“Adonai sent Natan to David. He came and said to him, ‘In a certain city, there were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had vast flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing, except for one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and reared. It had grown up with him and his children; it ate from his plate, drank from his cup, lay on his chest — it was like a daughter to him.’“-2 Samuel 12:1-3
The time for David’s reckoning had arrived.
However, it snuck in the back door indirectly.
When the Lord sent Natan to confront David…
Natan didn’t deliver his message as coming from the Lord.
Instead, he began by telling a story about how a rich man took advantage of a poor man.
However, it wasn’t told as a tale that concludes with a moral lesson.
Instead, it was presented as a court case requiring the king’s ruling.
The situation was that a wealthy man had suddenly received an unexpected guest whom he decided to entertain.
Since the occasion required the preparation of food, an animal was needed.
However, instead of taking one from his abundant provisions…
The rich man took the poor man’s one and only lamb and cooked it for the meal.
This was a cruel act.
David was incensed when he heard what the rich man did.
He said…
“As Adonai lives,
the man who did this deserves to die!
For doing such a thing,
he has to pay back four
times the value of the lamb
— and also because he had no pity.”
Upon hearing that, Natan let David have it:
“YOU are that man,” he tells him.
From that point onward, Natan’s words were no longer his own but the Lord’s.
In other words, the Lord’s oracle would begin from verse 8.
We’ll dive into the words of that divine pronouncement the next time we meet…
But for now, let’s transition over to the takeaway.
The lesson is this:
Just as Yeshua used parables when communicating eternal truths to his audience…
So did Natan, when he confronted David.
Why was this so effective?
It drove the point home without raising defenses.
David had no idea he was the one being targeted.
Yet after the story…
Natan didn’t need to pronounce judgment on David…
Because David had already pronounced judgment on himself.
He had admitted he was guilty as charged…
And there was no escaping it.
We’ll continue the next time we meet.
In Judaism, we call a story with a moral ending a “Drash”.
People don’t always like to hear direct accusations, but they love a good story.
By telling a story, by the time the meaning is understood the story has already become etched in one’s mind, and it is hard to forget it later when you want to deny that it relates to you.
Yup. A story instructs without bruising the ego because people don’t see it as about them.
It’s only afterward that they realize, “Hey, there’s a lot to that story I can apply to my own life.”