a punishment I don't get at all

a punishment I don't get at all

Hi there,

I've just been thinking again of David's sin when he indirectly murdered Bathseba's man. God punished this by, later, letting David's son die.

I don't get that. David committed a sin ... the boy was utterly innocent. So why did God let that baby die? I don't understand it at all. Why was David himself not punished?

Can someone enlighten me there?
 
David was punished enormously. The loss of a child (an horrendous experience at the best of times, made vastly worse by the knowledge that he was the cause of it), the distress of Bathsheba (and again, knowing he was the cause), the fact that everyone around him knew. Most parents would say that they would prefer to suffer themselves than to see anything happen to their children.

The child, on the other hand, was innocent, therefore would have gone to Paradise.

The other aspect to understand here - and the point that I think God was trying to bring home to David - is that our sin never affects only us. There are always consequences, and those consequences often affect innocent people.

blessings,

Lynn
 
Thanks Lynn. Guess that'll have to do.

Still the justice of God isn't so clear sometimes.

Sometimes we tend to confuse "Just" with "Fair"
Romans 6:23 is "Fair".

John 3:16 is "Just".

Fair is, you die, I die, we all die and spend eternity in everlasting hell.

Just, is the perfect unblemished lamb of God, suffered and died on the cross in atonement for our sins.

Remember, God lost a son too, but Gods plan is to restore and resurrect us.

(Revlynn; Great post.) :amen:
 
Thanks CS. I have a friend, a prophet from the USA, who had been complaining to the Lord one time about the "unfairness" of life. The Lord spoke to him and said, "Who told you that life was fair? Was it fair that Jesus, the only sinless person who has ever lived, should die for the sins of mankind?" My friend decided that maybe he should start praising God for "unfairness".

blessings,

Lynn
 
Christ says do onto others you would have done to yourself,maybe this is the old testament way of showing this.
 
David was punished enormously. The loss of a child (an horrendous experience at the best of times, made vastly worse by the knowledge that he was the cause of it), the distress of Bathsheba (and again, knowing he was the cause), the fact that everyone around him knew. Most parents would say that they would prefer to suffer themselves than to see anything happen to their children.

The child, on the other hand, was innocent, therefore would have gone to Paradise.

The other aspect to understand here - and the point that I think God was trying to bring home to David - is that our sin never affects only us. There are always consequences, and those consequences often affect innocent people.

blessings,

Lynn

:goodpost::goodpost:

Couldn't have said it better myself!:D

Laura:)
 
David was certainly punished. But the important thing to note is that he repented. He realised that he had sinned against God and that he could not escape his sin. He prayed for a pure heart and a renewed Spirit.

It does us all good I think to read his Psalm of repentance (No.51).

God had called David a "man after myu own heart" in 1 Sam. 13:14. He knew what David would do, and he also knew of his repentance.

We do not preach repentance as we should in our Churches today. People come in and we say "come to Jesus as you are" and this is true, but we must remember than when the woman taken in adultery was brought to Jesus just as she was he commanded her to "go and sin no more". (John 8:11)

God bless us as we learn together.
 
there is no hidden cure,as Christ says,they go back and eat there own vomit.Christ tells us to do things in the right spirit,most things are good in the correct way.it,s when you take advantage of others you fall.
 
When David commited his sin, I feel is was a direct murder on his part, as though he may as well slew bathsheba's husband his self because he knew that he was going to die, that is why he sent him there.

I understand that it is difficult to understand why David's son had to die fir something he had done id difficult. There could be several different reasons for that particular punishment, but i know as well as everyone that we will never know unless it is revealed to us from the LORD. Maybe because that is one of the greatest punishments a person c an go through is to lose a child, and it is doubled when the reason they are losing their child is because of something they have caused.

Also, feel that his son went to heaven, because he was innocent and only a babe, so even though with our human instincts it is hard to except, The Lord knew it was going to be done this way, and only He can fove fair justice and understanding of it.
 
Maybe because that is one of the greatest punishments a person c an go through is to lose a child, and it is doubled when the reason they are losing their child is because of something they have caused.

Yes Put yourself in David’s place. He was losing his loved son and he knew that he was the cause of it. The one who suffered for his sin was David, not his baby son, his son has a blessed early mark into eternity with God. We got to look at things from and eternal perspective.

David was a sinner just like us all, just like all men, but he was a repentant sinner with the right attitude towards God and His Word. And that is the key to salvation.

Yes God did say that David was
"man after my own heart" in 1 Sam. 13:14

Not because he was perfectly righteous but because of His willingness to accept conviction with contrition.

All Praise The Ancient Of Days
 
This may be the most difficult verse to understand within the entire Bible.

What revlynn said, "...our sin never affects only us. There are always consequences, and those consequences often affect innocent people."

is a good point, however, I don't think it sparks that "uh-ha!" moment of understanding that leads to acceptance of God's decision.

The verse says God struck the child ill and therefore appears the child's death was not a direct result of David's actions, but rather a direct punishment from God upon David.

That is why people find it hard to accept. To say the child didn't suffer because he was innocent and therefore went to paradise in inaccurate. The child suffered laying sick before he died. The child suffered loss of his physical life - which is indeed a loss according to God's Word, howbeit a small loss in comparison to the loss of one's sole.

So, why did God chose to take the child as punishment for David's and Bathsheba's sin?

I think the answer may lie in the difference between justice and mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.


There is a purpose to the Old Testament which is a prophesy of the Coming Messiah.

I believe that, in searching God's purpose in claiming a chosen people,
in seeking to understand the purpose of the law ( which seems harsh, yet Jesus said not one stoke of the pen concerning the law is abolished )
and in how this all fits together in God's fulfillment in Christ Jesus is the answer.

Unfortunately, those who reject God because they don't understand will continue to reject God even if we could give them a reasonable and clear need for the death of the child.

While those who choose to accept God's will without understanding will gain benefit from trusting God whether or not they ever gain understanding of this particular incident.
 
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