The Verdict of Nathan

I often wonder where Amnon was
the day the prophet Nathan came
into the palace to rebuke David
over the Uriah scandal.
Amnon would have been a young lad,
the crown prince enjoying his young
life and innocence.
Tamar would have been a young pretty
princess basking in the ambiance of
her father’s splendor
Absalom would have been the
happy-go-lucky prince
Each of them growing at their own
pace until the prophet uttered the
words that altered the course of
their lives.
The prophet said God told him to tell
King David that “Out of your own
household, i am going to bring calamity
on you. Before your very eyes, I will
take your wives and give them to one
who is close to you and he will sleep
with your wives in broad daylight.
You did it in secret but I will do this
thing in broad daylight before all Israel”
It was a just verdict, David had used
his throne to oppress Uriah by sleeping
with Uriah’s wife and when the reality
of his wickedness dawned on him he
didn’t bite the bullet and take
responsibility.
He killed an innocent and faithful man
just so that he could take his wife for
himself.
Had Moses been the one wielding the
sword of justice, David would have been
beheaded or stoned to death
According to the Law of Moses, it was
an eye for an eye and a life for a life.
David assumed he had gotten away
with murder until God showed up
through the Prophet Nathan
The prophet came on to David subtly
byway of a parable
David listened to the parable and
pronounced judgment the way a fair
King should, the prophet turned the
judgment on David like a Nuclear
warhead and declared that David
will not escape the consequences
of his actions.
Those pronouncements had been
the subject of my ponderings for many
days I had been considering in my heart
how the word of God controls human
destiny effortlessly
As soon as those words were uttered
they gained life and began to make
room in the reality of all those who
would play a part in its ultimate
fulfillment
David had a brother called Shimeah
Shimeah had a son whose name was
Jonadab
Jonadab had a reputation for craftiness
Amnon became close cousins with
Jonadab
The spirit of lust and obsession came
upon Amon, the target of the spirit was
Tamar
Out of all the ladies in Israel, Amon
lusted after the sister of a prince
whose mother was a princess from Geshur
Absalom’s grandfather was the King of
Geshur
Absalom had a kingdom to escape to
in case of an emergency
It was a little bit too tidy
The pawns in the game didn’t know they
were not the ones in charge of their
actions
Amnon didn’t see lusting after his
half-sister for what it was-incest
Jonadab,Amnon’s cousin didn’t see far
enough to desire to preserve Amnon’s
position as the crown prince because
it is that position that gave him
relevance
As crafty as he was, he advised Amnon on
how he could lure Tamar to his room and
rape her Tamar didn’t suddenly fall ill
on that fateful dayJust like Amnon, she
was to bear the brunt of her father’s
evil deed
She fell for the evil plan devised by
Jonadab and Amnon executed the plan to
perfection
As soon as Amnon finished raping Tamar,
the evil spirit left him
Suddenly the glow and comeliness he saw
in Tamar faded and he saw her for who
she truly was
Worse than that, he saw his handiwork and
what he saw didn’t impress him
He told Tamar to GET OUT of his room
Tamar tried to reason with him
According to the law of Moses, if a
virgin of Israel was raped, she must
tear her clothes and cry from the point
where she was raped
to her parent’s house so that she will not
be found guilty of willfully surrendering
her virginity outside of wedlock
Tamar told Amnon, she would have to do
this if thrown out and it would mark him
as a rapist (could affect his chance of
becoming King, would make the whole
nation see him as irresponsible etc)
Tamar offered a soft landing”
Take responsibility for your action by
marrying me
It is not a taboo and our father would
say YES!
“Amnon listened but hedidn’t hear
Another evil spirit had taken him over
The Spirit of hateHe was the one that
wronged her and he was the one that
hated her
He was blind and deaf to reason
He threw Tamar outTamar tore her
clothes and cried all the way home
Absalom heard what happened and at once
was prodded in the direction of
vengeance
The King heard what happened and did
nothing
This further strengthened the resolve of
Absalom to take law into his own hands
Amnon did not realize by this time that
he was living on borrowed timeAbsalom
had him in the scopes of his rifle
Absalom found a way to get close to
Jonadab (Remember Jonadab the
crafty one?)
Absalom told Jonadab he wanted revenge
Jonadab told Amnon how to get it during
the sharing season (Was Jonadab, not
Amnon’s best friend?)
There was a spirit of error at work,
and it was setting the house of David
against itself
The sharing season arrived Absalom
invited the King to his feast
The King declined
Absalom invited all the princes
The King gave his consent
Amnon didn’t think twice about dining
with his half-brother whose sister he
raped
He got on a mule and went to the feast
Jonadab, a member of the royal household
who ought to be at the feast chose that
day to stay with David at the palace
He and Absalom had planned how to
break the news to King David in such
a way that the king will know what
was done and why
Jonadab was the one tasked with
explaining the deed to the King
Absalom killed Amnon
The other princes fled
There was commotion everywhere
The news David heard was that all the
princes had been killed
David was about to react Jonadab
immediately started doing damage
control (2 Samuel 13:32)
He explained toDavid (without leaving
the palace) that it was only Absalom
that was killed and he stated the
reason as vengeance for the rape of
Tamar.
The King ought to act at this point
but the Word of the prophet was still
at work
David was powerless to act because
the word had not been fulfilled.
After some years, Absalom struck a
deal with Joab and using a woman
of Tekoa as an emissary, Joab was
able to convince David to allow
Absalom to come back to Israel
(2 Samuel 14)
Some years later, Absalom plotted
a coup and took the throne of David
This time another wise man named
Ahitophel told him to pitch a tent
on the rooftop and sleep with King
David’s concubines so that the nation
of Israel will know for sure that
he had burnt the bridge between
himself and his father
Absalom did it and by so doing
fulfilled to the letter the words
of prophet Nathan.

PS: The more I meditated on the story
above, the more I realized that the word
of one prophet was so potent that
practically everybody around David’s
throne was affected by it
The word altered reality changed
perceptions, informed decisions,
plotted, schemed, and manipulated
everybody until it came to pass
Prophet Nathan was not a believer,
he didn’t know the Holy Spirit the way
we do, he wasn’t a joint heir with Christ.
He wasn’t a partaker of the divine
nature
If his words could be that powerful
Guess what your word can do when
spoken by the Spirit

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