I was thinking about King David at Bible school this year. Idyllwild is the same week each year and every year we find ourselves in II Samuel reading about David and Bathsheba. How do you suppose David would feel if he were present in the audience?
Did they write about his horrible sin during his lifetime? Probably not. He was publicly shamed when his sin was disclosed to the people by Nathan and he lived with the curse that publicly came to him and his household for the rest of his life. Yet how will he feel in the millennium when he sees what has happened? His darkest moment has been written for all to read and translated into the major languages in the world in the best-selling book of all time.
If we do not discard the Bible in the kingdom, and that is hardly likely, David will have to live with this account of his sin for a long time. What will you do if you are in the audience with David when the chapters are read? While curious to see his face, you might avoid his eyes, ashamed of your own curiosity.
Ourselves on record
What about us and our sins! Is there the possibility that our deepest, darkest, grossest, most selfish sins will be written down and read as warnings to others? Is it possible that our lives as God’s people in this day and age will provide material for future scripture? Why not? Did any of those whose lives become our lessons today think that what they were doing and thinking might be set down in a permanent record and be read publicly in the congregations of God down through the centuries?
There is a book the Bible speaks about as being written concerning our age in which we all want our names to appear. It is the book of life (Rev. 13:8). But does that only contain a list of names or is there more to be included? “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light…” (Lk. 12:2-3). Could it be that sins of our lives will become written examples for mortals working out their salvation in the coming kingdom of God?
A sobering thought
Thinking of such a thing is daunting. As soon as one considers the possibility, his mind goes back through the years and starts replaying past experiences. Are there some things that would be considered worthy of the same public airing as David’s deed?
There’s no sense dwelling on the past. There is nothing we can do about it. After all, whether it is written for all to see is really not that important. God knows! And we’ve always known that. His opinion is what matters most of all.
But this could be a very useful tool to keep ourselves from iniquity. When temptation crosses our path, we might well consider if we give in to sin how we would look featured in a chapter of a new book to be read throughout the millennium. That ought to give us some second thoughts.
Paul’s advice sounds pretty good at this point “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One