Bible History Unmasked: Bathsheba Unmasked: Part 1: The Myth of the Rooftop

WEBVTT

00:00:10.608 --> 00:00:14.244
Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host,

00:00:14.244 --> 00:00:19.925
Connie Morris, and this is Faith on the Go, where you take the word with you

00:00:20.285 --> 00:00:23.738
on your drive to work, while you're getting ready in the morning,

00:00:24.426 --> 00:00:26.876
or even in those quiet moments before prayer.

00:00:27.549 --> 00:00:33.702
Real life, real word, and real growth, all while you are on the go.

00:00:34.161 --> 00:00:40.157
Before we get into today's word, let's take a moment to center ourselves with a familiar prayer.

00:00:40.703 --> 00:00:42.514
The prayer of Jabez.

00:00:43.118 --> 00:00:46.659
Oh, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory.

00:00:47.181 --> 00:00:54.972
Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.

00:00:55.564 --> 00:01:00.719
Father God, we come before you this day asking that you would indeed bless us,

00:01:01.293 --> 00:01:04.805
not just with what we have, but in who we are becoming.

00:01:05.508 --> 00:01:10.344
Enlarge our territory, Lord. Lord, expand our capacity, our mindset,

00:01:10.344 --> 00:01:12.948
and our ability to receive what you have for us.

00:01:13.564 --> 00:01:20.129
Let your hand be upon us, guiding us, covering us, and leading us in every decision we make.

00:01:20.831 --> 00:01:25.957
And Father, keep us from harm, physically, emotionally, and spiritually,

00:01:26.416 --> 00:01:29.423
that we may walk in peace and not in pain.

00:01:30.038 --> 00:01:35.413
And Lord, just as you heard Jabez when he cried out to you, hear us now.

00:01:35.948 --> 00:01:42.850
Your word says that you granted his request, and we believe that you are the same God today.

00:01:43.239 --> 00:01:47.594
So we come boldly before you, knowing that you hear us, knowing that you see

00:01:47.594 --> 00:01:52.625
us, and knowing that you respond to the prayers of your people.

00:01:53.401 --> 00:01:58.789
Have your way in this moment as we sit, listen, and receive your word.

00:01:59.218 --> 00:02:01.459
In Jesus' name, amen.

00:02:13.152 --> 00:02:17.061
Hello and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host Connie

00:02:17.061 --> 00:02:21.784
Morris and welcome back to our journey through the Bible history

00:02:22.179 --> 00:02:27.102
on mass where we are unpacking layers, we're unpacking traditions,

00:02:27.398 --> 00:02:32.881
we're unpacking ethnicity, and we're learning that God created us as one blood.

00:02:32.881 --> 00:02:37.710
Yes, we look different, but when we get around to the root of things, we are family.

00:02:38.127 --> 00:02:41.076
But this series we're going to cover today, as I promised you,

00:02:41.204 --> 00:02:47.909
will be the life of Bathsheba, a woman who we know, we know the story,

00:02:48.257 --> 00:02:50.771
but we're going to break it down a little bit further.

00:02:50.945 --> 00:02:54.068
You know, we're going to, this is a sister of ours, right?

00:02:54.318 --> 00:02:57.771
And we want to talk about her in its entirety. So we're going to go a little

00:02:57.771 --> 00:03:02.799
deeper on Bathsheba because Bathsheba, if you understand, is the mother of Solomon.

00:03:03.106 --> 00:03:05.922
And so how did she become the mother of Solomon.

00:03:06.287 --> 00:03:11.171
And it's through this story, which God did not edit for our learning.

00:03:11.171 --> 00:03:16.107
So this story is going to be, if you say PG-13, PG-13.

00:03:16.351 --> 00:03:20.751
So if you have children in the room and I'll warn you when it's going to get

00:03:20.751 --> 00:03:24.051
a little kind of raunchy a little bit, but we want to keep it real.

00:03:24.051 --> 00:03:25.488
We want to tell the whole story.

00:03:25.825 --> 00:03:29.911
So I ask you to put on your thinking cap. I remember when I was in elementary,

00:03:29.911 --> 00:03:34.991
I was in kindergarten and my teacher told us to put on our thinking cap so we can pay attention.

00:03:35.212 --> 00:03:38.869
How do we remember that for such a long time ago?

00:03:39.299 --> 00:03:43.424
Because it makes you think like that was so important. And we actually went

00:03:43.424 --> 00:03:45.917
through the motion of putting on a thinking cap.

00:03:46.149 --> 00:03:52.006
But I also want you to put on your spiritual cap, which is the helmet of salvation,

00:03:52.331 --> 00:03:58.148
so that we can have the mind of Christ and so that we can have a sound and disciplined mind.

00:03:58.287 --> 00:04:02.284
And what that will do, that will help us to break down things,

00:04:02.284 --> 00:04:05.253
see things the way God wants us to see it.

00:04:05.596 --> 00:04:09.654
You know, so that's what the plan is for this episode. So this is going to be

00:04:10.014 --> 00:04:15.428
probably a four-part episode regarding Bathsheba because she has a deep, rich history.

00:04:15.730 --> 00:04:21.326
And also we're going to cover her husband, Uriah, and his part in this.

00:04:21.529 --> 00:04:24.164
And we're going to cover their ethnicity. We're going to talk about David.

00:04:24.214 --> 00:04:29.505
We're going to have a rich, rich story regarding Bathsheba. We're not going to rush through it.

00:04:29.796 --> 00:04:34.051
I told you, this is a summer series, and I am taking my time.

00:04:34.248 --> 00:04:39.564
I tried to make it short, but there's so much to these Bible characters that

00:04:39.564 --> 00:04:43.077
every one of them, because they're family, because we're family,

00:04:43.426 --> 00:04:45.730
help us not to make that same mistake.

00:04:46.090 --> 00:04:50.212
But also help us understand and read the Bible in its entirety.

00:04:50.438 --> 00:04:55.874
I shared with you before regarding this book titled The Blacks in the Bible.

00:04:55.874 --> 00:05:00.983
It's called The Complete History of Blacks in the Bible, which is very, very interesting.

00:05:01.256 --> 00:05:08.114
And I have about Ethiopian Bibles, two Ethiopian Bibles, and a study guide of

00:05:08.114 --> 00:05:13.544
Ethiopian Bible because I want to actually get into that topic too at another time.

00:05:13.724 --> 00:05:18.234
I don't want this podcast to get boring. I want it to be exciting and keep it new and fresh.

00:05:18.547 --> 00:05:22.764
And I want you to learn too Because we want to know as much as we can on earth

00:05:22.764 --> 00:05:27.168
So we can walk it out in its entirety, right? We want all what God has for us

00:05:27.417 --> 00:05:29.734
And that's a long intro, but hey, let's get it going.

00:05:30.407 --> 00:05:34.140
We're going to learn about Bathsheba in this episode. We're going to learn about

00:05:34.140 --> 00:05:37.919
her rooftop, her bath, and also the king's desire.

00:05:38.157 --> 00:05:41.960
We're going to talk about Bathsheba's story because it's much bigger than just

00:05:42.260 --> 00:05:44.600
one chapter on podcasts.

00:05:44.769 --> 00:05:48.466
It is bigger than even the scandal that it tried to bring to us.

00:05:48.728 --> 00:05:54.340
It's bigger than gossip. It is bigger, way bigger than the way she has been

00:05:54.340 --> 00:05:56.936
blamed, reduced, and misrepresented.

00:05:57.261 --> 00:06:01.388
You know, for generations, Bathsheba has been painted as a temptress.

00:06:01.655 --> 00:06:06.646
But when we slow the text down, when we take time to read every detail,

00:06:06.971 --> 00:06:08.527
we will see something different.

00:06:08.951 --> 00:06:14.090
We will see a woman living under royal power. We'll see a king who stayed home

00:06:14.090 --> 00:06:16.097
when kings were supposed to go to war.

00:06:16.352 --> 00:06:19.342
We will see a woman summoned, not invited.

00:06:19.673 --> 00:06:22.511
We will see a husband betrayed.

00:06:22.860 --> 00:06:27.930
We'll see a child lost. We'll see a palace full of secrets, and then we'll see

00:06:27.930 --> 00:06:33.730
a woman who had to survive inside a system that had already taken much from

00:06:33.730 --> 00:06:36.217
her. Bathsheba lost her husband.

00:06:36.670 --> 00:06:41.470
She lost her first baby, you know, and she even lost just her ability to have

00:06:41.470 --> 00:06:45.023
a choice in the matter because the king was summoned.

00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.132
One thing that really surprises me because the king was at the top of his castle

00:06:50.404 --> 00:06:52.239
and Bathsheba was at the bottom.

00:06:52.575 --> 00:06:57.370
What was he doing in the window? What was he doing? Where should he have been?

00:06:57.962 --> 00:07:01.463
The Bible says he should have been at war, but he wasn't.

