Gentleness vs.Harshness "Showing consideration and personal concern for others"   GENTLENESS – A One-Minute Testimonial Announcement Faith Committee, Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Contributed by Clyde C. Miller Senior Pastor (Retired), First Christian Assembly, Cincinnati, OH January 12, 2002 URIAH THE GENTLEMAN Refined, courteous, noble, "easygoing", -gentle, he was. He was a "Hittite", called "Uriah the Hittite" in 2 Samuel, chapter 11. His name meant "flame of God'. The fire that burned in him was an eternal, godly flame, unlike the flame of lust which consumed David when David, in a fit of voyeuristic lust for Uriah's beautiful wife, Bathsheba, ordered her delivered to his royal bedroom for a tryst which left her pregnant and David desperate. The eleventh chapter of Second Samuel gives the sordid details. When David was informed by Bathsheba that he had impregnated her, he sent orders for Uriah to be furloughed from the battlefield. Uriah would surely come home, sleep with his beautiful irresistable wife. The pregnancy would be covered and David would be "home free". But this "Uriah the Hittite", descendant of the line of Canaan, grandson of Noah, whose people had been made slaves by the Israelites had risen in the ranks of the Israelite army to become known as one of the "valiant men of the armies" (2 Chronicles 11:26). It's right there in verse 41, --there it is, --"Uriah, the Hittite". This GENTLEMAN , -man of gentleness (noble, useful, well-behaved) said to David, "The ark, and Israel and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab (David's field general), and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as my soul liveth, I will not do this thing." WOW! What a man, what a GENTLEMAN! David's cover-up plan collapsed. He had Uriah killed in battle and married beautiful Bathsheba only to be exposed by Godly prophet, Nathan. There is no question, gentleness proved to be greater than raw power. Uriah is an eternal hero, an eternal GENTLEMAN. [2 Samuel 11]   This material is published by the Faith Committee of the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Reproduction and Adaptation is encouraged.