I’m staring down at the abodes of Jerusalem. I know I’m meant to be at war but I need a break. Found bored now, let me take a stroll on the palace roof. The sky is sunny—the breeze cool, but it seems like it is not the same metres below on a snugly roof…
First I saw her carrying a clay pitcher upon her head. She disappeared into the house. Then she chanced again! My eyes were mesmerized. After placing the pitcher down, she poured water in a clay basin. Her colorful ‘towel’ already was hanging over her shoulder. I hid—not to be seen, knowing what was about to follow.
My guards were at attention, far behind the edges of the battlement. I moved further to the left, until her full body I’d view. Beyond the still hanging leaves of a potted palm. Wow. My, my … my. Those breasts, so fresh. Her loins, carved up to the hips. And then her hair, getting wetter and wetter by every scoop she let down as she bathed.
Beautiful to behold she is! I must have her. Wait… (I drew away with my back against the pillar)… I mustn’t. O but my eyes couldn’t unsee it. I peeped through the lattice, the creeping vines denied me full view… A voice beckoned me to stop. A force hindered me from looking again. But another — louder — said, “…but thou art King. Ye can do as thou wilt.”
I turned my eyes away again. But I was thirsty. The flesh was it? Or was it I? As I battled these thoughts, my neck had already gyrated back. O these eyes! I’m about to sin I deem. I was enamoured.
I must have her…
I no longer cared whether it was lawful or not. I’d already pictured her with me, as if the distance between us had been narrowed down to nought. Who’s she? Who’s this taker of breaths, and stealer of sights?
“Why, she must be Bathsheba your Majesty, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” One of my guards had already replied to my concerns, though he looked away in order not to dishonor himself. By this time, this Bathsheba had nearly concluded her ritual that had the King desirous of her. How can a man fall so quick in love? — GET HER! FETCH I COMMAND THEE, THIS DAMSEL.
“But she’s someone’s wife,” the still voice echoed again. “I care not! I’m king!” I retorted.
As one of the guards disappeared to carry out the act. I continued staring at that flat roof, star struck at Bathsheba who was now drying her curls — her neck bent to her left. I at once rushed to chambers mine, to prepare for her arrival.
* * *
We all know what happened after that simple dialogue. Bathsheba became pregnant. And soon the King was regretting why He didn’t listen to that still small voice. Uriah hadn’t been around. So if Bathsheba’s belly was bulging, surely, Uriah would have had questions. To cover it all up, David commanded that Uriah came home at once. Though he did, he refused to sleep with his wife.
“How can I stay home while the other men fight?”
This was unlike what David should have told himself shortly before that roof stroll. He then sent an order that Uriah be placed on the front line of the battle, and like that Uriah lost his life.
But did he have to be murdered just to cover it all up? Perhaps Uriah had some dreams that he wanted to see fulfilled in his life. It was a wicked thing to do — to orchestrate all this. David was punished by God in some way… But I’m here to talk about a general mystery of the creation of evil.
Sometimes, we lack full vision of the consequences of our doings. Other times, we lack full vision and understanding of what’s at hand. If David had imagined for once that that simple act could have led to a child who was a product of adultery, perhaps he’d have prevented himself. He forgot that birth control methods weren’t as common as they’d be four millennia later. The result of split seconds, turned into a whole distorted reality, and the birth of evil through murder.
Let me use Joseph’s case. Yes he dreamt, but none of the family members — not even Jacob — had full precision of the dream’s meaning. The result? Well, the elder brothers loathed him. They conspired to murder him, and they nearly were successful.
But I imagine … what if they knew the meaning of the dream like it appeared years later … that Joseph was indeed to preserve all of them and their families and herds; Would they have tried to kill him? Or protect him at all cost?
Their lack of understanding, brought them to a place of evil. Seeing the picture not in full but half; “This dreamer, he’s taken all our father’s attention, let’s have at him.”
But the dream didn’t mean they’d kiss Joseph’s butt. It meant Joseph they’d all honor, having saved the world … and them along from famine.
Nebuchadnezzar promised to kill all soothsayers and interpreters in the kingdom when he dreamt a dream that he had forgotten and no one could tell what it was. There was a lack of full vision. Thankfully, Daniel painted the vision, and even then, it’d still have been ‘half vision’ if no meaning was given to its symbolism. If Daniel didn’t save, the evil that could have happened would’ve been the killing of all those the king saw fit.
Speaking of the evil of death, if Joseph too hadn’t defined the full vision of the dream Pharaoh had, then, men would have died of the seven years of famine, having wasted the abundance of the prior seven years.
See how having great wisdom, and understanding can stop evil?
Now, I pray to God, that He may give enlightenment to the eyes of your understanding alongside that wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, to enable you interpret the full vision of a particular season of your life, or dream, or word, or time … that you may not miss the warning signs (like the voice David muted, or the thoughts of consequences that may arise from any action) that will keep you safe, so that you do not orchestrate your own evil unbeknownst to you…
…and that you may keep your way pure, by paying heed to God’s word.
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Psalms 91:10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
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