When the Prophet Came to Visit

2 Samuel 12:1-15 (New American Standard Bible 1995)

Nathan Rebukes David

¹ Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,

“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
² “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
³ “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. ⁶ He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.

⁷ Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! ⁹ Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ So Nathan went to his house.

Blindness affects many, but it never affects the Lord. He sees in darkness as he does in light. Darkness only affects us, not him. He has no need of light, for he is light. Nathan was commissioned by the Lord to turn David from his sin. When the Prophet comes to visit, it is normally not good. Nathan the Prophet cut no corners, and he was there to heal this thing. Not once did God try to hide the Sin of David and Bathsheba, but rather he sent Nathan the Prophet to deal with this. David had taken Uriah the husband of Bathsheba and gave orders to allow him to die in battle, and he did die. Then David took Bathsheba to be his wife. David couldn’t conceal the matter, so Uriah died in battle, but it was David’s fault.

Would God allow David to get away with this? Absolutely not, God sent a visitor, When Nathan knocked on the door, David welcomed Nathan “, So glad you came to visit.” I’m sure David introduced Bathsheba. Nathan didn’t show his purpose. How a Prophet handles people depend on the respect of the House. David, can I have a word with you?  

Then Nathan told David the parable, and David’s response speaks of David’s heart. Great men sin against God. David was a man with a great destiny on his life. The time stamp of this story jumps to the Birth of the baby. The baby with no name.

This child would have changed the plan of God. What we don’t get is a lot of what Bathsheba had to say! When confronted David was broken hearted. Saul was never broken hearted. You would think that Bathsheba would have hated Nathan, but she didn’t, Nathan carried the grace of forgiveness, the oil to heal this breach of God’s commandments. Yes, David should have died, and in David’s heart he did die… with the death of his son.

2 Samuel 12:13-14 (New American Standard Bible 1995)

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”

When Nathan the Prophet left the house, the Lord allowed a disease to come upon this child, seven days later he died. I know that David sought the Lord with tears, fasting for those seven days, deep soul searching. The oil of grace will bring repentance, even though the word doesn’t record Bathsheba’s prayers (or her healing process).