Advent 13 | Grace From Disgrace - The Wife of Uriah

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"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." - 2 Samuel 7:12-13

"and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah," - Matthew 1:6

The Un-named Grandma

When you read through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew you’ll notice that there are 5 women who show up in the line of Jesus but only 4 of them are mentioned by name. This one is simply called, “the wife of Uriah”. Isn’t that interesting? Why wouldn’t Matthew mention the name of this woman? I think it’s because this isn’t a particularly bright spot in Israel’s history. This episode in King David’s life is not something that they were proud of. It gets even more interesting when you realize that Matthew was writing to a mostly Jewish audience who would have known all about who this lady was. The bottom line is that I think the reason Matthew didn’t mention her name is probably the same reason you don’t know many ladies named Bathsheba.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

There are 2 things that everybody remembers about King David. The first is that he killed Goliath and the second is his relationship to Bathsheba. We hear all about this in 2 Samuel 11. At the beginning of the chapter, there is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing that should tip us off that something bad is going to happen. It says “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle … but David remained at Jerusalem.” There you have it. David is the king of whom they used to say had “slain ten thousands”. He should be out there with his men, leading them in battle, but instead, he’s lounging around the palace in the middle of the afternoon. It’s pretty embarrassing.

A Man of Honor

The rest of the story is even worse. David sees a beautiful woman and asks about her. Even though he knows that she is married to one of his most valiant soldiers it doesn’t stop him from pursuing her. Soon afterward he finds out that she’s pregnant and tries to get her husband to come home to be with her so that everyone will think that he is the one who got her pregnant. This plan might have worked except for the fact that her husband was way more honorable than David. Uriah would not come home and enjoy the comfort of his normal life while the army was out in battle. How ironic is that? The king didn’t care that they were at war, but the soldier did.

After all of this, when David couldn’t think of anything else to do, he sends Uriah to the front line of battle and orders everyone around them to retreat. Who knows how many people David ordered to their death just to cover up his sin...

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