Saturday, July 22, 2017

Day 12

Day 12: 2 Samuel 7


Part of King David’s fully devoted heart for the Lord shows up in this chapter. After victory over his enemies on all sides, David realized that he was living in comfort, while the God of Israel was still housed in a temporary tabernacle. So he decided to begin plans for a permanent temple, a house for the Lord. The prophet Nathan seemed to think it was a good idea, though there is no evidence of him actually inquiring of God, so he gave his blessing.

Before the plans could begin, however, God came to Nathan in a dream and instructed him to tell David the complete opposite. God said that he had never dwelt in a temple, and that David himself would not be the one to build it. And rather than David building a house for God, God declares that he is going to build a house for David. In a bit of a play on words here, what God means is that he is going to build a household, or dynasty, for David. He states clearly, “The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son” (vv. 11-14). David rejoices in this promise and worships God in a beautiful passage throughout the rest of II Samuel 7.

As we look forward in the storyline of the Bible, we see that the immediate fulfillment of this promise is in Solomon, David’s biological son who succeeds the throne and builds the temple (see Day 13). But the language here reaches even further; the line will continue unbroken and the David’s dynasty will continue forever. How can this be?

This is one of many places in the Old Testament where the current, historical situation has both immediate and ultimate fulfillment, like we saw with Abraham, Moses, or Joshua. Solomon would carry on the line of David and build the temple in the next generation. But several hundred years later, another descendant of David would come: Jesus himself, the one with a throne that will continue forever.

In the next several generations, as seen in upcoming readings, the nation of Israel would break apart into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Both would see a revolving door of kings, many of whom were incredibly evil and led the people astray through the worship of idols. Family after family after family took over the kingdom of Israel, lasting only a king or two before God deposed them from the throne. But the kingdom of Judah saw David’s line unbroken until the exile. Despite sinful ways and evil kings, “for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever” (II Kings 8:19). And then, with the coming of Jesus, David’s line remains unbroken forever, and he will build the true house of God.

Questions for reflection and discussion: Several times now, we have seen hints of Jesus in the Old Testament. What is your reaction to these? Are you surprised, skeptical, confused, enlightened, etc? When has God done something in your life that caused you to respond, like David, in absolute awe and thankfulness?

Next Steps

Next Steps The past 40 days have taken you through 40 key passages in the Bible. You have experienced God’s overarching storyline of cre...