the cure for spring fever

Have you ever suffered from Spring Fever...
when your weary of winter,
drowning in the dreary, dark days,
sick of the stick figure trees staring down,
begging for blooms to brighten your backdrop?

Because I am guessing that's how David probably felt...
after his many days, months and years in battle.
So this time he chose to stay home.
He had plenty of capable men to send.
​Let them conquer,
let them fight,
let them charge ahead in his name...
as he took this one season off to rest.

​It happened in the spring of the year,
at the time when kings go out to battle...
David sent Joab to command his troops,
but David remained at Jerusalem.

But there was simply too much time...
​and not enough to do.
And David was idle.
He began to wander.

Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed
and walked on the roof of the king’s house.
And from the roof he saw a woman bathing,
and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
2 Samuel 11:1-3 NKJV

Now you may...
or may not,
know of the details of what happened next.
But the woman in question was Bathsheba.
And this became the greatest sins
of David's lifetime.

But I will not belabor the details of that.
For it has been done.
And I am certain you can read
commentary after commentary to learn more
if you so choose.

But what has me fascinated today,
is something that struck me as entirely new.
For what I saw was a common thread.
Between this sin,
and the first sin.

Notice that David was drawn in to his GREATEST sin
by seeing something beautiful.
And Eve was drawn in to the FIRST sin
by seeing something appealing.

Both sins began
with the something they saw as pleasant...
and eventually had to have.

So I did a little digging.
And I found something VERY interesting.
There are three Hebrew words
in the verses about David watching Bathsheba 
that match up with verses found in Genesis,
about Eve and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food,
that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree desirable to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate.
She also gave to her husband with her,
and he ate.
Genesis 3:6 NKJV

But notice how God had himself
describes the tree He created
using the same words...
And out of the ground
the Lord God made every tree grow
that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:9 NKJV

So let us look at the three similar words in these verses.
First...
When the woman saw...
This is the Hebrew word:
7200 raah (raw-aw')
to see, perceive, behold, consider
It is the very same word use about David...
he saw the woman.
Simply meaning that they were using the same sense,
the same human judgment from within.
They were not just looking with their eyes,
they were wondering, considering, thinking it over...
before using their free will.

Second...
Eve perceived that 
the tree was good... 
This is the Hebrew word:
2896 towb (tobe) which means...
beautiful, pleasant, agreeable to the senses;
giving pleasure, happiness, prosperity.
It is the same word use by David
when he saw a woman
very beautiful to behold
(sill the same Hebrew word good)
Even from a distance,
David considered Bathsheba to be
beautiful, pleasant, giving pleasure, happiness.
And it is what enticed David to inquire about her...
as Eve did the serpent about the fruit.

It is also interestingly, the same word used by God... twice.
Describing His tree as good for food,
and as a whole, the tree of knowledge as good and evil.
The good is set as a contrast to the evil...
Let me just throw in a bonus word here:
7451 ra' (rah) is Hebrew for evil, which means...
adversity, disagreeable,
​malignant, severe judgment,
pain, unhappiness, trial, misery.

Third...
When Eve sees the tree...
that it was pleasant to the eyes,
it's the same Hebrew word used in the verse
when God described His tree
that is pleasant to the sight
This is the Hebrew word:
4758 merah (mar-eh') which means...
desirable in appearance, impressive, sight,
what outward eyes compare, superficial.

Now, I honestly expected this word to be found
in the verses of 2 Samuel, when David saw Bathsheba,
but they were not there.
But then, I was more surprised to find
that was how God described this tree.

God made this tree of the knowledge of good and evil
superficially appealing to the eye...
​impressive and appealing at a glance.
That was the "good" part.
But oh what damage within.
The ra'... or the evil.... if only Eve had known of this.
adversity, disagreeable,
malignant, severe judgment,
pain, unhappiness, trial, misery.

And David as well.

And I'm wondering if God made the tree that way
on purpose.
To test of what Adam and Eve were made.
They had all the trees in the garden
from which to eat.
And this one, I would guess was most beautiful...
and in the center.

it probably kept calling her name.
You know what I mean.
Like that thing you want to buy.
You look at the picture of it,
over, and over, and over...
and over, again.

You almost click the button to buy...
but no.
You drive by the store,
or look into the window.
You're tempted.
But then you'd have to explain
the receipt.

Maybe it's not something to buy.
It's something to eat.
Or someone with which to spend time.
Or somewhere you want to go.

All entice us superficially.
They cheer us on.
But maybe that should be the clue...
The reason not to.
Remember the ra'...
adversity, disagreeable,
malignant, severe judgment,
pain, unhappiness, trial, misery.

We have learned the lessons of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Just like we know the deceptive sin of David,
drawn in by the superficially beautiful outward beauty...
the impressive and appealing glance

But we should shake ourselves clear of it.
We cannot get caught up in this Spring Fever,
sitting around idle, too much time on our hands...
thinking of,
dreaming on,
looking at,
wondering about.
We need to remember the ra'.
adversity, disagreeable,
malignant, severe judgment,
pain, unhappiness, trial, misery.

These are the things we do NOT want
to bring into our life...
the EVIL

Let us rather keep busy in this battle
we call life.
Let us find our passions,
see out purpose,
stay our course.

Let us not be idle,
staring at the superficial enticements
that raise our temperature
and spread the fever.

Word of God,
train me, today...
to keep my eyes fixed on You.
to seek the purposeful life, rather than the beautiful one.

Thank You, Lord,
for opening my eyes
to this tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.
Help me always to remember the ra'.

Lead me away from the superficial
and toward the purposeful
and powerful places.

I long to be where You are.
Not standing and staring
at things of this world.