Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.”
So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?”
Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”
When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of Maacah one thousand men, and from Ish-Tob twelve thousand men. Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”
So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the city. So Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went to Jerusalem.
When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered together. Then Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the River, and they came to Helam. And Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in battle array against David and fought with him. Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. And when all the kings who were servants to Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of Ammon anymore.

• 2 Samuel 10:1-19

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ”
So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

• 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 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. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”
So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” Then Nathan departed to his house.
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”
And they said, “He is dead.”
So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.
Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply. Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.” So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance. And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

• 2 Samuel 12:1-31

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

2 Samuel 10:2 ‘show kindness to Hanun’: ”Since Nahash was an enemy of Saul, he was viewed as a friend and supporter of David. It was implied that David and Nahash had entered into a covenant relationship, on the basis of which David desired to communicate his continuing loyalty to Nahash’s son, Hanun.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 10:4 ‘shaved off half their beards’: “Forced shaving was considered an insult and a sign of submission (cf. Is. 7:20). cut off their garments … at their buttocks. To those who wore long garments in that time, exposure of the buttocks was a shameful practice inflicted on prisoners of war (cf. Is. 20:4). Perhaps this was partly the concern of Michal in regard to David’s dancing (see 6:14, 20).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 10:12 ‘Be of good courage … may the Lord do what is good in His sight’: “Finding himself fighting on two fronts, Joab urged the army to ‘be strong’ and recognize that the outcome of the battle depended ultimately upon the Lord (cf. 15:26). It was a just and necessary war forced on Israel, so they could hope for God’s blessing—and they received it (vv. 13, 14).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 11:1 ‘the couch of carnal security’: “David never refused to go to battle while he was harassed by his adversary Saul. So long as he is hunted like a partridge on the mountains, David’s character is spotless, and his zeal is unrivaled. But now, a stealthier foe is lurking in ambush. While the devil assails us on the right hand and on the left, we will hardly be able to rest on the couch of carnal security. The dog of hell, by barking in our ears, keeps us awake; but when he ceases his howling, our eyelids will grow heavy unless divine grace prevents it. When we are no more driven to our knees by furious assaults from hell, we will have good cause to cry out, ‘Lord let me not sleep, like the rest, but let me stay awake and be self-controlled!’ (see 1 Th 5:6). The Christian is apt to say, ‘Now I am saved, I have no doubt about it; for the crown of my salvation encircles my head.’ But the next temptation will be, ‘Soul, take your ease; the work is done; you have attained; now fold your arms and sit still.’ We must be careful when we have no doubts. ‘Whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall’ (1Co 10:12). Thank God for full assurance, but nothing but careful walking can preserve it. This is the temptation of assured believers, to sit down on the throne and say, ‘I will sit in my glory forever and see no sorrow; I need no longer go to fight the Lord’s battles.’ I do not exhort anyone to serve Christ to be saved by it. David was saved. I only speak to those who are saved, and I beg them to take notice of David’s fall-and of the laziness that was at the beginning of it-as a warning to us. Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

2 Samuel 11:1 ‘the devils attack those with assurance’: “Full assurance is a priceless pearl; but if we have a precious jewel and we walk the streets, we ought to be much afraid of pickpockets. When the Christian has full assurance, let him be assured that all the devils in hell will try to rob him of it.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon illustrations

2 Samuel 11:1 ‘When kings went to war …’: ”The next major section tells the story of David’s failure and sin. Chapter 11 begins: ‘In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war …’ (11:1).
“In some ways, wars in ancient times were conducted in a more civilized way than at other times in history. Kings waited for good weather before sending their men out to fight. It was the spring of the year, and the Lord’s agenda called for wars to be fought against the evil, idolatrous nations. It was the season for kings to go forth to battle.
“So where do we find King David? The text goes on to tell us: ‘David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem’ (11:1).
“Now we see where the failure begins. David had forsaken his post. He was AWOL-absent without leave-from the Lord’s service. Whenever we are not doing what God has called us to do, we expose ourselves to temptation. What happens next can be told in three simple statements: David saw. He inquired. He took.“

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

2 Samuel 11:2 ‘walked on the roof’: “The higher elevation of the palace roof allowed David to see into the courtyard of the nearby house. That same roof would later become the scene of other sinful immoralities (see 16:22).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 11:3 ‘Bathsheba’: “Not until 12:24 is her name used again. Rather, to intensify the sin of adultery, it is emphasized that she was the wife of Uriah (vv. 3, 26; 12:10, 15). Even the NT says ‘her of Uriah’ (Matt. 1:6). Cf. Ex. 20:17. Eliam. The father of Bathsheba was one of David’s mighty men (23:34). Since Eliam was the son of Ahithophel, Bathsheba was Ahithophel’s granddaughter (cf. 15:12; 16:15). This could explain why Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors (15:12), later gave his allegiance to Absalom in his revolt against David. Uriah. Also one of David’s mighty men (23:39). Although a Hittite (cf. Gen. 15:20; Ex. 3:8, 17), Uriah bore a Heb. name meaning ‘the LORD is my light,’ indicating he was a worshiper of the one true God.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 11:8 ‘wash your feet’: ”Since this washing was done before going to bed, the idiom means to go home and go to bed. To a soldier coming from the battlefield, it said boldly, ‘enjoy your wife sexually.’ Hopefully, David’s tryst with Bathsheba would be masked by Uriah’s union. Gift of food. This was designed to help Uriah and Bathsheba enjoy their evening together.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 11:9 ‘Uriah slept’: “Wanting to be a loyal example to his soldiers who were still in the field, Uriah did not take advantage of the king’s less-than-honorable offer (v. 11).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 11:15 ‘he may … die’: “Failing twice to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, the frustrated and panicked David plotted the murder of Uriah by taking advantage of Uriah’s unswerving loyalty to him as king, even having Uriah deliver his own death warrant. Thus David engaged in another crime deserving of capital punishment (Lev. 24:17). This is graphic proof of the extremes people go to in pursuit of sin and in the absence of restraining grace.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 11:27 ‘grasping defeat from the jaws of victory’: “When David had succeeded in stealing Uriah’s wife he no doubt felt he had scored a real conquest, but subsequent events showed instead that he had suffered a stunning defeat. He was never the same after his “conquest.” What the armies of the alien could never do on the field, David himself accomplished by one act of wrongdoing; that is, he brought about his own defeat. When he met Goliath he turned what looked like defeat into victory. When he met Bathsheba he turned a long record of victories into shameful defeat.
“One thing about all this is that we cannot always be sure at the time just who is winning unless we keep our hearts very pure and our minds cool and God-possessed. When the soldiers of Pilate flung Christ to the ground and began to drive nails, everything looked as if our Lord had ended a failure. Surely this ignominious death would not come to a man of God. There must be some mistake. The man Jesus had been an idealist, a visionary, but now His hopes and the hopes of His followers were collapsing under the brutal attacks of tough, practical men. So reasoned the onlookers. But our Lord could die with the same calm in which He had lived. He had known all along how things would turn out. He had looked beyond the cross to the triumphant resurrection. He knew His apparent defeat would eventuate in universal glory for the human race.”

• A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous

2 Samuel 11:27 ‘the most callous and dishonorable act’: ”Finally, David arranged for Uriah to be double-crossed on the battlefield. David had his own soldiers withdraw from Uriah in battle, leaving him to be killed by the enemy. It was one of the most callous and dishonorable acts one human being ever perpetrated on another-and we can hardly comprehend how low this man of God had sunk. In the attempt to cover up his sin, David corrupted one of his generals, making Joab a co-conspirator in the plot against Uriah. Though it was an Ammonite sword that killed Uriah, it was as if David himself had plunged it into Uriah’s heart. “

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

2 Samuel 12:5 ‘shall surely die’: “According to Ex. 22:1, the penalty for stealing and slaughtering an ox or a sheep was not death, but restitution. However, in the parable, the stealing and slaughtering of the lamb represented the adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah by David. According to the Mosaic law, both adultery (Lev. 20:10) and murder (Lev. 24:17) required punishment by death. In pronouncing this judgment on the rich man in the story, David unwittingly condemned himself to death.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 12:6 ‘fourfold’: “Exodus 22:1 demanded a 4-fold restitution for the stealing of sheep. There is an allusion here to the subsequent death of 4 of David’s sons: Bathsheba’s first son (v. 18), Amnon (13:28, 29), Absalom (16:14, 15), and Adonijah (1 Kin. 2:25).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 12:1-5 ‘Nathan tells a parable’: ”So God sent Nathan the prophet to David. Nathan approached the king very carefully, using the same teaching method Jesus would later use so effectively, a parable. Nathan told David the story of a rich man who had many flocks of sheep and had taken away a poor man’s ewe lamb.  Hearing the story, David became angry and said. ‘The man who did this deserves to die.’
“Nathan had him! ‘You are the man!’ the prophet said accusingly.
“Immediately, David recognized the point of this story and acknowledged his sin. He no longer tried to justify it or hide it. In fact, David wrote Psalm 51 during this time-the psalm of confession and repentance. This should be our psalm whenever we are burdened by guilt and remorse. “

