Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:1-12:13
Melissa tackles this difficult passage about the sexual violence carried out by a powerful king, the kind of king that God had warned the Israelites about when they had cried out for someone to rule over them.
There’s something else for us to learn about the structure of sexual violence in our world, from very ancient times to this day. We continue in a season of corporate reckoning over sexual assault and violence. Through the bravery of people who suffered abuse, and the supportive communities who bear them up we are learning of the harm suffered by many people who were previously silenced by perpetrators and institutions. We can see mirrored back to us in this story from 2 Samuel that at the root of sexual violence is power.
This abuse of power happens throughout our society, including within the church. And sexual assault is often a trauma that reiterates itself over and over again. That is true today, and it was true thousands of years ago when Bathsheba survived. But that’s also not where the story of Bathsheba ends.
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