Nathan

Adjective: Courageous

There are only a few men of God of whom the Bible is silent when it comes to their sins, or even their weaknesses. No doubt they had them, but they are hidden from us. Perhaps Nathan (like Moses, Jeremiah, Gideon, Elijah and others) complained to God when he was told that his irksome task was to tell a king that he was a murdering adulterer, and that God had seen his sin. Perhaps Nathan thought about how David had already committed murder, how he didn’t hesitate to remove the head of Goliath, and how with one nod of the king’s head, Nathan’s could be removed.

But we are not told of any such discourse between God and the prophet. And even if he did whine in prayer, Nathan was faithful to the task God set before him. David had committed the serious crime of not only taking another man’s wife, but of murdering him to cover up his offense, and he had to be confronted with his sin. So what did Nathan do? Did he change this punitive message with which God had entrusted him? Did he instead come before the king and say,

“David, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life; but there is something that is stopping you enjoying this wonderful plan. It’s your sin. Nevertheless, ‘All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God’.”

Why would he do that? David was a criminal and he had to be confronted with the crimes he had committed against God. To speak of some “wonderful plan” to a criminal would be ridiculous and extremely inappropriate. It would be like a prosecuting attorney suddenly talking about a wonderful plan to Charles Manson or some other mass murderer, and ignoring or diluting his crimes. Such a scenario would be unthinkable. And yet that’s the message of much of modern evangelism.

To be continued.