices of the native peoples. Many generations later, Uriah (a Canaanite) had adopted the faith of the Jews, married into a tribe of Israel, and was an accomplished military leader for the army of Judah and Israel. David assumed Uriah’s long absence from his wife would move him to have sex with her. David was wrong. Uriah respected the king’s hospitality, eating and drinking what he was served while maintaining his allegiance to the troops and commitment to his duties. Uriah did not seek the comforts of home or the privileges of marriage. David, abusing his power again, ordered the execution Uriah, but made this death sentence look like a consequence of war.
After Bathsheba grieved the death of her husband, David took her to be his wife. God revealed David’s deceptions to Nathan, a prophet and directed Nathan to confront King David. Nathan used a story to confront David. In this story a wealthy man abuses his power and position. He takes and slaughters the only lamb of a poor neighbor instead of using one of the many lambs in his flock. The wealthy man’s hospitality to a weary, travel worn stranger was resourced by theft of what belonged to poor man. In stead of be a noble and gracious host, the wealthy man was an abuser of people with less power and importance. David was outraged. David declared death as the proper penalty for the man who abused his power and position. Nathan then told David, “you are that man.”
These Bible lessons anticipate the “Me Too” movement, the abuse of power by past and present politicians, and the use of military action to cover nefarious aims and failed government policies. The Bible is relevant. It speaks about the struggles, misdeeds and sins of our day. It reminds us that God sees everything and responds. God holds perpetrators accountable, punishes the guilty, redeems the innocent, and restores the penitent. Uriah was a minor character who lost his life, but his nobility and dedication live eternally because the Bible testifies to them. So when it feels like justice is slow in coming, when people with power, position and popularity are beyond the reach of the law, and you wonder whether the Bible has any bearing on life and experience, remember these stories about David.
