~ Overview ~Absalom was David's favorite son, which is probably why he was prideful and rebelled so badly. He broke king Davids heart. just almost destroyed him. Israel survived. This story is six chapters only, but the book study only covers the major aspects of their relationship, so we can learn from it. We read that David had a heart for God even if he did go against it a lot, but he also had a heart for his family too. He was vulnerable in his love for his family and gets hurt deeply because of that love. C.S. .Lewis wrote "The only place, other than Heaven, that you can be perfectly safe from all the 'dangers of love' is hell." When Nathan was talking to David about his own conduct and sins he told David that because of him and the judgement that he faced from what he had done to Bathsheba and Uriah that he would have chaos in his home. 2 Samuel 12:11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. David's sons Absalom and Amnon were a fulfillment of what Nathan told David would happen. Amnon raped his half sister Tamar, and Absalom killed his brother because of that. He was supposed to only have one wife, and he had a lot of them. His life was way out there in sin. ~ Questions ~1. Did David do the things he knew was right? Did he have a reason for Nathan to warn him? 2. What did David reap from what he sowed? Well it is another day in the life of David. He should have been expecting that coming. Nathan warned him that his sin would have consequences. How can we stop those kinds of consequences? Obey the Lord.
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~ The Consequences ~When we do something wrong and God sees it every time, we will have consequences for whatever evil we did. God does not like us to go against the things we know are right. But He is right there to take you back into His arms when you confess and repent. We really do know when we are doing something that is not right. When we do sin, we set forth a chain reaction that is not broken. Now we know that God can work miracles, but He rightfully so allows the consequences to try to get us to confess and turn from the sin. Our sin will be forgiven but He allows us to keep the consequences. We as Christians need to remember that we do not confess sins to stop the consequences, we confess sin to make our life worth living again. We have to "make right" and be truly "sorry" about the sins that we did, and then ask God to forgive us and restore our fellowship with Him first. If we are not sincere then it will not work. David lived with the consequences for the rest of his life. Confessing did not change that he had killed Uriah and got together with Bathsheba. Four things happened in David's life after his sin with taking Bathsheba from Uriah and ending his life. 1. The child born to Bathsheba got sick and passed away. David fasted and prayed for over a week watching over him. And the grief and remorse for David would have been bad. He watched his infant son die because David sinned against God. David had a huge turn around when the child died. He put on the clothes and sat down to eat. When asked why he no longer mourned the child, he reminded them there was no more he could do, and he would see that child again one day. When we are saved, we will see those who were saved when they died and all the children under the age of accountability as well. 2. You hear how the sins of the father will affect the next generation. David watched his son Amnon rape his half-sister, Tamar. 2 Samuel 13. Amnon did to Tamar what David did to Bathsheba. Taking something that was not his to take. 3. David has lost his moral authority, he did not deal with Amnon because it was the same sin he himself had done, so Absalom killed Amnon for what he did to their half-sister. Absalom would not have needed to do this if David could have done the right thing and punished Amnon. His family and life were in an uproar. 4. This was the death of Absalom, and we will see that in the next chapter. Absalom was David's favorite child. When Absalom lead the men against his father, that broke David's heart. It was a heart-wrenching story for David. David was cleansed from the sin he committed, but the actions he did left wounds on his personal and family lives. His sins impacted future children and probably others in the kingdom. Sis has consequences. Psalm 19:12-13 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. 13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. ~ Questions ~1. What did David have to deal with in his life after he sinned against God and Bathsheba and Uriah? 2. What did David have to watch his sons go through after he disobeyed God himself? We are finished with this chapter and have Three chapters left, then we start the Christmas study on advent too.
~ The Confrontation ~That year that he was in silence brought David much suffering and sorrow. God was preparing David to desire to confess his sins and welcome God back into his life. He needed to unburden his soul of the sin that beset him. God did not have to send armies in to punish David or make him repent. He sent one lone guy, Nathan again to talk to David. Instead of coming in like he did when David wanted to build the temple, Nathan came to David with confrontation, he must have been a bit nervous to come to confront David with the sin he committed and what he needed to do about it. Nathan obeyed the Lord. Often we hear things better when they are told in story form. We do not get so defensive over a story. Nathan approached David with a story that would show him that he was sinning in his life. 2 Samuel 12:1-4 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” We see David as the rich man, a man who is supposed to be leading his country with God in the center, and instead he was hurting Uriah the poor man and taking Bathsheba the little lamb. Remember David had many wives at this time. David, who was not doing well emotionally did not realize at first that Nathan was talking about him, he thought that someone had done this thing to one of his people. David was quite upset that the rich man was so selfish and decided to proclaim that this man had to die. He did not realize he was talking about himself. After David had spoken for the man to die, Nathan said in vs 7, "You are the man!" That had to be the worst moment when his sins were shown to Nathan, and he was hit with this proclamation. David loved God and had strayed away from Him, but God was bringing him back. ~ The Confession ~Nathan then told David about his sin and detailed what he had done, after that David was able to say the words, he had said that right off to Nathan. He confessed in a multiplied way, confessing in all the ways he could confess that he was wrong and had sinned and done this evil. When you do the evil, we do transgressions - rebellion, and his iniquity - perversion and sin - falling short and evil - vileness deserving condemnation. David got all of that and confessed. People have always wondered about confession, is the person really sorry for the sin he is committing or is he just sorry that he got caught in that sin. David not only confessed, but he also took ownership of that sin and asked for forgiveness. It is hard for us to say, "We are the guilty one". In 2 Samuel 12:13 we see Nathan making the declaration that Daid had confessed to God and that God had "put away" his sin from him. David had asked God several things, that his sins were blotted out Psalm 51:1, that they would be washed away like a stain verse 2, and cleansed like a leper verse 2. He asked for all these things and more to be forgiven and cleansed. David knew that his sin would ruin his life if it was not taken away. ~ The Cleansing ~Hyssop is used in cooking and herbal remedies, in biblical times being part of the mint family but unknown for sure were used as ancient Jewish rites of purification. It was a good smell of mint. David had been defiled because he killed Uriah, he asked for a purge of hyssop so that his sins would be clean. He could not go to Jesus as we do now. Psalm 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. When we confess and repent too God cleanses us or un-sins us. We are forgiven, but there will still be consequences. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ~ Questions ~1. Who did God send to David and why? 2. What did David do when that person told him a story? 3. What does He do when we confess and repent? Have a great Friday!! We are headed out for the last Friday of our school year.
~ The Conviction ~In 2 Samuel they go from David's sin right to the confrontation by Nathan, but Psalm 32 shares what David was doing during that time. ~ A Year of Silence ~This year waiting for the baby to be born He "kept silent", the teaching says that it is probably means that David did not talk to man or God about what he had done. David had his heels dug in and a hardhearted life during this time. David did not want to admit that he had sinned. Psalm 32:3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. ~ A Year of Suffering ~David was quite dramatic when he was describing the extent of his suffering both physical and emotional. In Psalm 32:3 He talks about keeping silent, and his bones grow old, while he groans all day. He might have been silent on the outside, but he was thinking and dealing with this all on the inside. ~ A Year of Sorrow ~Sorrow comes from silence and suffering, in verse 4. He says that "Your hand was heavy upon me;" Even with all that David had for comfort as king of Israel; He still felt the weight of his sins upon him. As long as he will not deal with the sin, he will not be free from the sorrow that overtakes him. Psalm 32:4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah David's sin was two aspects to it. First, the sins he committed were premeditated; he chose to call Bathsheba knowing she was married and what he was going to do with her and he also chose what to do with Uriah and sending him to get killed. Second, even though his sins were done in secret God said through Nathan that He would discipline David in front of all the people. It was more than just being put forth in front of his kingdom of Israel, it is put in the Bible so that for the next two or three millennia later we are still to this day studying about David's sins. The entire world has the opportunity to read about his sins. ~ Questions ~1. What do you think about when you are in a time of silence? 2. Do you put your mind to work when you are silent on the outside? 3. When God takes our sins, do we feel as the whole world is watching? We are learning a lot through this, have you ever had a sin that you did that was found out and everyone seems to find out? No fun, but makes you not want to do sins even in secret.
