Grace in the Genealogy - The Word About Women

Grace in the Genealogy

Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. The king then took an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon, your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and kneeling before the king said, “May the lord King David live forever!”

1 Kings 1:28-31

For context, read 2 Samuel 12:13-25 and 1 Kings 1

When we left Bathsheba, she had just become David’s wife and was pregnant with his child. The prophet Nathan prophesied that their child would die due to David’s “utter contempt for the LORD”. Sadly, the child did die.

Can you imagine how Bathsheba must have felt at that moment? Her entire world fell apart in a matter of months. Sin can be forgiven but there are always consequences. And sometimes, those consequences affect the innocent. Like a baby. How devastating.

And yet God was not done working in the story of David and Bathsheba. She became pregnant with another son. His name was Solomon. 2 Samuel 12:24b-25 says, “The LORD loved him; and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah” which means “loved by the LORD”.

Despite the sinful circumstances in which their marriage began, God shows his grace and forgiveness by blessing them with another son. What’s more is that this son was loved and incredibly blessed by God.

In 1 Kings 1, we read about how Nathan comes to Bathsheba while David is on his deathbed and gives her news that David’s son Adonijah was crowning himself king in David’s place. Adonijah was not God’s choice for the next king of Israel but was trying to steal the crown. God had chosen Bathsheba’s son, Solomon. In 1 Kings 1, both Nathan and Bathsheba reference an oath that David previously swore saying that Solomon was meant to be his successor.

So Bathsheba goes to see David. She tells him what Adonijah is doing and reminds David of the oath he swore that Solomon would succeed him as king. And David commands her to have the officials anoint Solomon as the next king of Israel. Solomon became the wisest king who ever ruled and Israel enjoyed a time of peace during his rule. He built God’s temple and authored much of the wisdom literature of the Bible.

The beginning of Bathsheba’s time in the royal court was devastating, but by God’s grace, she became an influential force in the palace and became the mother of Israel’s wisest king. But God’s grace to her doesn’t end there. When we visit Matthew 1 again and read the genealogy of Jesus, we see in verse 6, “and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife”.

Why didn’t Matthew mention her by name? Why was she just listed as “Uriah’s wife” when the three other women were listed by name? I don’t know Matthew’s intentions for sure. But perhaps he was proving a point in listing the genealogy this way. It’s almost as if Matthew was saying, “Hey, remember that sin David committed with Bathsheba? Remember that Bathsheba was not David’s wife? Remember the shame, devastation, and loss of innocent life that situation caused? Yeah, God redeemed that. And Jesus came from that. The Savior of the world came from a long line of sinners to save sinners.”

The WORD about women in the story of Bathsheba is that despite the devastation caused by sin, God can redeem us. God is not done working in your life. Sisters, you can have hope that if Jesus is your Redeemer, He isn’t finished with you yet.

Reflect
Have you ever felt devastated by the circumstances you find yourself in due to your sin or the sin someone else committed towards you? What do you most want God to redeem in your life?

Pray
Jesus, sin has caused devastation in my life, but that is why You came. Please take away the shame and redeem my situation for Your glory, Lord. Amen.

We look forward to your comments and questions below!

If you want to share this Bible reading plan with friends and family, here is the link:

https://bttb.org/word-about-women