Would You Give a Snake?
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 12:13-23
13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The
LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you
have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is
born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the
child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for
the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his
house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat
food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the
servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while
the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him
that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was
dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”
And they said, “He is dead.”
20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes;
and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and
when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him,
“What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but
when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether
the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I
fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
This passage actually comes after David does the most underhanded thing we see
from him in scripture. Not only does he covet and then have Uriah’s wife, but then
when she is pregnant after not being with her husband because he’s been away
fighting for King David and the nation of Israel, he has Uriah killed to cover it up. It
was an absolutely horrible thing to do, especially against righteous Uriah who had
been so loyal to him. So, if you’ve read the account, you know that the prophet
Nathan comes to him and after giving him a parable, David realizes he’s sinned
against God so he repents. However, the LORD Yahweh tells him through Nathan
that the child that was born from this union will die.
Now, here’s where some of the enemies of the Bible will try to say, ‘See, God is
mean’. It says that the LORD Yahweh struck the child and he became ill. They’ll say
the same thing when they look at the Exodus story and see that it says that God
hardened pharoh’s heart but what they don’t consider is that pharoh had already
hardened his own heart and God merely allowed it to stay hardened. So, what
happens here? Does God kill David’s baby? I’ll answer with a resounding, no! God
doesn’t come to steal, kill, and destroy but according to Yeshua, there is one that
does. It’s the enemy that does that. So, what does it mean that God struck the
child? Let me give an example. God created the law of gravity. Without resistance,
objects will be pulled toward the earth, right? God created that law, right? So let’s
say someone goes up to a twenty-story building, goes to the roof and steps off.
They would die because of one of God’s laws, but would you be able to say God
killed them? God made the laws but he also told us how to properly use them. He
had told David through Moses not to commit adultery. He had told him not to
murder. You can see David doesn’t get angry with God and say He’s too harsh. If
anything, he gets mad at himself for sinning against Him. Anyway, verse 14 says that
it was because David had done this thing and given the enemies of the LORD a
chance to blaspheme. David had opened a door for the enemy to enter through.
Last week we were talking about spiritual warfare and the tactics of the enemy. So, if
we know the enemy’s character from the word’s of Messiah which say: The thief does
not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10a) and we also no the
Father’s character, James 1:16-17: 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. When we know that, the enemy can’t
deceive us into thinking that God is bringing bad things on us. James says here that
every good and perfect gift comes from Yahweh, and that there is no variation in
Him. As I said, David is aware of this so he doesn’t go getting made at God. He
begins earnestly fasting and praying for his child. Verse 16 says that he pleaded
with God for him. Have you ever been there? Pleading with God for something. In
my experience it hasn’t been very effective. I think it’s because we’re supposed to
pray believing and to come before the throne boldly (Hebrews 4:16).
So, David pleads with God and fast and just lay on the floor where the child was. He
could not be consoled over it. Naturally, they thought that once the child died he
would really lose it but just the opposite happens. David gets up, gets cleaned up
and goes to worship. Then he comes home and eats like nothings happened. His
servants couldn’t understand why. David explained that as long as the child was
alive, he fasted and he prayed but why fast once he was dead. He knew that he
would see his baby again when he went to where his baby had gone but he knew the
baby was never coming back to him.
Why do people, well-meaning people, always tell those who are grieving that God
took their loved one? They don’t realize it but they’re just giving them a reason to be
mad at God for something He didn’t do. There are people that believe God gave
them a disease that causes pain or death. Does that line up what James said about
there being no variance in God that He give every good and every perfect gift?
Disease and suffering don’t sound very good and perfect to me. Jesus says it like
this:
Luke 11:11-13
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks
for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer
him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Would you cause your children to stub their toe or to burn their hand to teach them
something? Or is it that when your child goes through these things caused by their
own actions, you’re there to comfort them and maybe teach them something because
of it. Like maybe, wear your shoes when you’re running outside and don’t touch the
stove. If you, being evil in comparison to God, would never even consider giving
your child some disease that might kill them or causing them to be in some accident
that will maim them, why would you think our heavenly Father, who is perfectly good
would do something like that? Does it even make any sense when you think about it
like that?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving power to the enemy who is but a defeated
foe. I don’t think the enemies of God have power like the lie you see in Hollywood
movies. They make demons appear to be these muscle-bound, super-human
monsters. Then they paint these pictures of the LORD Yahweh’s angels as little,
helpless looking babes. I think it’s just the opposite. I think the way the enemy
operates is not to use some kind of super-human strength for evil but to take
advantage of certain things and influencing certain things. He may encourage you to
do what is bad for you to do, like he did with Eve in the garden. We talked last week
about how he caused her to doubt God. Well, he also encouraged her to do that
which he knew would cause death, and he still uses that tactic today. Overeating,
eating the wrong foods, smoking, doing drugs, abusing alcohol, driving recklessly
and a myriad of things that will send people to early graves. Have you ever had a
big juicy apple or a perfectly sweet strawberry? Yet, the enemy will have you saying
silly things like all the stuff that taste good is bad for you. I just heard a co-worker
say that this week and it’s just another lie from the enemy camp.
Not everything appears to be caused by our reckless choices. Many things are
caused by the curse and the fallen creation. But just like the person who jumps off
the roof can’t blame God for gravity, neither can we for the curse. Man was warned
be Him what not to do and he did it anyway. Any consequences, fall on his own head
and that of his children. Us! So, when these genetic situations happen, whether it’s
a child with cancer or born blind or someone coming down with some rare disease,
the enemy will try to get us to blame God for it. Remember what scripture tells us
about him in 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. See, he walks about ‘like’ a lion
but he’s not. He’s faking!
It brings me to mind of the movie The Wizard of Oz. The seeking an audience with
the great and terrible wizard of Oz and their all trembling in fear, so afraid because of
all they’d heard and because of the huge image in the room and the loud booming
voice. Then Toto goes over and they find that it was just some little man with a
microphone and speakers to make himself appear great and terrible. The man says
into the microphone to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain but once they’
d seen him, the deception was over. They were no longer afraid of the image or the
smoke or the loud booming voice through the speakers. That’s how it will be when
we see this enemy of our souls. Isaiah tells us of his great fall.
Isaiah 14:12-17
12 “ How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “ Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘ Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
Don’t get tricked into falling for the same old tactics again and again. Believe the
word of God. Trust it! Trust God! Your enemy has already been defeated, no
matter what the little man behind the curtain would like you to believe.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: December 3, 2006
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 12:13-23
13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The
LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you
have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is
born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the
child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for
the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his
house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat
food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the
servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while
the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him
that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was
dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”
And they said, “He is dead.”
20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes;
and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and
when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him,
“What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but
when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether
the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I
fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
This passage actually comes after David does the most underhanded thing we see
from him in scripture. Not only does he covet and then have Uriah’s wife, but then
when she is pregnant after not being with her husband because he’s been away
fighting for King David and the nation of Israel, he has Uriah killed to cover it up. It
was an absolutely horrible thing to do, especially against righteous Uriah who had
been so loyal to him. So, if you’ve read the account, you know that the prophet
Nathan comes to him and after giving him a parable, David realizes he’s sinned
against God so he repents. However, the LORD Yahweh tells him through Nathan
that the child that was born from this union will die.
Now, here’s where some of the enemies of the Bible will try to say, ‘See, God is
mean’. It says that the LORD Yahweh struck the child and he became ill. They’ll say
the same thing when they look at the Exodus story and see that it says that God
hardened pharoh’s heart but what they don’t consider is that pharoh had already
hardened his own heart and God merely allowed it to stay hardened. So, what
happens here? Does God kill David’s baby? I’ll answer with a resounding, no! God
doesn’t come to steal, kill, and destroy but according to Yeshua, there is one that
does. It’s the enemy that does that. So, what does it mean that God struck the
child? Let me give an example. God created the law of gravity. Without resistance,
objects will be pulled toward the earth, right? God created that law, right? So let’s
say someone goes up to a twenty-story building, goes to the roof and steps off.
They would die because of one of God’s laws, but would you be able to say God
killed them? God made the laws but he also told us how to properly use them. He
had told David through Moses not to commit adultery. He had told him not to
murder. You can see David doesn’t get angry with God and say He’s too harsh. If
anything, he gets mad at himself for sinning against Him. Anyway, verse 14 says that
it was because David had done this thing and given the enemies of the LORD a
chance to blaspheme. David had opened a door for the enemy to enter through.
