About the Book:
Find healing and hope when things haven't gone as planned.
Has your life ever taken an unexpected turn, leaving you feeling hurt and stuck? In The Bathsheba Battle, Natalie Chambers Snapp helps women find healing and hope when things haven’t gone as they had planned.
Bathsheba, typically misrepresented as an adulteress, is one of the most misunderstood women in the Bible. Despite an unexpected turn in her life, which resulted in tragic circumstances beyond her control, there are glimmers of hope in her story. By studying her life, readers will find healing from their own painful pasts and hope for living the free and full lives God intends.
The
Bathsheba Battle helps women find hope in the unexpected and
unplanned.
Author Interview:
Q: You describe Bathsheba as one of the
most misunderstood women in the Bible. How is she typically misrepresented?
Bathsheba is
often portrayed as the adulteress—as though she was a vixen with the intent to
tempt David and hopefully, take her on as his wife. However, the fact remains
that she was a victim of David’s own desires and paid a very dear price for his
sin. Sadly, victims can sometimes be blamed and in the case of Bathsheba,
that’s exactly what happened.
Q: What were some of the tragic
circumstances that Bathsheba found herself in that were out of her control? How
can we relate to her story today?
First of
all, some commentaries claim Bathsheba was trying to entice David by bathing in
the courtyard of her home. However, during the time in which Bathsheba lived,
indoor plumbing didn’t exist! Therefore, most families had a basin in the
courtyard for bathing purposes. When David saw her bathing, she was obeying the
cleansing ritual required of women after monthly menstruation. She was not
trying to entice David—she was simply following the rules of her culture! How
would she even know David was going to be walking on his rooftop at the precise
moment she was bathing?
When David
saw Bathsheba, he was immediately impressed with her beauty and summoned her to
his palace. During those days, when the king summoned you to the palace, you
did not have a choice, you went. So off Bathsheba goes to meet David and once
there, they have sex. We have no way of definitively knowing if David assaulted
her, but she did go to his palace against her will. For that reason, we can
speculate that was a likely possibility. Bathsheba became pregnant which is
when things start to go off the rails!
David tries
to hide his sin by summoning Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, one of his most
valuable warriors, home from the war (which is where David was supposed to be
as well). Once Uriah reaches the palace, David proceeds to feed him a large
meal and encourages him to drink a lot of wine so he will go home and have sex
with Bathsheba. Problem solved! He can then pass his child off as Uriah’s, and
no one needs to know about his sin. However, David failed to consider the fact
that Uriah was a man of honor and refused to visit his wife when his men were
still waging a war. Instead, he slept on the front porch of the palace with the
servants. David tried a second night to get Uriah to visit his wife, but Uriah
refused.
At this
point in the story, we can see how sin will take you further than you ever
wanted to go. Instead of confessing and coming clean to everyone, David orders
Uriah to the frontlines of the battle, and of course, he is killed. Now,
Bathsheba was possibly raped by the king, pregnant, and her husband is dead. All
these things were out of her control.
After
Uriah’s death, David takes Bathsheba as his wife. However, the restitution of
David’s sin is the life of the child Bathsheba was carrying. Soon after the
birth of David and Bathsheba’s son, the infant died. We see Bathsheba as a
grieving mother, another event out of her control.
I think so
many people can relate to Bathsheba’s story because 1) suffering happens to all
of us and 2) sometimes, our suffering is the result of someone else’s actions
and choices. In no way should we remain victims, but I think Bathsheba’s story
is God’s way of telling us that He sees us, understands our pain, and is the
Ultimate Justifier.
Q:
Can you share about a hardship or disappointment in your own life that provided
the inspiration to write The Bathsheba Battle?
Absolutely!
When I was in my late twenties, I was married to a man with a drug problem, but
I did not know it. As many who have loved addicts understand, there are often
behaviors corresponding with addiction that are not healthy for a young
marriage and therefore, we divorced. Two months after I filed for divorce, my
father, who was in and out of my life due to his own addiction issues, passed away
unexpectedly.
Life had
definitely taken a very unexpected turn and was not at all going the way I had
planned. It was a dark season, and yet also the very season in which I became a
follower of Jesus. My deconstruction led to my reconstruction. I have been
remarried for fifteen years and have three beautiful children; however, periods
of suffering have also been peppered throughout those years as well. Suffering
is often cyclical and that has been true of my life!
Q: Explain how transformation happens
during renovation. Where does renovation take place?
It sounds so
trite, and I’m not going to lie, there were times during my own periods of
suffering when I just wanted to scream when people said this to me. But the
fact remains, when we are deconstructed by trauma and circumstances in or
beyond our control, if we humble ourselves to the process, we will indeed
emerge with greater wisdom and grace. Suffering is the great equalizer—it does
not discriminate between gender, race, beliefs, or socio-economic status. No
one is immune. However, if we humble ourselves to the process, we will emerge
with new eyes of strength and dignity.
Q: Do we always have the ability to choose
how we respond to our situation? Why is this such a significant choice,
especially when we must endure a consequence of someone else’s sin?
Yes, I
believe we do. We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can always
control how we will respond. Living life as a victim will ultimately make you
feel powerless, depressed, and distrustful of people. It will lead to a life of
bitterness, resentment, and anger. On the other hand, when we respond to our
trauma with a humble heart and a willingness to be molded by our suffering, we
feel empowered, strong, and able to help others when their time of suffering
emerges. When we choose to live as victims, we give others power over our
lives. When we choose to live as survivors, we understand that we possess the
power ourselves.
Q: How does your study on Bathsheba shift from
part one of the book to part two?
In Part One,
we discuss the byproducts of our suffering: fear, shame, anger, and comparison.
In Part Two, we look at how to overcome these negative emotions and live
empowered and with hope.
Q: What does Bathsheba’s story teach us
about forgiveness?
We don’t
really know about Bathsheba’s forgiveness process because it’s not discussed in
the Bible. However, we do see her stand before David in 1 Kings 1 with an
empowered and confident voice that exhibits love and respect towards her
husband. Perhaps somewhere during the course of their marriage, Bathsheba made
peace with her circumstances—she chose her response and not to live as a
victim.
Not living
as a victim involves forgiveness and yet, this does not mean she might not have
felt like a victim for a while. It doesn’t mean that she didn’t feel shameful.
And it doesn’t mean that she didn’t grieve the loss of the life she thought she
might have. It does, however, indicate that she chose to keep moving forward
without allowing her grief and shame to negatively impact who she ultimately
became. A woman who is victorious over suffering is the most beautiful and
inspiring to us all.
Hope for Tomorrow
