The Game of Thrones- Israel’s Experience with Human Kings”
“You Are The Man”
We have been studying a man who lived 3000 years ago, who was a great man, who served a great nation, under a great God, with great passion. His name was David. Keep in mind that sixty-two chapters of the Old Testament are devoted to him. He has almost sixty references in the New Testament. As we return to our series “The Game of Thrones” The kings of Israel I have a question.
What do King David, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton have in common?
They all at one time entered "THE SPIN ZONE." What is "The Spin Zone"? The "Spin Zone" is when you enter into God's "No Sin Zone" out of a lust for power, sex, influence which causes you to sin. In the Garden of Eden God warned Adam and Eve about His "No Sin Zone" and they refused to listen, they entered into "The Spin Zone" and said… it’s not my fault….and you know the rest of the story.
Nixon had his Watergate, Clinton had his Monica-gate and David had his Bathsheba-gate all because they entered "The Spin Zone". If you were to ask the average person, "What do you remember most about King David?" Children would quickly answer, "Goliath." Adults would quickly answer, "Bathsheba." Goliath reminds us of David's greatest victory; Bathsheba reminds us of David's greatest defeat.
When we last left David I noted that it was spring. You can feel the warm breeze blowing in the Jerusalem evening. Clouds are gone. The army is off to war. David’s not. David can’t sleep. He’s restless… Time on his hands.
David took a walk. He pushes aside the curtain. He is enjoying the view from his new palace porch which opened onto the patio roof. A place to sit in the cool of the evening. Above and away from the streets.
(read II Sam.11:1-4)
Even though he was called "a man after God's own heart", a one night stand with a woman named, Bathsheba. When she announces that she is pregnant, David panicked. Panic usually causes poor decisions. David panicked…. He tried to solve the problem by inviting her husband, Uriah, home for a visit. (II Samuel 11:5-17)It did not work.
David had Uriah, murdered. Time goes bye. An outside observer would have felt that David had committed the perfect crime - that he had gotten away with it and that God was either asleep at the wheel or decided to give David a free pass. Joab is in perfect position for future blackmail.
There is a little foot note, just a single sentence at the end of Chapter 11 that reads like this: "But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord." (II Samuel 11:27, NASB)
David may have fooled most, but he hadn't fooled God. God had waited patiently for a year, because God doesn't always settle His accounts at the end of the month but He does settle them.
Two weeks ago I shared a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was hanged at the age of 39 on April 9, 1945 by the Nazi SS. In one of his books he wrote: “The Devil does not fill us with hatred for God, only forgetfulness of God.”
If I read the religious lay-of-the-land, the culture wars are about making a nation forget the “rules God has stated for humanity.” Just remove the “Ten Commandments” then people will forget. “Keep your religion private.” We can create our own man made cultural rules about the sanctity of life and marriage. Which is what our culture is struggling with.
Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, was asked by a reporter; "To what do you attribute your 50 years of successful married life?"
"The formula," said Ford, "is the same formula I have always used in making cars - just stick to one model". Unfortunately his grandson did not follow his grandfather’s example and lost his family and almost lost the Ford Motor company.
II Samuel 12:1 states: "Then the LORD sent Nathan to David." Notice, Nathan did not come on his own. It wasn't his idea to confront David. He was sent by God.
David went twelve months and refused to seek forgiveness. He had managed to knock off six of the Ten Commandments. He had coveted another man's wife, committed adultery, killed her husband, stolen his wife. II Samuel 12 is the beginning of the rest of the story.
Read II Samuel 12
It is obviously not hard to see the symbolism in the story. The rich man is David. The poor man is Uriah. The pet lamb is Bathsheba. The traveler passing by is sin.
I could just imagine that David is literally on the edge of his seat listening to this story. 12 months have gone by. A baby boy has been born. David listens to Nathan and believes that it happened right there in his own city, his temper kicks into high gear.
His blood pressure rises. His pulse rate shoots up. He is really upset. "Then David's said to Nathan, 'As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.'" (II Samuel 12:5-6)
Nathan knows David well enough to know this will not go unpunished. When David passed judgment, he was just keeping what the law demanded. The Bible says in Exodus 22:1, "If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep." (Exodus 22:1)
David wants the man who did this to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the O.T. law. …….Just like a wide-mouthed bass seeing that big juicy worm, David bites hook, line and sinker. With four words, Nathan pulled the line and David found himself hooked. "You are the man!"
David had passed judgment on himself. David thought he was looking through a window, but he was actually looking in a mirror. He was "The Man In The Mirror."