00:07:01.643 --> 00:07:06.310
We'll also see that Bathsheba's story did not end in grief. By the time we reach

00:07:06.310 --> 00:07:11.586
1 Kings, we'll see Bathsheba is no longer only a woman David took.

00:07:11.905 --> 00:07:15.951
She is the mother of Solomon. She is a political person.

00:07:16.472 --> 00:07:22.794
Matriarch. She is a woman who understands palace power, royal succession, and survival.

00:07:23.084 --> 00:07:28.611
She joins with the prophet Nathan to protect the promise made concerning Solomon.

00:07:28.756 --> 00:07:33.733
And later when Solomon becomes king, Bathsheba enters his presence not as a

00:07:33.733 --> 00:07:37.063
forgotten woman, but as the queen's mother.

00:07:37.359 --> 00:07:44.238
The king rises for her, bows to her, and places a throne in her right hand.

00:07:44.383 --> 00:07:46.420
This is not a small detail.

00:07:46.827 --> 00:07:51.633
That is honor. This series will move as she'll be on the roof into the throne room.

00:07:51.952 --> 00:07:57.033
We will look at power, vulnerability, grief, corruption, strategy,

00:07:57.033 --> 00:08:00.323
motherhood, and ancestry, and legacy.

00:08:00.672 --> 00:08:04.783
We will also explore the people connected to her story. David,

00:08:04.783 --> 00:08:07.270
the Israelite king from the tribe of Judah.

00:08:07.595 --> 00:08:13.121
We know the tribe of Judah is from where? Africa, and we know that David was not a white man.

00:08:13.405 --> 00:08:18.433
Uriah, her Hittite husband, whose loyalty exposes David's corruption.

00:08:18.682 --> 00:08:24.363
Solomon, her son, who became king of Israel and the royal line that eventually

00:08:24.363 --> 00:08:26.182
leads us to Jesus Christ.

00:08:26.467 --> 00:08:30.861
So think about this. Bathsheba is in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

00:08:31.209 --> 00:08:34.993
I think God did that on purpose. He didn't want everybody to say,

00:08:34.993 --> 00:08:36.376
you know, I'm not perfect.

00:08:36.695 --> 00:08:41.612
You know, I'm not even holy enough, God shows people, times and seasons,

00:08:41.751 --> 00:08:43.980
who he wanted in his lineage.

00:08:44.137 --> 00:08:47.983
And here's what makes Bathsheba's story even more powerful. Matthew,

00:08:47.983 --> 00:08:50.685
genealogy of Jesus does not erase her.

00:08:50.999 --> 00:08:55.660
Matthew 1.6 remembers her as the wife of Uriah. Isn't that interesting?

00:08:55.968 --> 00:09:00.529
The wife of Uriah, not David's wife, but the wife of Uriah. You see where God,

00:09:00.802 --> 00:09:03.809
God does not close his eyes. He watches everything.

00:09:04.216 --> 00:09:09.683
The phrase forces us to remember the injustice. It keeps Uriah's name in the

00:09:09.683 --> 00:09:13.806
story and it refuses to let David's action be cleaned up.

00:09:13.951 --> 00:09:19.692
It reminds us that God can bring redemption through stories that people will rather hide.

00:09:19.988 --> 00:09:24.693
Think about it. If God wanted this Bible to be so holy, which it is holy,

00:09:24.693 --> 00:09:29.893
don't get me wrong, full of all perfect people, we would actually toss it.

00:09:30.193 --> 00:09:32.672
We wouldn't even pick it up. So we're saying we're not perfect.

00:09:33.044 --> 00:09:38.361
But God uses everybody. What does he like the most? He likes obedience.

00:09:38.593 --> 00:09:42.413
When you're paying attention and you're obeying what God wants you to do,

00:09:42.628 --> 00:09:46.442
you too can have a story to tell, a successful story to tell.

00:09:46.773 --> 00:09:53.361
So when we go into our series, Bible History on Mass, we are not coming to shame anybody.

00:09:53.582 --> 00:09:57.146
Because we cover some people. I remember Noah and what happened in his tent.

00:09:57.442 --> 00:09:59.438
We don't hold nothing out. The Bible didn't.

00:09:59.746 --> 00:10:03.234
You know, so we're not here to embarrass or shame Bathsheba.

00:10:03.507 --> 00:10:06.799
We came here like you came here to study here.

00:10:07.124 --> 00:10:11.977
We're coming to restore context. We're coming to ask better questions.

00:10:12.876 --> 00:10:16.795
Was Bathsheba a seductress or was she summoned by power?

00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:22.948
Was she silent because she was guilty or because the system gave her little room to speak?

00:10:23.302 --> 00:10:29.531
Was she merely a victim or did she become a survival strategist, a mother, and a queen?

00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:35.203
This is Bathsheba, a mass. Not just a woman on the roof, not just a wife of

00:10:35.203 --> 00:10:42.766
Uriah, not just a mother of Solomon, but a woman whose story moved from vulnerability to visibility.

00:10:43.074 --> 00:10:50.423
From grief to legacy, and from the palace walls to the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

00:10:50.696 --> 00:10:55.303
Welcome back to the Bible History Unmasked, and we'll pull back these layers

00:10:55.303 --> 00:10:59.623
and challenge the tradition and take another look at the people in the scripture

00:10:59.739 --> 00:11:04.006
who have often been introduced to us through someone else's vision.

00:11:04.267 --> 00:11:09.093
Wow, we're going to learn something about Jesus. We're going to learn something

00:11:09.093 --> 00:11:11.819
about Bible history unmasked.

00:11:12.138 --> 00:11:16.869
We're going to learn a lot about this story of Bathsheba.

00:11:17.131 --> 00:11:21.072
I love that. So welcome to Bathsheba unmasked. I love that.

00:11:21.618 --> 00:11:24.213
We're going to have some fun with her. Let's talk about her.

00:11:24.538 --> 00:11:25.553
So how are we going to find her?

00:11:27.388 --> 00:11:35.260
Let's go to 2 Samuel 11, verse 1. And I like this story. I call it Bathsheba.

00:11:35.614 --> 00:11:40.327
But for this episode one, it's titled, The Myth of the Rooftop.

00:11:40.623 --> 00:11:43.735
Bathsheba was summoned, not seducing.

00:11:44.048 --> 00:11:49.865
When we read the Bible with worldly eyes, we can see this as a seductress.

00:11:49.975 --> 00:11:56.162
She was out doing her thing, and then David saw her, and then summoned her to his bedroom.

00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.565
But let's listen to this story with different ears.

00:11:58.884 --> 00:12:02.393
Let's listen to this part that we thought we knew, but we skipped it,

00:12:02.393 --> 00:12:07.473
because we like to hear it from the pulpit and the nice holy section,

00:12:07.473 --> 00:12:11.742
you know, but God uses regular people to take care of his business.

00:12:12.340 --> 00:12:18.853
All right, so let's go to 2 Samuel 11. We're going to break this down verse by verse.

00:12:18.853 --> 00:12:23.613
11 verse 1 says, And it came to pass after the year was expired,

00:12:23.967 --> 00:12:26.440
at the time when kings go forth to battle,

00:12:26.794 --> 00:12:31.427
that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel,

00:12:31.746 --> 00:12:35.600
and they destroyed the children of Amnon and besieged Rabbah,

00:12:35.937 --> 00:12:39.315
but David tarried still at Jerusalem.

00:12:39.722 --> 00:12:45.747
So the story starts out that it was in the springtime and at the time where kings go off to war.

00:12:46.055 --> 00:12:48.360
But David remained in Jerusalem.

00:12:48.673 --> 00:12:52.939
So this verse sets up the entire story before Bathsheba is ever mentioned.

00:12:53.281 --> 00:12:58.482
The Bible does not begin saying Bathsheba was out of place. It begins by showing

00:12:58.761 --> 00:13:00.984
that David was out of position.

00:13:01.263 --> 00:13:06.743
Spring was a season when kings went to war. David was the king of Israel and

00:13:06.743 --> 00:13:08.676
his army was on the battlefield.

00:13:08.984 --> 00:13:14.057
Joab, David's commander, was leading the men. Uriah, Bathsheba's husband.

00:13:14.458 --> 00:13:20.489
Was likely among the loyal soldiers connected to David's military forces.

00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:23.374
But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

00:13:23.688 --> 00:13:29.382
This matters because the first movement in the story belongs to David, not Bathsheba.

00:13:29.684 --> 00:13:32.244
David remained, and that word is important.

00:13:32.616 --> 00:13:37.153
David was not where kings were expected to be. He was not with his army.

00:13:37.513 --> 00:13:41.503
He was not leading from the battlefield. He was in the palace,

00:13:41.718 --> 00:13:44.562
separated from danger his men were facing.

00:13:44.748 --> 00:13:47.743
This helps us to understand the first imbalance of the story.

