Bathsheba : The Original "Me Too"

If you know the story of David then chances are you’ve heard Bathsheba’s name at some point in time. Almost as infamous as Goliath in David’s story, Bathsheba is given a bad name by preachers (men and women alike). But why?

Had Bathsheba been a modern woman in America in the past year or two, David could be fired from being king and she’d be on her way to writing a tell all about her night with the king.

Regardless of your feelings about Bathsheba or David (I happen to love them both), one thing is clear when you read the account; she is innocent. The worse thing we can do is take a woman in these biblical times and act like her behavior and thought processes would be that of a modern day woman in a free country.

It wasn’t that long ago women were being seen as property, rather than people. It wasn’t long ago that a woman had to fight to be seen as equals in this nation. It wasn’t long ago that women kept silent about sexual harassment in the workplace! And the truth is we’re still battling to be treated as complete equals.

I love David, truly I do, and his one time behavior in this account does not disqualify him from being king of Israel, but he took complete advantage of this woman using his position to do so. And let’s not try to make God out as if He endorsed David’s behavior, God gravely punished him.

But some of you don’t believe me. You think it was her fault. And I guarantee you’ll use the line “why was she taking a bath where he could see her?” Well sir/madam, we might as well ask “why was she wearing that dress? Or why was she in his room so late? She was clearly asking for it.”

If you read the Word of God (2 Samuel 11) it was not Bathsheba who was in the wrong place. It was David! He was supposed to be out on the battlefield with his army conquering territory. Instead, David was on his roof overlooking his city. The Bible specifically says where David was supposed to be and it was not on the roof of his palace, to say Bathsheba was in the wrong place is speculation. The truth is that if David had been where he was supposed to be, this story would not have taken place.

To give some historical context, when a woman’s monthly period was over, she would take a bath. And these baths could or would be outside. Bathsheba being outside to take a bath after her period was not abnormal, but instead a ritual given by Mosaic Law (Leviticus 15:19-33, NKJV)

Still don’t believe me, well why don’t we ask God who was to blame? After all, He didn’t have a problem asking Eve, “what the heck woman?!” David took Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba) and David had Uriah killed when he found out she was pregnant (2 Samuel 11:14-17, NKJV). David’s actions displeased the Lord (2 Samuel 11:27, NKJV) and in 2 Samuel 12 you’ll find that the prophet of the Lord put the blame on David. None was put on Bathsheba, but she did endure the consequences of another’s actions, as is life.

Now we’ve determined that David was in the place he wasn’t supposed to be and God clearly said he was the one responsible. I think we can safely conclude that Bathsheba gets a bad rep for a man that used his position to take advantage of her. So why are we still pegging Bathsheba as a seductress?!

I hope this has made you at least curious about what you may have grown up hearing. But don’t take my word for it! Go into the Bible for yourself, read the account closely, then tell me what you think!

#womeninthebible #equa #faith #women