Oh God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Study the lesson as heard today in many services,
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me;* (before you) your throne shall be established for ever.David is going to be pleased to hear that, even if it means that his offspring may get smacked around a few times for being naughty.
But is that really what Nathan was instructed to tell David, and why did God send Nathan to the king in the first place?
To answer those questions, we need to fill in the missing verses (1-3 and 5-7) which I will highlight in red. Read the whole thing once again,
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders* of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me;* your throne shall be established for ever.Uh oh, the King is not going to be happy to hear that. What a difference a few verses make. Thanks to the red line verses we see that David takes it upon himself to build a permanent structure to house the ark without God's instruction, and Nathan is also erring by giving David approval to "do all that you have in mind."
Many Old Testament lessons teach us what happens to individuals and to the people when they act according to their own counsel and set themselves up as agents independent of God.
This may not be the worst mistake that David will make in his life (1 Chronicles 21), but it highlights the problem of the misuse of free will. Despite this, God loved David, and so He sternly corrects him.
The way today's reading was cut and pasted back together presents a misleadingly soft version of God's loving kindness.
The power of the Old Testament prophetic voice to deliver to a ruler a stern rebuke from God is also undermined by these edits. Yes, even the prophets need correction form time to time, but as presented today, Nathan is a flawless seer.
The subliminal message to the pewsitters, "Carry on as you are doing. You are God's chosen poeple. God only delivers "nice" messages. All will be well."
It is a dangerous path to travel when one walks without God's rod and staff as a guide.
Thank the Lord that St. Joseph listened to the voice of God and did not take his counsel from our modern day lectionary editors. I can only imagine hearing something like this in the future...
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.I hope that never happens, but I suppose it is possible.Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,Matthew 1:18, 22-23
To put it simply, we should pray and listen for God's response and stop relying on ourselves so much. God has already communicated a great deal to us through Holy Scripture. What are we telling God when we decide that we can live without parts of his fabulous gift?
Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? Hebrews 2:1-4 NKJV
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment