From This Time On

O. T. #710  "From This Time On"
March 8, 2016
2 Samuel 12-Part 4
From this time on...   2 Samuel 12:10

LET IT GLOW

Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite and with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.

Nathan was delivering the message from God to David. Now comes the punishment for David's sin. From this time on:

• David's family would live by the sword because he despised the word of the LORD by taking Uriah's wife to be his own; (verse 10)
• Because of what David did, God would cause his household to rebel against him; (verse 11)
• God would give David's wives to another man before his very eyes; (verse 11)
• That man would go to bed with them in public view; (verse 11)
• David did it secretly, but God will make it happen to David openly in the sight of all Israel. (verse 12)

Do we ever despise the Word of God, especially when it camps on our doorstep?
Are we ever ready to hear or experience our reprimand from God?
Does our household suffer because of our wrong ways, attitudes, actions, and sins?
If our secret sins were viewed on a super huge screen, what would been seen? How would we react?

LET IT GROW

Those promises from God came true for David, from that time on. There was to be a four-fold restitution according to the law (Exodus 22:1).
Life Application Study Bible informs us:

1. Murder was a constant threat in David's family. (13:26-29; 18:14-15; 1 Kings 2:23-25)
2. David's household rebelled against him. (15:13)
3. His wives were given to another in public. (16:20-23)
4. David's first child by Bathsheba died.(12:18)

All of this happened as the prophet Nathan had predicted:

• The baby died; Absalom killed Amnon, who had ruined Tamar; Joab killed Absalom; Adonijah was slain by Benaiah. (four-fold)
• Absalom lead a rebellion against David.
• Also, Absalom set up a tent on the roof and slept with 10 of his father's concubines there.
• Adonijah set himself up as king before David's death; his plot was exposed, and David spared his life, but his half brother Solomon later had him executed.

David is confronted with the truth of his sins and what would happen, and then he lived it. I wonder if the words of Nathan rang in his head every time those events happened. For this time on...

The consequences of sin affect not only us but those we know and love. Let us remember that the next time we are tempted to sin.

Can we see the consequences of sin in our own family, with ancestors and descendants? Perhaps it is not the same sins as David, but other sins that had just as serious effect. From this time on, what will our children and grandchild do because of us?

LET IT GO of whatever secret sin is in my life and your life right now.