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

2 Samuel 12:10-12 ‘A Promise of Divine Judgment’: “As a result of David’s abuse of his royal power in having Uriah the Hittite killed and taking Uriah’s wife Bathsheba for himself (12:9), Nathan pronounces divine retribution against David characterized by warfare, even within his own family. The fulfillment of this prophecy occurs through the calamitous interactions of David’s children Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom (2 Samuel 13), which eventually resulted in Absalom’s full-scale rebellion against his father (2 Samuel 14:25-18:18). ln the same way that David had taken another man’s wife in secret, David’s wives would be taken from him publicly. This prophecy was fulfilled through the agency of David’s son Absalom when, during the rebellion, he took David’s concubines for himself (2 Samuel 16:22).
“Although David’s sins were serious enough to be punishable by death (Exodus 21:12; Leviticus 20:10), the Lord forgave David his sin and mercifully spared his life. However, because David’s actions had given the Lord’s enemies occasion to blaspheme, the baby born as a result of David’s union with Bathsheba would not survive. The subsequent passage relates the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the baby’s death (2 Samuel 12:15-23).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Samuel 12:10-11 ‘Natural consequences of David’s sin’: “God’s grace and forgiveness are so great that He will even restore a person who has committed sins as great as David’s. But even though His forgiveness is all-encompassing, sin has natural consequences­ and those consequences cannot be avoided. David must face these consequences …”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

2 Samuel 12:12-14 ‘Grace and According to God’s Government’: “The law demands the death penalty for this sin-but God in His grace forgives David after his confession. The king’s life is spared, and God restores a personal relationship between Himself and David.
“But God deals with us not only according to His grace, but according to His government. The government of God demands that our deeds, which affect others, carry consequences, even when forgiveness has taken place. So David faces the result of his deeds and, as we learn in the New Testament, God chastens those whom He loves (Rev. 3:19).”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

2 Samuel 12:13-14 ‘A pardon does not resolve the side effects’: “The pardoning of great sin is amazing, but the pardoning of great sin so rapidly-the forgiveness immediately following the confession-is among the things to be set down as worthy of special gratitude in the heart and special praise with the lips. God does forgive and he will forgive-blessed be his holy name-and however people may pervert his mercy, he will not cease to bestow that mercy on sinners. He will still continue his loving-kindness, yet he has put safeguards around the doctrine of forgiveness. In the first place David was made to see his sin in its true light before it was forgiven. Nathan used a parable to set David’s own character before him as being of the base and meanest kind. David was made to feel that he was a common wretch who deserved to be condemned to death. He was even made to condemn himself. Then I call our serious attention to that ‘however.’ How many times my eyes have rested on that word, and it has chastened my sins and driven me to my God. David was forgiven, but from that day the sword never departed from his house. God let him know that, although he was pardoned, some of the results of his sin still remained. The guilt of it was gone, but the evil effect of it was still manifest and must be dealt with by the Lord’s chastising rod. What a sad change came over David’s life from this time. The earlier part of David’s life was full of music and dancing; the latter part had far more mourning and lamentation.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

2 Samuel 12:13 ‘Is repentance the old-fashioned way?’: “We can have the spiritual equivalent of springtime in the meadow, but we have to enter in. The tree waits it out, and even the animals have to wait it out. But you and I, being made in the image of God and having wills of our own, can do something about it. We can appeal directly to our hearts. We do not need to lie like a field covered over with snow. We can stir ourselves up. We can run to meet the sun. We can create our own crisis, because the job is not for meadow and grass, but for our own hearts. These other things only illustrate spiritual springtime. We can stir ourselves up. We can bring out the sun, and we can bring on the springtime.
“How do we get this to happen? First it must come to the individual. I have no faith in anything that happens to a church that does not happen to the individual. If it does not affect the individual, numbers of individuals, if it is only a sort of social overtone that affects everybody momentarily, I have no faith in it at all.
“David set the pattern for us. David confessed and repented. … That is the old-fashioned way of doing it, and that seems to be the way David did it. The Psalms were wet with David’s salty tears as he confessed his sins to God, repented, took forgiveness, and went his happy way.“

