"Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister (serve to bring up) questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith " (1Tim. 1:4)

King David's Values and Contradictions part 2 - May 6, 2023 - Dr. David Antion

I want to bring up a possible correction for what I said. Last week, I got a letter from John, a longtime listener here and a regular listener to our services, and very respectfully, but specifically pointed out that there are ways that you could look at what David did. Did David actually invade the towns of Israel and kill every man and woman in those towns? I assume that he did.

Now, reasonable minds can disagree, but here's the problem. The text is very obscure in Hebrew, very obscure. And many commentators believe that what David did was to deceive Akesh, his host.

Now, Akesh greeted David sincerely, absolutely gave him a town to live in, and was thrilled with David. He believed David and he said, no, you're just like the angel of God. He thought David was telling the truth.

Now, other people think that David was totally deceiving him, that he never went down to Judea. Here's the question. The question is when he said, Where are you going? Where did you go today? The question is whether that day was the same day that you're referring to when he went down to the Amalekites and killed some of the Amalekites and the enemies of both the Philistines and the Israelites.

But he said, I'm going to go down to Judea, to the Negev, and I killed every man and woman. That's where I went. So he may have been lying.

I'm willing to take the position that David was lying to Akesh. Now, again, that doesn't speak too well. Akesh is welcoming him, gives him a town to live in, and says, I want you to be my bodyguard and I believe you.

I trust you, you're a good person, and so on. But David is deceiving him. Now, David met him before that, and I believe it was the time when David met Akesh.

He had met him before and he acted crazy. So that Akesh and the Philistines didn't kill him. And Akesh says, what are we going to do? Kill this crazy guy? What's he going to do? He's out of his mind.

Anyhow, this is what the Septuagint has it this way that he didn't want to bring the Tidings to Gaff, okay? So he says, I have not saved men and women alive saying this. But Josephus tried to gloss over David's killing even the Amalekites, each man and woman he killed every man and woman there. And said Josephus said, oh, he didn't do that.

All he did was to go in and steal their beasts, their camels, their donkeys, their horses, and so on, and he just took the booty. But he never killed anybody. That's what Josephus says because everyone is king.

David was one of my great heroes and he still is a great hero. And I'll show you why. God loves him and has kept him, but he was not allowed to build the temple.

Why? Because he was a man of blood. He killed so many people, and you can kill them in war, and you can kill them in the duties of killing them to help Israel and everything, but you're still killing. You're still killing.

It's not a good thing. In one Chronicles, chapter 28, you read here verses two through nine. Then King David rose to his feet and said, listen to me, my brethren and my people.

Now he's talking to Israel. There are many leaders and so on. I had intended to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant of the Eternal and for the footstool of our God.

So I made preparations to build it. But God said to me evidently, God spoke directly to him, either through a prophet or directly. But God said to me, you shall not build a house for my name, because and see God, put his name in that house where God puts his name.

Is that figuratively, where God is? You shall not build a house in my name because you are a man of war and have shed blood, okay? And probably none more egregious than the blood of Uriah. Yet the Eternal, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be the king over Israel forever. That's true.

God chose him. He was considered a man after God's own heart, for he has chosen Judah to be a leader in the house of Judah, my Father's house, among the sons of my father, he took pleasure in me. So for all the ones you may remember the story, Samuel says to Jesse, do you have any kids? I was brought to your house.

Oh, yeah, look at this one. And then God said, not that one. Well, look at this one.

It's the list. The youngest one is David. This one? Yes.

Of all my sons. For the Eternal has given me many sons. He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Eternal over Israel.

He said to me, Your son Solomon is the one who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingdom forever, and if he resolutely performs the commandments and ordinances that I have done. But Solomon, we know, did not.

So now, in the sight of Israel assembly of the Eternal, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek, after all, the commandments of the Eternal, your God, so that you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever. As for my son Solomon, know that God your Father, that the God of your Father, and serve him with your whole heart. So David is telling Solomon, serve him with your heart.

Be willing mind to the Eternal search, as, because search the Eternal searches all the hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him. And if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

So David knew what was right. He had a heart and he knew what was right, but he did wrong, especially in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. So I want to read you First Samuel, Second Samuel, chapter twelve, where he is talked to.

I think we have not really read this very well, but he is talked to here by Nathan. So at the end of chapter eleven, the thing that David did was evil in the sight of the Eternal. So the everlasting, ever-living God saw this.

And so in chapter twelve, verse one, then the Eternal said, sent Nathan to David. Now Nathan is a different prophet from the prophets we saw when they played the rhythm instruments. And Saul kind of went into this situation.

Nathan came to David and he came to him and said, this is how Nathan starts it off. There were two men in one city, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little u lamb, which he brought and nourished.

