Nathan the Prophet Confronts David
12:1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, Nathan said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.
In the last chapter, David sent a messenger to Joab. Now, Jehovah sent a messenger to David. David was the rich man. Uriah was the poor man.
12:2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
David was the king with ultimate wealth. He inherited the royal harem from Saul.
12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. It used to eat his food, drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. It was just like a daughter to him.
Uriah had nothing but his wife, Bathsheba.
12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler who had come to visit him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked it for the man who had come to visit him.”
Even though David had many wives and a royal harem, he took Bathsheba from Uriah and then murdered Uriah.
12:5 Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
David gave his own sentence. Even if a king breaks the adultery clause of the Mosaic Law, then he and Bathsheba both deserve to die.
12:6 Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!”
David gave his own sentence. He was to pay four-fold. David did not get away with this sin. He lost four sons.
12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.
In secular history, if a prophet walked into the king’s chamber and accused the king of adultery, then the prophet would be executed. Only in Israel are kings condemned by prophets. Jehovah informed David through this prophet that the only reason David was king was because Jehovah chose him to be so and rescued him from the hand of Saul. Saul tried at least seven times to assassinate David, yet he was never successful. Many of these attempts came when David was a teenager. David escaped Saul’s spear attempts twice at point blank range.
12:8 I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well!
Jehovah not only made David the King of Israel, but Jehovah also chose David to give birth to a royal dynastic line which would rule the entire earth during the Messianic Kingdom. Jehovah would have given David even more, maybe even ruler of the whole world at this time.
12:9 Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
King David killed a good man with the sword of the Ammonites.
12:10 So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’
Since Uriah was killed with the sword, then the sword would kill the sons of David.
12:11 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household! Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!
David committed his sexual sins in private. David’s sons will commit their sexual sins in public so that everyone can see it.
12:12 Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’”
These sexual sins will occur in broad daylight before all of Israel. It will be no secret that is covered up by royalty.
12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven your sin. You are not going to die.
Most secular kings committed murder, adultery, and theft every day. Their consciences were seared. They would not feel bad about what they did. Nor would they confess it as sin. To them, theft and murder were simply the politics of the day.
David was a different man than secular kings. He was a man after God’s own heart. He truly felt ashamed of his sin, because he had sinned against God. According to the Mosaic Law, adultery was a capital offense, even for kings. However, Jehovah showed David grace and did not allow him to be executed. God still had things for David to accomplish. David wrote Psalm 51 as a song of repentance.
12:14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”
David’s punishment will be four-fold. The first of his four sons to die will be the son of David and Bathsheba.
12:15 Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill.
Notice that the Holy Spirit called Bathsheba “Uriah’s wife," not David’s wife. Jehovah caused the child to become deathly ill.
12:16 Then David prayed to God for the child and fasted. He would even go and spend the night lying on the ground.
David prayed and fasted, hoping to change God’s mind. However, God had already prophesied that the child would die, so there would be no change of mind.
12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.
David refused to eat or move from his praying position on the ground.
12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!”
The child died seven days later. The servants were afraid to inform David of the death. They had seen David’s behavior when the child was sick. They thought that news of his child’s death might cause David to commit suicide.
12:19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.”
The servants were most likely very quiet around David. When they began whispering to each other, then the silence was broken. David figured out that his child had died.
12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.
After the baby died, David cheered up, washed himself, worshiped God, and ate a healthy meal.
12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”
This change of behavior startled his servants.
12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.
David knew that God is compassionate. He hoped this compassion would lead to a divine change of mind.
12:23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’”
David makes a very strong doctrinal statement about death. The death do not return to the living, but the living return to the dead.
Some theologians use this verse to teach that there is an age of accountability, possibly around twenty or thirty years old. Children were not allowed to serve in the military until they were an adult. The drafting age was twenty years old. Children were not able to become a priest until they became thirty years old. However, these Mosaic laws were not dealing with the age of accountability. They were dealing with draft age during the time of war and the age requirements of becoming a priest. Many nations pass secular laws similar to these of the Bible.
The age of accountability was never mentioned in Scripture. The doctrine of election and predestination supersedes the age of accountability. God chose his elect before the foundations of the world were created. He chose how and when the elect would be saved. Everyone is born dead in sins. Everyone receives a general call to salvation, but it is always rejected. Some receive an efficacious call from God, but this call is irresistible and always accepted. Unless the Holy Spirit makes this dead spirit alive, then every man will reject God and burn in the Lake of Fire forever.
The Bible does not say what happens to babies who die before any kind of age of accountability. In this instance, David claimed that he would go to Sheol to see his baby again. This baby was born with a sin nature, but he never sinned. In this instance, the believer must expect the holy and righteous God to do what is right.
12:24 So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. She gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child
Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon. Solomon means “peace." The messianic seed will pass from David to Solomon.
12:25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that he should be named Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.
Jedidiah means “Beloved of the Lord." This was Nathan’s name for Solomon. He was given this name by Jehovah, because he was being chosen to be the successor to David’s throne. Even David’s adultery was sinful and evil, but God used the adultery for good. One of God’s amazing attributes is that He allows man’s free will to make evil choices, but then God turns these evil choices into good.
David’s Forces Defeat the Ammonites
12:26 So Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city.
Rabbah was the capital of the Ammonites. The Ammonites started a war with Israel when they humiliated the Jewish ambassadors.
12:27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.
Once the water supply was captured, then all of the Ammonite citizens would die of thirst in just a few days. The city would soon be forced to surrender.
12:28 So now assemble the rest of the army and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”
David was supposed to be leading the troops in battle. If he was not present at the capture of the city, then credit would be given to Joab instead of David. It was politically correct for the king to be at the battle and active in its capture. This is why the people were serving David as King. He was not active in his responsibility to the people. The men were fighting for David, but David was not there supporting their efforts.
12:29 So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.
This was a political capture for the sake of the morale of the nation.
12:30 He took the crown of their king from his head – it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, and held a precious stone – and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.
David plundered the city, which added more wealth to the nation of Israel. Israel had cornered the gold market. Israel was the wealthiest nation in the world at this time.
12:31 He removed the people who were in it and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work at the brick kiln. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
The Ammonite cities became tribute cities to Israel.