• A. W. Tozer, The Early Tozer: A Word in Season

2 Samuel 12:23 ‘I will go to him’: “i.e., David would someday join his son after his own death (cf. 1 Sam. 28:19). Here is the confidence that there is a future reunion after death, which includes infants who have died being reunited with saints who die (see … Matt. 19:14; cf. Mark 10:13–16).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 12:25 ‘Jedidiah’: “’Beloved of the LORD’ was Nathan’s name for Solomon, who was loved in the sense of being chosen by the Lord to be the successor to David’s throne, a remarkable instance of God’s goodness and grace considering the sinful nature of the marriage.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Samuel 12:31 ‘put them to work’: “The NKJV indicates here and in 1 Chr. 20:3 that David imposed hard labor on the Ammonites. But these verses can also be translated with the sense that the Ammonites were cut with saws, indicating that David imposed cruel death on the captives in accordance with Ammonite ways (cf. 1 Sam. 11:2; Amos 1:13).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

Second Samuel 10 takes miscommunication to the extreme.  David may have had a handshake agreement, although they probably did not use the handshake in those days.  He sent an envoy to give Hanun his condolences that his father has died.  If there was a well-publicized treaty, Hanun might have honored the envoy.

Hanun suspected spies in his midst.  He could have dismissed them, maybe attaching a note – “Nice try, David, but I did not fall for it.”  But no, he shaved off half their beards and cut their clothing in the back so that the buttocks showed.  Each of these actions were great actions of disrespect, and essentially calling for war.  King David would be considered a weak king if he did not attack Ammon.  The Envoy was allowed to go to Jericho until their beards had grown back.

Ammon then hired the Arameans to marshal an army against Israel, since what they had done to the envoy was basically declaring war anyway.  David sent his troops out to repel the Arameans (Syrians).

Joab and Abishai were then confronted by a two-front battlefield.  They split forces, agreeing that whoever was in trouble, the other would come to the aid of the one who was losing ground.  Ammon was defeated and the Syrians, under Hadadezer, maneuvered to take advantage, but they were being defeated also.  Hadadezer agreed to serve Israel if he could gain a treaty to be out of the fight.  The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites after this battle.

Second Samuel 11 starts with an odd statement.  It was Spring, the time kings went to war.

We battle year-round these days, but as late as the conflict in the USA of the 1860s, there was a certain gentlemanliness to the battlefield.  The case in point is that at the first battle of Fredricksburg, Virginia, there was a nasty turn in the battle.  The Union army was at a stalemate trying to ford the Rappahannock River.  On the eastern end of the battlefield, they finally gained ground, but they were in the open.

At one point, the Union army reached the southern defenses along the tree line.  They jumped up from their positions and ran through the confederate lines yelling that the Yankees were right on their tail, and everyone should run for it.  When the confederate soldiers stood up from their defensive positions, the Union army turned around and shot them all.

Stonewall Jackson moved his army into place to repel the Union army clear across the Rappahannock.  It is about this time that Robert E. Lee made the statement that it was good that war was so terrible, or he would like it.  But he was at the top of the ridge, making the decisions that affected the battle.

That night, the generals gathered in Lee’s tent.  Stonewall Jackson was angry.  As of December 1862, both armies wore the same uniforms.  Jackson suggested that the Confederate army strip down to their long johns, so one army could be distinguished from the other and attack at night, when the Union army would never expect it.

Lee disagreed.  Attacking at night was not done in proper battle fought among civilized armies.  And removing any clothing in December might lead to more people dying of disease than from enemy action.  Besides, they would see if the stalemate held the next day and then disband the army for the winter.  The soldiers could go home and enjoy the bounty from the harvest and then plant a crop for next year before mustering back into the unit in the Spring.  The stalemate held and both armies disbanded for the winter.  The second battle of Fredericksburg would be the next May, where the Union forces tried to outflank the confederates at Chancellorsville, Virginia.  Stonewall Jackson again moved to defend Lee’s position and was fatally wounded by friendly fire, thinking him a Union officer looking for weaknesses in the defense.  Oddly that was what Gen. Jackson was doing to ensure his own defensive positions were secure.

Sorry, I studied these battles in detail in military history class.  We researched the battles and presented our findings to the professor and the cadre at the university.

But our being like gentlemen on the battlefield is a degradation of our society over the last 150 years.  Once one side attacks at night or continues the fight until Christmas, and the other side must defend their position, and we degrade our standards to the lower common denominator.

But the point many make with this statement is that David allowed Joab and Abiathar, his nephews, to do the fighting.  If he had been with them, he would have never seen Bathsheba bathing.

But then, King David might have been the first, before Caesar, to say, “I came.  I saw.  I conquered.”  But he did not conquer that time on the battlefield.

