Article June 9, 1945 Issue

Nathan's Method

FRANK A. UPDEGRAFF

Nathan is known to readers of the Scriptures as a prophet and counselor in the reigns of David and Solomon, kings of Israel. What is written about him begins with an interview in which David, the king, told Nathan that he himself dwelt in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord was sheltered in a tent. The king explained that it was his desire to build a house for the ark to dwell in.

Presumably the design of the king so pleased Nathan that he ventured to approve of it without having first received God's sanction and guidance. That night, however, he was commanded by divine authority to go and tell David that, while heretofore he had been greatly favored and would continue to be blessed, he was not the one chosen to build such a house. This great work was to be accomplished by his son who would succeed him as king of Israel (II Samuel, chapter 7; I Chronicles, chapter 17).

Subsequently it became Nathan's duty to reprove David, the king, and to warn him of the evil that would befall his house because of an offense against God and the moral law. In carrying out this mission the prophet first brought to the king's attention, as if seeking advice, the case of two men. One was very rich, owning many flocks and herds; the other owned nothing but a ewe lamb that he loved dearly. A traveler having come to the rich man's home, this man, who had many flocks and herds, instead of taking from his own flocks, took the poor man's lamb and slew and dressed it for his guest. The king listened to the facts as graphically presented by Nathan, and, failing to see that it was a parable, decreed that the rich man should die, and the lamb be restored fourfold.

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