Ezekiel 36:25  And I will pour clean water over you, and you shall be cleansed from all your filth, and I will cleanse you from all your idols.  36:26 And I will give to you a new heart, and I will place in you a new spirit. And I will take away the heart of stone from your body, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.   36:27 And I will place my Spirit in your midst. And I will act so that you may walk in my precepts and keep my judgments, and so that you may fulfill them. (PDCB)

God gets blamed for many things.  So we need to ask the question, is God a child abuser?

God gets blamed for everything from people dying to bad economic conditions and more.   Since we are called God’s children, the question must be be asked, “Is God a child abuser?”

The answer is “No”.

This blog is one of several covering this topic.  Prior posts will be linked at the bottom.

The reason God is blamed for so many things is that there is not a clear understanding about God, His Word, free will, God’s responsibilities and man’s responsibilities.

If you read the Bible carefully, especially a more literal translation of the Bible, there is a very exact way and wording to the scripture.

We know that words have meaning and the exact way words are used have even more meaning.

A mother calling, “Johnny, come here,” is different than “Jonathan Mills Smith”, come here right now!”

A problem can arise when a child, or God’s child, does something he should not have done or omits doing something that he should do.  There can be a negative consequence, but that is not God’s fault.   That is a sowing and reaping consequence of breaking some kind of natural or spiritual law, or combination thereof.  God is not to blame for our lack of obedience to His Word and ways.

God is not a child abuser.

Rather than blame God, we need to check up on ourselves, where we are missing it with either sins of omission or sins of commission, or a combination thereof.

I Corinthians 11: 31  For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 

God will help us if we are in line with the Word of God and God’s way of doing things.

Mark 16:20  They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Note that it is “the Lord working with them”, but generally man transposes that pattern in his mind and heart to “man working with the Lord” to mean that after the Lord does something, then man will do something.  But that is not the pattern.

In today’s modern society, that is so dependent on weakness and “someone do something for me” there is a subtle transposition of that to the Lord and expecting God to do anything and everything.   Then there is a blaming of God if something does not happen.  But expecting God to do everything is not scriptural.  So there is no need to blame God for something we have failed to do.  God is not a child abuser. “Ask and it shall be given you,” not “it shall be given you because God knows your need”.

If we don’t know what we should be doing according to scriptural patterns, that is why we need to be going to church, reading the Bible, praying, and learning all the time.  I would add tithing and giving tithes and offerings to that list.  The more you know, the more you can grow in the things of God.

Hebrews 10:25  not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Malachi 3: 7   From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for. ¹¹ I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says Yahweh of Armies. ¹² “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Matthew 6:33  But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 7:7  “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.

The scriptural pattern is that man does something in obedience to God’s Word and then God moves.

Moses stretched out the rod over the Red Sea and the waters parted.

Exodus 14:15  Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground. 

Exodus 14:21  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 

They followed the directions of the Lord regarding Jericho and the walls fell.  The full history is in Joshua chapter 6.

Joshua 6:20  So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city.

The man with the withered hand stretched out his hand and it was healed.

Matthew 12:13  Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other.

As they went, they were cleansed.

Luke 17:14  When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed.

But in today’s world, there is an expectation for God to do something first.  That is totally contrary to the pattern of God as laid out in the scriptures.

Speak the word only, and thy servant shall be healed.  In this case, the requirement of speaking the Word came first.

Matthew 8:5  When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him for help, ⁶ saying, “Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented.”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸ The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel.¹¹ I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,¹² but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”¹³ Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was healed in that hour.

And again,

Mark 16:20  They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

So there is a relationship between what God does (or does not do) related to what man does (or omits doing) when he should do it according to the admonition of the scriptures.

God is not a child abuser.  Man can either do things he should not do (sins of commission) or omit doing things he should do (sins of omission) and end up with a bad result and blame God.  But God is not at fault for man’s lack of obedience.

God is not the source of evil.

James 1:12 Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.

¹³ Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. ¹⁵ Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death. ¹⁶ Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. 

John 10:10   The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
I [Jesus]came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

 

This post is one of several focused on the topic of whether God is to blame for bad things.  Related posts are:

Did God Do It?

Prophetic Problems of the End

If you are not able to go to a good church during this time, here is a link to some online resources, including some online churches.

http://kingofkingsjesus.com/

God knows the beginning from the end and so can explain what will happen in the corridors of time.  This is not magical.  Even a parent can prophesy.

If you touch the hot stove, you will be burned.

If you run into the street, you might be hit by a car.

God, the Creator of heaven and earth, understanding all things and the intricacies of how things in heaven and earth are connected through the wisdom of God, and knowing the end from the beginning, can easily say what will happen if things remain on course without repentance.  God does not will destruction.

II Peter 3:9   The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Ezekiel 33:11   Tell them, ‘“As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?”’

Matthew 4:17  From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

2 Corinthians 6:2 for he says,

“At an acceptable time I listened to you.
In a day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Acts 2:21  It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Again, going back to examples we can understand, if someone is running towards a cliff and someone says, “Stop, turn around, you will get hurt if you fall off the cliff!” or “You may even die!”

If the person listens, stops, and turns around, he or she will avoid the consequence of falling off the cliff and getting injured or even dying.

But if the person doesn’t listen, and keeps going, then the consequences of falling off a cliff and the working of the law of gravity to pull him down, will bring the consequence of injury or death.

