The prophet Nathan served during the reigns of both King David and his son Solomon. Although Nathan was usually “behind the scenes” during the reigns of these kings, it is probable that no other single person was more influential during that pivotal era of biblical history.
Nathan is mentioned many times throughout the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles – mainly during the darkest and most troubled times of King David’s reign. We first meet him in 2 Samuel 7:2 when David told the prophet of his desire to build a temple for God. At first Nathan encouraged the king, but we are told that later that night God spoke to Nathan, telling him in detail why he would not accept a temple built by David, stressing that David had shed much blood (1 Chronicles 28:3).
It was not a flattering message to have to relay, but we see something of Nathan’s character in that he did not attempt to smooth over the reason for God’s refusal of David (or to cover the fact that he himself had been wrong to originally encourage the king) – we are specifically told that “Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation” (2 Samuel 7:17, emphasis added).
Later, Nathan had to confront David with the king’s sins of adultery with Bathsheba and of having her husband Uriah killed (2 Samuel 12:1-15). Considering the fact that David had already killed to hide this situation, we see Nathan’s tremendous strength of character and faith in boldly accusing the king. Nathan not only accused David as God had commanded him to do, but also predicted that David’s first child by Bathsheba would die, and that the king would suffer great anguish as a result of the actions of his own family members.
Close to the end of David’s life, Nathan related to David the news of his son Adonijah’s plan to seize the throne. In this way the prophet skillfully enabled the hasty coronation of David’s chosen heir – Solomon.
Nathan was not simply a bringer of bad news, however. He also encouraged the king and informed David that his throne would be established forever (1 Chronicles 17:1-15). He was clearly a trusted advisor throughout his service to the king and a man of important accomplishments. There appears to have been a book written either by Nathan himself or about his service as a prophet (1 Chronicles 29:29), and Nathan apparently wrote a history of King Solomon along with two others (2 Chronicles 9:29).
But Nathan’s major accomplishment was undoubtedly the true faith he repeatedly showed in expressing tough love for David and confronting the king with his errors. Nathan’s character and faithfulness in conveying the word of God, no matter how negative the message sometimes may have seemed, obviously gained him the respect of Israel’s greatest king. True to his name, the prophet surely was a “Gift of God” to David in helping him to correct his course when he went astray (for example, Psalm 51) – something the king must surely have appreciated over time. In fact, it is doubtless a sign of David’s respect and love for Nathan that the king named his third son after the prophet (1 Chronicles 3:5). And it is through that Nathan – not Solomon or any of David’s other powerful sons – that Jesus Christ was descended (Luke 3:31). The prophet Nathan served in a “behind the scenes” career, but one which had a tremendous effect for good. He is an example to all of us of the value of truth spoken in love, and of faith in dealing with difficult situations concerning those we strive to serve.
The English expression “above all” is a superlative: there can normally only be one thing that is “above all” in any given category – such as the highest mountain or the largest ocean. In the New Testament, several Greek phrases function in the same way – they also connote something that is more important than any other among the things being discussed. For example, the apostle James tells us “Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear” (James 5:12) – meaning that is the most important thing his readers must keep in mind in the context he is speaking about.
The apostle Peter uses the expression in the same way in his epistles, but interestingly he uses it not once but three times – each time of a different thing:
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things” (2 Peter 1:20).
“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires” (2 Peter 3:3).
At first sight these statements seem to be unrelated. They certainly speak of different things that the apostle urges us to keep foremost in mind – though it may seem strange that he mentions two things to keep in mind “above all” in the same epistle. Yet there is perhaps a thread that connects them all.
In the first of these verses, Peter’s subject is obvious – it is love of one another that he emphasizes must be paramount in our concerns. We must not only love each other, he says, but we must love each other deeply.
In the second verse the subject may seem a somewhat narrow one to be regarded as something “above all else,” but the context of the statement helps us to understand what the verse is emphasizing. Peter is not simply talking about understanding Scripture, but about our perception of it in a context of faith. The epistle’s first verses tell us that Peter writes: “To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” (2 Peter 1:1).
A few verses later Peter expands the theme of faith: “make every effort to add to your faith goodness” (2 Peter 1:5). Then in verse 16 Peter begins a defense of his readers’ faith: “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories” (2 Peter 1:16); in verse 19 he adds “We also have the prophetic message” (2 Peter 1:19) It is in continuation of this thought that he then writes “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). Peter’s point is that our faith is well grounded – something he urges us to place at the forefront of our minds.
In the final verse in which he uses the expression “above all” the apostle tells us “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come” (2 Peter 3:3) and once again we must look at its context. The third chapter of 2 Peter develops the idea that scoffers will come who, if they are able, will undermine the very hope of every believer in the return of our Lord: “They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?” (2 Peter 3:4), and Peter immediately follows this warning with a defense of the Christian hope regarding Christ’s return (verses 5–12) – concluding with the words “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this” (verses 13–14 , emphases added). Twice Peter stresses that which the believer is looking forward to – hoping for. The context of 2 Peter 3:3 is clearly that it is paramount that we are not affected by scoffers and that we can continue to hope in the reality of the Lord’s return.
