Have Times Changed So Much?

Have Times Changed So Much?

  

King David of Biblical fame was a well-regarded figure in Jewish history for the most part.  He certainly had his ups and down and was human in all his failings like the rest of us, in spite of the relationship he clearly had with God.  Bathsheba comes to mind and was quite a turning point in David’s life.  I have often given the advice to people on how to succeed in life by saying “show up, do your best, and keep you pants zipped.”   Pretty simple stuff.  If there is any way to fail quickly, inappropriate sexual issues are up there at the top with all the rest.

So David, already married to several women, and who by the way has concubines galore that he can “enjoy” an encounter with any time he pleases (all this already missing the mark as far as I can determine from my reading of the Bible) but it’s not enough.  He just can’t keep his pants zipped.  So he sees Bathsheba one day as he’s out enjoying the air from his castle or whatever it was called instead of leading his troops in battle.  We have sweet Bathsheba, who usually is portrayed as the innocent victim of the powerful king who demanded that she sleep with him.  I don’t buy it.  People of the time were extremely modest and not likely to be up and exposed so a guy could see them taking a bath like King David did.  My take is the lady was doing the equivalent of sunbathing in the nude and knew David liked to stroll along his rooftop and survey his domain.  Houses were typically pretty closely packed, and I suspect he was neighbors with one of his important generals like Uriah who was Bathsheba’s husband.  Bathsheba was a social climber (and savvy enough to see to it that Solomon – her second son with David – was made King after David’s death even though he wasn’t next in line for the throne.)  My guess is Bathsheba had an agenda, and her husband Uriah was no longer part of that agenda.  This sexual sin was the corruption that ate away at David’s rule and caused his ruin.  It took a while, but even his own son turned into a pervert -- raping his sister, and another son rebelled against David and had sex with ten of David’s concubines in public to ridicule his father.  Not a pretty picture.  What we do has consequence.  David sought forgiveness from God for having Uriah killed in battle so he could take the now pregnant Bathsheba without scandal, but he still had to pay the human consequences for his behavior and the example he set for those around him.  The prophet Nathan figures it out and called him on it, and it ate away at his reign and his life.

Is it so different today?  Sexual “freedom” and sexual perversion are common.  We encourage people to live together outside of marriage.  Angelina Jolie, who has a huge and adoring following is advocating having parents encourage their teen children to have boyfriend and girlfriend “experimental cohabitation” at their parent’s house. Huge numbers of women, even in America, are forced into sexual slavery today (much like the King’s concubines.)  People still kill over sex and homosexuality is daily in the news.  We’ve got Governors in California and New Jersey now signing and actively endorsing bills that make it a crime for someone to seek therapy from a licensed practitioner to help them not be homosexual.  Yet those same states are perfectly fine with someone going to a doctor who will maim their body in order to make a man into a woman.  In fact, I understand some people have even had it done at the state’s expense.  My heart aches for those struggling with homosexuality and I am not here to condemn them, but they deserve a right to seek a different path if they choose.  All these sexual sins abound in our society.

All of these things have their human and societal consequence regardless of one’s relationship with God.  David found this out and we are no different.  There is a cost to be paid.