~ Overview ~Here is a much-loved verse in the Bible for many people, a reminder of how our actions will reap depending on what we are doing in our lives. If we follow God and live what He teaches us then we will have good things to reap. If we live a wrong life then we will reap bad things. It is between you and God what you live. Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. We will see what David's actions reap in his life after he dealt poorly with Bathsheba and her life. How would David be dealt with for his evilness. When we come to this point in the study, it has been somewhere between nine and twelve months later. The baby has been born and Nathan had come to bring David news his child would die as punishment for his sins. David then fasted and prayed for his child. 2 Samuel 12:15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. God had chosen for David to lead Israel, and he needed to come back to God and get untangled from the sin that He was living in. Nathan confronted David after the child was born. David had been living with his conscience at least those nine months. David was told by Nathan when he came that he would not die for his sins, but there would be consequences for the evil he did. David goes through five different stages when he is confronted with his sin and needed restoration. To hear what David was going through we can read Psalm 32 and 51. It shares that David was going through many things during this time. ~ Questions ~1. How long did David wallow in the sins that he committed before listening to Nathan? 2. What was the consequences for David's sins? Tomorrow we will find out what the stages that David went through after his sin. He was living with it for at least nine months if not longer. And it was taking a tole on David.
~ The Fallout ~Whenever you sin there is a hopes inside that you will not get caught. We know that it is wrong and want to get away with it. They think the gap between verse 4 & 5 could be a few weeks. From the time that David took Bathsheba and the time she finds that she is pregnant. The armies were away and her husband was not home during that time. At that time if you were caught in adultery you were to be stoned to death. If they were caught the king David would probably not be stoned, but Bathsheba probably would be. So, David had to make a decision, he could either confess or do a cover up. He chose the cover up first. He sent for Uriah and had him come home. He asked about the battle and sent him home to lay with his wife. But Uriah was an honorable man and since his fellow men were far from home, he would not spend the night in his bed with his wife and he slept with David's servants. David had even sent a great meal to his house and Uriah chose not to go. Uriah messed up David's plan by being noble and not sleeping with his wife. David was shocked when he heard that Uriah would not go home while his friends were sleeping in tents on the ground. The second night David gave Uriah wine and got him drunk so that maybe he would go and lay with his wife as a drunk man. Once again, he slept with the servants. He had more integrity drunk than David did sober. The last plan David had was to kill Uriah and marry Bathsheba quickly so that the child would rightfully be his seed. He was so into protecting himself he was willing to end an innocent man who was doing right in the sight of the Lord. Bathsheba was in mourning for a week or so and then married David. ~ David Broke His Fellowship with God ~David thought he had gotten away with his sin, and no one was the wiser. He was not thinking that God could see the cover up and knew what had really happened. Who knows how David was thinking now, but it was like he thought God was going to allow him to cause that much devastation of life and get away with it .. he should have been put to death. David had ruined his relationship with God. ~ David Caused the World to Blaspheme God ~Sin always has a way of making itself known. David's supposedly well-kept sin got out and even to other nations. David's sins caused a scandal even in the ancient world. David took God's name down too. The sinner is not the only one who is brought down and blasphemed their God is too. ~ David Became Belligerent ~David's heart at this time was hardened, sin had taken over his heart and life. His fellowship with God was broken and He was a lost testimony to the world. David refused to admit that he had done wrong. Nathan came and told David a story about a poor man's lamb being stolen by a rich man and served to the party. David said that the rich man should be put to death. He did not realize yet that he was the rich man. He would not tolerate the same sin he committed. God shows us through this story that even when we make big mistakes, if we are truly sorry and confess, He will forgive. We have to do our part to make sure that we are sorry for the sin, not for getting caught in the sin. Jesus Christ died for your sins and mine, but if only one person would be saved, Jesus would have died for that one person. We have the opportunity to love and live for someone who gave their life for us. Our sins will have consequences, but we will be forgiven when we are truly sorry. Confess today and receive His forgiveness, start your slate over as of today. ~ Questions ~1. How many people did David hurt with his sins? Can we even see all the results? 2. When we are truly sorry for the sin we got what do we need to do to be forgiven? We all have things that we need to confess, we have that human sin nature and we are taken in by the evil one. So confess today and start anew.