Again, this is not something that “the Lord did”.  This is the effect of someone not listening, of someone attempting to defy or break the law of gravity, and getting broken by that law.

This post is one of several discussing the topic of whether “the Lord did it” or “Is it God’s will for this to happen?”

Other posts:

Did God Do It?

Did God Do It?

Prophetic Problems of the End

Matthew 16: 13   Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

¹⁴ They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.

 

John 5:44   How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?

There are a lot of things ascribed to God that God has nothing to do with.  There is a “what will be, will be” or “if it is supposed to be, it will happen” type of attitude that makes it sound that everything that happens, is because that God willed it.

That is not scriptural and it leaves God open to blame when things don’t go well.

John 10:10  The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

 

Hosea 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you,
that you may be no priest to me.
Because you have forgotten your God’s law,
I will also forget your children.

 

Deuteronomy 28:1 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. ³ You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. ⁴ You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. ⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. ⁶ You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. ⁷ Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. ⁸ Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ⁹ Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by Yahweh’s name, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. ¹² Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. ¹³ Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you today, to observe and to do, ¹⁴ and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

¹⁵ But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. ¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. ¹⁷ Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. ¹⁸ The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. ¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. ²⁰ Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. ²¹ Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. ²² Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. ²³ Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. ²⁴ Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. ²⁵ Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶ Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷ Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. ²⁸ Yahweh will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. ²⁹ You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. ³⁰ You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. ³² Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. ³³ A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, ³⁴ so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. ³⁵ Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. ³⁶ Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away. ³⁸ You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. ⁴⁰ You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. ⁴¹ You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. ⁴² Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. ⁴³ The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁵ All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. ⁴⁶ They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. ⁴⁷ Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸ therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. ⁴⁹ Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. ⁵¹ They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. ⁵² They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. ⁵³ You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. ⁵⁴ The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, ⁵⁵ so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. ⁵⁶ The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, ⁵⁷ toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. ⁵⁸ If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH your God, ⁵⁹ then Yahweh will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. ⁶⁰ He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. ⁶² You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. ⁶³ It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. ⁶⁴ Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. ⁶⁵ Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. ⁶⁶ Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. ⁶⁸ Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

This topic will be continued in future posts as it is too big a topic to cover in one post.

*Yahweh = the Lord in other Bible versions.  This version is used because it is copyright free on the internet and many other versions are blocked by copyright laws.  To view other versions, go to BibleHub where many others are listed.  https://biblehub.com/bsb/deuteronomy/28.htm

https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/28-1.htm

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3 For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.

 

Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.

 

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it is the wellspring of life.

 

Matthew 12:35 The good man out of his good treasure[a] brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things.

 

II Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Romans 6:4  We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

I Corinthians 1:30  and of Him ye — ye are in Christ Jesus, who became to us from God wisdom, righteousness also, and sanctification, and redemption,

Isaiah 45:24  Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. (KJV)

John 15:1   “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

8 “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Additional information

Genesis 14:18 (KJV)  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

 

Psalm 110:4  The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.  (KJV)

 

Hebrews 5:5   So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him,

“You are my Son.
Today I have become your father.”

6 As he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”

7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, 8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. 9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation, 10 named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

 

Hebrews 6:20  where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

At times people ask questions about why there is suffering and there are several blog posts devoted to  that topic.  This one is another.

This one will delve into the story of King David.  King David was a great king of Israel, a mighty man who obeyed God.  But there were transgressions that caused him much suffering later in life.

Up until this point, there is no mention of suffering and fighting among siblings.  That changed after this event.

And while you can read the story in your own Bible, it will be posted here for convenience.

II Samuel 11:1  At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. ² At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. ³ David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?”

⁴ David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. ⁵ The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

⁶ David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. ⁸ David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house. ¹⁰ When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”

¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”

¹² David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the next day. ¹³ When David had called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house. ¹⁴ In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.”

¹⁶ When Joab kept watch on the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were. ¹⁷ The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab. Some of the people fell, even of David’s servants; and Uriah the Hittite died also. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; ¹⁹ and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king, ²⁰ it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he asks you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

²² So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage him.”

²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she bIIecame his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Yahweh.

II Samuel 12:1   Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. ⁴ A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! ⁶ He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. ⁹ Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’

¹¹ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’”

¹³ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.”

Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely die.” ¹⁵ Nathan departed to his house.

Yahweh struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it was very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, and he didn’t eat bread with them. ¹⁸ On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he didn’t listen to our voice. How will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

They said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into Yahweh’s house, and worshiped. Then he came to his own house; and when he requested, they set bread before him, and he ate. ²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child was dead, you rose up and ate bread.”

²² He said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows whether Yahweh will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ ²³ But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴ David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him; ²⁵ and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah, for Yahweh’s sake.

Note this phrase:  You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife,You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

God knew that Uriah had been set up to be killed by the children of Ammon.  God said (through the prophet Nathan, God’s spokesman) to David…“You have struck Uriah”.  The point is, for all of us, God knows the true story which is why we need to walk in the fear of the Lord and obedience to his commandments.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, everyone tried to blame everyone else and that didn’t go well.  Each entity involved in the Fall received a unique judgment for their own individual part in the Fall.  Regardless of social media, the propaganda news, or the town gossip, God knows the true story in every circumstance and judgement follows accordingly.  David could not say to God, “I didn’t kill Uriah, the children of Ammon did.”  God knew the truth.

Proverbs 26:2  Like a fluttering sparrow,
like a darting swallow,
so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.

*The word “Yahweh” is translated as “the Lord” in other translations.