Bathsheba, a beautiful woman, is married to Uriah. Despite being a foreigner, Uriah is loyal to the nation of Israel, King David, and God. He is an honorable man, who is off fighting in David’s army.
Back home, David, from his palace rooftop vantage, sees Bathsheba bathing. Both are at fault. David shouldn’t have been looking, and Bathsheba should have been more discrete. David summons her, so he can sleep with her.
If she does so willingly, that makes her an adulteress and David, an adulterer. If she goes because it’s unwise to say “No” to a sovereign king, then David, in effect, rapes her.
Regardless, she becomes pregnant.
To cover up their tryst, David calls Uriah back from the front lines. After two failed attempts to send Uriah home to the arms of his wife, David resorts to plan B. He develops a battle strategy to bring about Uriah’s death.
Uriah unwittingly carries that plan with him when he returns to the front lines. He dies, just as David planned. Bathsheba mourns her husband’s death. Then David marries her.Later, Nathan confronts David for his actions.
Once exposed, David acknowledges his mistakes—adultery and murder—and seeks God. However, their love child becomes sick and dies. Later David and Bathsheba have Solomon. Solomon eventually becomes king, just as David promised Bathsheba. Centuries later, Jesus is born.
He is David and Bathsheba’s direct descendant, through Solomon.
Every pregnancy, whether planned, unplanned, consensual, or forced, carries life and all the potential that life holds.
What can we do to help those with unplanned or unwanted pregnancies?
[Discover more about Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11–12, 1 Kings 1:11–31, Psalm 51, and Matthew 1:6.]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
