Hello saints! I want to thank all of you who are
joining us live via Zoom and to thank all of you who are reading this message
in the text form and/or are listening to the recording of this message. Today we
continue our series on David the Warrior King and how God used him to build
God’s Kingdom. Last week John Farmer shared the message on how David was worshipping,
and praising God as the Levites brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city
of Jerusalem. Today I am going share a message on the promise that God made to
David through the prophet Nathan but before I do that let us pray and ask God
to speak to you through this message today.
After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given
him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here
I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead
and do it, for the LORD is with you.”
That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying:
“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are
you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from
the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been
moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.
Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to
any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have
you not built me a house of cedar?”’ “Now
then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you
from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people
Israel.
I
have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies
from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the
greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and
will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be
disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the
beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people
Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘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, (the actual Hebrew word for offspring here is “seed” so the phrase
correctly translated would read I will raise up your seed) 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. When he
does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by
men.
But
my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
removed from before you.
Your
house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be
established forever.’”
Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. –
2 Samuel 7:1-17
So why does God say
these things through Nathan the prophet and not say them directly to David? The
answer may be found in 1 Chronicles 22:1-19 and may be the same reason why He
would not allow David to build Him a house for the Ark of the Covenant and the
sacred things from the tent of meeting.
Then David said, “The house
of the LORD God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for
Israel.” So David gave orders to assemble the aliens living in Israel, and from
among them he appointed stonecutters to prepare dressed stone for building the
house of God.
He provided a large amount
of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and
more bronze than could be weighed. He also provided more cedar logs than could
be counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought large numbers of them to
David.
David said, “My son Solomon
is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD should be of
great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations.
Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive
preparations before his death. Then he called for his son Solomon and charged
him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.
David said to Solomon: “My
son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God.
But this word of the LORD
came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to
build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my
sight.
But you will have a son who
will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies
on every side. His name will be Solomon (which means peace), and I will grant
Israel peace and quiet during his reign.
He is the one who will build
a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will
establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
“Now, my son, the LORD be
with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as
he said you would. May the LORD give you discretion and understanding when he
puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your
God.
Then you will have success
if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for
Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. “I have
taken great pains to provide for the temple of the LORD a hundred thousand
talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too
great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them.
You have many workmen:
stonecutters, masons and carpenters, as well as men skilled in every kind of
work in gold and silver, bronze and iron—craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the
work, and the LORD be with you.”
Then David ordered all the
leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said to them, “Is not the LORD
your God with you? And has He not granted you rest on every side? For He has
handed the inhabitants of the land over to me, and the land is subject to the LORD
and to His people.
Now
devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God. Begin to build the
sanctuary of the LORD God, so that you may bring the Ark of the Covenant of the
LORD and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be
built for the Name of the LORD.” – 1 Chronicles 22:1-19
So, it appears that God
would not let him build a house for His name because David had shed much blood on
the earth in God’s sight.
Now the house for
God’s name had to be Holy and the alter for burnt offerings had to be holy and
they could not be built by someone who had shed much blood.
However, God
rewarded David by telling him about his future kingdom. This reward was for
taking the initiative and thinking outside the box (or outside tent in this
case) and expressing a desire to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant and the sacred articles belonging to God.
Now in 2 Samuel 7 God
had Nathan the prophet tell David that “when your days are over and you rest
with your fathers, I will raise up your seed to succeed you, who will come from
your 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.
But the passage in 1
Chronicles 22 also indicates that the word of the LORD came to David that he
would have a son and that his name would be Solomon. The word of the Lord in
this passage said he is the one who will build a house for my name. And David
charges Solomon to build the house before he dies
So, are the
prophesies in these two passages both talking about the same person i.e.,
Solomon? The word of the LORD that came first to David through the prophet
Nathan came before David had fallen into adultery with Bathsheba and before he
had murdered Uriah the Hittite so that was before Solomon was born to
Bathsheba.
We read about
Solomon’s birth in 2 Samuel 12:24:
Then David comforted his
wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son,
and they named him Solomon (which is the Hebrew word for peaceful). The LORD
loved him; and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the
prophet to name him Jedidiah (which means loved by the LORD). – 2 Samuel 12:24-25
Now the words of the
LORD spoken through Nathan the prophet “you will have
a son who will be a man of peace and
rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side” may
have been remembered by David when he and Bathsheba named their first legitimate
son Solomon since Solomon means peaceful in Hebrew..
Note that the naming
of Solomon at his birth took place many years before David actually charges Solomon
(as recorded in the 1 Chronicles 22 passage), to build the temple and reign
over all of Israel. However, that prophesy and promise in 2 Samuel 7 was for
one of David’s seeds that God was going to raise up after David’s death not
before and the promise was not limited to only Israel as it was in 1 Chronicles
22.
