GYC Conference 2024: Wherever He Goes

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

The Greatest Battle Ever Fought: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

Harley Southwell

01 Claustrophobia: Journey to the Heart of the Earth

02 Resisting Unto Blood: Tempted Beyond What We Are

03 Sleeping or Weeping: Which Disciple Will You Be?

04 Why the Son Had to Die

05 What to Do If You Betray Jesus: Can You Be Restored?

Dear Heavenly Father, once again we are asking you to be with us and to illuminate the scriptures to our minds as we read and study them together.

And as we think on this very heavy, profound topic today, I pray that you will be with us to lead, guide and bless, we ask in Jesus' name.

Why don't you turn with me and your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 11.

2 Samuel chapter 11, we're going to be reading basically the whole chapter.

I'll have most of the verses on the screen, but once again, having it in front of you in your own Bible is very helpful, just so you can see the context of what's going on.

Second Samuel chapter 11, the Bible tells us, it happened in the spring of the year, at the time when the 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 1 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.

Now I think many of us will be familiar with the story of David's fall.

David sent his troops out and he is wandering around.

He sees from his roof a woman bathing and she's very beautiful to behold.

Second Samuel chapter 11 verse 4, then David sent messengers and took her.

She came to him, he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity and she returned to her house.

Now I think it's important to remember that there is a power dynamic in this story that's at play here.

And the Bible says he sent and he took her.

And so to what degree this was consensual, well, we have to remember that there is a power dynamic at play here.

And the woman conceived and she sent and told David, I am with child.

Okay, this is now a life or death matter.

According to the law of Moses, both parties are liable for the death penalty.

And so things have escalated for David and what he thought was just a dalliance in his boredom has now escalated and he now needs to get himself out of this situation.

He calls Uriah back from the front lines.

Uriah is a very honorable man and when he calls him back and he says, hey, give me your report, da, da, da, and they say, hey, go home, just relax, you're going to spend a couple of days and then head back.

He refuses to enjoy his leave while his troops are suffering.

And so he sleeps on the ground outside of the palace.

Well, Uriah the Hittite is actually listed as 1 of David's mighty men.

In the scriptures, there's a list of David's mighty men, and Uriah the Hittite is there among them.

He's his elite special forces, and these men were not just his special forces, but they were also David's close friends.

They were his most trusted troops, his honor guard, you could say.

Uriah was of a brave and upright in character.

He was a Hittite, a foreigner, a Gentile that had converted to become a follower of Yahweh.

And in a sense, that makes David's sin against Uriah even more terrible, that here we have a convert being betrayed in this way.

David tries everything he can to get Uriah to go to his home and spend some time with his wife, but Uriah is too proper, too humble, too honorable.

In consternation and desperation, with time running out, David decides to murder 1 of his closest friends and most loyal servants.

He conspires a plan and sends Uriah back to the front lines with the very orders for his own death.

Verse 14 and down to 17, in the morning it happened what David wrote of the letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah, saying, set Uriah at 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 were valiant men.

And 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.

You know, it's interesting, you know, it's not just Uriah that dies.

Some of his other soldiers get caught up in this scheme.

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." Verse 27, but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

The thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

What we need to remember about Bathsheba, Bathsheba was the daughter of another 1 of David's mighty men, actually.

She was the daughter of Eliam, and she was the granddaughter of Ahithophel, 1 of David's chief advisors.

This is not just some, you know, this is tied in.

There's lots of stuff going on here, lots of threads connecting here, there, and everywhere.

And so, hey, on the surface, it doesn't actually look like that bad of a political marriage, to marry 1 of your chief advisor's granddaughters and 1 of your mighty men's daughters.

Let's think about this timeline, all right?

3 weeks, let's say, 3 to 4 weeks for Bathsheba to discover her pregnancy.

2 days to get the message to Uriah to come back.

2 days that Uriah is at Jerusalem, 2 days for Uriah to come back to Jerusalem from Rabbah.

3 days that Uriah stays at Jerusalem, and we put 1 Sabbath day in there for rest.

2 days for Uriah to return to the siege lines.

1 day for Uriah to be killed in the battle.

2 days for the news to return to David that Uriah is dead.

7 days of mourning that Bathsheba has for Uriah.

We don't know how many days or weeks it took to organize a shotgun wedding, but a couple of days, a couple of weeks perhaps.

At minimum we have a month and a half, most likely 2 months before the marriage, from the conception to the marriage.

The palace servants are already spreading gossip, because they were sent to Gitter.

There's the suspicious death of Uriah, and then a couple of months later, the two-month early arrival of a healthy baby boy.

He arrives 2 months early, doesn't look to be too small, it doesn't look to be too premature.

So I think David's sitting back like, I think I got this covered.

We know the Lord knows everything already, but I think it's fairly obvious that the whole city knows what's going on as well.

Or else they have their suspicions about how convenient things played out.

1 has to notice the sins that we see in chapter 11.

When he should be out leading his troops, he's staying back, relaxing.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's not covet thy neighbor's wife.

Abuse of power, adultery, deception, drunkenness, conspiracy, and murder.

And Eloi says in Patriarchs and Prophets, "'A great change had come over David.

"'He was not the same David who, as a fugitive from Saul, "'refused to lift his hand against the Lord's anointed.

"'Sin had seared his conscience as he had gone on "'from 1 sin to another, from adultery to deceit and to murder, and now appears that he even hoped to be allowed to reap the reward of his iniquities without rebuke from God.

Satan endeavors to conceal from men the terrible results of transgression, making them believe that sin will bring increased happiness and greater rewards.

Thus he beguiled Eve, and thus he has seduced men throughout all ages.

But the Lord in his kindness allows men to see that the results of sin are not increased by prosperity and happiness, the results of sin are not increased prosperity and happiness, but misery, woe and death.

His restraining hand would be withdrawn from David and the king would be permitted to taste the bitter fruits of his sin.

He would learn to know that the pathway to true happiness could not be found in disobedience.

Those who seek their own pleasure by following a path that displeases the Lord may be certain that they will ultimately reap disappointment, bitterness, and woe.

Series

The Greatest Battle Ever Fought: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

04 Why the Son Had to Die

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

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