00:13:48.063 --> 00:13:52.543
David is safe at home while other men are risking their lives in war.

00:13:52.833 --> 00:13:55.474
Before he ever sees Bathsheba.

00:13:55.868 --> 00:13:59.897
The text shows a king disconnected from responsibility.

00:14:00.257 --> 00:14:06.387
His physical location becomes a spiritual warning. David was not just on the roof.

00:14:06.735 --> 00:14:12.761
David was already out of alignment. The story does not open with Bathsheba doing wrong.

00:14:13.022 --> 00:14:16.534
It opens with David being absent from his duty.

00:14:16.871 --> 00:14:23.279
Before we ask why Bathsheba was bathing, we need to ask why David was home.

00:14:23.581 --> 00:14:28.893
This story really hits me because the star of the show seemed to be Bathsheba.

00:14:29.253 --> 00:14:33.748
But God makes sure in that first verse, he says, I'm going to read it again.

00:14:33.748 --> 00:14:37.938
It says, and it came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings

00:14:37.938 --> 00:14:41.873
go forth to battle that David sent who?

00:14:42.151 --> 00:14:43.992
Joab. He didn't go to battle.

00:14:44.311 --> 00:14:47.225
That explains it. You ever been at the wrong place at the wrong time?

00:14:47.527 --> 00:14:53.180
Let's go to verse 2. Verse 2 says, we're in 2 Samuel 11, verse 2.

00:14:53.470 --> 00:14:59.478
And it came to pass in the even time that David rose from off his bed and walked

00:14:59.478 --> 00:15:01.823
upon the roof of the king's house.

00:15:02.177 --> 00:15:05.353
And from the roof, he saw women washing herself.

00:15:05.660 --> 00:15:08.783
And the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

00:15:09.079 --> 00:15:13.996
So David wasn't at war. He gets out of his bed and he looks out the window.

00:15:14.188 --> 00:15:16.045
What made him look out the window?

00:15:16.353 --> 00:15:22.210
It says one evening, David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace.

00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:25.409
From the roof, he saw a woman bathing.

00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:30.935
This verse is often where Bathsheba gets blamed. The scripture says David saw her.

00:15:31.173 --> 00:15:35.492
Does not say she saw him. Does not say she called to him.

00:15:35.771 --> 00:15:40.698
It does not say she pointed herself for attention. It says David was walking

00:15:40.698 --> 00:15:45.053
on his roof of the palace and saw a woman bathing.

00:15:45.349 --> 00:15:49.771
See what I'm saying? So David is way in his palace and he's on his roof.

00:15:50.032 --> 00:15:53.058
It's at even time. so it was in the evening. In the evening,

00:15:53.058 --> 00:15:56.035
you think nobody should be out. Everybody should be gone.

00:15:56.418 --> 00:15:58.630
Thinking about Bathsheba. Bathsheba.

00:15:59.042 --> 00:16:02.597
Probably know the story saying, hey, nobody's up at this time.

00:16:02.597 --> 00:16:04.917
Everybody's at war. All the men are at war.

00:16:05.237 --> 00:16:08.962
So I think it's time for me to go take a shower. It wasn't broad daylight.

00:16:09.264 --> 00:16:11.257
It was evening. And so the Bible

00:16:11.257 --> 00:16:14.651
makes it seem like he's out on a roof naked in the middle of the day.

00:16:14.791 --> 00:16:18.140
It was evening, right? So the palace roof matters.

00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.346
David was not standing at ground level.

00:16:20.648 --> 00:16:27.047
He was at an elevated royal space. His roof gave him the visibility into places

00:16:27.047 --> 00:16:29.141
others may not have been able to see.

00:16:29.460 --> 00:16:34.516
He had height, privacy, protection, and access. Bathsheba, by contrast,

00:16:34.812 --> 00:16:36.641
was in a vulnerable moment.

00:16:36.954 --> 00:16:42.904
This is why we cannot read this as a simple story of temptation. This is a story of power.

00:16:43.224 --> 00:16:47.790
David was the king. Bathsheba was a subject in his kingdom.

00:16:48.121 --> 00:16:54.541
David had guards, servants, messengers, military command, royal authority.

00:16:54.884 --> 00:17:00.079
Bathsheba had none of those thing. She had nothing and all she wanted to do was take back.

00:17:00.427 --> 00:17:06.087
Remember, we talked about this in the story of Noah, that Noah was in his tent.

00:17:06.314 --> 00:17:09.634
Bathsheba was on her own rooftop, right?

00:17:09.988 --> 00:17:15.009
It was evening. David was the king. Bathsheba was the subject in his kingdom.

00:17:15.369 --> 00:17:21.302
The text says she was beautiful, but beauty is not consent.

00:17:21.679 --> 00:17:25.209
Beauty is not invitation. Beauty is not guilt.

00:17:25.435 --> 00:17:28.959
The fact that David noticed her beauty tell us what David saw,

00:17:29.313 --> 00:17:32.215
but it does not tell us Bathsheba's intention.

00:17:32.552 --> 00:17:39.373
Too often people take David's gaze and turn it into Bathsheba's blame,

00:17:39.727 --> 00:17:42.792
but the Bible does not say that. Doesn't that remind you of something?

00:17:43.164 --> 00:17:47.150
When you put it on your dress or your skirt or your pants or your suit,

00:17:47.487 --> 00:17:51.539
whatever you desire to go look cute in, and you get out into the.

00:17:51.987 --> 00:17:56.850
Wherever you're going, and then a male notices you, and then sometimes he takes

00:17:56.850 --> 00:18:02.628
advantage of you, does your beauty give someone consent to your body?

00:18:02.952 --> 00:18:07.170
This is personal. This is true. You wearing your clothes, does that give someone

00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:12.332
the permission to touch you, to summon you, to whistle at you like you're a dog?

00:18:12.663 --> 00:18:17.006
But she was not staying on a rooftop trying to be seen. David was on a rooftop

00:18:17.308 --> 00:18:21.238
there, he should not have been looking. David should not have been home.

00:18:21.517 --> 00:18:24.500
The danger of this verse is not that she was body.

00:18:24.849 --> 00:18:28.460
The danger is David's unchecked power.

00:18:28.743 --> 00:18:33.847
Now we give David a lot of praise in the Bible. David after God's own heart.

00:18:34.061 --> 00:18:36.324
But we see here, David was just a man.

00:18:36.639 --> 00:18:41.061
You know, he loved God. And maybe this was a turning point in his story,

00:18:41.370 --> 00:18:44.207
but David wasn't a good guy at this time.

00:18:44.486 --> 00:18:46.460
David was supposed to be at where?

00:18:46.743 --> 00:18:51.350
I love that God tells the story in its entirety. David's supposed to be where?

00:18:51.350 --> 00:18:53.588
At war, not on his rooftop.

00:18:53.976 --> 00:18:57.899
Bathsheba is supposed to be on her rooftop. We're going to find out why she

00:18:57.899 --> 00:19:04.123
was on that rooftop and why things started to roll. Let's go to 2 Samuel 11,

00:19:04.390 --> 00:19:06.132
verse 3. We're doing verse by verse.

00:19:06.434 --> 00:19:10.584
And the title says, Bathsheba Uriah the Hittite. So it's going to talk about him.

00:19:10.927 --> 00:19:15.902
And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, it's not that Bathsheba,

00:19:16.192 --> 00:19:19.936
the daughter of Elan, the wife of Uriah Hittite.

00:19:20.197 --> 00:19:24.946
So David, they said, who is that lady down there? She is beautiful.

00:19:25.207 --> 00:19:31.549
And then the people around him said, that lady is married and she is married

00:19:31.549 --> 00:19:34.420
to one of your leaders in your army.

00:19:34.698 --> 00:19:38.640
So that's kind of like, hey, David, that one's off limits to you.

00:19:38.953 --> 00:19:43.410
Isn't that Bathsheba, the daughter of Elan, the wife of Uriah Hittite?

00:19:43.683 --> 00:19:48.495
Shouldn't that be like, breaks? That's somebody's why. I can't touch that.

00:19:48.821 --> 00:19:53.239
This verse is one of the most important verses in the scripture because David

00:19:53.239 --> 00:19:56.141
receives information that should have stopped him.

00:19:56.454 --> 00:20:01.980
When David asked about the woman, the answer identified by Sheba in two ways.

00:20:02.201 --> 00:20:06.833
She is the daughter of Elon and she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

00:20:07.234 --> 00:20:14.769
That means David was not dealing with the unknown woman. He was told she belonged to a family.

00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:20.748
She had a father. she had a household, she had a husband, and she has a name.

00:20:21.044 --> 00:20:25.607
This identification should have created some type of physical condition,

00:20:26.135 --> 00:20:33.240
mental and spiritual boundaries in the eyes of David. Bathsheba was not available. She was married.