Paul write concerning
this promised seed in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 3 starting in
verse 15:
Brothers, let me take an
example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human
covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises
were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to
seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law,
introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously
established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance
depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace
gave it to Abraham through a promise. – Galatians 3:15-18
And continuing in verses
25-29 Paul writes:
You are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
So
Christ kingdom will not just be over Israel but the whole world since the
promise was made to Abraham before Jacob who was later renamed Israel was born.
– Galatians 3:25-29
Actually,
the promise was made to Satan in Genesis 3:13-15 before anyone was born.
Then the LORD God said to
the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent
deceived me, and I ate.” So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have
done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity between you and
the woman, and between your offspring and hers (Note
her offspring would be from Adam’s seed); He will crush your head, and
you will strike His heel. – Galatians 3:13-15
Now there was at least 2000
years between the Promise about Adam’s seed and the promise about Abraham’s
seed and 1000 years between the promise about Abraham’s seed and the promise
about David’s seed and 1000 years between the promise of David’s seed until the
promised seed would be fulfilled through Jesus and there have been roughly 2000
years between Jesus’s birth and our spiritual birth from His spiritual seed.
Here is a pictorial timeline that roughly shows this.
Now the 1000 and 2000 year
time periods lapses between the bibles mention of this promise that should not
surprise us for Peter writes in his second letter 2 Peter 1:8-9:
But do not forget this one
thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 1:8-9
Now the same promised seed that God revealed
to David in today’s passage will have an everlasting kingdom established by God
himself.
So, to God 6000
years is like 6 days because He lives outside of time.
Now the same
promised seed that God revealed to David in today’s passage will have an
everlasting kingdom established by God Himself.
Now we know from the
prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6-7 that the Prince of Peace was going to be born whose
kingdom was going to reign forever.
Isaiah 9:6-7 reads as follows:
For to us a child is born, to us a son
is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no
end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and
upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The
zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. – Isaiah 9:6-7
Note that the naming
of Solomon at his birth took place many years before David actually charges Solomon
(as recorded in the 1 Chronicles 22), to build the temple and reign over all of
Israel. However, the prophesy and promise in 2 Samuel 7 was for one of David’s
seeds that God was going to raise up after David’s death and not before. Also note this promise in 2 Samuel 7 was not
limited to only Israel like it was in 1 Chronicles 22.
The house referred
to in 1 Chronicles 22 that Solomon was to begin building was a physical house and
that house was to be for the Name of the LORD and construction on that house was
begun before David’s death (if you count the amassing of the huge quantities of
material and the multitude of craftsman need for the building as part of the
construction process). Solomon’s reign would end, and that physical house would
later be destroyed. However, the house referred to in 2 Samuel 7 was a spiritual
house that was to be built by Jesus the seed of David. His kingdom would be
established by God and last forever.
So then if today’s
passage in 2 Samuel 7 was about Jesus why does God say “ When he does wrong I
will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men” since we
know that Jesus could do no wrong? The answer to that question is: “We are Jesus’
spiritual seed. Yes, we have done wrong and we may still do wrong in the future.
And when we do God will punish us but, He has also promised in this prophesy
that He will never take His love away from us.”
Today’s passage in 2 Samuel 7 caused
David to be in awe over God’s revelation of his future and the future of his
descendant’s kingdom lasting forever. So now that we see that this prophesy and
its promise and blessing are also about us as well, should we be any less in awe
over God’s greatness and His Mercy? God is going to Love us like the Father in
the Prodigal Son parable. He is also going to discipline us when and if we do
wrong but as for His love; He promised that He would never remove that from us.
Note: The lion’s share of the punishment
that we deserve for doing wrong, (i.e., of the rod of men and the flogging
inflicted by men) He chose to bear Himself. This punishment began the night He
was betrayed and ended at His death on the cross. He bore them rather than
having us bear them.
For Isaiah 52:13-15 tells us:
See, my servant will act wisely; He will
be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were
appalled at Him
His appearance was so disfigured beyond
that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness
so will He sprinkle many nations, and
kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For what they were not told, they
will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. – Isaiah 52:13-15
Isaiah 53:4-5 also tells us:
Surely He took up our infirmities and
carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and
afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His
wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:4-5
Now this is a perfect lead in for our
breaking of bread service today.
The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians
11:23-26:
“The LORD Jesus in the night in which He
was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This
is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He
took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My
blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often
as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the LORD’s death until He
comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
So let’s take a few
minutes to reflect on today’s passage and how the promise relates to Jesus and
in turn to us who are Jesus’ spiritual seeds and when you are ready give thanks
as Jesus did and take the bread and the cup and once again proclaim Jesus’
suffering and death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. I suggest
that during these few minutes that you meditate specifically on the fact that
God promised in today’s passage never to remove His love from you.
Let’s pray.
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