David and Rape of Bathsheba and Tamar

Over the past few weeks, we have been reading through the stories from Israel’s early history when they were ruled by kings. Their first king was Saul and then David rose to power as their second king.

Up until today we have been reading about how David was faithful to God and how God chose David to be king. For those of us who have grown up in the church, stories of David’s faithfulness to God are common stories that are shared. God is faithful to David and David is faithful to God.

The stories that we will be reading today are not stories of faithfulness. These stories are not stories of good news. The stories we are reading today involve David’s mistreatment and violence toward women. We will be reading stories that include the abuse and rape of women by David and by his son.

Previously, we read stories of how David rose to power even though his predecessor, Saul, tried to have him killed. One of the people who saved David from being murdered by Saul was Saul’s daughter named Michal.

Michal was attracted to David and risked her life to save David while her father tried to kill him. However, once David escaped Saul and became king, David discarded Michal like unwanted trash even though Michal had risked her life to save his life. Michal lived the remainder of her life in isolation and loneliness.

David’s mistreatment of women only gets worse. We turn now to the 11th chapter of 2nd Samuel. Historically, this is a story which has been labeled as a story of adultery. Many pastors have blamed the victim in this story.

However, the story that we are about to read is not adultery. In adultery, there must be two consenting partners. There is no consent in this encounter. The story we are about to read is a story of rape by David which will be followed by a story of rape by his son.

Read 2 Samuel 11:1-15

The story begins by telling us that David is home during a time that kings would normally go out to war. David is not where he is supposed to be. And what is the old saying, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

While on his roof, David notices a woman bathing on top of her roof. He inquires if she is married. He finds out that her name is Bathsheba and that she is married. But even though David finds out that she is married, David is not deterred.

David sees her and he wants her. She is property to be acquired in his eyes. Bathsheba is not even safe in her own home. David, the king and the only one with power in this relationship, then has her brought to him where he forces her to sleep with him.

It is then that we hear Bathsheba speak the only words that she is given voice to speak. She sends word to David, “I am pregnant.”

This is not adultery. Never in this story is Bathsheba presented as a willing participant. Never in this story is Bathsheba presented as a temptress. To blame her in any way is to read this story through patriarchy.

David is the pursuer. David sees her. David sends for her. David rapes her. Bathsheba becomes pregnant.

This story becomes even darker. After finding out that Bathsheba is pregnant, David inquiries about her husband Uriah. He is a Hittite meaning that he is a foreigner. Later Uriah is described as one of the 30 best soldiers in David’s army. But that doesn’t matter to David. David needs to cover up his violence against a woman.

David arranges for Uriah to return from the battlefield. David hopes that Uriah will sleep with his wife so that it will appear that she is pregnant by Uriah. But David’s plan is foiled by Uriah’s faithfulness.

For soldiers are not supposed to sleep with their spouses when they are off in war. And Uriah proves himself a faithful soldier much to David’s chagrin.

David must find another way to cover up his rape. So, David sends word for his army to leave Uriah with a small contingent alone in the battlefield so that he and his fellow soldiers will be slaughtered by the enemy. This time, David’s plan is realized as Uriah is killed on the battlefield.
Rape followed by murder. There are so many victims in this story. There is Bathsheba, the rape victim. There is Uriah, the murder victim. There are the innocent soldiers left to die on the battlefield because of the whims of their king.

But this story of darkness continues to get worse. Next, we read of David’s son named Amnon developing a crush on his sister Tamar. Like his father, Amnon has learned to treat women as objects to be possessed.

Amnon then pretends to be sick. Tamar, being the faithful and loving sister, cooks food for her brother and takes it to his room. As she enters his room, Amnon grabs her and forces himself onto his sister. Like father like son. David and his son are both rapists of innocent women.

But the darkness in this story does not end there. Now we have another cover-up. Tamar’s brother tells her to not tell anyone about her rape. David then finds out that his son has raped his daughter.

But, because Amnon is his oldest son, David remains quiet and does nothing about it. Although Amnon’s brother ends up having Amnon killed. Another rape goes unreported and murder follows as patriarchy wins again.

Each day 37 women are killed in family violence around the world. Every month 50 American women are shot and killed by a spouse or partner. $2 Trillion is spent every year for medical costs of domestic violence.

So, what do we do about this? Unfortunately, in way too many cases the church has contributed to the problem. We hear of the millions of dollars being paid out by the Roman Catholic Church for abusive priests and we hear about the Southern Baptist Convention coming to terms with their own cover-ups of abusive pastors and church workers. There are plenty of examples within the Presbyterian Church of cover-ups as well.

So, what can we do? The first step is to stop being part of the cover-ups. And we start with the characters we read about in the Bible. We tell the stories found in the Bible in an honest and faithful way.

And in the Bible are stories of powerful men taking advantage of innocent women. That’s what David did and that’s what David’s son did.

But we also find ways to try to listen to voices of the biblical women who have been silenced or cast aside. We listen to these women as a way to listen to the voices of women today who find themselves in the same situation.

Women who had their faithfulness turned against them. Women who have been the victims of violence but told, like Tamar, to be silent.

We must be a church that is not like the churches that choose to remain silent or who choose to cover up abuse. We must be a church where we stand in solidarity with the victims of abuse rather than standing with the abusers.

We must be a church that speaks out against violence. We must be a church where we break down structures of oppression and pursue equality where all are welcome to speak their truth.

What David did was awful. What David’s son Amnon did was awful. What church leaders and others have done to cover up abuse is awful.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we stand with the victims of abuse. We listen and we help to give voice to their pain. And we work for a world where violence against others is not tolerated.

The good news in this story is how we respond to hearing that some powerful heroes in the Bible were also abusers of the most vulnerable.

How are we going to respond?

How is God going to use us to bring about redemption? AMEN.

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-Willimon, Wil, https://asermonforeverysunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Will-Willimon-9th-Sunday-after-Pentecost-7-25-2021.pdf
-Given: July 25, 2021 in Allison Creek Presbyterian (York, SC)