My guest today is Author Jill Eileen Smith who has tackled telling the stories of King David’s wives. Her latest is the most famous of all, Bathsheba. Here’s Jill:

A single moment changed her life – will she ever regain all she’s lost?

Bathsheba’s story is one of misplaced longings and life-altering choices. Like many women, Bathsheba came from a military household. Her father and her husband were both captains in King David’s elite forces, which probably meant they saw a fair bit of action, leaving Bathsheba often alone. For a woman of her day with no children at that time, her husband’s absences were great breeding ground for discontent. She could have found ways to occupy her time, and it is likely she had some marketable skills like spinning wool into yarn and weaving yarn into cloth, but her worth as a woman who could produce an heir for her husband was in jeopardy. She might have feared she would be replaced by another wife and felt undeserving of her husband’s love. Of course, the Bible doesn’t tell us how long she was married to Uriah before the adultery happened with King David, but it is likely she was married long enough to face such concern and discontent.

For David’s part, he had reached the pinnacle of his career and grown accustomed to wealth and power. He was a man after God’s own heart, but he had strayed from listening to His Creator. Whatever his reasons, he excused his choices and did what he wanted, despite the consequences. Her loneliness and his arrogance led to some devastating choices.

Bathsheba’s strength shines through greatest in the way she handles her failures and her losses. Some people consider her a temptress, others think she was a victim who had no choice but to obey the king. Still others see her situation as a combination of both, perhaps more complicated than it seems on the surface. She is often scorned for her sin. Yet God’s grace brought her into the lineage of His Son, Jesus Christ. In the end, both David and Bathsheba had to learn the redemptive power of God’s grace and the true meaning of love.”–Jill

For accompanying guides to Bathsheba, visit the series’ website at http://www.thewivesofkingdavid.com. Follow the author’s blog at http://www.jilleileensmith.com.

Don’t you find it interesting that God allows his “characters” to sin, experience consequences and hopefully repent– but often modern editors and readers only want “chaste” sins like pride? Do you think that’s true? Could you, would you read a book about a modern-day adultress who finds God and repents?–Lyn

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