The King, the Prophet, and God's House (2 Samuel 7:1-16)
by Jon W. Quinn
Reprinted from The Expository Files (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4051/ )
It seemed like a good idea to everyone. David, the king of Israel, decided a change needed to be made. Nathan, the prophet, thought it sounded good. Certainly David's motive was good. Ever since before entering the Promised Land and establishing a new nation, for about five hundred years, the worship of God centered around the tabernacle. This was a movable tent-like structure which had been built my Moses about five centuries before. It was needful that such a structure be portable because the Israelites were on their way from where they had been liberated from slavery in Egypt to the land God had promised them as Abraham's descendants.
Those wilderness travels were now a part of the distant past.
David decided to build a more permanent structure for the worship
of Jehovah at Jerusalem. He would build God's house, or temple.
Who could doubt that David was the one to do it? He was described
as "a man after God's own heart." And God had blessed
the nation with victory over its enemies and prosperity. It seemed
the least that a righteous king could do for God.
David's Desire
"Now it came about when the king lived in his house,
and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,
that the king said to Nathan the prophet, 'See now, I dwell in
a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.'
And Nathan said to the king, 'Go, do all that is in your mind,
for the Lord is with you.'" (2 Samuel 7:1-3). Now, it
seemed to both David, the king, and Nathan, the prophet that David's
idea was something to go with. In fact, Nathan does not even consult
the Lord about it. At David's suggestion, Nathan, apart from inspiration,
assures David that the Lord is with him in this endeavor. He was
not speaking from God. He was not being "moved by the Holy
Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20,21). He was simply following his impulse
that such a plan must be a good thing.
God's Answer
"But it came about in the same night that the word
of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, 'Go and say to My servant
David, 'Thus says the Lord," Are you the one who should build
Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since
the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this
day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle.
"Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I
speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded
to shepherd My people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built
Me a house of cedar?'"' (2 Samuel 7:4-7).
Though David was sincere and genuine, and though it seems that
he probably had a good and commendable idea, the Lord quickly
let both Nathan and David know that such was not the case. The
first mistake David made was thinking that God needed him, or
at least needed a house in which He could dwell. The Lord says
He does not really need one (see Acts 17:24,25). But secondly,
and more seriously, David presumed what God wanted. He assumed
that he should be the one to build God a house. Often people today
presume what God wants rather than seek out the answers in His
word, the Scriptures. There is lesson after lesson in the Bible
illustrating the need to stay with the Lord's word and not to
presume beyond that (1 Samuel 15:22,23; Matthew 15:9).
But why not David? God has His reason. We'll look at that in a
moment.
God's Promise
"When your days are complete and you lie down with
your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will
come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall
build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of
his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be
a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with
the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness
shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
removed from before you. "And your house and your kingdom
shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established
forever."' " (2 Samuel 7:12-16).
This a very touching passage. In it, to comfort David in what
must be a very big disappointment, God gives certain assurances.
It was not that God did not approve of David any longer, or that
He was displeased with David. He gives David magnificent promises
concerning his descendant and kingdom. But who is the fulfillment
of these promises? Is it Solomon, David's immediate son, or Jesus,
David's future descendant? The answer: They both do! The Lord
God will use Solomon and his building of the physical temple to
be a pattern of what David's future Descendant will do when He
builds a spiritual temple, the church (See Matthew 1:1; Acts 2:29-33;
Hebrews 1:8). In these promises, some are fulfilled by Solomon,
some by Jesus, and some by both. Solomon would reign as King in
Israel, Jesus would reign as king over his spiritual kingdom (Colossians
1:13). Solomon would build a temple in Jerusalem, Jesus would
build His out of living stones from all over the world (Ephesians
2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5).
But Why Not David?
"Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him
to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to
Solomon, "My son, I had intended to build a house to the
name of the Lord my God. "But the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, 'You have shed much blood, and have waged great wars;
you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed
so much blood on the earth before Me. 'Behold, a son shall be
born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest
from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon,
and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 'He shall
build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will
be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
over Israel forever.' (1 Chronicles 22:6-10).
David had fought wars, and God did not want a man to had shed so much blood to build His house. David had done what had been necessary for him to do, and this ought not to be though of as a punishment, but rather as a clear message of the peace God desires among men. But that age is past. Jesus has built an even better house for God.
The Station by Robert J. Hastings
(Contributed by S. Tegg)
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a trip that spans the continent. We're traveling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls. But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.
On a certain day at a certain hour, we'll pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags will be waving. Once we get there, so many dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, (incriminating) the minutes for loitering - waiting, waiting for the station. "When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry. "When I'm 18" "When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes-Benz." "When I put the last kid through college." "When I have paid off the mortgage!" "When I get a promotion!" "When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"
We soon realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. "Relish the moment" is a good motto; especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today. So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, … go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
Short Exhort - Written and/or Compiled by David J. Riggs
(http://www.public.usit.net/driggs/)
"Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity." (Luke 8:14)
It's been said that when attempting to boil a frog, if you start by boiling the water and put the frog in the boiling water, it will jump out. If, however, you begin by placing the frog in water that's room temperature, and then slowly increase the heat, the frog fails to recognize the gradual change in water temperature. Before the frog knows it, the water temperature is greater than it can bear, and it dies.
I wouldn't suggest harming a poor frog in that manner, but the lesson is obvious. In a slow, subtle, undetectable manner, we can be choked with the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life.
Let us not let anything choke our spirituality and thereby destroy us.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Our weekly services are held at 1318 Griffin Road, Leesburg, Florida
34748.
Phone: (352) 365-9946 for times of services.
Web site: http://www.geocities.com/~cdillinger/cocbs/cocbshp.htm
Buddy Payne will present three lessons on Creationism Vs Evolution August 9-11, each evening at 7:30 PM. Please make your plans to attend these lectures and invite your friends and neighbors.
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BIBLE INSIGHT is published for the members of, and visitors to,
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