10 Aug. Nathan the prophet rebukes David
“The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, he said, ‘There were two men in a city. One was rich, but the other was poor. The rich man had many sheep and cattle. But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb he had bought.’”
“’The poor man fed the lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup and slept in his arms. The lamb was like a daughter to him.’”
“’Then a traveller stopped to visit the rich man. The rich man wanted to feed the traveller, but he didn’t want to take one of his own sheep or cattle. Instead, he took the lamb from the poor man and cooked it for his visitor.’”
“David became very angry at the rich man. He said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this should die! He must pay for the lamb four times for doing such a thing. He had no mercy!’”
"Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, “I appointed you king of Israel and saved you from Saul. I gave you his kingdom and his wives. And I made you king of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you even more.”’”
“’”So why did you ignore the LORD’s command? Why did you do what he says is wrong? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and took his wife to be your wife! Now there will always be people in your family who will die by a sword, because you did not respect me; you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself!”’”
“’This is what the LORD says: “I am bringing trouble to you from your own family. While you watch, I will take your wives from you and give them to someone who is very close to you. He will have sexual relations with your wives, and everyone will know it. You had sexual relations with Bathsheba in secret, but I will do this so all the people of Israel can see it!”’”
“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan answered, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You will not die. But what you did caused the LORD’s enemies to lose all respect for him. For this reason the son who was born to you will die.’”
“Then Nathan went home. And the LORD caused the son of David and Bathsheba, Uriah’s widow, to be very sick. David prayed to God for the baby. David refused to eat or drink. He went into his house and stayed there, lying on the ground all night… On the seventh day the baby died…”
(2 Samuel 12:1-18)
In today’s passage, we find Nathan the prophet telling a parable – an earthly story with a heavenly meaning – to rebuke David for his relationship with Bathsheba.
Nathan tells a story about a rich man who has many cattle and sheep, and contrasts this wealthy person with a poor man who has just one pet lamb that he is very fond of. When a traveller arrives to visit the rich man, instead of using his own riches to supply him with a meal, he steals the poor man’s lamb and serves it up for supper.
David is justifiably angry at the actions of the rich man because “He had no mercy!” (2 Samuel 12:6). Nathan then reveals that the story is about David’s treatment of Uriah the Hittite. He had only one precious ‘lamb’ – his wife Bathsheba – but, despite all his wealth, David stole the one thing Uriah treasured, and then sent him to die “with the sword of the Ammonites” (2 Samuel 12:9).
David is mortified and admits that he has sinned against the LORD. Nathan then tells David that God will punish him for his sin. He will not die, but one of his own family will take his wives away from him and have sexual relations with them in order to humiliate Him.
Furthermore, the son who was born to him as a result of his affair with Bathsheba will die. And as we read later in the passage, this is what, sadly, came to pass.
The photo (by Ricardo Tulio Gandelman) shows the Gihon Spring and the City of David.
You can read more about David @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/30-israel-becomes-a-kingdom-under-saul-and-david/davids-affair-with-bathsheba/