Get Truth Get Life

Through Faith, Nathan gave advice,

A light amid the darkest skies,

With wisdom drawn from sacred scrolls,

He echoed truths that made hearts whole.

Through faith, Prophet Nathan rebuked,

Let’s embrace the truth from the Holy Book,

Through faith, let’s heed the words divine,

Reproofs that shape, refine, and realign.

Through Faith, Nathan taught with love,

Inspired by the Heavenly Father from up above,

He feared nobody; only God he did serve,

Guided by His Word with steadfast nerve.

Through Faith, Nathan anointed Solomon,

Through Faith, Nathan stood with courage strong,

Through trials faced and battles won,

He trusted God, the Great Almighty One.

Hebrews 11:32-35 (KJV) – “³² And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: ³³ Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. ³⁴ Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”

Our focus is going to be on the faith of Prophet Nathan. According to the Strong Exhaustive Concordance, the name Nathan means giver. The Bible says in Romans 12:1 (KJV) – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Nathan lived sacrificially by offering his service to advance God’s kingdom and for the benefit of His people. He is first mentioned in 2 Samuel 7:2 and 1 Chronicles 17:1 as an advisor to King David.

It is essential and would result in tremendous benefits for government and business leaders to have spiritual advisors. Unfortunately, many leaders have placed a higher value on intellectual advisors than spiritual advisors. Therefore, it is not strange to see governments and organizations lacking spiritual counselors. Spiritual mentors are important because life is spiritual. Everything we see in the physical realm began in the spiritual realm. For example, every building, vehicle, organization, and anything made by man started as an idea in the mind.

The Bible says in Hebrews 11:3 (KJV) – “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” God initiated this law because He created every visible thing through His invisible Word. The first step we should take when facing any life problem is addressing it spiritually before thinking of a physical solution. Pray first when you face a challenge, and you will be surprised when the Holy Spirit gives you an effective tactic you had not thought of before.

David had Nathan as one of his spiritual advisors. Spiritual advisors that are filled with the Holy Ghost are more effective than all secret service agents combined. They can give you intelligence of what your enemies are plotting against you. They can give you more vital information than no intellectual person can. Nathan announced to David the covenant God made with him, promising him an everlasting dynasty and a future temple (2 Samuel 7:4-17, 1 Chronicles 17:1-15).

1 Chronicles 17:1-4 (KJV) – “¹ Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains. ² Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. ³ And it came to pass the same night, that the Word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in.”

Building God’s house is a noble thing. David wanted to engage in that honorable and gallant assignment of making a place for the Lord. In his heart, he felt guilty that he lived in a house of cedar while the Ark of the Covenant dwelt in a tent. This feeling was a Godly emotion. Prophet Nathan agreed with David before consulting God. However, God did not want him to build the temple. Therefore, God told Nathan to tell David not to build it. David heeded the words of Nathan. Solomon built the temple of God when he reigned as king. We see here that through Nathan’s advice, God’s will was carried out efficiently and effectively. Had it not been for Nathan, David would have wasted a lot of time building the temple and neglected the essential duties God required of him.

2 Samuel 11:22-27 (AMP) – “²² So the messenger left, and he came and told David everything that Joab had sent him to report. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men indeed prevailed against us and came out to us in the field, but we were on them and pushed them as far as the entrance of the [city] gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” ²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab this, ‘Do not let this thing disturb you, for the sword devours one [side] as well as another. Strengthen your battle against the city and overthrow it; and so encourage Joab.” ²⁶ When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ And when the time of mourning was past, David sent word and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done [with Bathsheba] was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

David sinned by devising a plan that killed Uriah and took Bathsheba, his wife. He had done that because he had slept with Bathsheba, and she was expecting his child. The Lord sent Nathan to inform David about the sin he had committed.

This is the account:

2 Samuel 12:1-11 (KJV) – “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. ² The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 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. ⁴ And there came a traveller 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. 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: ⁶ And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 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; 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 too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 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. 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. ¹¹ Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise 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.”

“Nathan the prophet was bidden to bear a message of reproof to David. It was a message terrible in its severity. To few sovereigns could such a reproof be given but at the price of certain death to the reprover. Nathan delivered the divine sentence unflinchingly, yet with such heaven-born wisdom as to engage the sympathies of the king, to arouse his conscience, and to call from his lips the sentence of death upon himself. Appealing to David as the divinely appointed guardian of his people’s rights, the prophet repeated a story of wrong and oppression that demanded redress.” – Patriarchs and Prophets, Page 720.5, Ellen G. White.

David knew Nathan because he was his spiritual advisor, but God did not send Nathan immediately after David had sinned. He sent him after Bathsheba had given birth to her son. Nathan did not tell David the truth immediately. This is because truth has timing. God used various prophets in the Bible to preach truth to the people at different times for a reason. He would have used one man to give people the truth, but He did not do that. Therefore, before you preach the truth, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you on the proper timing. The reason is that timing goes along with relevance.

