2 Samuel 12:1-23
12 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,[a] and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 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 out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the
And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. 16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
David acknowledges that the child was a unique person. He does not say baby; David is fully acknowledging this as a human being unique in HIS sight.
When we think of our lives, we plan out an idea of what He would have us do with our time. Surely if we are at the beginning of our lives, few of us raise our hands and say, "Oh, I'd like to be a prophet of the Lord!!"
Look at Nathan, he really worked out how he was going to plunk down this information the Lord sent to Nathan. If you look at the movie Richard Gere did on "David", you are going to see Samuel is a plotting, murdering, foaming-at-the-mouth Power Man. Hardly a prophet, Samuel is shown to be, but a king maker, a king breaker.
How did Nathan end up being a prophet of God?
2 Samuel 5:13-16
And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David. 14 And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
Nathan did well in the eyes of David. Why? Nathan Loved. Loved David and David knew this.
2 Samuel 12:13
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
2 Samuel 12:24-25
24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him 25 and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,[Beloved of the Lord] because of the Lord.
Nathan was there when David was going to die of old age. Nathan advised David in the ways to obtain old age and stay in Salvation.
Next we are going to consider Samuel.
Samuel knows something about what the Lord desires. Notice with me, the heart of the matter.
1 Samuel 7:3
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
1 Samuel 16:1-2
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
Now here is job, career as prophet, a woman is not going to usually check-mark. This is a game where people get Vastly Offended. And notice with me again, Samuel has mourned Saul. How do we know? The LORD says so. Samuel is also in understanding of this is the Lord's Plan and Samuel is going to do what God has for him to do. He is not going to pull a Jonah and run.
So is this prophecy a comfy job - far from that.
1 Samuel 16:4-5
4 So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?”
5 “Yes,” Samuel replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice, too.
Samuel invokes the same principal Jesus did when he said the child is sleeping, as he went to raise her from the dead. Samuel is not announcing the purposes of God, he is doing the will of his Father.
John 1:23
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.
Jonah did not love and still was compelled to do the work of the Lord. He spent time mourning the fact Nineveh repented.
Jonah 4
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
(Surely a lot of people think Jonah is a fable. However what reason would Jonah hate the Assyrians so much? It sounds like national pride. However, I believe this to be History and would point out to you it is one of the amazing miracles of the Bible that during King Hezekiah, and Isaiah, the Assyrian Empire did not invade or compel the next door neighbor, tiny Israel, to be assumed to be other than a friend of the Assyrian Empire. Jonah has saved Israel for another Empire in time to conquer that. And Nebuchadnezzar is interested as he is compelled by Israel's bad behavior and double dealing to the Persian Empire to be lenient because Jonah's words have caught Holy Spirit Fire in the Assyrian Empire which led to Nebuchadnezzar becoming the new leader out of Assyria to form the Persian Empire.)
Its interesting to note, God did not send a hater back to Israel to become as part the Temple. End of Jonah.
We all, ultimately, hope to create a life with meaning. Samuel understood that as a small boy. Here is a heart open to the LORD.
1 Samuel 3
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
Father God, each day we put out our open hands to You. Let this day not merely be one day tells its tale to another. Use this day in my life to Your glory. Let me encounter the people You would call me to minister with about You. I am much more attuned to let Your love be revealed in my life without words. Should You require words, help those words be from You.
Let me be like Noah, clearly, or unclearly, let Your will be accomplished. Noah knew he was to believe You, believe Your Words were for him, and Noah swung his hammer, each day at Your task. Let my prayer, my words, my work be for You. And let one life bring His will in goodness, mercy and steadfast love. Let love, the grace of Yours, cover a multitude of sin and allow my life to be fruitful to you. I ask in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord, each day. Amen. So be it.
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