Long ago there was a season for war. An ancient text about one of the kings of Israel tells us this:
"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem."
Two points stand out to me:
1) When ancient kings went to war, they did so in the spring; and
2) King David didn't go this time.
The first point probably has to do with agriculture. An agrarian society like David's probably did not have much of a standing army. Men were free to fight in between the time for sowing seeds and harvest. Wars could be launched when the seeds were in the ground, and should end before harvest if the nation is not to starve.
The second point is the reason for the story. And it is a reminder that sometimes kings have big enough armies that they can send men to fight for them. In this case, because David stayed behind, he wound up taking the wife of one of his soldiers. When she got pregnant, David had the man killed.
It's foolish to think we can somehow go back to how things were even before David's time, when kings themselves would have to work for food.
But we can at least dream of kings who work their own gardens with enough care that they respect rather than covet the gardens and spouses of others.
