Chapter 6 of Second Samuel deals with irreverant transport of the Ark of God from Abinadab’s house to Jerusalem. For more on that find my sermon entitled ‘Doing the right things in the wrong way’. Here I want to deal with Nathan’s prophesy about David’s son building a house for Jehovah and his rebuke of King David. Yet there is great mercy given David. Much of this story relates directly to Yeshua.
— Prophesy of Nathan regarding David’s son and heir
We start hearing from Nathan the prophet in Chapter 7 of 2nd Samuel.
For he tells David:
2 Sam 7:12-16:: When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever (ôlām) before you. Your throne shall be established forever (ôlām).
nathan means to give, bestow, grant, ascribe, or devote. Actually Jonathan is made of two hebrew words jeho- and nathan meaning Jehovah has given or even Jehovah is gracious.
A maskill of Ethan the Ezrahite also speaks of God’s covenant with David for all generations:
Ps. 89:3-4:: I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David:
‘Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’ Selah
Lest we forget much later the Jonathan that was the beloved by Yeshua. Even though King David had no son called Jonathan, we see the son of David, Yeshua, having a faithful friend called Jonathan who never abandons him, even at his greatest point of need. I never realized this before but Yochanan (CJB) is the same name Jonathan which was missing from King David’s life after the battle at Gilboa. The twist is that the first Jonathan died and the second one lived to a very old age.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women (2 Sam. 1:26)
It is probably Solomon himself who wrote the Song of Solomon. He himself penned the idea what the Shulamite Bride said of her beloved (Sos 2:16, 5:8).
SoS 2:16:: The Shulamite: My beloved is mine, and I am his. See also sermon entitled ‘Beautiful and Beloved Church (Song of Solomon)’ first done in June 2024.
It is by no coincidence that Yeshua’s best friend, his most beloved friend was names after David’s best friend Jonathan. The Shulamite is represented by the church. It was also Jonathan, David’s best friend who loved him so much. Can you not see the tapestry of love that God has played before our hearing!
Of course the house that Solomon eventually builds for Jehovah is nothing compared to the house that Yeshua builds for us. For he now lives by the human heart, despite it’s imperfections and wicked thoughts.
The fact of King David not building the house of God is not unlike the situation of Abraham not being able to sacrifice his son, his only son. Things have to wait for the son to build the house of God. Literally that of Solomon, but spiritually that of Yeshua.
— David Sins Against God and Man (Uriah & Bathsheba)
2 Sam. 12 – Nathan confronts King David about taking the one little ewe lamb, Bathsheba. King David had his pick of many women in the kingdom yet lusts after the one wife of Uriah the Hittite.
The name Bathsheba is linguistically related to Beershiva. The town Beershiva means well of seven or well of an oath. Bathsheba is daughter of seven or daughter of an oath. Be’er means well, Bat means daughter. The oath came about because of the seven ewe lambs Abraham set apart to give to Abimelech as witness that he had dug the well there.
From what I looked up, Bathsheba might have been David’s seventh wife. The idea of the one ewe lamb being stolen might have hit home for David as he considered both his oath to follow God and the seven ewe lambs offered up by Abraham.
After the story of Nathan about a rich man stealing a poor man’s only lamb King David was greatly angered.
2 Sam. 12:5:: David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! He shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.
This is accordance with Torah.
Ex. 22:1:: If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
The fourfold restoration of sheep is expressed by the words of wee little Zacchaeus who climbed the Sycamore tree to see what he could see which was Yeshua passing by.
Luke 19:8:: Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
We do not know if Zacchaeus cheated anyone out of sheep or oxen but he felt compelled to do over and above and restore four-fold. Notice in verse 1 that Yeshua was passing through Jericho which I will speak more of regarding King David and Bethsheba. Needless to say there were blind men on the road going through Jericho.
One is the case of blind Bartemaeus.
Luke 18:38:: 35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. Upon hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by so he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Bartimaeus calls out a second time, even louder. We shall also come back to the idea of mercy when it comes to King David needing it himself. Going back to Nathan’s rebuke. He says to David:
2 Sam. 12:9:: Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
There is a penality for what Nathan spoke. It is death:
Ex. 21:14:: if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar (if there for protection), that he may die.
After David was confronted by Nathan he penned Psalm 51 to express his sorrow and repentance for the death of Uriah and taking his wife. But it was too late. Nathan already proclaimed the prophesy which was to plague David for years to come, and that in his own household.
2 Sam. 12:10-11:: Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
The second part of Nathan’s prophesy was to come to pass more quickly. The bastard child of David and Bathsheba’s adulterous affair would soon die. Justice had to come with a penalty!
As for David’s sin, it was acquitted.
2 Sam. 12:13:: David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away (āḇar) your sin; you shall not die.
This putting away is a passing over of sin.ʿThe word is āḇar (aw-bar’) is often used as passing over like across a river, or the spirit passing through a sacrifice, or even someone passing by. It is also the same word used of Bethsheba while she was mourning (passing through) the grief of her husband dying.
The death angel passed over the children of Israel in Egypt (Exodus 12). Note that in Exodus verse 11 it is āḇar but in verse 12 it is pāsaḥ (paw-sakh’). I attached an article that argues the idea of Pesach is more than passing over but also includes mercy which is what David got. It is quite curious the only time we see pāsaḥ used in relation to King David is in regards to Mephibosheth. He fell and became (pāsaḥ) lame (2 Sam. 4:4). Mephibosheth ultimately was the most favored of Saul’s (grand)children. He had many, many children.
I believe there is a very subtle but intentional mercy given to Bathsheba. She ultimately births Solomon which is the King who builds the first temple. Also, remember that Jacob wrestled with an angel of God at Peniel and the angel touches his hip which was put out-of-place and made him limp (Genesis 32). It does not say Mephisobeth was lame from a messed up hip joint but rather in his feet. The amazing thing I see is that the hebrew word for Passover has two meanings. The second meaning is to limp or be lame. God has a message here about his mercy, even for those with physical difficulties.
Zacchaeus was there when Yeshua passed through Jericho. Yeshua also healed blind Bartemaeus who also wanted the mercy shown to King David. It seems Yeshua was always aiming to end up in Jerusalem. He may have passed by Jericho several times but his mercy endures forever.
Sources:
https://outorah.org/p/5710 (passover meaning)
https://millingtonbaptist.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Background-Notes-on-1-and-2-Samuel.pdf
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