Whether consciously or not, Peter’s three references to things that we must keep in mind “above all” are related in that they have to do with the great triad of love, faith, and hope* (or “faith, hope, and love” as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:13), that make up the centrality of Christian life. There is no contradiction in what Peter writes – these three qualities are, indeed, things that we must strive toward “above all.”
* Download our free e-book These Three Remain:Why Faith, Hope and Love Are Even More Important Than You Realize here .
Global warming continues to be a topic provoking concern, debate and cries for action among many. We are used to meteorologists making accurate forecasts of the temperature even many days in advance – often to the precise degree – and so many may be concerned when climatologists forecast dangerous temperature changes for the coming decades.
But what would you think about a forecast that predicted temperatures several thousand years in advance?
Some two thousand years ago Jesus of Nazareth made such a forecast regarding moral and ethical temperature declines at the end of the present age, saying: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).
Perhaps there has always been evil in this world and a resulting coldness in human hearts and interactions, but Christ clearly stated that there would come a time when the love of most would grow cold. The Greek expression (ton pollon) translated “of many” in some Bibles is better translated – as in the NIV – “of most” or “of the majority,” showing that this coldness was something that would eventually be widespread and would be the norm rather than the exception.
Spiritually, the problem our world faces is not global warming, but global cooling. We see this moral chill every day in news reports not only of atrocities committed by religious and political fanatics, but also hate crimes against total strangers, and even violence by parents against their own children and spouses against each other. Just as frightening is the fact that the immediate context of Christ’s forecast is not necessarily only talking about the unconverted of the world – it seems to apply to religious people as well.
If you or I heard a forecast of impending unbelievably cold physical temperatures, we would doubtless take action to do what we could to survive the situation and help offset the cold as best we could. But do we take Christ’s moral forecast seriously enough to take action in that regard? And what, if anything, can we do to offset the growing lack of love this world seems even now to be experiencing – and which also unavoidably affects Christians?
Fortunately, the same book that forecasts the cooling of love indicates things we can do to turn that climate change around, even if only in our own lives. Consider these four Christian climate warmers:
1) Forgiveness: The Gospel of John tells us the story of the woman who anointed Christ in the home of a disapproving Pharisee. Jesus told the Pharisee that although the woman had sinned much in her life, those who are forgiven much, love much (John 7:46-47). We can apply that principle to ourselves in terms of looking at those around us in the moral wilderness in which we live. As society worsens around us, it’s easy to become judgmental – like the Pharisee – if we are not careful. But reminding ourselves of how much we have been forgiven can help us feel and show more love to those whose lives are still in the grip of sin.
2) Prayer: We can and should be praying for God’s love, of course, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves to break that prayer down. Something that can help in this regard is to put names to the prayer. Praying for help to love person X and Person Y can be far more effective than praying for the “idea” of love. Try it and see for yourself.
3) Study: Regularly studying the life of Christ may be one of the most valuable climate warmers at our disposal. Actually seeing God’s love in living everyday action through the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus shows us love in a way in which we don’t usually see it. It can help us by providing both a model and an inspiration. Notice these words of the apostle Paul: “… the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5 CSB). Frequently focusing our study of God’s word on the topic of love becomes more important the colder society becomes around us.
4) Encouragement: The book of Hebrews contains these important words: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds … encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25). These verses make it clear that encouraging one another is directly related to spurring one another to love. The fact that this is said to be all the more vital as we see the end of the age approaching ties directly to Christ’s warning of the love of the majority growing cold in the last days.
In some ways these pointers seem so very basic, yet they are so very true. The Bible is clear that love is increased, fanned like a flame, by these specific things – and each one is something we can do personally if we are determined to do so. The important thing for us in the cooling world in which we live is to be sure to utilize these principles – to increase the love in our lives – and not to become numbed by the cold around us.
In summarizing the greatest commandments, Jesus quoted Leviticus 19:18 to affirm the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.” We all know this verse, but do we fully understand it? Given our own society’s frequent stress on the importance of “self-love,” we may read into Jesus’ words something that is not really there.
Sometimes it is said that Jesus’ words show the importance of self-love, and that loving ourselves is a prerequisite for loving other people. But what if we don’t love ourselves very much – or even hate ourselves – are we supposed to love other people to that same degree? This is an unavoidable conclusion if we insist on taking Jesus’ words to mean love of others is somehow based on the degree to which we love ourselves.
But if we go back to the section of Leviticus that Jesus was quoting and read the whole verse, we see something interesting: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” The point here is that we would not carry out revenge on ourselves or bear a grudge against ourselves, and we should love other people by treating them in the same way. Jesus simply quoted the second part of this principle – out of context – as a scriptural reference to the overall principle of loving others. We should remember that the Old Testament does not always contain verses that perfectly show every principle that is elaborated in the New Testament.
Once we realize that Jesus was simply quoting a verse that came closest to the overall principle of love for others, we can see that this verse does not really have anything to do with “self-love” or that “we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.” These sentiments are not present in what Jesus said and are actually not found anywhere else in the Bible.