~ The Fall ~That night when David walked out on the balcony roof of his palace, he did not know he would be tempted. But when he did get tempted instead of going back to bed he watched Bathsheba taking her bath and because he loved gratification, he wanted her. He did not turn from the temptation. ~ David Initiated the Deed ~David had his mind on what? The battle he should have been at, the workings of the kingdom, maybe the wives he already had? He was sure not thinking of what he should do or what he should obey God for. It does not say in scripture that Bathsheba was doing anything wrong. At that time of night she would have thought it was a good time to bathe. She could have been sponge bathing or even washing her hair in a jug. Whatever she was doing it was not wrong and she must have felt safe on her roof that night. The Bible does not say that she was doing anything immodest or wrong. David did nothing wrong walking out on his balcony roof and seeing her, but in his heart he then watched enough to desire her. He did not go and call one of his own wives to him but allowed himself to lust for Bathsheba. Later when Nathan confronts him he tells a story of a man with many sheep that when someone came he took the only sheep from a poor man to feed that visitor. David was mad then Nathan reminds him that it is him. He had many wives and took Uriah's one wife. ~ David Ignored the Question of His Servant ~God provided David chances to turn away and not take the temptation. His desire for more caused him to turn away from God rather than Bathsheba. David failed to take the way out from God. David could have walked away, but no he inquired with his servant about who she was. Not only did he look upon her, but he also inquiries about her. Then when they tell him that she is married God was giving David an escape, she belonged to Uriah not David. David at this time should have stepped back and stayed away from her, but he seems to have his mind made up that he wants her at this point already. He does not care that she is another mans wife. Bathsheba would not be allowed to say no to the king of Israel, it was a power move with David and she had nothing to do but comply. This was David's sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. ~ Questions ~1. What should David have done differently? 2. What was David's reaction to what he wanted? Well, that would have been hard on Bathsheba, she could be put to death for going against her king. She would have just had to comply with him and allow him to lay with her. It does not say what she wanted or thought about it. Or if she was ever mad at David. I want to talk to her some when I get to heaven too.
~ The Failure ~When we have a failure in life there has almost always been a failure before. We are human and fail a lot, we just have to turn to God and allow Him to pick us up and set us straight again. We have to give in to Him and turn from our failure to stand in Christ. David had at least two failures before the fall with Bathsheba. ~ David Ignored His Duty ~We see in 2 Samuel that David did not go to war with his men. In that day they used to go into battle. The king would lead troops into the battle and stand with them as they all fought. But David decided to just shirk his responsibilities and stay home for the war. David was a warrior and had victories under his belt for war. David was a warrior king and he would make the mistake of his life when he decided to stay behind. One he would regret for the rest of his life. It is dangerous for us to not be where we are supposed to be. When we just stay home, and safe, God's work cannot be done in our lives or the lives we should be touching. We need to make sure that we are following God's will for our lives. David removed his armor and and he failed miserably. ~ David Indulged His Desire ~David did not follow what God set forth for kings in the book of Deuteronomy 17. He did not multiply horses, because God did not want the people to have to go back to Egypt to trade after they escaped. and he did not multiply gold he was willing to give up all his treasure to build the temple, but he did indulge in one thing God said not to and that was wives and concubines. He had his own harem. When he got back from Hebron, he acquired many wives. Deuteronomy 17:16-17 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. David went out and saw Bathsheba bathing, he should have turned away and walked back to his room, instead he watched her and saw that she was very beautiful, and he decided to find out more about her. His loss of self-control was setting himself up for failure. This was not new to him, he had taken many wives, but it must have been the first time he took her from a husband. When he sent to learn more about her, he did not care she had a husband. He just wanted more and more, and she got caught in that. Our desires of the flesh cannot be satisfied, the more we have, the more we want. And David shows this greatly. Men today must stay filled with the Spirit and in check to where they turn away and do not even look upon others. To be faithful in this life they have to immerse themselves in the Word and focusing on God. ~ Questions ~1. What did David do that put him in the place to fail? 2. Was David living by what God said was to be for kings? What did he do? Thank You for being here with us. We are appreciative of your time with us here and hope you are learning much from the life of David that we are studying.
