#LearningNewMath

There are penalties connected to taking away or subtracting from and adding to God's Word and, I, for sure, do not want to do that. The story of King David's involvement with Bathsheba tells what happened to this great leader and the consequences of his behavior, but, since it doesn't reveal his attitudes, I am taking the liberty of sharing my thoughts.

Before I begin, though, I feel the need to chase a bunny rabbit and talk about another thought from scripture regarding dividing the Word of God. See the math aspect here; adding, subtracting and dividing? Second Timothy plainly tells us to 'rightly divide' God's Word as we study it which some have suggested that it means to separate segments and apply some thoughts to Israel and others to the church. To others, it means to accurately teach. It can mean both at the same time. I am a Dispensationalist. I love the Schofield Bible, but I believe in the covenants, too. God works in different ways, called dispensations, at different ages and some of His workings overlap different ages. For instance in the age of creation, God worked very differently than He does today, but new creations still go on today in a different way. As far as our separating the truths, we have to understand that some teachings Jesus gave were meant for the Jews, primarily, and should be read with that in mind. Oh, how we need wisdom in order to rightly divide the Word and apply that which was meant for us to us.

Back to King David. Why was he at home when his troops were away and, as Commander-in-Chief, he should have been with his troops? If he had been where he was supposed to be his affair with Bathsheba would not have taken place or the pregnancy or the death of her husband. David was God's man. He was a man after God's own heart. He had not feared the giant. He had taken the initiative and volunteered to fight this giant because God's name was at stake, yet, something changed that made him vulnerable to temptation.

As I see it, this is a very common trap and can happen to any of us. It is the trap of success or victory or promotion. It is very subtle and traps us like quicksand. Perhaps, David just thought he deserved some time off. After all, he had been chased for years by King Saul and had waited patiently for God's timing and had led his troops for years and he, after all, was king. Perhaps he became a little casual about his responsibilities and justified his being home for just a few days. It is such an easy and natural thing to do, but accidents happen because we become lackadaisical and temptations turn into sin when we do not remain vigilant regarding the state of our relationship with our Father-God and His will for us at any given time.

Does all this add up? Can you see the new math - not adding to God's word - not subtracting from God's word - rightly dividing or accurately telling the truth - just trying to gain insights into a man who fell into sin and learn a good lesson so we do not get careless.