00:20:33.565 --> 00:20:39.314
Her husband was not just any man. Come on now. It was a man and Uriah was connected

00:20:39.314 --> 00:20:42.358
to David's army. He was loyal to the king.

00:20:42.677 --> 00:20:48.535
While David was in Jerusalem, Uriah was connected to the men serving in battle.

00:20:48.820 --> 00:20:51.164
That makes David's actions even more serious.

00:20:51.535 --> 00:21:00.603
David did not act in ignorance. She, he asked who she was, received the answer and continue anyway.

00:21:00.771 --> 00:21:04.016
Come on, somebody need a shout. He knew who she was.

00:21:04.834 --> 00:21:11.128
He knew who she was. Bathsheba, if we know Bathsheba, she wasn't white either.

00:21:11.452 --> 00:21:15.345
So we'll get into her heritage. So we got a black man from tribal Judah.

00:21:15.658 --> 00:21:17.353
We got Uriah, the Hittite.

00:21:17.701 --> 00:21:21.260
I think he came from Canaan, so he wasn't white. And then we also have David,

00:21:22.494 --> 00:21:24.493
David, Uriah, and their best sheba.

00:21:24.807 --> 00:21:29.921
This is a good story. The mention of Uriah the Hittite also adds another layer.

00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:35.552
Uriah was identified as a Hittite, yet he served in David's military circle.

00:21:35.854 --> 00:21:42.383
This tells us David's kingdom and military included people beyond the native Israelite identity.

00:21:42.621 --> 00:21:46.690
Uriah was not presented as disloyal or foreign in character.

00:21:46.969 --> 00:21:53.999
In fact, as the story continues, Uriah acts with more loyalty and discipline than David.

00:21:54.121 --> 00:21:57.807
We'll get to him and once we finish Bathsheba, think about this.

00:21:58.074 --> 00:22:02.375
David asked about this woman on the roof and he has the answer.

00:22:02.695 --> 00:22:08.302
We should have said no. We should have said no. David was warned by Bathsheba's

00:22:08.453 --> 00:22:10.259
identity. David knew who she was.

00:22:11.193 --> 00:22:16.011
She probably knew who he was, but at the end of the day, that was off limits to him.

00:22:16.272 --> 00:22:20.014
She was somebody's daughter, somebody's wife. She was connected to one of the

00:22:20.014 --> 00:22:24.185
men in his army, but David ignored that boundary.

00:22:24.882 --> 00:22:29.050
Let's go to 2 Samuel verse 4. Let's see what happens.

00:22:29.543 --> 00:22:36.032
And David sent messengers and took her. Listen to this. Took messengers and took her.

00:22:36.247 --> 00:22:39.509
And she came in unto him and he laid with her.

00:22:39.718 --> 00:22:46.462
For she was purified from her uncleanliness and she returned to her house.

00:22:46.462 --> 00:22:51.468
Bathsheba was purifying, wasn't performing. And we're going to get into what that means.

00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:56.193
That she wasn't out there on the rooftop naked. showing, trying to be seen.

00:22:56.460 --> 00:22:58.979
You know, we have that worldly mentality thinking like that.

00:22:59.333 --> 00:23:03.786
This lady was married and she came out an evening to do her purification.

00:23:04.128 --> 00:23:08.006
Then David sent messengers to get her, to get her.

00:23:08.291 --> 00:23:14.304
Like she was some, like he was her property. She came to him and she slept, he slept with her.

00:23:14.879 --> 00:23:19.970
And he just picked her up, go get her, came and then slept with him, slept with her.

00:23:20.156 --> 00:23:25.700
Now she, now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.

00:23:25.984 --> 00:23:30.972
Bathsheba has just finished her monthly and she was all purified.

00:23:30.972 --> 00:23:34.394
We'll get into that later about what that means. She was just doing her duty.

00:23:34.696 --> 00:23:38.262
This verse must be handled carefully. It is one of the most clearest places

00:23:38.262 --> 00:23:42.904
where tradition has often added more to the story than scripture says.

00:23:43.148 --> 00:23:46.295
The Bible says David sent messengers to get Bathsheba.

00:23:46.654 --> 00:23:48.826
That means this was not a casual meeting.

00:23:49.214 --> 00:23:54.032
This was not flirtation across a courtyard. This was not two people arranging

00:23:54.032 --> 00:23:57.312
a private encounter. The king sent for her.

00:23:57.620 --> 00:24:02.827
That matters because in ancient royal world, a summon from a king carried weight.

00:24:03.042 --> 00:24:05.881
David messengers represented David's authority.

00:24:06.305 --> 00:24:10.688
But she was not being approached by an ordinary man. She was being summoned

00:24:10.949 --> 00:24:12.848
into the presence of the king.

00:24:13.161 --> 00:24:20.017
This gives us text and the detail that's missing when we hear the story of Bathsheba.

00:24:20.652 --> 00:24:24.469
We know they had a relationship. It made you think that it was mutual,

00:24:24.806 --> 00:24:30.187
but it wasn't. David got his crew to go get her.

00:24:32.432 --> 00:24:36.572
She had been purifying herself from her uncleanliness, So she had just finished

00:24:36.572 --> 00:24:40.861
her monthly, and this point is ritual cleaning connected to the law.

00:24:41.157 --> 00:24:44.054
Her bathing was not described as seductive.

00:24:44.408 --> 00:24:46.689
It was connected to purification.

00:24:47.067 --> 00:24:52.506
This detail also explains why Bathsheba would later know she is pregnant.

00:24:52.634 --> 00:24:56.186
If she had just completed her purification after a monthly cycle,

00:24:56.494 --> 00:24:59.397
then the timing of conception would be clear.

00:24:59.681 --> 00:25:06.897
So instead of showing Bathsheba as a temptress, the purification detail actually supports the opposite.

00:25:07.187 --> 00:25:12.568
She was participating in a cleaning practice, a cleansing practice.

00:25:12.887 --> 00:25:20.144
David turned a private act of purification into an opportunity for exploitation.

00:25:20.277 --> 00:25:24.689
Wow, these verbs in this verse, it really mattered.

00:25:25.031 --> 00:25:28.567
David sent. David took. David laid with her.

00:25:28.787 --> 00:25:35.868
The text centers David's actions. Bathsheba is acted upon without the movement of royal power.

00:25:36.031 --> 00:25:39.937
Bathsheba is acted upon within the movement of royal power.

00:25:40.239 --> 00:25:44.349
Bathsheba was not performing. She was purifying. She was not posing.

00:25:44.686 --> 00:25:49.016
She was obeying a cleansing custom. She was not inviting scandal.

00:25:49.336 --> 00:25:53.742
David created the scandal. I want to share with you some commentary from my

00:25:53.742 --> 00:25:55.634
African Heritage Edition.

00:25:56.087 --> 00:26:00.800
King James Bible, and it tells us here, it says, Bathsheba Uriah the Hittite.

00:26:01.097 --> 00:26:05.984
Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, was said to be of Hermetic origin.

00:26:06.315 --> 00:26:10.965
She was married to Uriah the Hittite. It is widely known and accepted that the

00:26:10.965 --> 00:26:15.417
Hittites were Hamtic people, which from the Ham lineage.

00:26:15.714 --> 00:26:20.474
They descended from Hath, a second son of Canaan, son of Ham.

00:26:20.787 --> 00:26:26.337
During the scattering of Babel, the family of Hath divided itself into two groups.

00:26:26.476 --> 00:26:31.402
One of the groups followed its grandfather Canaan to the land of Canaan,

00:26:31.716 --> 00:26:38.409
while the other journeys northwest to a region today known as Asia Minor or Turkey.

00:26:38.647 --> 00:26:42.490
If in fact that she would share the same ethnic origin as her husband,

00:26:42.739 --> 00:26:46.925
not an improbable assumption, when the child was born to her and David,

00:26:47.047 --> 00:26:51.128
Solomon by name did indeed have black ancestry,

00:26:51.476 --> 00:26:57.403
and it has already been established that originally all hams and shemites or semites were black.

00:26:57.751 --> 00:27:04.275
David was from the line of sham. That said it in verse three.

00:27:04.275 --> 00:27:05.617
Wow. Let's talk more about.

00:27:06.185 --> 00:27:11.444
The purification of Bathsheba. It's good. And when you read the Bible, you get some good stuff.

00:27:11.705 --> 00:27:16.448
So we're talking about Bathsheba. What was she doing? What was that purification process?

00:27:16.692 --> 00:27:20.905
And remember, she got pregnant right after that incident. And she knew she was

00:27:20.905 --> 00:27:23.989
pregnant because she just had her monthly.

00:27:24.331 --> 00:27:28.045
So when that next month they come, she already knew I'm pregnant.

00:27:28.922 --> 00:27:32.614
Leviticus 15 verses 19 to 30.