But when Bathsheba got pregnant, he devised a way to overcome this problem.  He would simply call Uriah from the battlefield and Uriah would sleep with his wife.  He’d be too busy in battle to count the months and no one would ever know.

But Uriah had read the first verse of the chapter.  His men were in battle, and he could not enjoy his wife.  If only if David had been that honorable.  When we studied ancient battles in military history, the honor showed by Uriah was a teaching point.  Of course, as it turned out, Uriah’s honor got him killed.

I agree with Rev. Stedman.  It did not show David being honorable in not being with his army, but advancing and then all but one person retreating is about the most dishonorable thing that an army commander could do.  This may not have been the first time, and I am sure it was not the last, but odious, hideous, and dishonorable are too weak of words.  But David had the best person to pull off this dishonorable stunt, the bloodthirsty Joab.  Joab did not know why, but he did not care.

David murdered Uriah and then took Uriah’s pregnant wife into his household.  He used an Ammonite sword, but David did everything necessary for Uriah to die.

Uriah was a Hittite.  The Hittites were among the tribes of Canaan that the Israelites were supposed to destroy, but from the narrative, Uriah seems to have accepted the God of the Israelites.  Bathsheba was the daughter and granddaughter of noted men in King David’s government.

Nathan the prophet is sent by God to confront David.  Bathsheba gives birth but Nathan states that the child will die, and the sword will never be lifted from King David for the rest of his reign.

Much has been said about how King David lamented, writing Psalm 51, and in torment for a week.  When the child died, David gets up and worships God.  While the child was alive, David hoped God would show mercy, but with the child gone, David spoke of seeing the child again.  Notice all references are to the child – never having been given a name.  Often these days, children lost by miscarriage are given a name.

But little is ever said of the rest of Nathan’s curse on the house of David.  Someone will sleep with David’s wives in public.  This happened during Absalom’s rebellion, showing total contempt for his father by sleeping with his father’s concubines.

The parable that Nathan used is a rich man stealing a poor man’s ewe.  If it had been an ewe, then the penalty would be restitution fourfold.  This child died.  Then Absalom killed Amnon for raping his sister.  Then Absalom is killed for his rebellion.  Then Adonijah is killed for his rebellion.  Four sons and David never saw peace, mostly from within his own family.

Then, almost as a footnote, as if people forgot about the city in Ammon where Uriah died, Joab conquered the city.

But now there is controversy.  The way the Hebrew is written, you could interpret the punishment of Ammon to be that they would work as slave labor, using the saw and iron implements, but with a different interpretation of the preposition, they could have been killed using the saw and iron axes.

This entire war started in 2 Samuel 10 over a miscommunication.  No one had to die in the first place.  Without that misunderstanding, David would never have slept with Bathsheba, and Solomon would never have been born.  David was being dishonorable by not being with his men.  His sins were heinous.  But God’s will was done.  Solomon brought the peace that David never got to see, but Solomon’s sins led to the splitting of the tribes into two nations.  But all this leads to a remnant returning and Jesus being born in Bethlehem.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

2 Samuel 10 1. In what area of your life are you feeling the need for ‘reinforcements’? How might your small group reinforce you?
“2. Do you feel as though you are being attacked from both sides right now? Who or what is on your left? Your right? What good do you think the Lord might bring out of that conflict?
“3. Are you foolishly regrouping, like the Arameans, to fight a lost cause anywhere? What piece of the problem are you clinging to, thus forfeiting God’s peace? How might you ‘win the war’ by ‘losing the battle’?
2 Samuel 11 1. ‘Lord, I can resist anything but temptation’-how does that confession fit you? Have you recently faced temptation and resisted it? Would you like. to tell about it?
“2. Pretend your friend faces a ‘shot-gun wedding’: What options would you suggest?
“3. Once virginity or fidelity are lost (physically), how can one be a virgin or faithful again (spiritually)? Where do you need ‘purification’ and forgiveness today? Go wash as God directs you.
2 Samuel 12 1. In what ways has a lack of gratitude led you to sin, as it did David? In being reminded of all that God has done for you, how might you be kept from deliberate sin?
“2. We reap not only what we sow, but also what others have sown. How are you suffering be• cause of what your parents or previous generation did wrong? How might your children be suffering likewise? What hope do you have that the sins of one generation will not be passed to another?
“3. Who is one ‘Nathan’ in your life? How did you respond when confronted with your sin: Like Saul or like David? How so?
“4. How do you imagine the script for this story would have been written if David had confessed his adultery to Uriah and God, and had not engaged in any cover-up operation, much less murder?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions each for these three chapters.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.