II Samuel Chapter 12

"David and Nathan the Prophet."

This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription is provided with written permission by http://www.theseason.org

II Samuel 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 the prophet that is going to give God's stern warning to David. God is speaking to David here through a simple parable, to where there can be no mistake as to how our Havenly Father feels about what David has done. David is about to pass a sentence upon himself. God was not happy with David.

II Samuel 12:2 "The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:"

This rich man had so many sheep and flocks that he could not count them all.

II Samuel 12:3 "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."

It was not unusual in those days for a poor person to take a lamb as a pet for himself. In this case, this lamb was a house pet. So what this is saying is that this lamb was like a member of the family, like we have dogs and cats today. That pet was taken care of just as any member of the family would receive good care. That was how Nathan is describing this pet lamb that this poor man had.

II Samuel 12:4 "And there came a traveler 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."

This was a common thing that when a person was traveling to your town and staying in your home that you fed them well. Yet, this rich man did not take a lamb from his own unlimited wealth to feed this traveler, but stole the pet sheep from that poor man. He took that little lamb home and dressed it out to be served as a feast for the traveler. All the while David thinks that this was something that has happened in his kingdom, and this act was getting David very heated over the thought of it all. So while David wants to pass judgment on that man, he is about to pass sentence upon himself.

II Samuel 12:5 "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:"

David knew right from wrong and he knew that a great injustice had been done here. This however goes far deeper in spiritual meaning than is viewed on the surface here. When you think of the Lamb that would be sacrificed for the sins of many, for the traveler from a far that was no part of Israel, yet the sacrifice went ahead. It sounded so unfair, yet in this story, David was in the very genealogy that Christ would come. Yet God allowed the Lamb, his only begotten Lamb to be slain at the crucifixion. Christ came not as a king, but as a humble servant, to go innocently to the slaughter for many, for the traveler that would partake of the Lamb in repentance.

In this story, we can see the emotions that David had for the injustice of it all, and he was ready to put to death that person that would do such a thing. As David was passing sentence on the person of the story, he is also passing sentence on himself. At this point in time though, David has not yet turned back to God from the sinful acts of the prior chapter, whereby Uriah had been sent to his death, for the sake of covering David's act of adultery. However, once David realizes that this story is about himself, he will repent of those things that he has done.

So the analogy here is that when David was king, he had taken many wives, yet he desired the only wife Uriah had.

II Samuel 12:6 "And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."

The theft would have been fourfold, yet there is a greater sin than the theft. We know that the slaughter of the Lamb of God was caused by Satan, through the Kenites, that brought about the crucifixion of Christ. It was also Satan that was there to tempt David and cause him to do those things that he had done. David had allowed himself to take his eyes of God and His Word and commandments, and look on Bath-sheba with fleshly desire.

II Samuel 12:7 "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;"

God is reminding David through the prophet Nathan that He protected him, and kept him out of trouble and away from Saul, and gave David everything that David ever desired.

II Samuel 12:8 "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 to little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. "

God turned the house of Saul over to David, and turned the entire kingdom of Israel over to David. God even allowed David to have the wives of Saul, the best and prettiest in the land were given over to David to take and have for his wives. God gave them all to David, including the gold and silver and all the wealth of the nations that David has conquered. Think about it, God is telling David; "I gave you more than you could ever want, and I was willing to give you anything that you asked for."

It was no accident that Bath-sheba's womb was the womb that the Christ child would come through, and thus this story has far deeper means than is on the surface. The Lamb slain came through Bath-sheba's womb, and God is telling David that if you would have asked Me before you committed these acts, would I have even arranged this woman to be yours? No, God doesn't work that way, but David would have been a lot better off if he would have prayed about it first. God knows how to protect the lineage of his own Son, as we saw when Judah sought to deny Tamar, Yet later, thinking she was a harlot he was going after, this woman turned out to be Tamar and not a heathen women. God would have placed an equally fine woman in David's bed to carry on the lineage that Christ would have been born through.

God has His ways, and there are many things that we are just not to understand. However, when you have the eyes to see with understanding, and can see prophecies, then you get a feel what the Father is trying to say through His Word. It was wrong what David did, in committing adultery and murder, and that will never be right in the eyes of God. You can not hide sin from God, for there are no unsolved mysteries to God. He knows all and He will judge with righteousness. Our heavenly Father even knows what you are thinking as you think the thoughts, and He has a way of allowing people to pass their own sentence on themselves for committing their own unrighteousness.

II Samuel 12:9 "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."

Again God was telling David that He has given David every thing that he has asked for, yet you have gone out and killed Uriah and taken his wife. David had thought that these sins were hidden and passed over, yet God allowed Nathan the prophet to see all those things clearly.

