Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of II Samuel Chapter 12
Metaphysically Interpreting II Samuel 12:1-15a
12:1And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 12:2The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds; 12:3but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 12:4And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 12:5And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is worthy to die: 12:6and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
12:7And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 12:8and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things. 12:9Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 12:10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 12:11Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12:12For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 12:13And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said unto David, Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 12:14Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. 12:15And Nathan departed unto his house.
August 28, 1927: II Sam. 12:1-10,13
What does Nathan the prophet represent metaphysically? The name, Nathan, means “whom God gave conscience.” It is quite plain that Nathan represents conscience, which is God-given.
What had David done that caused his conscience to protest? David had coveted Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. Uriah had been a captain in David's army. David had him put in the front rank, and he had been killed by the Ammonites. David had then married Bathsheba.
Can conscience be wholly quieted? No. If a man breaks the divine law, his conscience keeps accusing him until he confesses his sin.
David was the chosen of the Lord. How could he commit sin? All persons are subject to sin, until they are regenerated. Even Jesus was tempted to sin, but he knew how to overcome the temptation at its inception.
Explain how to meet temptation and how to escape its allurements. Every act, good or bad, has its cause in the mind. A sinful thought precedes every sinful act. The wise metaphysician cuts off the error thought by denials and in its place sets up a mental current of truth and righteousness.
What do confession of wrongdoing and sincere desire to make amends have to do with retribution? Under divine law one who confessed his sins and asks forgiveness is not punished for having committed them.
Is there a limit to forgiveness? No. Jesus said that a man should forgive his brother “seventy times seven” thus implying unlimited forgiveness.
How do people become unforgiving, hard-hearted, and cruel? Conscience is the God-implanted equalizer of man's moral nature. Man keeps his conscience alive by heeding its monitions. When he smothers his conscience, he is ignoring divine law, and making hard the exercise of forgiveness.
What great lesson do we get from this experience of David's? One of the great lessons taught by this experience of David's is that one should deal at once with an error thought and not let it come to fruition in his consciousness.
How can we determine the right thing to do in our relations with other persons? In order to determine the right thing to do in our relation with other persons, we must develop a sense of justice; also we should pray that the spirit of justice and fairness may abide with us in our dealings with our own faculties and powers with every phase of our organisms, and with other persons.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 11-08-2013