And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of the cup and lie in his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him.

Verse four. This is the second Samuel twelve, verse four. Now.

Now a traveler came into the rich man and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or from his own herd to prepare the wayfarer who had come to him. Rather, he took the poor man's, your lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him. In other words, he sacrificed that.

He cooked that one. Take your flam. Verse five.

Then David's anger burned greatly against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Eternal lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. So David saw you.

This is the cruelty of the worst life type. The cruelty he must make restitution for the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no compassion. Here's the shot.

Chapter twelve, second Samuel, twelve, verse seven. Nathan then said to David, you are the man. Thus says the Eternal God, it is I who anointed you the king over Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.

I also gave you your master's house, your master's wives into your hand. I also gave you the house of Israel and the house of Judah. And if that hadn't been so little, I would have given you more.

Okay? I would have done more for you. I would have added many more things. This is the end of verse eight.

I would have added many more things like these. Why have you despised? This is how God sensed. And through Nathan why have you despised the word of the eternal by doing evil in his sight?

I want you to get this. When you or I do evil in God's sight, we are despising the word of the Eternal. We are despising God.

God can say it. God can say, don't do this. God can say, you shall not commit adultery, but I despise it.

God can say don't worship other God. I despise it. God can say don't steal.

I despise it. I despise God's word because I'm going to do the very thing God says not to do. Why have you despised the word of the Eternal? By doing evil in his sight, you have struck down the first evil.

You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me. This is God speaking direct.

You have despised me, have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Eternal behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household. I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to another person, your companion, somebody else, and he will lie with them with your wives in broad daylight.

Indeed, you did it secretly. And I will do this thing before all Israel and under the sun where everybody can see it. And guess who did it to him? His own son.

Absalom went into David's wives at the behest of a Hitthelfell. Go ahead and show people how much you despise your father. And now you're going to be king and tell them you better be with me.

And David said to Nathan, this is a beautiful statement. And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Eternal. Now, one of the good things about David is he did not make excuses when you had him dead to rights.

When he knew it, he got away with it for over a year until Bathsheba had their baby, and until the baby was struck and lived a little while getting sick and looked like he was going to lose it. And finally, the baby died. So in close to a year, he was able to get away with this adultery and killing a couple of other soldiers.

And he sort of dismissed that. Yes, I may have heard saying that David went down to Judah and killed people in Israel. But it wouldn't be far-fetched that a man who could kill somebody else's husband, take the wife, let some other people die in the process of killing her husband, and think that he might not be capable of doing other things.

Killing every man and woman in a town in Judea is very possible. Because he got led astray, he committed a lot of evil deeds. And the Eternal said now he said, I have sinned.

Nathan said, to David. The eternal has taken away your sin. No wonder.

David. Praised God. You see Psalm 51, a wonderful psalm.

We'll talk about that a little bit. Wonderful Psalm of David. I have no excuses.

I have no excuses. I did wrong. I did evil.

The eternal has taken away your sin. You shall not die, said Nathan, however, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the eternal to blaspheme say bad things about God's name, say bad things about God himself. The eternal himself.

Oh, yeah, the eternal. He's really Eternal's favorite. Look what he's done.

The child also that is born to you shall surely die. So Nathan went on to his own house. Then the eternal struck the child.

That Uriah. Listen to what the Bible calls her. That Uriah's widow.

At this time, she was David's wife. He took her. By this time, the eternal struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David so that he was very sick.

David, therefore, inquired of God for the child. And David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. And the elders, the household, stood beside him in order to take him up from the ground.

But he was unwilling. David was just lying on the ground. His elders you want us to lift you up? No.

And he would not eat food with them. Then you see, that happened. It happened finally.

But you notice that God is calling here Bathsheba, Uriah's widow, Uriah's wife. And it talks about it. Uriah's wife.

You took Uriah's wife and made her your own. And finally, the child died, as you see here and so on. So this is one of the great chapters.

Now, how does the Bible look at Bathsheba, though? How does the scripture treat Bathsheba? Well, when you come to chapter one of First Kings, David is old. It says the first verse. David is old and advanced in age.

And they covered him with clothing. He couldn't find anybody. And they finally brought this woman, this young girl.

They searched all over for this girl who was beautiful. She came and lay down with David and slept in his bed. But they didn't have any relations.

And then you see, that Adanijah in chapter one of First Kings. That Adonijah, one of David's sons, but not Bathsheba's son. One of the things Bathsheba did was to say, David, you promised me that my son will be because you hurt me.

You might have raped me. You promised me my son Solomon will sit on the throne after you. Do you promise? So Adonijah, now you see verse five, First Kings, one verse.