Last week we were talking about spiritual warfare and the tactics of the enemy. So, if
we know the enemy’s character from the word’s of Messiah which say: The thief does
not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10a) and we also no the
Father’s character, James 1:16-17: 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. When we know that, the enemy can’t
deceive us into thinking that God is bringing bad things on us. James says here that
every good and perfect gift comes from Yahweh, and that there is no variation in
Him. As I said, David is aware of this so he doesn’t go getting made at God. He
begins earnestly fasting and praying for his child. Verse 16 says that he pleaded
with God for him. Have you ever been there? Pleading with God for something. In
my experience it hasn’t been very effective. I think it’s because we’re supposed to
pray believing and to come before the throne boldly (Hebrews 4:16).
So, David pleads with God and fast and just lay on the floor where the child was. He
could not be consoled over it. Naturally, they thought that once the child died he
would really lose it but just the opposite happens. David gets up, gets cleaned up
and goes to worship. Then he comes home and eats like nothings happened. His
servants couldn’t understand why. David explained that as long as the child was
alive, he fasted and he prayed but why fast once he was dead. He knew that he
would see his baby again when he went to where his baby had gone but he knew the
baby was never coming back to him.
Why do people, well-meaning people, always tell those who are grieving that God
took their loved one? They don’t realize it but they’re just giving them a reason to be
mad at God for something He didn’t do. There are people that believe God gave
them a disease that causes pain or death. Does that line up what James said about
there being no variance in God that He give every good and every perfect gift?
Disease and suffering don’t sound very good and perfect to me. Jesus says it like
this:
Luke 11:11-13
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks
for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer
him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Would you cause your children to stub their toe or to burn their hand to teach them
something? Or is it that when your child goes through these things caused by their
own actions, you’re there to comfort them and maybe teach them something because
of it. Like maybe, wear your shoes when you’re running outside and don’t touch the
stove. If you, being evil in comparison to God, would never even consider giving
your child some disease that might kill them or causing them to be in some accident
that will maim them, why would you think our heavenly Father, who is perfectly good
would do something like that? Does it even make any sense when you think about it
like that?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving power to the enemy who is but a defeated
foe. I don’t think the enemies of God have power like the lie you see in Hollywood
movies. They make demons appear to be these muscle-bound, super-human
monsters. Then they paint these pictures of the LORD Yahweh’s angels as little,
helpless looking babes. I think it’s just the opposite. I think the way the enemy
operates is not to use some kind of super-human strength for evil but to take
advantage of certain things and influencing certain things. He may encourage you to
do what is bad for you to do, like he did with Eve in the garden. We talked last week
about how he caused her to doubt God. Well, he also encouraged her to do that
which he knew would cause death, and he still uses that tactic today. Overeating,
eating the wrong foods, smoking, doing drugs, abusing alcohol, driving recklessly
and a myriad of things that will send people to early graves. Have you ever had a
big juicy apple or a perfectly sweet strawberry? Yet, the enemy will have you saying
silly things like all the stuff that taste good is bad for you. I just heard a co-worker
say that this week and it’s just another lie from the enemy camp.
Not everything appears to be caused by our reckless choices. Many things are
caused by the curse and the fallen creation. But just like the person who jumps off
the roof can’t blame God for gravity, neither can we for the curse. Man was warned
be Him what not to do and he did it anyway. Any consequences, fall on his own head
and that of his children. Us! So, when these genetic situations happen, whether it’s
a child with cancer or born blind or someone coming down with some rare disease,
the enemy will try to get us to blame God for it. Remember what scripture tells us
about him in 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. See, he walks about ‘like’ a lion
but he’s not. He’s faking!
It brings me to mind of the movie The Wizard of Oz. The seeking an audience with
the great and terrible wizard of Oz and their all trembling in fear, so afraid because of
all they’d heard and because of the huge image in the room and the loud booming
voice. Then Toto goes over and they find that it was just some little man with a
microphone and speakers to make himself appear great and terrible. The man says
into the microphone to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain but once they’
d seen him, the deception was over. They were no longer afraid of the image or the
smoke or the loud booming voice through the speakers. That’s how it will be when
we see this enemy of our souls. Isaiah tells us of his great fall.
Isaiah 14:12-17
12 “ How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “ Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘ Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
Don’t get tricked into falling for the same old tactics again and again. Believe the
word of God. Trust it! Trust God! Your enemy has already been defeated, no
matter what the little man behind the curtain would like you to believe.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: December 3, 2006
