Teaching By Parables

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Parables have been around for a long time. Many people think of Jesus when they hear the word parable. That’s because Jesus taught often while using parables.

A parable is a story or illustration that is laid alongside something for purposes of comparison and new understanding. Sometimes we become too deep into our own details or situation and can’t always see what we should be doing. A parable can help to focus our attention on someone else’s situation where we can more clearly make a judgment as to what should happen.

An Old Testament parable was told by Nathan to David in 2 Samuel 12. David, as you know, was the king of Israel and was highly favored by God. But he didn’t always do what he should have been doing. In fact, at this particular time David had literally gotten away with murder.

You recall the story of David and Bathsheba and how she had become pregnant with David’s child. David tried to make it look as if Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, was the father, but those plans failed. Ultimately David had Uriah killed and then took Bathsheba to be his wife.

From an outsider’s perspective no one really knew that David had caused the death of Uriah or the pregnancy of Bathsheba. But God knew.

The Lord sent Nathan to speak to David about his situation. Instead of laying out the facts and making the accusation to David, Nathan told a parable. Nathan says the following in 2 Samuel 12:1-4.

There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.

Knowing the facts as we do it is easy for us to see the parallel to David’s situation. But David doesn’t realize that this is about him. He responds in verses 5-6 with anger and says, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Nathan’s next words to David are chilling. “You are the man!”

Nathan continues by laying out the facts as God had revealed them. God had blessed David in many ways. He had protected him from his enemies. He had even provided him with many wives.

Now David had despised the commandments of the Lord. He was the one with no pity and with a self-centered action. And he would be the one now who would bear the consequences.

David knows that his sins have been exposed and he does the right thing and confesses his sins. After all, it wasn’t difficult for David to see the right and wrong in the parable, and he knows that he is clearly in the wrong here.

God put away David’s sin but there were still earthly consequences for David and others to bear. The child that was born to David and Bathsheba would not live. And Nathan foretold also of the fact that David’s house would suffer through adversity. The thing that David did in secret was now being punished in full view.

This use of a parable was very effective. I don’t know how Nathan would have fared had he confronted David in any other way. It certainly would have taken great courage to confront the king and outright accuse him of murder. And even after the parable it still took a great deal of courage to say, “You are the man!”

On Our Daily Walk today, may we try to always see ourselves as others view us. May we also welcome the input of others as they try to help us correct those things that are wrong in our lives.

Our thought for the day: “Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.