Adonijah, the son of Hayeth, exalted himself, saying, I will be the king. So he prepared for himself chariots and horses and was just so presumptuous. His father had never crossed him at any time by asking why he had done this.

So Adenijah was just so spoiled. He thought he was just the cat's meow, as they used to say. He's so spoiled, he thinks I'm going to be the king.

I don't care. My dad allowed me. I'm the king too.

His father had never crossed him at any time. What do you mean by crossed him? I want to do this. No, you can't do that.

No, that is not allowed. You're not allowed to do that. You can't have that.

You can't have that. That's what a father sometimes has to do. You can't have that.

You're not allowed that. You have to act right here. His father had never crossed him in time and said, why have you done this? And he was also a very handsome man and he was born after Absalom.

He had conferred with Joab, the son of Zariah, with AB 8th or the priest. So Joab AB 8th is the priest. They decided to follow Adonijah, they helped him become king.

But Zeddok the priest, Beniah, the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, and Shimmyai and some of the other mighty men who belong to David were not with Adonijah. So now you have a split, you have these people. Ananijah gathered some prominent people like Joab and the priests there, and you have these people.

Another priest is a part of this. So you have Solomon having these people. Adani just sacrificed sheep and oxen, you see, in verse nine.

And he just celebrated there's a big celebration and he did not bite. Verse ten, Nathan the prophet Ben and I the mighty ones, and Solomon, his brother, he's going to keep all this secret. I'm just acting like I'm the king.

Now listen to verse eleven. Now Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. They don't call her the wife, they don't say the wife of David.

He took her for a wife, but she was the mother of Solomon. She has several titles. The marvel of Solomon, the Widow of Uriah.

So here comes Nathan. Now remember what Nathan said to David you are the man and while God has forgiven your sin, he doesn't say anything to Bathsheba about her sin. He doesn't say anything here that you committed this terrible thing, cheating on your husband.

He didn't say a word. He comes to Bathsheba and says, what have you heard that Adonijah, the son of Hagith, has become king, and David, our Lord, does not know it? So now come, please let me give you counsel and save your life and the life of your son.

And they knew that if Adonija got the power of the kingship, he was going to go after Solomon and kill him and kill her. Go at once to King David, he says, and say to him, have you not, my Lord, o king, swore to your maidservant? Didn't you swear to me, saying, Surely Solomon, your son will be king after me and he shall sit on my throne? Didn't you say that to me? Why then has Adonijah become king? So Nathan is telling her what to say when she goes before Solomon notice, totally respectful, but letting her and using her as sort of the front thing to stop this.

Behold, while you are still speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words. In other words, she's going to say, didn't you promise me to my son? Well, then Adanija is on the list. We all know that David just let David Niger have whatever he wanted.

That's what the Bible just said there. He wouldn't even cross him. So she's going to go in and say, didn't you promise me that my son would be the king after you? And while you're speaking I'm going to come in and I will come in after you and confirm your words.

So Bathsheba went into the king to the bread room. Now the king was very old and Abbasag the Himanite was ministering to him. That girl that slept with him and tried to keep him warm was feeding him and helping him and ministering to him.

Then Bashiba, verse 16, 1st Kings, one, verse six Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself. She just bowed and lay down flat before the king. And the king said, what do you want? Why are you doing that? What do you want? What do you wish? And she said to him, My Lord, you swore to your maidservant by the Eternal your God.

Evidently, she got a commitment because of the way he used her because he killed her husband. You swore to me saying surely your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne. Now therefore Adanijah is king now.

And my lord the king you do not know it. He did this and you don't even know what's happened. He has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance and has invited all of the sons of the king, Aba the priest, and Joab the commander of the army.

But he has not invited Solomon, your servant. As for you now my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise, it will come about as sons, as my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered offenders.

Behold, while she was still speaking, there came Nathan the prophet, saying then the king said to say what do you want, Nathan? And he came in before the king and prostrated himself before the king, showing total deference, prostrating himself and with his face to the ground. Then Nathan, notice the difference here. When David's sin is forgiven, all is well.

David is now old. He's the king. Nathan, the same man that said you're.

The man is now not the prophet from God, giving him commandments and scolding him for his evil. Nathan instead says my Lord the king have you said Adonijah shall be the king after me and shall sit on my throne? Did you say those words? For he has gone down that today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep and in abundance and has invited all the king's son and the commanders of the army.

And ABH they're the priest and behold, they are all eating and drinking before him. And they say, long live King and IJA Hail, King and IJA. But me, even me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Ben and I, the son of Jehovah, your servant.

And Solomon, he has not invited. So he's done this not with us. He didn't conspire with us at all.

He didn't even talk to us. He hasn't even invited us. So Nathan says, has this thing been done by my lord the king and you have not shown to your servant who should be on the throne of my lord the king after him?