00:27:32.997 --> 00:27:38.385
Let's read about this purification process. And if a woman have an issue and

00:27:38.385 --> 00:27:44.285
her issue in her flesh be blood, she should be put apart seven days and whosoever

00:27:44.285 --> 00:27:47.527
touches her should be unclean until the eve.

00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:52.734
Think about that. Whosoever touch her while she's in her purification process

00:27:52.966 --> 00:27:55.317
should be unclean until the eve.

00:27:55.613 --> 00:28:00.280
And everything that she lieth upon in her separation should be unclean.

00:28:00.617 --> 00:28:05.215
Everything also that she sitteth upon should be unclean. And whosoever touches.

00:28:05.754 --> 00:28:12.918
Her bed should wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

00:28:13.243 --> 00:28:17.666
And whosoever touches anything that she sat upon should wash his clothes,

00:28:17.985 --> 00:28:21.300
bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

00:28:21.625 --> 00:28:27.075
And it be on her bed or anything wherein that she sitteth, when he touches it,

00:28:27.330 --> 00:28:29.072
it shall be unclean until the evening.

00:28:29.211 --> 00:28:34.650
Verse 24, And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him,

00:28:34.882 --> 00:28:40.095
he should be unclean seven days, and all the bed whereeth she lieth should be unclean.

00:28:40.368 --> 00:28:45.935
And if a woman, this is unstable menstrual cycles, and if a woman have an issue

00:28:45.935 --> 00:28:49.708
of blood many days out of the time of her separation,

00:28:49.958 --> 00:28:54.105
or if it run beyond the time of her separation, all the days of the issues of

00:28:54.105 --> 00:28:57.150
her uncleanness should be as the days of her separation,

00:28:57.458 --> 00:28:59.304
and she should be unclean.

00:28:59.606 --> 00:29:01.934
This takes us back to the woman with the issue of blood.

00:29:02.334 --> 00:29:05.682
That was her issue. She couldn't stop bleeding.

00:29:06.002 --> 00:29:12.365
Every man where she lieth, all the days of her issue should be upon her as a bed of her separations.

00:29:12.632 --> 00:29:18.083
And whosoever she sitteth upon should be unclean as the uncleanness of her separation.

00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:23.002
And whosoever touches those things should be unclean and should wash his clothes

00:29:23.002 --> 00:29:26.470
and bathe himself in water and unclean until the evening.

00:29:26.842 --> 00:29:32.872
But if she is cleansed, here we go, of her issue, then she should number to

00:29:32.872 --> 00:29:36.246
her seven days, and after that she should be clean.

00:29:36.553 --> 00:29:41.464
And in the eighth day, she should take unto her two turtles or two young pigeons

00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:47.026
and bring them unto the priest to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

00:29:47.327 --> 00:29:51.757
And the priest should offer the one sin offering and the other for a burnt offering

00:29:52.111 --> 00:29:58.340
and the priest should make an atonement for her before the Lord for the issue of her uncleanness.

00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:00.892
Let's take a pause here. If there's any children in the room,

00:30:00.892 --> 00:30:05.322
I want you to make sure they plug their ears because especially if they ain't

00:30:05.322 --> 00:30:10.176
having a period, God considers your monthly very holy.

00:30:10.315 --> 00:30:14.030
During that time and even seven or eight days after it, you do.

00:30:14.507 --> 00:30:18.594
Are considered unclean. And there's a process of that cleanliness.

00:30:18.995 --> 00:30:24.064
And if you have an unstable ministry cycle, it takes a little longer to get

00:30:24.064 --> 00:30:26.454
out of that unclean status, right?

00:30:26.454 --> 00:30:30.904
So when we think about how Leviticus 15 explains the law concerning women's

00:30:30.904 --> 00:30:34.567
monthly uncleanness and the period of her cleansing connected to it,

00:30:34.933 --> 00:30:37.615
this tells us what Bathsheba was doing.

00:30:37.928 --> 00:30:45.794
This helps us understand why in 2 Samuel 11 4 includes the details about Bathsheba purification.

00:30:46.131 --> 00:30:49.370
The Bible did not add that detail by accident.

00:30:49.770 --> 00:30:55.686
It explains the timing of the pregnancy and gives context for Bathsheba's bath.

00:30:55.999 --> 00:30:58.635
She wasn't just parading across a rooftop.

00:30:59.563 --> 00:31:02.634
She waited till evening so she can purify herself.

00:31:02.994 --> 00:31:08.770
That means Bathsheba bath was not random. It had legal, cultural, and religious meaning.

00:31:09.095 --> 00:31:11.429
When people ignore Leviticus 15,

00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:15.672
remember I told you I love the book of Leviticus, it tells you in context.

00:31:16.061 --> 00:31:19.758
If you read about the lady with the issue of blood, you probably get to her.

00:31:20.124 --> 00:31:23.218
You'll read about the context that she was supposed to be out of her house.

00:31:23.583 --> 00:31:28.848
So that's why Bathsheba was home. She couldn't go anywhere during that process

00:31:29.023 --> 00:31:31.780
and even eight days afterwards. right?

00:31:32.024 --> 00:31:38.908
So when people ignore Leviticus 15, they often misread that she was bathing at seduction.

00:31:39.083 --> 00:31:43.500
But when we understand the purification law, the scene looks different.

00:31:43.952 --> 00:31:50.558
Bathsheba was completing a required cleansing process. She was not trying to attract David.

00:31:50.895 --> 00:31:54.587
This is why context matter in Bible study.

00:31:54.935 --> 00:32:02.011
Without historical and biblical context, we can turn a woman's obedience into an accusation.

00:32:02.313 --> 00:32:07.474
The purification detail protects Bathsheba's story from false assumptions.

00:32:07.770 --> 00:32:13.859
It tells us she was cleansing according to custom and not creating a temptation.

00:32:14.190 --> 00:32:18.136
So we want to understand that Bathsheba was in the right place.

00:32:18.340 --> 00:32:20.795
David was in the wrong place.

00:32:21.027 --> 00:32:23.001
Bathsheba was doing what she's supposed to do.

00:32:23.291 --> 00:32:28.045
David was just watching. And then David knows the custom.

00:32:28.353 --> 00:32:33.030
So he figured this is the right time to grab her because he's watching her during

00:32:33.030 --> 00:32:34.440
her purification process.

00:32:35.308 --> 00:32:42.239
So now she knows that she's not, you know, on her monthly. And so he went and he got her.

00:32:42.517 --> 00:32:45.443
Isn't that interesting? Let's continue the story.

00:32:45.722 --> 00:32:50.737
We're in 2 Samuel chapter 12, and I'm going to read verses 1 through 9.

00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:55.950
And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said unto him,

00:32:56.182 --> 00:33:00.484
there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.

00:33:00.762 --> 00:33:03.775
The rich man had and exceeding many flocks and herds.

00:33:04.071 --> 00:33:10.259
But the poor man had nothing, save one little old lamb, which he had bought and nourished up.

00:33:10.602 --> 00:33:15.380
And it grew up together with him and with his children. It did eat of his own

00:33:15.380 --> 00:33:21.224
meat and drank of his own cup and laid in his own bosom and was unto him as a daughter.

00:33:21.555 --> 00:33:26.535
And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take his own flock

00:33:26.797 --> 00:33:31.615
and his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was coming unto him.

00:33:31.986 --> 00:33:37.472
But he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

00:33:37.774 --> 00:33:42.162
That's he had all the things to use. He had all the women to pick,

00:33:42.516 --> 00:33:46.963
but yet he picked this poor man's wife. And David's anger was greatly kindled.

00:33:47.306 --> 00:33:52.606
And against the man, he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath

00:33:52.606 --> 00:33:54.295
done these things should surely die.

00:33:54.544 --> 00:34:00.524
And he should restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing because he had no pity.

00:34:00.808 --> 00:34:03.281
And Nathan said to David, Thou art that man.

00:34:03.577 --> 00:34:07.663
Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel,

00:34:07.976 --> 00:34:10.061
and I delivered thee out of the hands of Saul.

00:34:10.205 --> 00:34:15.092
And I gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives unto thy bosom,

00:34:15.376 --> 00:34:17.797
and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah.

00:34:18.087 --> 00:34:22.716
And if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such

00:34:22.716 --> 00:34:25.494
and such things. This is God talking to him.

00:34:25.785 --> 00:34:29.720
I gave you everything. If you needed anything else, I would have gave you more.

00:34:30.011 --> 00:34:35.938
Verse 9, wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight?

00:34:36.292 --> 00:34:41.346
Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, hast taken his wife to be

00:34:41.346 --> 00:34:47.077
thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Amnon.

00:34:47.402 --> 00:34:54.241
That's sad, right? A man, a king has everything, but yet you took this man's wife.

00:34:54.630 --> 00:34:58.919
Not only did you take his man's wife, you killed her husband.

