Hey guys! It's been too long, I miss your lovely usernames! If anyone's interested in my life, I've been doing college as a freshmen so I'm super stressed but surviving. Going to a medium sized Christian university in the middle of nowhere with some crazy people and weird rules (no dancing? bleh). But it's nice. I've been setting things back in line with God after a fun-filled senior year. Not that I was being a terrible person, but God was on the sidelines while I exhausted the last months with my real friends. So since they aren't here with me, I'm back to God and learning things in a new way, sometimes learning the same thing differently.
So anywaaaaay, I thought I'd spark some life here... maybe, hopefully. I'm writing a paper on David's sin with Bathsheba and literally just figured out how to find articles on the subject through the campus library. It was a pain XP So while reading this one the author made a really good point. Here's the verses involving David's punishment;
2 Samuel 12:5-12 "David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, 'As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.'
7 Then Nathan said to David, 'You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own."
11 'This is what the Lord says: "Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel."'"
So what the author of this article (maybe it's a book, I'm not sure ^_^') is saying is this;
"The explanation for this first punishment begins in vv. 7b–8 with God pointing out that he has given to David kingship, rescue from Saul, Saul’s house and wives, Israel and Judah, and is willing to give even more. What is at stake here is neither murder nor adultery but who has the right to take and give to David. When Nathan goes on to ask in v. 9, 'Why did you despise Yhwh?,' he refers to the fact that David has taken Bathsheba—God has not given her to him, in other words—and has done so by killing Uriah. The majority of vv. 7b–9, that is, focuses on God’s claim that he and not David is responsible for taking and providing David with power and women. David has taken Bathsheba as the rich man took the lamb; in doing so he has usurped God’s role and in this way has 'despised' God."
DESPISED GOD. That phrase really got me. So what if we don't do bad wrong things because we desire to, but because a small, or large part of us despises God? It's not the first explanation you turn to when you get caught, but what if it's true, if only a little? Some part of our being doesn't like what God has to say about our life and so we rebel without knowing we're doing it because we're angry or we hate God. When David takes Bathsheba as his wife after murdering her husband, to God that means David doesn't think he needs to depend on God. In layman's terms, he says, "Screw You, I'm going to go get what I want," rather than trusting and relying on God. At the time, David was only thinking of beautiful Bathsheba and how he could cover up his wrong, but what if he didn't lust for her because she's beautiful, but because his heart was straying from the First Love?
So just wondering about your guys' take on this. I feel like I'm getting closer to God and hopefully I'll be getting wiser as I go along too. I was also reading about the issues of life after death; people who believe in purgatory, misunderstanding resurrection of body and whatnot. I know there's some truths we can't know, but of the ones we can, I want to explore and understand them all. Blessings to all y'all this week :)
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Skillfulness
I am obsessed with shiny Reshirams!!!!
.png)