Then King David said, Call Bathsheba to me. Get Bathsheba in here. And she came into the king's presence and stood before now she's standing before him.

And the king vowed and said as the eternal lives who has redeemed my life from all distress and boy, has God ever done that. He had a lot of distress. Surely as I vowed to you, by my by the eternal God of Israel, saying your son Solomon shall be the king after me and he shall sit on my throne in my place, I will indeed do this.

So here's Batsheva. She's not thrown out there's no idea that you should be stoned. They're not even blaming her.

There's no statement in here. And Nathan doesn't blame her. Nathan, you creep, low-class woman.

You're no good person. He doesn't do that. He's calling Bathsheba.

They're talking, they're conferring. And David calls Bathsheba. And this time she comes in and stands before him.

Your son Solomon shall sit on the throne. Then Bathsheba, verse 31 when she heard that, she bowed with her face to the ground and prostrated herself before the king and said, may my lord King David live forever. So she looked at him, my lord king, you're my lord the king, even though you're my husband, you took me.

Then King David said, call me Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet Ben. And I the son of Johan. And they came into the king's presence.

She's saying to Baxter, but get those people in here. So they came. The king said to them, take with you the servants of your lord and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gihan.

And so here we see how God is chosen. Now, didn't David, at that one point I quoted, didn't he say, I'm not allowed to build it, but God has chosen my son Solomon? Well, how did God choose him with all this intrigue? Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, anoint him as king over Israel and blow the trumpet and say, Long live King Solomon. So that's how Solomon became king, okay, keeping his promise to Bathsheba, you shall come up after him, and you shall come after all my throne and be king in my place, but I have appointed him to be ruler over all Israel.

And so the Lord verse 37, the Eternal has been with my Lord the king, and may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my Lord King David. So that's how Solomon got in, okay? Solomon is anointed king. Verses 38, all the way through here now, verse 41 now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard as they finished eating when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, why is the trumpet in the city? And while he was still speaking, Jonathan, the son of Aba, the priest, then Adonijah came in with valiant men, and Jonathan replied to Adonijah, not our Lord King David has not.

No, he said. No. Our Lord King David has made Solomon king.

And the king, who is also sent with the Zadok, the priest. And so Solomon is there. He's going to take the seat.

Adanija, of course, fear was that you're going to kill me, okay, you're going to kill me. So in verse 51 of First Kings, chapter one now it was said, Solomon said, behold, Adamaijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the culture. Anybody who wants mercy runs to the altar of burnt sacrifice.

And there were like horns. There were like, lifts up here, and he grabs onto the altar. The altar of burnt sacrifices is what it was, the place for forgiveness.

What did they have? Every morning, every morning, and every evening, sacrifices for Israel, right? For Israel. Every morning and every evening. What are they supposed to represent? Asking forgiveness.

Please forgive Israel for their sins. It was for sin offerings. So they grab hold of the altar, burnt to offer and for mercy.

Please don't kill me here. Don't kill me on this altar. So Adonijah, where does he go? He runs to that altar and grabs hold of it because he's scared.

He's afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the altars. Let King Solomon swear to me today, he says that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. Make Solomon promise.

He's not going to just kill me. So Solomon said, if he is a worthy man, and then not one of his hairs will fall to the ground, but if his wickedness is found in him, he will die. So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar, and he came and prostrated himself before King Solomon.

And King Solomon said, go to your home. Just go ahead. I'm not going to kill you.

Not going to kill you. But you got to behave. I'm the king.

You got to behave. Next time we will see that King David ending his life is not finished with shedding blood. We'll talk more about that in our next sermon.

Join me as we close in prayer today and thank God for so many of his wonderful blessings. Our Father in Heaven as we come to pray for all of those who are needing your help and needing your healing and needing your restoration. Those who are suffering pain and suffering, people dealing with bereavement, husbands, children, those dealing with pain and suffering and balance, and bodies that are hurting, we ask you to reach down and help them.

And reach down for my brother Gary, for his situation in the hospital now that the doctors will do what is right and proper and he's praying, too, that the doctors will be finding the solution and that you will give them the skills and also you'll give them your power in his body to get him over this terrible thing of the pneumonia. We give you thanks now for every good thing. We bless Your holy name today on Your Sabbath.

We acknowledge you as the creator of all things, and we acknowledge you as the forgiver. You have mercies beyond mercy. You have mercies galore.

And Your love for Your people is great. You've expressed all this love through your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. He has been the epitome.

He's the very character that you have in yourself. And we expressed you expressed it here on earth. Through Him, we give you praise and honor now and thank you for every good thing in Jesus' wonderful, glorious, and holy name.

Amen.