The Big Reveal

The Big Reveal
Words of Faith 2-10-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2025
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 12:1-7
[1] The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. [2] The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, [3] but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. [4] "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." [5] David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! [6] He must pay for that lamb four times over because he did such a thing and had no pity." [7] Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

How does one confront a king? The whole idea of a king is that they are "sovereign," that is, they have unquestioned power and authority over the people-- even the power of life and death. The monarchy in Israel was different, however. A king in Israel answered to the Lord, and the Lord's tool was the prophet.
The question still remains: How does a prophet approach a king with the error of his ways? The answer is that he does not. This was not something Nathan thought up. It was the Lord who sent Nathan and revealed the truth to Nathan. It was not because of Nathan listening to gossip or conducting an investigation. The Lord was the one who constructed this confrontation. The Lord inspired the parable, which became part of His inspired (God-breathed) Word.
The Lord had been very patient with David. David started by breaking the tenth commandment, coveting (Exodus 20:17), then the seventh, adultery (Exodus 20:14), then the sixth, murder (Exodus 20:13), and finally the ninth as the cover-up was filled with lies (Exodus 20:16). The Lord had allowed David great opportunity to confess and make things right. Here, at last, the Lord called him to account for standing above the Law.
Nathan, the prophet, told David a story about a rich man who, despite having everything, stole a poor neighbor's only ewe (a female lamb) to provide a feast for a guest. David became enraged. He was actually enraged at himself and pronounced that the man who would do such a despicable thing ought to die. Though the Law contained no such penalty for the theft of property, kidnapping was a capital offense. It may be that David viewed the taking of a pet lamb in this light (Exodus 21:16). He went on to demand that the rich man must restore four lambs for the one stolen. Not even the rich man's death could compensate for the poor man's property loss.
There is probably no parable that has ever been used more powerfully to reveal the truth and ultimately turn the brilliant mirror of God's conviction into an offender's face. The nature of the parable is to disarm the hearer and work toward a principle of truth behind the defenses that David had so carefully constructed. Hearing about another person in another setting made it easy for David to be judgmental toward this imagined person.
Jesus would later ask: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye (Matthew 7:3-5).
Nathan used the same human principle-- our tendency to focus on the speck in the eye of another and miss the log in our own-- to reveal the truth about David to him. David was able to quickly become judge and jury regarding a much smaller offense and miss his own much larger and more damaging sin. The truth is that our judgment toward others can sometimes be a mask we wear to hide something in our own lives that we need to deal with.
There is nothing that Jesus addressed more harshly than religious hypocrisy. Jesus confronted the religious leaders, calling them hypocrites-- or literally "mask-wearers" from the Greek. He confronted the religious leaders for holding one stringent set of standards for others while holding a more lax set for themselves. If you want to read the scorching condemnation of such practices, check out Matthew chapter 23.
The point is that we need to look inside. First and foremost, we need to apply the illumination of the Spirit and the truth of God's Word to ourselves. One of the signal flares to look at in ourselves is what we tend to judge in others. Even a simple list of my "pet peeves" will often reveal what I hate in myself... and might be quick to judge or attack in others.
David would later pray these words: For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me (Psalm 51:3). This was actually a most liberating day. The truth was out. The great breakthrough comes when we discover our sin, whether through the revelation by a prophet or the illumination of the Word and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The most significant day is when we discover God's grace is equal to every need, even this one.

Father God, reveal in me the sin that You desire to dig out, cleanse, and eradicate through the power of Your grace and Spirit. Reveal in me my transgressions and iniquities. Show me the things You desire to change. Tear off the masks. Create in me a clean heart, O God, according to Your unfailing love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.