4 minute read
Biblical Profiles
by Julie Jenkins
NATHAN
Nathan was a prophet who, like all prophets, heard the Lord’s voice and was responsible for sharing God’s messages. His story is told primarily in 2 Samuel 7 through 1 Kings 1, highlighting his hefty calling that required complete faithfulness to God.
King David, shortly after he settled into his palace, shared with Nathan that he had decided to build a house for the Lord. Being an encourager, Nathan responded, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you” (2 Samuel 7:3 NIV).
But that night, the Lord came to Nathan and gave him a lengthy message for David: In a nutshell, God promised to establish David’s throne forever, but declared that it was to be David’s offspring, not David himself, who would build a temple for the Lord.
The Bible records the prophet’s loyalty. Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation (2 Samuel 7:17 NIV).
How loyal are we in our response to God? Like Nathan, do we listen carefully to God’s instructions and follow through in complete obedience? It can be tempting to listen and respond to the “easy” parts of God’s call on our lives yet ignore the more challenging aspects. Regardless, God calls us to respond and obey fully.
What I admire most about Nathan is not just his faithful obedience to God, but that he never shared God’s mighty words pridefully. Instead, he conveyed each precious message with gentle and direct love. This can be seen later when Nathan is tasked with confronting David about his sin.
2 Samuel 12:1 records The Lord sent Nathan to David (NIV). The Bible reader has just gone through the saga of seeing the great King David fall into a pit of sin. First, David had sex with Bathsheba, who was married, and when she discovered she was pregnant with his child, the King had Bathsheba’s husband killed (you can read the intricacies of this story in 2 Samuel 11). Scripture does not record that the Lord told Nathan HOW to confront David, yet we see Nathan’s gifting of carefully speaking the hard truth in love as he approaches David with a story.
“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” (2 Samuel 12:1-4 NIV).
David, a true man after God’s heart, was appalled by the story, proclaiming, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity” (2 Samuel 12:5-6 NIV).
It is then that Nathan reveals the parallel of the story to David’s own atrocities towards Bathsheba’s husband, leading David to the understanding, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13 NIV).
Nathan had a tough assignment—to point out King David’s sin. And he did, but he did so with love and finesse that brought the king to his knees in repentance.
As we read about Nathan’s life, let’s take these two essential lessons to heart.
First, we are to listen to God carefully and obey Him fully. We can trust He will always guide us in the right direction.
Second, when we are called to speak a painful truth to another, we can—and should—lean on God to guide us to speak with gentle love.
So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run (1 Corinthians 13:13 TPT).
Julie Jenkins WWL co-CEO julie@womenworldleaders.com