Under the O.T. Jewish law, when you committed adultery, you were to be stoned to death. When you murdered someone, you were to be killed. It was God who spared David’s life. God’s grace saved him. We know God’s grace in the death and resurrection of Jesus …”for it is by grace, through faith that we are saved”, not by our good works.
Because David had seen to it that Uriah had been killed with violence; God through Nathan tells David that violence would never depart from his family. As we will see later, his sin paralyzed David when it came to dealing with sin in the lives of his children. The knowledge of his own sins caused him to do nothing about the sins of his sons.
II Samuel 12:9-14
Remember the parable? Lamb #1…the baby born to Bathsheba and David…died. V 15
LAMB #2. DAVID’S SON AMNON
After Amnon had violated his sister Tamar, Absalom purposed to kill his brother. Two years would pass before he would accomplish his purpose. Absalom had his brother killed…. All David did was exile Absalom from the kingdom for 2 years.
LAMB #3. DAVID’S SON ABSALOM
Absalom later leads a conspiracy against David. His rebellion would end tragically. David’s forces gained a great victory over the insurgents led by Absalom. In fleeing, Absalom was caught by his hair in a large oak tree. A man happened to see Absalom helplessly hanging there and Joab had him killed.
LAMB #4. DAVID’S SON ADONIJAH (Absalom’s younger brother).
When David lay gravely ill. His son Adonijah, seeing his father at the point of death, took advantage of the situation and was in the process of having himself proclaimed king. Bathsheba realizing the extreme gravity of the situation went to David and requested him to name her son Solomon as king, which David did.
Once established on the throne of Israel, Solomon ordered the death of his brother Adonijah. David’s prediction. David’s oath resulted in the death of 4 sons in this “Game of Thrones.”
Recently I came across an article entitled, "What If David Were A Baby-Boomer?" They gave a mock presentation of what King David might have said in today's atmosphere had he been caught red-handed with this type of sin. Just imagine the following:
My fellow countrymen I have requested this airtime on CNN in Israel to speak to you about questions regarding my relationship to a woman you have heard a lot about in recent months. Of course, I am referring to my newest wife, Bathsheba. Many of you have wondered about why we married so soon after the death of one of our national heroes, her late husband, Uriah. Many rumors have been spread concerning the tragic death of our son, shortly after his birth.
I acknowledge there was something inappropriate about my relationship with this woman before our marriage. My assertion, that I did not have sexual relations with my wife before our marriage was technically correct (for she was not my wife before our marriage.) I was also correct when I affirmed that when Uriah was killed in battle I had nothing to do with it, because the battle orders were issued by General Joab. However, I know I did not volunteer to reveal any additional information and you may feel that you have been misled.
There are good reasons why I kept silent these past twelve months and why I made my previous statements. For one thing, I didn't see any reason why I should suffer public embarrassment by a revelation about one of my relationships which is strictly personal. I was also concerned about the impact this information would have on my other wives and my other children. Most of all, I felt like it was grossly unfair to cast a shadow over the integrity of my wife, Bathsheba.
You are probably sensing in my voice, great anger and I believe I have a right to be angry. What happened between Bathsheba and me was a private matter and should have been handled within the royal family. This prophet, Nathan, is simply mean-spirited, a scandal monger, and just looking to cause trouble. This man has not only said that I deserve judgment for what I've done, but has the audacity to predict that I'll have to live with the consequences of my actions the rest of my life.
I come before you today to say, "Enough is enough." This matter is between me and my family and our God. It is not the business of the prophet or anyone else. It should be kept within our family and in the privacy of our personal consciences. In other words, it is time to move on.
My family and I need time to heal from these terrible tragedies we have experienced and from the unmerciful meddling of this nasty, mean-spirited prophet. As a nation, we must face the current threats of the Philistines and the Ammonites. We must deepen our national unity. We must build on the prosperity that I brought to you during my reign and it is time for me to get back to serving the Israeli people.
This will be my last statement on the subject, so good-night. May God bless you and may God bless the United Kingdom of Israel.
God said to Cain and to us: Sin is crouching at your door, you must conquer it. Some of don’t do that very well.
What is knocking at your door?
- Internet Porn
- An in appropriate flirtatious relationship
- A full blown adulterous affair
- Are their other commandments you are throwing out
- A drug or alcohol problem
If you are at the beginning stage of the temptation—get an internet filter for your computer; end the inappropriate relationship; stay away from the bars and those who indulge in drugs or alcohol, find new friends.
The Apostle Paul reminds us to “keep in step with the Holy Spirit.” May it be so.