~ Overview ~David is much like us, we make mistakes and fall short of God's will in our lives, but God still wants us to pick ourselves up and continue for God. We do not need to give up and feel sorry for ourselves. Confess, pick our lives up from the floor and start again. We would like to avoid this part of David's life, but we cannot let go and just walk over it. David still has consequences to this day for the sin he did. It did not die with him but was written down and known for generations to come. Our sins are carried from generation to generation as we know and others will see things and want to skip part of our lives. Yet, poor David is in a book that is the record seller and most Christians will read in their lives. ~ Questions ~1. What do we do when we have committed a big sin? 2. Do we confess and change our lives? This was a short one today. We just want to touch on David's sin that was probably the worst of all. And that even after that when you confess with an open heart and mean it your life can change and you can still do things for God. We will just live with consequences from that sin.
~ A Dream Dies ~We have all lost a vision that we wanted for our lives, a dream is over and we have a desire to just give up. God does not want us to give up, He wants to give us the wisdom to go on. To keep dreaming and search for God's way in your dream. ~ Review What You Have Without the Dream ~At times we get into our dream and it consumes all our time and it becomes everything to us. So that when we lose that dream we have nothing left in our lives. David did not do things half-heartedly, so he was probably invested in this dream. He wanted to build God a home, he probably had great dreams of what it would be. When David was told by Nathan that he would not be the one that builds the house of God, David had to stand back and see where he wanted to go from this time on. His dream was gone, but David had been brought from a shepherd to king and great things were going on in his life there. David and his descendants would rule on the throne of Israel. Nathan reminded David of what God had done for him and what David himself had done would have been at the forefront of David's mind. David thought hard about this and came to the realization was that if God did not want him to build the temple that God had a good reason. God shared through Nathan that it would be his children that would eatablish the kingdom and build God's home. 2 Samuel 7:12-13 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. David is learning what we need to learn too. God's plans for our lives are better than the plans that we have and no matter what dreams are taken away from us, he always gives us more dreams to dream and accomplish. ~ Resolve to Keep on Dreaming ~We need to be watchful in our attitudes and not allow one lost dream to keep us from dreaming. Solomon David's son was allowed to build that home for God. David's dream came true, it was just not his place to finish that dream. God was pleased that David dreamed the house for Him. He even blessed David's dream to be built later. It was not that David's dream was wrong. God did not say no because He did not like David's dream. He said no because David was not to be the one that built His temple. Keep dreaming, and allow God to decide what dreams will be accomplished and when and who as well. ~ Reject Introspection ~Do not start thinking that there is something wrong with us causing that dream to be said no too. You might not get to do a dream because you did not obey God, but it could also be because God says no for another reason. Make sure you do not sit and think about it but get up and redream the things you are sure God does want from you. We find out much later that David had killed too many people and made great wars. He did not obey God and for that he did not get to do the temple. The challenge we have with our faith is not to dive inside us to figure out why God said no, but to trust and obey and stay focused on God. He alone knows the best for us and when and what we will fulfill in life. ~ Redirect Your Energies to Something Else ~David did not mope around after being told no, he was the encouragement and help for Solomon. He was excited and supported Solomon for the future good he was about to do. David focused on good and did not dwell in self-pity for the temple would be built and Solomon's Temple was a great thing to behold. Because of David's support and funding the people of Jerusalem got excited and it became a dream for the people as well as David and Solomon. There are so many good things that God desires to accomplish and loves the dreamers as much as their dreams. We need to just trust Him and allow Him to plan the schedules and the priorities of the dreams we have. ~ Questions ~1. What do we have to look at when we have been told no by God for some reason? 2. Do you have dreams that you can pick up and work when another is finished? 3. What do we need to do with our desires when we have been told no? Another week is slowly slipping away. We are learning so much about our dreams and whether we are living the life that God desires for us. It is amazing to think that a no dream can turn into several yes dreams that are even better than the first one we have as well.
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HaniniyaI am Haniniya and I am from Bethlehem, Judea, Israel and I love the Lord and walk in His Word. I want to share His Word with You each day. Past Studies!!
July 2024
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