00:34:59.756 --> 00:35:04.248
You had relations with his wife who killed him in battle.

00:35:04.585 --> 00:35:09.206
We'll get to that story part later. Nathan tells David the parable of a rich

00:35:09.206 --> 00:35:11.747
man who took a poor man's only lamb.

00:35:12.188 --> 00:35:17.076
This passage gives God's interpretation to what happened in 2 Samuel 11.

00:35:17.436 --> 00:35:21.947
This is important because many people have interpreted the story through tradition,

00:35:22.307 --> 00:35:25.761
but Nathan rebukes show us how God saw it.

00:35:26.097 --> 00:35:30.526
Nathan does not come to Bathsheba. Nathan does not rebuke Bathsheba.

00:35:30.910 --> 00:35:35.652
Nathan does not say Bathsheba caused David to fall. Nathan confronts David.

00:35:35.803 --> 00:35:41.051
The parable Nathan tells is about a rich man who had sheep and cattle and who

00:35:41.051 --> 00:35:45.242
took the one little lamb that belonged to a poor man.

00:35:45.561 --> 00:35:50.519
The image is powerful. David is a rich man. Uriah is a poor man.

00:35:50.861 --> 00:35:54.211
Bathsheba represented as a lamb that was taken.

00:35:54.559 --> 00:35:59.290
This is not a story about seduction. It's a story about a taking.

00:35:59.458 --> 00:36:03.023
Nathan's message exposed David's misuse of power.

00:36:03.365 --> 00:36:07.568
David had wives, status, wealth, authority, and access.

00:36:08.755 --> 00:36:15.137
Uriah had only one wife, and David took her. Then David arranged for Uriah's death to cover his sin.

00:36:15.491 --> 00:36:19.386
God rebuked fall on David because David abused his position.

00:36:19.728 --> 00:36:25.115
The prophet does not protect David's image. It exposes him. God did not frame

00:36:25.115 --> 00:36:27.611
David as a helpless man seduced by a woman.

00:36:27.942 --> 00:36:32.517
God framed David as a powerful man who took what did not belong to him.

00:36:32.743 --> 00:36:36.928
That is the Bible commentary on the story.

00:36:37.254 --> 00:36:44.852
God said that you took that man's land. Wow. Bathsheba was not standing on the roof trying to be seen.

00:36:45.137 --> 00:36:48.492
David was on the roof looking where she should not have been looking.

00:36:50.251 --> 00:36:55.307
David's palace roof gave him access. His kingship gave him authority.

00:36:55.615 --> 00:36:59.870
His messengers gave him reach. His position gave him protection.

00:37:00.172 --> 00:37:03.620
Bathsheba's vulnerability was not equal to David's power.

00:37:03.945 --> 00:37:08.651
This story often been told as if Bathsheba caused David to fall,

00:37:09.017 --> 00:37:10.585
but the Bible does not say that.

00:37:10.939 --> 00:37:18.456
The Bible repeatedly centers on David's choices. David remained. David saw. David sent.

00:37:18.799 --> 00:37:21.138
David took. David lay with her.

00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:28.673
That pattern matters. The verb belongs to David. The power belongs to David.

00:37:29.092 --> 00:37:34.750
The responsibility belongs to David. Bathsheba has often been forced to carry

00:37:34.750 --> 00:37:39.227
the shame of a story where the Bible places accountability on the king.

00:37:39.547 --> 00:37:44.139
That is why we took our time to dismantle this rooftop myth.

00:37:44.526 --> 00:37:49.290
The question is not, why was Bathsheba bathing? I remember hearing that story.

00:37:49.610 --> 00:37:53.930
We probably all Heather's story, how they made it seem like she was just taking

00:37:53.930 --> 00:37:57.240
a bath right in the middle of the day, right in front of David,

00:37:57.240 --> 00:37:58.390
knowing David was there.

00:37:58.725 --> 00:38:01.728
See how that story made her look like the wrong type of woman?

00:38:02.656 --> 00:38:04.949
Bathsheba was actually doing her business.

00:38:05.963 --> 00:38:11.878
The question is not, why was Bathsheba bathing? The question is, why was David watching?

00:38:12.221 --> 00:38:15.692
There we go again, when you think you're covered and you're not.

00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:21.056
The question is not, why did Bathsheba go? The question is, why?

00:38:21.358 --> 00:38:24.847
What kind of power does a king summons carry?

00:38:25.207 --> 00:38:27.273
The question is not this. It's not,

00:38:27.418 --> 00:38:32.411
why have generations protected their reputation by damaging Bathsheba?

00:38:32.724 --> 00:38:37.885
This is where the Bible, history, and mass goes to work. We are not rewriting scripture.

00:38:38.245 --> 00:38:42.200
We are removing the assumption that has been placed on the top of scripture.

00:38:42.200 --> 00:38:45.512
Why? Because the Bible is not read properly.

00:38:45.901 --> 00:38:49.843
That's what we have on our helmet of salvation. We have the mind of Christ.

00:38:50.087 --> 00:38:51.979
We have the sound mind, discipline mind.

00:38:52.310 --> 00:38:56.855
We have on our thinking caps so we can pay attention to these particular details.

00:38:57.233 --> 00:39:00.739
They are important when we know the story of Bathsheba.

00:39:01.708 --> 00:39:06.315
People will call her, in our certain time, like maybe, I don't know what language

00:39:06.315 --> 00:39:09.782
you use for women who likes to seduce men.

00:39:10.525 --> 00:39:16.423
The Bible says a temptress. I'm all on my porch naked it because I'm trying to tempt the king.

00:39:16.713 --> 00:39:19.987
You can tempt the king all you want. If he wasn't on the roof,

00:39:20.254 --> 00:39:21.903
right, he wouldn't have seen it.

00:39:22.245 --> 00:39:26.982
That's like we know that Ham shouldn't have been looking into Noah's tent.

00:39:27.168 --> 00:39:29.885
And then that incident wouldn't have happened. You see, when we're in the wrong

00:39:29.885 --> 00:39:35.097
place at the wrong time, we start some things going, which we can't stop.

00:39:35.452 --> 00:39:40.688
You know, David was a king. He had the highest position in the land,

00:39:40.995 --> 00:39:46.905
but Sheba was a lay out, getting ready, doing her purification, you know?

00:39:47.131 --> 00:39:50.254
The text says, David saw, David sent, and David took.

00:39:50.614 --> 00:39:56.849
But when God sends Nathan, Nathan confronts David, and that's just settled how we teach the story.

00:39:57.214 --> 00:40:01.995
We have to teach it according to the Bible. That's probably the end of part

00:40:01.995 --> 00:40:06.768
one. I want to get into some ethnicity and background for this episode.

00:40:07.674 --> 00:40:10.629
As a teacher, I like to just teach. This won't take that long.

00:40:11.128 --> 00:40:15.255
I want to talk about David. David was an Israelite from the tribe of Judah.

00:40:15.661 --> 00:40:18.454
He was the son of Jesse from Bethlehem and be,

00:40:18.977 --> 00:40:25.949
king over Israel. David's tribal identity matters because the tribe of Judah carries the royal line.

00:40:26.187 --> 00:40:30.912
Later, Jesus is identified through the line of David and the tribe of Judah.

00:40:31.272 --> 00:40:37.634
This makes David central to the biblical story of kingship, covenant, Masonic expectation.

00:40:37.768 --> 00:40:44.612
You see here in episode one, it reminds us that being chosen does not mean you are above correction.

00:40:44.763 --> 00:40:47.027
You see, David was anointed. He was gifted.

00:40:47.323 --> 00:40:49.633
David was called a man after God's own heart.

00:40:49.958 --> 00:40:53.649
But David still sinned. When God spoke to him through Nathan,

00:40:53.649 --> 00:40:57.807
he says, I could have gave you such and such, whatever you needed.

00:40:58.027 --> 00:41:01.364
I gave you all these women. I gave you a cast. I gave you everything.

00:41:01.608 --> 00:41:05.276
But you didn't want that. You wanted that poor little lamb.

00:41:05.567 --> 00:41:09.978
But in the Bible, it says David was called a man after his own heart.

00:41:10.141 --> 00:41:12.271
We'll find out why that is true.

00:41:12.556 --> 00:41:17.600
This is important because Bible's history must tell the truth about its heroes.

00:41:17.844 --> 00:41:20.863
David's greatness does not erase his wrongdoing.

00:41:21.165 --> 00:41:24.369
His calling does not cancel his authority.

00:41:25.115 --> 00:41:29.672
Let's talk about Bathsheba. Bathsheba appears to have been an Israelite woman.

00:41:29.991 --> 00:41:33.486
Through scripture does not directly name her tribe.

00:41:33.863 --> 00:41:39.128
She is identified as a daughter of Elam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

00:41:39.268 --> 00:41:44.062
Her father name was given her family. Her father name gives her family identity.

