There are many brave men and women of God in the pages of the Bible, but we usually associate bravery with being a strong warrior not a bold prophet! Nathan was a brave prophet who had to deliver a tough word to the King of Israel. It takes courage, risk, and a resolve to deliver a word that others may not want to hear. As we see with most prophets in the Bible, God prepared Nathan before he was ready for his most difficult task.
The scripture tells us that:
But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 1Corinthians 14:3
Exhort (According to Webster’s dictionary): urge strongly, to give warnings or advice, make urgent appeals
Any prophet, including Nathan, has to learn to hear God well, and deliver the word of the Lord accurately and in the proper time. This takes years of training and practice. Giving exhortations or warnings are not an easy task. God is gracious enough that He starts prophets with smaller/less serious messages. When the prophet of God has obeyed God, taken the risk, and done what God has called him/her to do, God increases the territory and the intensity of the assignment.
While the Bible doesn’t give us much detail about God’s training and preparation of Nathan, we see an incident where Nathan had to stand before King David and deliver a challenging word before delivering his most difficult message to King David.
Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.”
Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 2Samuel 7:1-6
King David desired to build a house for God. At first, Nathan spoke from his own emotions and confirmed what King David planned to do. However, God spoke to Nathan and told him to tell David that He hasn’t asked him to build a house for Him. Nathan as a prophet of God was an advisor to King David. The King was wise enough to put himself in a position to receive counsel from Nathan, recognizing that he has the word of the Lord for him. Nathan had the courage to deliver a word that the King may not have wanted to hear, but Nathan did it anyway.
Are you able to separate your own emotions and ideas and be willing to hear God for someone else? This is not an easy task. When we love and respect someone, we like to see them succeed in whatever they put their hands to. However, there are times that God may not want them to do the thing they have set out to do, even if it is for His kingdom. It is important to cultivate such a relationship with God, that we can hear Him beyond our own affections for someone, otherwise we may not be qualified to deliver the word of the Lord to them.
If you are on the receiving end of a prophetic word, are you willing to listen humbly to the message, and take it to the Lord (not your friend) for His confirmation? If the Lord has a word of correction/warning to us through someone, most likely He has tried to get our attention in other ways, and we weren’t listening. It is important to not miss the word of the Lord even if it hurts a bit.
We have much to learn from Nathan and other Godly prophets who risked so much to be God’s mouthpiece on the earth. I will continue with Nathan’s toughest challenge in the next devotional.
Lord, open our eyes and ears to see and hear what you are revealing. Give us also the courage and the wisdom to know what to do with your word. Amen.