"And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies." (2 Samuel 7:1)
At what time this was it is impossible to determine; probably not long after the events recorded in the preceding chapter. "That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains." (2 Samuel 7:2)
This is the first mention of Nathan the prophet, who seems to have been David's constant adviser. He must have been considerably younger than David, for we read that he wrote a history of the acts of David, and that he did the same for Solomon's reign. (1 Chronicles 29:29; Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer.)
It is not certain, however, from this latter passage, that he outlived Solomon, for it may be that the writings of the two writers referred to are supplementary. That he was a true prophet is evident from the plain rebuke which he administered to David, as recorded in the 12th chapter.
It may not be amiss to notice, in passing, the statements in 1 Chronicles 29:29 and 2 Chronicles 9:29. None of these records by Nathan, Samuel, and Gad, Ahijah, and Iddo, are now extant. Nothing more is known of them than the brief mention in the above verses. Yet there is not the slightest doubt but that they were just as much inspired as were any of the records that we have. Why they were allowed to be lost, we cannot tell, nor does it concern us. The simple fact is that much has been written by inspiration that has not been given to us.
In Jeremiah 36 we have an instance of a message directly from the Lord, which was not preserved for us. Of course these things were not of especial importance to us, else they would have been preserved. God has given us, in His word as committed to us, everything that is necessary to enable us to do His will; until we have put in practice all that we have received, it ill becomes us to find fault with Him for not giving us more of the same kind of instruction. "And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you." (2 Samuel 7:3)
Nathan was a true prophet, and one who was intrusted with important messages from the Lord; yet on this occasion he gave advice that was directly contrary to the mind of the Lord. This does not show any evil intention on his part, but simply that prophets were not inspired at all times. David's plan was a laudable one, and reasoning from a human standpoint no objections to it could be seen. But Nathan did not know the mind of the Lord on this subject. If there was any blame attaching to him, it was simply in giving his own opinion before asking counsel of the Lord.
At all events we read of no rebuke administered; but that very night "the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, Shall you build me a house for me to dwell in?" (2 Samuel 7:4-5)
The words, "Shall you build me a house?" are equivalent to: "You shall not build me a house."
Thus in Psalm 95:10, margin, we have the literal rendering: "If they shall enter into my rest," meaning: "they shall not enter into my rest." (Psalm 95:11)
From 1 Chronicles 22:5-10, it is evident that much more was told to David than is here recorded. David there tells Solomon that the reason why he himself was not allowed to build a house of the Lord was that he had shed blood abundantly, and made great wars. From the further statement that Solomon, to whom would be intrusted the work of building the temple, would be a man of peace, and that there should be rest and quietness in Israel all his days, we may suppose that it was not simply the wars that David had made, but also those which he was yet to make, that made it improper for him to build the Lord's house. Besides the fact that David had shed much blood, the fact that the kingdom was not yet fully established, was an objection, because he would be liable to interruption in the work by enemies. To him it was given to conquer the enemies of Israel, and settle the affairs of the kingdom on a solid basis, so that his successor might prosecute the work undisturbed.
The readiness with which the prophet recalled his first advice, at the command of the Lord, is worthy of note. He did not let a false pride keep him from telling the Lord's message, even though he was compelled to contradict his previous advice. As we look at the case, we can readily see how much better it was for Nathan to do so than to the demur; for in the latter case he would suffer the additional qualification of having his counsel contradicted by some other prophet, and he himself perhaps degraded from his office. Yet we are not always able to reason so clearly in our own cases. We should ever be thankful to God when He gives us an opportunity to correct our own mistakes, and should esteem it one of His greatest blessings that He points them out to us.--Signs of the Times, July 3, 1884--Notes on the International Lesson, July 20--2 Samuel 7:1-16
E.J. Waggoner