00:41:44.364 --> 00:41:49.249
Her husband name gives her marital identity. This means Bathsheba was not a

00:41:49.249 --> 00:41:50.773
nameless woman in the kingdom.

00:41:51.063 --> 00:41:55.059
She was connected to a household. Some biblical readers have suggested that

00:41:55.059 --> 00:42:00.689
Bathsheba may have been connected to David's inner circle because Eli may have been the same.

00:42:00.689 --> 00:42:07.169
Eli listed among David's mighty men. Also, Amphithopothel, one of David's counselors,

00:42:07.169 --> 00:42:11.037
is identified elsewhere as the father of Eliam.

00:42:11.246 --> 00:42:15.509
If these connections are the same people, then Bathsheba may have come from

00:42:15.509 --> 00:42:19.536
a family close to the palace and military leadership.

00:42:19.855 --> 00:42:26.559
So she wasn't a random woman she was not a random woman she had because if you

00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:28.179
think about it if you're that close to,

00:42:28.979 --> 00:42:33.669
the if the king is that close and can have access to you so you had a little

00:42:33.669 --> 00:42:36.969
bit of something going on because you weren't yeah you were probably not as

00:42:36.969 --> 00:42:41.519
rich as David but you were close in vicinity to him I just always wonder.

00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:45.966
Why her out of all the other women right.

00:42:46.758 --> 00:42:50.130
And I love that God gave her a name. David had a large military.

00:42:50.130 --> 00:42:54.760
Those military men had wives and children. Remember, there's a story about how

00:42:54.760 --> 00:43:02.280
David and his, they had to go rescue and get his military kids and wives back.

00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:04.659
And they were mad at him. There's a story about that in the Bible.

00:43:04.978 --> 00:43:08.540
So this could be, seem like a big circle of friends, but really it might be

00:43:08.540 --> 00:43:09.901
a small circle of friends.

00:43:10.139 --> 00:43:15.707
So there might be a connection that we'll probably figure out as we continue to study the Bible.

00:43:15.810 --> 00:43:20.510
So if these are the same people, then Bathsheba may be connected in a different

00:43:20.510 --> 00:43:25.030
way than we thought. It says we can clearly see that Bathsheba was not a random

00:43:25.030 --> 00:43:26.178
woman without identity.

00:43:26.509 --> 00:43:30.900
That's powerful. The Bible names her, connects her to her family,

00:43:30.900 --> 00:43:35.440
connects her to her father, connects her to her husband, and later connects

00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:39.024
her to the royal lineage of Solomon.

00:43:39.698 --> 00:43:42.885
Let's talk about Uriah. Uriah is called the Hittite.

00:43:43.227 --> 00:43:48.203
The Hittite was connected to the land of Canaan and the ancient Near Eastern world.

00:43:48.533 --> 00:43:52.310
They are mentioned throughout the Old Testament as one of the people living

00:43:52.310 --> 00:43:53.862
in and around the Promised Land.

00:43:54.141 --> 00:43:58.493
Uriah's identity, he may be ethnically connected to the Hittites,

00:43:58.807 --> 00:44:02.557
but his actions show deep commitment to David, Israel, and the army.

00:44:02.766 --> 00:44:07.462
In fact, Uriah behaves with more honor than David in the part of his story.

00:44:07.822 --> 00:44:13.853
While David is home in comfort, Uriah refuses to enjoy the comfort of home while David.

00:44:14.660 --> 00:44:19.530
Ark, Israel, Judah, and his fellow soldiers remain in tents.

00:44:19.722 --> 00:44:21.284
The contrast is powerful.

00:44:21.638 --> 00:44:26.531
The Hittite soldier shows discipline. The Israel king abuses power.

00:44:26.839 --> 00:44:30.778
And this is the Bible history unmasked. So when we think about Uriah,

00:44:30.778 --> 00:44:35.517
we didn't get into that. Uriah, David called Uriah after he slept with his wife.

00:44:35.831 --> 00:44:40.618
The Bible says that after he slept with his wife, he called Uriah back to to

00:44:40.618 --> 00:44:43.395
spend time with his wife. Why? To kind of cover up his sin.

00:44:43.534 --> 00:44:46.500
Well, Uriah didn't go home to see Bathsheba.

00:44:46.779 --> 00:44:48.695
Uriah slept at David's door.

00:44:49.084 --> 00:44:54.218
That's how honorable he was. And he said, I won't be with my wife until this

00:44:54.218 --> 00:44:57.111
war is done. He was very committed to David.

00:44:57.436 --> 00:45:01.697
That's what makes the story so hard because he wasn't just a random man.

00:45:01.964 --> 00:45:04.779
He was one of David's commanders.

00:45:05.688 --> 00:45:10.248
So he had the ability to know where David was, to go to his house,

00:45:10.248 --> 00:45:12.099
to sleep outside his door.

00:45:12.256 --> 00:45:16.877
He wouldn't even get drunk because that wasn't what he was called to do.

00:45:17.138 --> 00:45:21.308
You know, we'll get into Uriah's story after we finish Bathsheba because there's

00:45:21.308 --> 00:45:24.800
so much to this man. Let's talk about Solomon this episode.

00:45:25.062 --> 00:45:30.408
Solomon is not born in episode one, you know, but this story begins with a family

00:45:30.408 --> 00:45:34.234
history. Solomon will later become the son of David and Bathsheba,

00:45:34.704 --> 00:45:37.693
king of Israel and part of the royal lineage leading to Jesus.

00:45:38.094 --> 00:45:42.535
This matters because Bathsheba does not end when the sun is.

00:45:42.779 --> 00:45:46.192
She never goes away. Her story continues into motherhood.

00:45:46.465 --> 00:45:49.309
So we know that eventually, if you know the story, spoiler alert,

00:45:49.675 --> 00:45:51.357
that she does get pregnant again.

00:45:51.781 --> 00:45:55.740
There's a long story about how David responded to the death of that first child.

00:45:56.065 --> 00:46:01.368
But yet when that baby was saying it wasn't going to live, he dusted off his,

00:46:01.368 --> 00:46:02.528
he was fasting and praying.

00:46:02.868 --> 00:46:06.647
And God says, nope, we're not, that baby is dead. And then he, um,

00:46:07.346 --> 00:46:11.599
end up marrying Bathsheba, and they had another son. And they had more than

00:46:11.599 --> 00:46:13.691
just one son, but Solomon was the main one.

00:46:15.252 --> 00:46:20.639
So in this story, because he was a king, her story continued into motherhood, palace,

00:46:21.794 --> 00:46:26.709
strategy, because there were some things happening in the story of David regarding

00:46:26.709 --> 00:46:32.046
his sons going after each other, wanting Solomon's throne, a royal secession,

00:46:32.272 --> 00:46:34.499
and a messianic genealogy.

00:46:34.499 --> 00:46:39.719
Bathsheba moves from the rooftop to the throne room. I just want to share just

00:46:39.719 --> 00:46:41.665
some fun facts regarding Bathsheba.

00:46:41.990 --> 00:46:46.704
Bathsheba's name is called Daughter of Abundance.

00:46:47.673 --> 00:46:48.919
And the meaning is powerful because

00:46:48.919 --> 00:46:53.831
Bathsheba's life becomes connected to covenant, promise, royal legacy.

00:46:54.150 --> 00:46:56.263
She begins a story in vulnerability.

00:46:56.623 --> 00:47:02.370
The lady becomes the mother of Solomon and part of the lineage connected to Jesus Christ.

00:47:02.713 --> 00:47:08.099
So Bathsheba started out as the Insummit, but we study her out.

00:47:08.099 --> 00:47:14.932
We're going to study her out. She becomes a voice for change and protection of her son, Solomon.

00:47:15.623 --> 00:47:18.903
David names, David name means beloved, right?

00:47:19.187 --> 00:47:22.421
This is power because David was loved by God, chosen by God,

00:47:22.421 --> 00:47:27.431
anointed by God, but he was still accountable to God because beloved does not

00:47:27.431 --> 00:47:29.700
give David permission to abuse his power.

00:47:29.880 --> 00:47:31.877
Being chosen, not excused and sent.

00:47:32.173 --> 00:47:38.616
Being king did not place him above correction. Uriah's name means Yahweh is my light.

00:47:38.976 --> 00:47:41.699
The Lord is my light. Think about that name.

00:47:42.901 --> 00:47:48.135
That means he stands out because Uriah becomes a moral light to a dark chapter.

00:47:48.460 --> 00:47:53.708
His loyalty exposes David's corruption. His discipline exposes David's compromise.

00:47:53.865 --> 00:47:56.535
His honor exposes David's dishonor.

00:47:56.854 --> 00:47:58.799
Uriah may have been called a Hittite,

00:47:59.246 --> 00:48:02.990
but in this story, he acts more righteous than the king of Israel.

00:48:03.379 --> 00:48:11.309
In Matthew 1, 6, it says, And Jesse beget David the king, and David the king beget Solomon of Hur.

00:48:11.640 --> 00:48:18.051
That had been the wife of Uriah. Matthew could simply have said David was the

00:48:18.051 --> 00:48:23.081
father of Solomon by Bathsheba, but instead the genealogy remembers Uriah.

00:48:23.441 --> 00:48:28.241
This keeps the injustice in the record. It refuses to erase what happened.

00:48:28.241 --> 00:48:34.773
It reminds that the reader of Solomon's royal line came through a painful and complicated story.

00:48:35.489 --> 00:48:40.366
Isn't that powerful? We will study about that later on in episode four,

00:48:40.731 --> 00:48:44.267
but let's close this out so we can get to the next part.

00:48:44.621 --> 00:48:48.271
Ashiva's story was reduced to a bath, a roof, and a scandal,

00:48:48.573 --> 00:48:52.102
but when we read the text carefully, we see something different.

00:48:52.619 --> 00:48:58.772
We see here that David was out of position. We see that David saw from a place of power.

00:48:59.091 --> 00:49:01.605
David ignored the warning of her identity.

00:49:01.947 --> 00:49:07.723
David sent for her. David took her. And later, God sent Nathan to confront David.

00:49:07.996 --> 00:49:11.293
So we do not begin a series by blaming Bathsheba.

00:49:11.642 --> 00:49:18.097
We begin by restoring context, biblical context. Bathsheba was not the temptation.

00:49:18.236 --> 00:49:24.755
Bathsheba was a woman David saw summoned and pulled into the consequences of royal power.

00:49:25.034 --> 00:49:30.600
The myth of the rooftop says Bathsheba seduce David, but the scripture says

00:49:30.600 --> 00:49:35.878
David abused his power, and that is where we begin.

00:49:36.440 --> 00:49:40.544
I mean, it was Connie Morris. I hope you enjoy the story of Bathsheba.

00:49:40.875 --> 00:49:44.854
We have several more episodes regarding her. I wanted to spend as much time

00:49:44.854 --> 00:49:51.752
as I can to tell you about her because she is very important in the story.

00:49:52.036 --> 00:49:56.199
You know, when we think about any whitewashing that may happen with Bathsheba,

00:49:56.482 --> 00:50:00.268
we always see her as very light-skinned. We know she's from the ham,

00:50:00.534 --> 00:50:02.236
so we know her skin was not light.

00:50:02.538 --> 00:50:08.656
She's often blamed or sexualized in stories about her, but it was David who abused his power.

00:50:08.783 --> 00:50:11.071
And we talk about the world versus the Bible.

00:50:11.379 --> 00:50:14.954
The world blames women. The Bible exposes kings.

00:50:15.273 --> 00:50:20.554
And we know for sure that she is placed in the lineage of Jesus,

00:50:20.554 --> 00:50:23.952
a direct line. Solomon came through Bathsheba.

00:50:24.312 --> 00:50:30.294
So God still used her in a mighty way. So I hope you are being encouraged through

00:50:30.294 --> 00:50:33.460
this story, and I'll see you on the next episode.

00:50:33.832 --> 00:50:37.544
Bye-bye. Before we close today, I don't want to take for granted that everyone

00:50:37.544 --> 00:50:39.771
listening knows Jesus personally.

00:50:40.147 --> 00:50:45.545
If you have listened to this episode or any other episodes and felt something stirring in your heart.

00:50:45.975 --> 00:50:49.679
Maybe you know about God, but you're not sure you truly know him.

00:50:49.870 --> 00:50:54.050
Maybe you grew up in church, walked away, got hurt, became tired,

00:50:54.445 --> 00:50:56.788
and never fully surrendered your life to Jesus.

00:50:57.168 --> 00:51:01.598
I want you to know this. God loves you. He has not forgotten you.

00:51:01.598 --> 00:51:03.547
He is not waiting to shame you.

00:51:03.704 --> 00:51:10.288
He is calling you home. The Bible says in Romans 10, 9, if you declare with

00:51:10.288 --> 00:51:15.948
your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from

00:51:15.948 --> 00:51:18.338
the dead, you will be saved.

00:51:18.541 --> 00:51:20.968
Salvation is not about being perfect.

00:51:21.177 --> 00:51:24.079
It's about surrendering to the one who is perfect.

00:51:24.404 --> 00:51:31.708
Jesus died for your sins, rose again, and made a way for you to be forgiven, restored, and made new.

00:51:32.108 --> 00:51:35.452
So right where you are, you can pray this prayer with me.

00:51:35.608 --> 00:51:40.767
Lord Jesus, I come to you today with an open heart. I believe you are the Son of God.

00:51:41.162 --> 00:51:47.623
I believe you died on the cross for my sins. And I believe that God raised you from the dead.

00:51:47.785 --> 00:51:51.932
Today, I confess that I need you. I repent of my sins.

00:51:52.252 --> 00:51:58.710
I ask you to forgive me, cleanse me, and make me brand new. Jesus, come into my heart.

00:51:59.030 --> 00:52:02.832
Be my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, and my King.

00:52:03.212 --> 00:52:08.173
I surrender my life to you. I give you my past, my present, and my future.

00:52:08.451 --> 00:52:12.381
Teach me how to walk with you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit.

00:52:12.642 --> 00:52:16.592
Lead me in truth, healing, obedience, and love.

00:52:16.912 --> 00:52:21.721
From this day forward, I belong to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

00:52:21.895 --> 00:52:26.322
If you pray that prayer from your heart, I want you to know that heaven has

00:52:26.322 --> 00:52:28.339
heard you. This is not the end.

00:52:28.670 --> 00:52:33.558
This is only the beginning of your walk with Jesus. Find a Bible-believing church,

00:52:33.726 --> 00:52:38.909
begin reading the word of God, pray daily, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow.

00:52:39.187 --> 00:52:43.942
God is not looking for perfection from you. He is inviting you into relationship,

00:52:44.249 --> 00:52:49.915
transformation, and eternal life through Jesus Christ. And remember, you are loved.

00:52:50.159 --> 00:52:54.077
You are not forgotten. And God still has a purpose for your life.

00:52:54.408 --> 00:52:57.293
Thank you for listening to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

00:52:57.496 --> 00:53:01.954
Until next time, keep walking in truth, faith, and freedom.

00:53:12.905 --> 00:53:16.080
Family, thank you for spending time with me today.

00:53:16.353 --> 00:53:20.014
To every woman listening who has ever felt hidden, overlooked,

00:53:20.014 --> 00:53:22.471
or pushed aside, hear me clearly.

00:53:22.744 --> 00:53:27.278
God has not forgotten you, and neither have I.

00:53:27.678 --> 00:53:32.433
Now let's go before the Lord and close this out with a word from God,

00:53:32.857 --> 00:53:37.286
because someone out there needs this reminder today.

00:53:37.553 --> 00:53:41.541
Jeremiah 29, 11, verses 11 through 14.

00:53:41.976 --> 00:53:46.824
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you

00:53:46.824 --> 00:53:50.736
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

00:53:51.026 --> 00:53:55.775
Then when you call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you,

00:53:56.030 --> 00:54:01.344
you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

00:54:01.344 --> 00:54:07.402
I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and bring you back from captivity.

00:54:07.779 --> 00:54:13.740
Father God, we thank you for your word, that it is true, that it is living, that it is for us.

00:54:13.897 --> 00:54:18.944
You said you know the plans you have for us, plans to prosper us and not to

00:54:18.944 --> 00:54:21.844
harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.

00:54:22.134 --> 00:54:26.440
So today we receive that, not just in our minds, but in our hearts.

00:54:26.668 --> 00:54:30.377
When we feel overlooked, remind us you still see us.

00:54:30.672 --> 00:54:35.897
When we feel forgotten, remind us you still have a plan. And when we feel hidden,

00:54:36.222 --> 00:54:38.434
remind us you are still working.

00:54:38.707 --> 00:54:41.877
Your word says that when we call on you, you will listen.

00:54:42.212 --> 00:54:46.212
So we call on you now. Hear us. Strengthen us. Guide us.

00:54:46.462 --> 00:54:52.146
Help us to seek you with our whole heart, not halfway, not sometimes, but fully.

00:54:52.441 --> 00:54:56.813
And as we seek you, let us find you in every season, in every place.

00:54:57.334 --> 00:55:02.553
Even the hidden one. Restore what was lost, renew what feels broken,

00:55:02.873 --> 00:55:07.284
and remind us that nothing in our lives is wasted in your hand.

00:55:07.690 --> 00:55:13.877
Lord, we trust you, we believe you, and we stand on your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

00:55:14.191 --> 00:55:18.260
This is Diary of a Black Woman podcast, and I'm your host, Connie Morris,

00:55:18.539 --> 00:55:21.279
and I'll see you on the next episode.