Look at three examples of the many instances in which love of others is spoken about without ever referencing love of self:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
“This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another” (1 John 3:11).
Love of others is simply not related to or bound up with love of self in the Bible. The very few seeming exceptions are easy to explain. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, for example, the apostle Paul wrote that each husband “must love his wife as he loves himself” (Ephesians 5:33), but Paul is likely talking here about the husband loving his wife with the biblical understanding that they are one body, one self. The Amplified Bible catches the sense of this in translating the verse: “However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self.”
There is no proof that any of the few biblical verses that talk about loving others as ourselves are talking about self-love in the modern sense. In fact, Paul tells Timothy: “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:1-2, emphasis added).
This does not mean that we must have a negative self-image or that we should hate ourselves. What it does mean is that for the Christian, self-love as a way of accepting and valuing ourselves is replaced with the understanding of God’s love for us (John 3:16) – and that our self-image is based on that full and truly meaningful outside love, not on some inner love for ourselves that we drum up. The Christian understands that in reality there is much that is not really lovable about all of us (Romans 3:10-12), but God’s love and reconstruction of our lives (Ephesians 4:24) supersedes the undeniable failings of our own inner nature. The Christian comes to realize that “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19) – not because we learned self-love.
God calls us to a sacrificial love of others more than self. We see this in the words of Jesus (John 15:13; etc.) and in the words of Paul – not that we build ourselves up, but that we look on others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).
We all experience feelings of insecurity at times, but the answer is not to look inward and attempt to love ourselves more. The Scriptures show that the answer is to look upward at the value God places on each one of us individually, and to look outward and concentrate on the value of others. When we understand that right self-love is a recognition and appreciation for the love God has for us and for others, then we can begin to effectively love others as ourselves.
We all want happiness. We all want joy. Or, to be more precise, we all want lasting happiness and joy. As we go through life we realize that some things can bring us a seeming happiness, but when these sources of happiness are not based on the right foundation, they turn into shallow pleasures that do not last (Proverbs 20:17).
So what is the foundation of lasting joy in our lives? The Scriptures give us a strategy for finding that kind of happiness in an unexpected place. But first, understand a little background. In the ancient Near Eastern world where the events described in the Bible occurred, the most common symbol of happiness and joy was the grape vine. We see this fact in the psalmist’s comment regarding “wine that gladdens human hearts” (Psalm 104:15) and in many other scriptures such as this one: “The vine is dried up … Surely the people’s joy is withered away” (Joel 1:12).
Of course, this connection was based on the temporary physical feeling of pleasure obtained from drinking wine, so what does the symbolism of happiness connected with the vine have to do with true, deeper, and lasting happiness? We find the answer in the words of Jesus himself when he told his disciples “I am the true vine …” (John 15:1). Of course, these words were spoken in the direct context of our abiding in him like branches staying firmly attached to the vine (John 15:2-8), but we should not forget that the most common symbolic use of the vine in religious and philosophical teaching of that time was one of its connection with happiness and joy.
When we remember this background fact, the next words of Jesus suddenly become much more alive to us: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (vs. 11, emphasis added). When we keep the basic symbolic meaning of the vine in mind it seems more than coincidence that Jesus points to himself as the true vine and then tells us he makes this connection so we may have true happiness or joy.
But Jesus did not just tell us these things as abstract principles – he explained his words in terms of a direct strategy for happiness that we can and should apply in our lives. Notice that the setting for his statement on our complete happiness gives us that strategy: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:9-12).
Do you see it? The strategy we are given for happiness is as clear as any strategy given anywhere in the words of Christ – our happiness will be like his if our love is like his. The profound thing about this strategy is that it is not based on chasing happiness or on trying to achieve joy through things we get or receive – it is based on the degree to which we reverse that process and work in the other direction through outgoing love. Love, Christ tells us, is not just the fulfilling of the law (Matthew 22:36-40), it is also the cause of happiness – in our lives and in the lives of others.
In that sense, the “fruit of the vine” Christ commanded us to receive on the last evening of his life is not only symbolic of his shed blood (Matthew 26:28) – which is its primary symbolism in the context of the Lord’s Supper, of course – but also, in a smaller yet no less real way, the fruit of the vine is symbolically the “fruit” of living the way Christ lived. That “fruit” is happiness, and the strategy to produce it is love.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love…” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Probably every Christian knows the apostle Paul’s summary of the greatest Christian virtues found in 1 Corinthians 13:13. As new believers, it is one of the first verses we learn and one we always remember.
The meaning of Paul’s statement is simple enough. Like towering mountain peaks that still stand after the surrounding landscape has been eroded down or like three “rock hard” pebbles that remain when a stream has washed away the softer sand and soil, these three qualities “remain.”
But our new e-book, These Three Remain, helps you see scriptures speaking of these qualities when you might otherwise read right over them. It looks closely at each of the three key Christian attributes and examines how they interact with each other in your life. In fact, as you read this book, you may find that faith, hope and love are even more important than you ever realized. You can download this new free e-book from our sister sitehere.
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