One message may be more relevant at a particular time than the other. For example, the prophecy that Isaiah gave about the first coming of Jesus Christ was more relevant before Jesus came than it would have been after Jesus came. At times, I might have prepared to preach a particular sermon to a congregation; just before I preach it, the Holy Spirit prompts me not to preach that message but instead a different sermon.

Sometimes, when I’m about to write a Christian devotional article, the Holy Spirit prompts me not to write it and write another one instead. I have left some devotional articles incomplete and unpublished because the Holy Spirit prompted me that it was not the correct time to write them. For example, before I wrote this, I was supposed to write about the faith of Esther, but I left it aside to write this. Truth has timing, and it is God who knows the perfect timing.

Secondly, through the wisdom of God, Nathan tactfully rebuked David of his sin. He did not come harshly or disrespectfully when telling David about the sin he had committed. He cleverly packaged the message in a way that did not offend the king. I have seen people who, once they know of a particular truth, are filled with rage to rebuke those going against it. For example, the Bible says that the Seventh Day is the Sabbath, and it is true that God ordained the Sabbath day to be on the Seventh Day. The Sabbath is a specific day that God has set, not just any day of the week. When giving this commandment, God says in Exodus 20:8-11 (AMP) – “⁸ Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].”

The fact that the commandment uses the definite article ‘the’ means that it is a specific day and not just any other day. Where Sabbath is mentioned in the Old and the New Testaments clearly shows that it is a specific day. For example, the Bible says in Luke 23:54 (GNT), “⁵⁴ It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” It also says in Matthew 28:1 (GNT) – “After the Sabbath, as Sunday morning was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.” The Sabbath is a specific day from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. The majority of the Christian population doesn’t keep the correct Sabbath. I don’t want to get deep into the Sabbath subject lest I deviate from the topic (you can study more about it on your own if you would love to).

Returning to how to preach the truth, some people get highly energized when they learn various Bible truths, such as the Sabbath. As a result, they go around preaching it with anger and condemnation. Instead of aiming to convert souls, they get into some competition to show the other party how wrong they are. I have often witnessed religious wars on social media where people are arguing with rage, one party telling the other how they will burn in hell. These fights are common when there is a discussion between Muslims and Christians. These fights are also common among Sabbath-keeping and non-Sabbath-keeping Christians. In the end, nobody gets converted because the Holy Spirit is not a supporter of strife and contention.

The Bible says in Philippians 2:3 (KJV) – “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” This verse tells us that we should not do anything out of strife and vainglory. When we preach out of strife, we are wasting time and doing more harm than good. Nathan did not want God’s message to go to waste. Therefore, he told David the truth in love. He started the narration with a story in a parable-like style. Jesus used parables to simplify the gospel, correct the wrongs in society, and make more people accept the message. How we preach the truth and the timing, we use to preach the truth matter.

Thirdly, Nathan took the message directly to David. He did not go through his servant or family member because that message did not concern them. It concerned David. Therefore, when preaching or speaking truth, we should give it to the right person. The relevance of a message should be in line with the audience. You cannot teach people a lesson about hairdressing in a class that teaches computer programming. The hairdressing lesson is beneficial but to the wrong audience.

Therefore, when someone wrongs you, you won’t improve the situation by telling another person about someone else’s wrongdoing without telling the person who wronged you directly. Doing that will make you guilty of gossip, and there won’t be much difference between you and the person who wronged you. Nathan went straight to David. If you disagree with a leader’s ideas and mode of leadership, it is better to approach that leader directly and tell them of your grievances than to gossip. Nathan approached David directly because he was the right person to receive that message. King David repented after hearing God’s Word through Nathan.

“The prophet’s rebuke touched the heart of David; conscience was aroused; his guilt appeared in all its enormity. His soul was bowed in penitence before God. With trembling lips he said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” All wrong done to others reaches back from the injured one to God. David had committed a grievous sin, toward both Uriah and Bathsheba, and he keenly felt this. But infinitely greater was his sin against God.” – Patriarchs and Prophets, Page 722.1, Ellen G. White.

Nathan did a lot to further the gospel of God. He wrote histories of the reigns of David and Solomon, which may be now lost but may have been sources for the books of Samuel and Kings (1 Chronicles 29:29, 2 Chronicles 9:29). Nathan helped Solomon become king by informing David of Adonijah’s plot and anointing Solomon at the Gihon spring (1 Kings 1:8-45). He was also involved in the temple’s music, along with other prophets (2 Chronicles 29:25). When people heard the temple’s music; they bowed down to worship God. Gospel music should not be undermined because it puts people in the right mood and provides the proper atmosphere of worshipping God.

Nathan was a faithful prophet who served God and the kings of Israel with courage and wisdom. He was David’s friend and advisor and a fearless messenger of God’s truth. He was a man of integrity and honor who sought to glorify God in all he did.

GOD BLESS YOU!

Prayer

Dear God, help me always to speak the truth in love. Please help me to say it at the right time, in the right way, and to the right person. Please give me your spirit to always guide me on what I should say. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Activity

1. Do you have a spiritual advisor? If you do, create a schedule of the days and times you are going to meet them.
2. List people whom you can mentor spiritually and create a plan of how you are going to mentor them.

Author: Mark Alex   

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