Lust and Death Led to Jesus || Very Important Women #4 (FINALE)

The Holy Spirit is in the middle of this series. As I progressed through the book of Genesis, this series was to be the next one in the book. I had scheduled this series back early in the winter. However, I just realized that Mother’s Day has just passed, and celebrating the influential women in our lives will continue. How fitting to continue our series, “V.I.W.: The Very Important Women in Jesus’ Family Tree.”

This series focuses on four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. We’ll discuss their roles in the family tree and what we can learn from their stories.

At the end of this series, we will focus on Bathsheba.

2 Samuel 12:24-25

24          Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child

25          and sent word through Nathan the prophet they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.

Solomon was the fourth son of David and Bathsheba. Therefore, it’s clear that several years passed between the death of her first child and Solomon’s birth. She could have still been grieving. This little scripture has so much to unpack, both seen and unseen.

Who is Bathsheba? She appeared directly in three Old Testament books: 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles. She first shows up in 2 Samuel 11, and it wasn’t the best introduction for her. David had just got out of bed and stepped outside for some fresh air, and he saw her taking a bath. David was made aware of who she was, that she was married, and that she just completed her menstrual cycle, which led David to sleep with her. That ONE interaction (that was recorded, at least) led her to become pregnant.

In his panic, David called for Uriah, her husband, to come home to relax and spend time with his wife, thinking that if he slept with her, he would think he got her pregnant rather than learning the truth of what happened. Yet, Uriah slept at the palac entrance with the king’s palace guard because he wanted to stay battle-ready in case something happened. David fed him and drank, but Uriah still never went home. David did the next best thing after that: Uriah must be killed. No joke! Uriah wrote a letter to Joab and had him place Uriah on the front lines and command his army to step back, so it’s just Uriah up front. It worked. Uriah was killed. When it was reported to Bathsheba, she grieved and mourned. David brought her over to comfort her and later married her. She had her son, but God wasn’t happy with David for apparent reasons.

The prophet Nathan told David a parable about what he’d done to help David recognize where he sinned. You can go read about it in 2 Samuel 12:1-10.

2 Samuel 12:11b-12

11          …Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view.

12          You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

This is when David realized his wrongs. Because of what he did, the punishment was the first child’s death. The only Bathsheba could’ve still been mourning when Solomon was born. David begged and pleaded to God to spare the child. He fasted and prayed for six days straight. On Day 7, the child died. When David heard the news, this is what he did:

2 Samuel 12:20-23

20          Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.

21          His advisers were amazed, “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”

22          David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’

23          But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”

I know this is very one-sided, but I can only imagine that if this is how David felt, then what Bathsheba would be going through is intense. She’s an innocent victim in this, and she has to face the death of her first child that she birthed because of a punishment David received from God. Yet, they both continued trying for a kid. We don’t know what happened to children two and three, but you can tell they wanted to right the wrong that was done. Then came Solomon, and the lineage continues on through him.

We don’t see what resulted from God’s desire for David to name Solomon Jedidiah, but there’s a reason the author included this note. Names were very important to the people of Israel because they reflected their careers and their destiny. The name only appears in this passage, so there are no known consequences/punishments from God for David’s failure to name him according to God’s will.

In 1 Kings 1, we see Bathsheba in the middle of a situation where another of David’s sons claimed the throne regardless of what was supposed to happen. Adonijah gathered his crew to help him become king, but those ready to do what David wanted didn’t partake in it. Nathan warned Bathsheba about what to do to right the ship.

1 Kings 1:12-13

12          If you want to save your own life and the life of your son Solomon, follow my advice.

13          Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, didn’t you make a vow and say to me, “Your son Solomon will surely be the next king and will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adjonijah become king?’

Nathan would follow up with this conversation with David to confirm everything she had said. Now, the question for us studying this passage is: Did David actually decree this? The answer is complicated. Based on my research, I would say that David never said these words verbatim.

1 Chronicles 28:4-7

4            “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, has chosen me from among all my father’s family to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen the tribe of Judah to rule, and from among the families of Judah he chose my father’s family. And from among my father’s sons the Lord was pleased to me me king over all Israel.

5            And from among my sons – for the Lord has given me many – he chose Solomon to succeed me on the throne of Israel and to rule over the Lord’s kingdom.

6            He said to me, “Your son Solomon will build my Temple and its courtyards, for I have chosen him as my son, and I will be his father.

7            And if he continues to obey my commands and regulations as he does now, I will make his Kingdom last forever.

David received word from God that Solomon was to take his throne. The struggle we have in understanding this is that this support comes two books after the original 1 Kings passage. To understand Chronicles, we must recognize that 1 Chronicles is a summary of 1-2 Samuel, showing that this passage happened before the words we see in 1 Kings. The BibleProject does a great job at breaking this down.

Bathsheba and Nathan may have conspired together, but God’s ultimate plan was shown and implemented here. Let’s talk more about the Lord’s appointment of Solomon.

1 Chronicles 22:7-10

7            “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him.

8            “But the Lord said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name.

9            But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.

10          He is the one who will build the Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

God told David that it wouldn’t be him building the Temple. Instead, it would be Solomon. David graciously accepted this no from God. David wasn’t jealous that Solomon got the honor but instead helped prepare for Solomon to succeed. It’s how we should act today. We should take steps to prepare the way for the next generations. They’ll have to make their own decisions soon. Still, we can help supply them with knowledge and wisdom by teaching them how to pray and study God’s Word, helping them discern the difference between right and wrong, and understanding the importance of church commitment.

Bathsheba was forced into a situation where she lost her husband and her first child and possibly went into exile, but through David’s repentance and her own resilience, she was able to see Solomon make the throne and continue the family line.

I hope you enjoyed the study of four key women in the family line of Jesus. Our following major study will examine the similarities and differences between Jesus and Joseph. Until then, stay blessed!