II Samuel 12:10 "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.' "

II Samuel 12:11 "Thus saith the Lord, `Behold, I will rise 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."

"The sight of this sun" means that it will be done publicly. There will be nothing hidden from the people when this happens. The adultery against David's wives will become a scandal, for because David was unfaithful, God will allow the passions against his wives to be in public exactly as David had done in secret. What goes around will come around in David's house. This taking of David's wives will even be by David's own son, Absalom. Another son will betray David, and all of David's troubles will be from his own family members. Why did God allow this? Because of what David did, and tried to hide from God. God will not go back on his Word, for if He promises something, He will keep His Word; both for good and for punishment and correction.

Friend, if you do fall short of God's commandments, repent and get back to God as soon as you realize what you have done. Trying to hide something will only compound the problem, as it did in David's house.

II Samuel 12:12 "For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun."

What do you do when you are in trouble with God, you will do what David did here.

II Samuel 12:13 "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." "

Once David understood how much this hurt our Father, he repented before the Lord. He admitted to the sins that he did, and confessed it to the Lord. Nathan dressed David down, and allowed David to sentence himself. However, God is not going to kill David, but the rest of the punishment that David pronounced, will be placed upon himself. Don't think that one mistake will cover another, but repent and face up to the punishment. David is going to pay a very serious price before it is all over, for David will never be allowed by God to build the Temple.

II Samuel 12:14 "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."" "

It is very difficult to understand why God would pass the judgment of David on, and take the life of the child. But it was God policy to have this child pay for the sins of the father. However God did pronounce sentence on this child, that was conceived while Uriah was at the battle front. Reasons are given for the death of this child.

God is giving the reason here for taking the life of the child, for had the first born lived, He would have had the right to ascend to the throne after David's death. The heathen or enemies of David saw that this child born out of wedlock and hidden through the death and murder of his mother's husband, and they would use this to blaspheme the Lord. Think of it for a moment. That would have given the Kenites one more reason to scorn and reject Jesus, and call him a fraud. The unbeliever would always see this sinful act that David committed, and it would cause that unbeliever to blaspheme God, as to exactly who was ruling over them. It would seem that taking this child's life was completely unfair, however, God's reasons are always fair, and of a pure motive. We accept those things that happen even though we don't completely understand the reason why.

Their is a veil of understanding between our thinking in the flesh body, with the limits of our human mind. When a child's life is taken, there is a reason that only God knows, and that child is still innocent before the Father, and God has taken that soul home to himself.

II Samuel 12:15 "And Nathan departed unto his house, And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick."

When David returned home and departed from David's house, the sentence that Nathan had just spoke, that David had pronounced on himself, started. The child that was conceived by David and Uriah's wife, was stricken with a fever.

II Samuel 12:16 "David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth."

Remember that Nathan had already told David that this child would die for the kingdom's sake and for the protection of the kingdom. David knew that this was a serious thing that he had done, and he was out to repent all the more. David again was trying to pass the blame on himself, and off the child, so that God would spare this child's life. This child is blameless all the time, for the child has done nothing wrong that would cause this death. However it was God's will for whatever the reason, in God's infinite wisdom that this child's life be taken.

David was blaming himself for everything that is happening here, and this was a growing period in David's spiritual life. David knows that this little baby had nothing to do with what is happening to him.

II Samuel 12:17 "And the elders of the house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them."

II Samuel 12:18 "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?" "

These servants of David that knew, assumed that the news of the child's death would break David's heart and destroy him. For seven days David would not eat but stayed on his face on the ground before the Lord. Of course these servants did not understand what David was going through. They knew only of the sick child, and not of the sins and acts of David that caused David's torments. However David knew.

II Samuel 12:19 "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." "

When David saw the expressions on the servants faces and heard their whispers, he knew that something serious was wrong. So David asked them point blank, "Is the child dead?" The servants verified that the child was dead.

II Samuel 12:20 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."

David knew that the thing that Nathan said would happen, did happen, and David knew that it was God that caused it to happen. It was within God's will. So this comes to a point where many find it hard to understand, for after the death of the child, David picked himself up, cleaned and anointed himself, and put back on his royal clothing. David then sat down and ate a meal as if nothing had happened. This confused even these servants of David.

II Samuel 12:21 "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."

The things that David did here were just the opposite that were common to other people. Usually the mourning starts at the death, and the hope continues while there is life. However, David mourned while there was life, and picked up his hope after life went from the child. The child is dead, and David's weeping is over. Though these servants could see no mourning in David, it was still there in David's heart and mind.

II Samuel 12:22 "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?"' "

David was at least asking; why would the child die? David sought hope, even where there seemed to be no hope. God had already told him that the child would die, yet David sought in repentance, that God would change his mind. Remember the words of God through Nathan? why did you at least ask me and I would have give her to you My way. God's ways are not our ways, and if God seeks to put a person out of the way, that is His business. God arranges things to conform to His will and commandments; and He doesn't want man in the flesh going against those ways.

