The Book of II Samuel
Chapter 12
The Lord's Judgement Comes Upon David For His Sin
- There is a time lag between David’s sin and when Nathan came here in Chapter 12, because David’s son is already born.
- What was David’s condition during these months? He was miserable as the 51st Psalm shows:
Psalm 51: 12-15
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
- We never get the satisfaction that we expect from sin.
- That’s how it will be for any backslidden Christian.
- Communion with God is cut off.
- Dust is starting to gather on the old harp.
2 Sam 12:1
12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
- Nathan was sent to David by the Lord
- He did not just take it upon himself to go.
- He was properly authorized to speak in behalf of God.
- Sending is the model that God uses to reveal himself both in the OT and in the NT
- Who is properly authorized to speak in behalf of God today?
- Jesus authorized his church to speak in behalf of God.
God Pours Out His Spirit In The Last Days
Acts 2:14-21
2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
- Who were the people saying was drunk?
- Not the people who spoke in tongues.
- It was the people who said that people were speaking in tongues
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. KJV
- “All flesh”: Jews and Gentiles, not every individual, rich and poor, men and women.
- God’s progressive revelation of himself and his plan
- God sent prophets one or a few at a time to bring his word
- But in the last days, he created a spiritual nation of prophets and sent them to carry his word to all the ends of the earth.
- Now he is pouring out his word in a flood, not a trickle.
- The word prophesy does not necessarily mean to tell the future
- It means the forthtelling of the will of God past, present or future
- The difference is that the message of the OT prophet was a direct revelation of the mind of God specifically for the occasion,
- Whereas the message of the NT teacher is gathered from the completed revelation of God contained in the scriptures.
1 Cor 14:3-4
3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
- We have the good stuff. You have the words of eternal life.
- People tell about Jesus as if they were telling people that they had bad breath
- Christians need to come out of the closet.
2 Samuel Chapter 12
12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
12:2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
- When we sin, we are despising the commandments of the Lord.
- We despise the Lord himself when we despise his commandments.
- We shouldn’t consider the Lord’s commandments to be trifle.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die KJV
- The Lord forgives our sins, but there are still consequences to sin
2 Sam 12:15
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. KJV
- When the prophet Elijah prophesied to King Ahab, Ahab wanted to kill him.
- David did not act in this way. He was a man after God’s own heart.
- Nathan uses a parable to confront David on the issue
- The parable is used to evoke and objective judgment from David himself.
- That way, David’s ability to discern what is going on is not clouded by presenting the issue as being about him
- It’s easy to see the facts clearly and the solution when it’s about somebody else.
- I’m great at solving your problems, but it is my own problem that I can’t see.
- I’m ok, YOU have issues.
- Nathan is able to get an objective response from David.
- Nathan brought David to a place where he convicted himself.
- In v7 Nathan starts speaking directly for the Lord “thus saith the Lord”.
- He reminds him of the great things the Lord had done for him
- David had a relationship with the Lord
- Where he has given much, yet he gives more. And God's bounty to us is a great aggravation of our discontent and desire of forbidden fruit. It is ungrateful to covet what God has prohibited, while we have liberty to pray for what God has promised, and that is enough.
Luke 6:41-42
41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye KJV
David’s First Son With Bathsheba Dies
2 Sam 12:16-13:1
16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.
31 And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem. KJV
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