A Soldier’s Story

  Uri was a soldier. He was a good soldier. No check that, he was a great soldier. One of the thirty best in the country. He wasn’t that rich or all that famous. He didn’t have a lot but he had one thing; a girl.

  His girl was amazing. Absolutely beautiful. One look would have a man wanting to know more about her. She came from an important family. Her granddad was one of the top political advisors in the world. Who knows how Uri came to get a girl like her, but he did. He married her. He loved her, but Uri was a first and foremost a soldier.

  Soldiers have a duty that often times calls them away from home. That absence can cause a strain in any marriage. Yet Uri knew his duty. So when the trumpets of war sounded, Uri backed up his gear and headed to the battlefield, leaving his girl home alone.

  Uri was a man of duty and honor. God, family, and country. So when He received a special order to give a report to the commander in chief, Uri packed up his gear and returned to his hometown.  This was a special opportunity. If the soldier could avail himself well before the higher powers, there might be a promotion. Maybe something that would let him see his wife more. So Uri had to show himself well.

  The report to the Chief was pretty standard. How was the top General? How was the war going?  Uri answered to the best of his duty. He was after all a good soldier. Then the commander did something unusual, he dismissed Uri, told him to go home and take it easy. I wonder what Uri thought about that? Maybe the commander, a former soldier himself, was trying to do him a favor. Let him, even for just a night, enjoy the comforts of home. A chance to see his girl. To catch her as she was getting ready to for bed maybe fresh out of the bath. What a surprise!  He could weep her up in his arms, run his finger in her hair, and give her the kiss that only a man that been apart for his love in the muck and mire of battle can give. Wouldn’t that be nice? He may be homesick but Uri was first and foremost a soldier.

  It wouldn't be right. His buddies, his commander, his cause, they were out in the field. He may not be with them in persons but he was in spirit. He could at least suffer along with them. So instead of going home, he finds out where the enlisted men are staying and bunks up with them.

  The next day Uri is once again standing before the commander in chief. This time however his questions are about Uri. Why not go home when you have the chance, Uri?  Uri explains himself, duty first, it's not my place. It must have seemed to Uri like the king was impressed with him because the next thing you know he was telling him to say another night, inviting Uri to dine with him. What an honor for a simple soldier!

  Dinner with the Commander in Chief isn’t like rations in the field. A fancy meal, fine wine. A bit too much wine. Uri gets sloshed, but not so sloshed he forgets his duty. Back to the barrack to sleep it off. He may be drunk but Uri is still first and foremost a soldier.

  The next day he drags himself once again to a meeting with the commander in chief. This time it’s not to report but to deliver. The Chief hands him a letter. Eyes only for the top brass at the front. Uri probably wondered what it was. Maybe a good report about him. Maybe a special battle plan formulated with the information Uri had provided.  Uri didn’t peek. He may be curious but Uri was first and foremost a soldier.

  So Uri delivers the message to the General. He read the letter. He looks Uri in the eye. Uri sees the wheels turning in his commander’s eyes. What does that letter say? Then the General speaks, Uri, I got a special job for you. It’s dangerous. It unconventional. But it might just get this war over quicker and everyone back home a bit sooner. Uri, I need you to lead a special attack, are you up for it? Of course, he was, Uri was first and foremost a soldier.

  So Uri leads his men on a daring raid. The plan is simple: Press enemy territory, break the wall, bring in the reinforcements. So Uri goes. Then they come under fire. This is a bad one. These are not just ordinary troops, they are the elites. Shots rein over Uri and his men. They are too close.  Uri is starting to doubt this strategy. But even with his doubts, Uri keeps fighting, that’s what good soldiers do.

  The battle doesn’t go well. Time to send for reinforcements. Uri makes the call. But no one answers. They had gotten the message, why are they not coming to save Uri and his men?  A commander wouldn’t leave a good soldier like Uri to die unless they were commanded not to?  Why would a Chief give an order like that?

 Uri doesn’t have much time to think about it. The enemy artillery is too overwhelming. Then Uri is hit, a shot that is fatal. That good solider, a man dedicated to his country his cause, falls on a battlefield. Sadly, that what soldiers do.

  I wish I could tell you he died for a good reason. To end the war, to save his friends, a good soldier’s death. I can’t. He died because a corrupt general could use his death to cover his own incompetence. He died because his commander in chief was sleeping with Uri’s wife. All that business in the capital had nothing to do with war and everything to do with covering up Uri’s wife infidelity. When Uri didn’t take the bait, it was easier to have him killed. To the Commander in Chief, good soldiers weren’t all that valuable.

  I hope this story makes you angry. A good faithful man betrayed by his commanding officer, his country’s leader, and his own wife. A man that did what was right, and was killed for it. Unfortunately, it’s all true. Well, I did make one change. I don’t know if anyone ever called him Uri.

  His name was really Uriah. Uriah the Hittite. Husband of Bathsheba. Solider serving under Joab in the Army of David.

  When the read the story of David and Bathsheba we look at it from David perspective. It is a story of forgiveness. When a good man had lust conceived in his heart, that led to sin, that led to death (James 1:15). However, it also is a story of what sin costs. Sin doesn’t just taint the person sinning. It corrupts everyone involved. It ruins lives. It destroys homes. It kills. It wastes.

  Good people are harmed by sin. Drunk drivers kill innocent people. Affairs break homes and take children away from their parents. Corruption wastes what should be a good asset into a terrible tragedy.

  Next time when you are tempted by sin, think about the Uri’s it will harm. Good people, faithful servants, soldiers of the Cross that will be harmed by your actions

 When you sin the life you may be destroying might not be your own.

(References: 2^nd Chronicles 11, 2^nd Samuel 23:34 2^nd Samuel 11)