David arranged for Uriah's murder on the battlefield, when God could have done the arranging in His own ways. God's ways are not our ways. David now is at least asking, but it was Nathan that passed God's death sentence on the child. David now knew that had he asked, if God wanted him to have Bath-sheba, God could have cause Uriah's death in much the same manner.

II Samuel 12:23 "But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I sahll go to him, but he shall not return to me." "

David knew that in his death his soul would return to the Father, just as the soul of this baby that was taken by God. David knew that there was no way that this child's life would return, but the hope that we have in God would join David to his son.

Saul also knew that the soul returns to the Father at death, yet Saul went to the Witch of Endor, and tried to bring back the spirit of Samuel, when he knew that it was impossible. Saul was willing to bring back a fake, an evil spirit dressed up on Samuel, and take the very words that the devil would speak through that wicked evil spirit.

Though the flesh shall go to the grave, David knew that he would face this child before the Father, yet he also knew that he would face Uriah at the same place, before the throne of God. There are no hidden murders before God, for the murderer shall have his day in court before the one judge where there are no secrets. You can not buy off the Almighty, and God will make each murderer face the one that they murdered and true justice will happen in the courts of heaven.

David could not raise anyone from the dead, but the Messiah, Jesus Christ that would come through the lineage of David, and through the womb of Bath-sheba, could and would raise the dead.

II Samuel 12:24 "And David comforted Bath-shebah 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."

"Solomon" means "peace", and the Lord loved Solomon. Solomon would take over the throne of David, and even write several books of the Holy Scriptures. So take what happened after the death of the first child, and see how God brought forth another child. God will fulfill something in Solomon that was not a blaspheme to Himself, but a blessing to both God and man even to our generation. Solomon wrote his book of love for the Father in "The Son of Solomon", and he was very wise in the ways of the man that walks under the sun, in his writings of "The book of Ecclesiastes".

The wisdom of Solomon was the greatest of any man that ever lived, except for Jesus the Christ. Solomon wrote those words giving us the key to wisdom through his book of "the Proverbs". So we see, in God infinite wisdom, even from the first earth age was revealed to Solomon. God knew exactly what He was doing, and in the end it was for the glory of God. Solomon loved God, and the Lord surely loved Solomon.

II Samuel 12:25 "And He sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and He called the name Jedidiah, because of the Lord."

This is also talking about Solomon here, for Nathan did return to David and gave the name that the Lord desired David to name this child. "Jedidiah" in the Hebrew tongue means "loved of Jah", or "Loved of God". David put the name of Solomon on this son of his, yet God wanted the Childs name to be Jedidiah. So his name was changed.

II Samuel 12:26 "And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city."

This is going back in time now to the battle that took place where Uriah had been killed. Joab was the nephew of David and the general over the force of Israel. The capital city of Rabbah has been surrounded and taken by Joab and the Israelites.

II Samuel 12:27 "And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters."

This city of Rabbah was surrounded by waters for the protection of the city.

II Samuel 12:28 "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."

Joab is trying to honor his uncle David, and after the things that happened to David, he felt that this would be a way to lift David's spirits. Joab knew of the plot to kill Uriah, and he took part in fulfilling that plot. He knew that the child that was conceived was now dead, which would have been his cousin, and Joab was trying to bring some pleasure back to David.

II Samuel 12:29 "And David gathered all the People together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it."

II Samuel 12:30 "And he took their king's crown from off his head, and 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."

II Samuel 12:31 "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 brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem."

Remember that there was a good sprinkling of Kenites mixed within these children of Ammon. The Ammonites were the sons of Lot's son Ammon, born to his own daughter after the fall of Sodom. Lot was the Nephew of Abraham, that left Harran with Abraham to travel to the promise land.

So what this verse is saying was that when the war was over, the city was completely destroyed as being a capital city of the Ammorites, and David made laborers out of all of the Ammonites. They were about to build up David's kingdom, building roads, buildings, and what ever was needed to be constructed.

The "brick-kiln" was the place where judgment took place, and as each of the Ammorites passed by one of David's judges, he assigned that person to the task that he would be doing for the rest of their lives. That task would be passed on father to son to many generation. You became a brick layer because your father was a bricklayer, a carpenter or book keeper, or what ever David's judges assigned you to do. Remember that David just had an encounter with the Father, and his life was changed dramatically through the death of his son, and David sought to please God in all that he did. These Ammorites were dealt with fairly in their assignments.

So in the next chapter God will start to bring all the things that He said would come to pass because of David's acts. We will see David and his kingdom starting to go down hill from this point on.

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