2 Samuel 7:1 - 7:17

2 Samuel — Steve Gregg

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2 Samuel 7:1 - 7:17

2 SamuelSteve Gregg

In this passage, Steve Gregg discusses the importance of the Davidic Covenant found in 2 Samuel 7:1-17. He notes that although the prophecy initially looks to David's son Solomon, who built the temple and sat on the throne, it ultimately finds its fulfillment in the Messiah, who will reign forever. Gregg emphasizes that the promises made to David have been fulfilled in Jesus, who is now reigning at the right hand of God. He also challenges the notion that God dwells in temples made by human hands, stating that the focus should be on the dynasty of David and the ongoing reign of the Messiah.

Transcript

In chapter 6 of 2 Samuel we find the ark brought to Jerusalem in two stages. It started on one occasion and didn't make it because of a mishap. And then there was another occasion where it actually made it into Jerusalem.

And so the ark is now in Jerusalem and David is now in Jerusalem. So the symbol of God's presence is there. That would certainly tend to even more consolidate David's power in the nation because it was a religious nation in covenant with Yahweh.

And here the symbol of Yahweh's presence was now there in the capital city of David, the city of David, not yet housed in a building. But that actually comes up for consideration in the next chapter. Before we come to that next chapter, though, I might say that what we've been reading is paralleled in 1 Chronicles.

And in 1 Chronicles chapter 16, we have the ark placed in this tent that David built in Jerusalem. Actually, in chapter 15 of 1 Chronicles, we have the transporting of the ark to Jerusalem, which we just read about in 2 Samuel 6. But in 1 Chronicles 16, it says in verse 1, So they brought the ark of God and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

And when David had finished doing that, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord, as we saw earlier. Then it says in verse 4, which we did not see in Samuel, And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, Asaph, the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jael, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattathiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom, and with stringed instruments and harps. But Asaph made music with cymbals, Benaiah and Jehaziel, the priests, regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

So we don't read this in Samuel, but since Chronicles is more concerned about, well, it's priestly, it's a priestly record, the priests are the ones who are focused upon in Chronicles, and so concern about worship forms and so forth receive a lot more attention in Chronicles. In fact, in Chronicles chapters 23, 24, and 25, we have long lists of the divisions of the Levites and the priests and the musicians, which are not found in the record in Samuel, but in 1 Chronicles chapter 23, there's the divisions of the Levites that David divided up and gave duties for the ministry at the ark. And then the divisions of the priests in 1 Chronicles 24.

By the way, there were 24 divisions of the priests. And some people feel that when John in heaven in the Revelation saw 24 elders, that they're commemorative of the 24 divisions of the priests, since the elders do offer incense and wear white robes and so forth and have priestly duties. However, the 24 elders also wear crowns and sit on thrones, so they have kingly duties.

So they're like kings and priests. And so probably are not a reference to priests, but more likely to Christians in general. But the number 24 could in some way echo back to the priestly identity because of David's 24 courses or divisions of priests.

And then chapter 25 of 1 Chronicles is talking about the divisions of the musicians. So the Levites, the priests, and the musicians all, especially the musicians, had a new role in David's worship forms that were not there before in Moses' prescribed forms of worship. Levites and priests, of course, already had responsibilities under Moses' law, but now we add musicians.

Now these men, of which we read in 1 Chronicles 16, notice Obed-Edom is one of them, and he's the one who had had the ark in his home and whose home had been so blessed by its presence that David had taken courage to bring it into Jerusalem after all. Obed-Edom had become accustomed to attending to the ark for some period of time, and so David apparently gave him an appointment to sing there. Now it would appear that Obed-Edom might have been a Levite, though we've said he was a Philistine and an Edomite.

We don't know very much about him. We know he was said to be a Gittite, which means a man of Gath. Gath was a Philistine city, and therefore I've kind of assumed that he had Philistine blood.

But I also said that Edom, being part of his name, suggests he might have had Edomite blood as well. And now he apparently had some Levite blood as well. So it's really hard to know.

This man may have been a Heinz 57, you know, mixed breed with certainly some Edomite, some Levite, and maybe some Philistine blood. Or maybe he had no Philistine blood. He could have been called a Gittite because he simply lived in Gath, even if he was not racially connected to the families of Gath.

Very little is known of him except we see that he is now... He might have been made an honorary Levite because of his having taken care of the ark previously in his home. We don't know. But he is now one of the musicians, apparently.

And Asaph is apparently the chief musician. And we find many of the psalms, as you read the psalm titles, they're psalms of Asaph or the sons of Asaph. So that this man that was appointed by David wrote some of the psalms.

And his sons apparently wrote some of the psalms. Or maybe they were written for the sons of Asaph. It's not always clear from the titles how they should be translated.

But David wrote at least 75 of the psalms. There are 150 psalms in our Psalter and 75 of them have David's name attached to them in the psalm titles. Many of the others that have no titles might have been written by David.

But a fair number were written by or for Asaph. And so we can see that the Psalter, the largest book in our Bible, was written or collected for this very service that we're reading about here. This continual music and singing that took place around this makeshift structure.

That contained the ark. And in 1 Chronicles 16 verses 7 and following we read of a psalm that David wrote for this occasion. It says, on that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren to thank the Lord.

And this psalm actually corresponds to Psalm 105 to a large degree. And it says, O give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. We actually sing this psalm.

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name, let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in his strength, seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvelous works which he has done, his wonders and judgments of his mouth. O seed of Israel, his servant, and you of Jacob, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God, his judgments are in all the earth.

Remember his covenant always, the word which he commanded for a thousand generations. The covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob. For a statute to Israel and for an everlasting covenant.

Saying, to you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance. When you were but few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another, people.

He permitted no man to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, do not touch my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm. Now by the way, this particular psalm on this occasion commemorates God's promise to give the land of Canaan to the children of Israel.

And of course David has only recently now acquired the full liberation of the land of Canaan for the people of Israel. So in his time as no other previous time, this promise was seen as fulfilled. And he's singing about that promise because of course it has happened in the driving out of the Philistines especially.

And the Jebusites. Certainly as no other previous time in Israel's history, this promise was seen to have been realized. And it's interesting too that when he says, they went from country to country, and kingdom to kingdom, and God reproved kings for their sakes, saying, do my anointed ones, my prophets no harm, don't touch my anointed ones.

This is a reference no doubt to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wandering around in a land that was not their own. The promised land. But also in the Philistine territory, Gerar.

There was a Philistine city Gerar that both Abraham and Isaac were in. And both of them, their wives were in danger. In the case of Abraham, his wife was actually taken from him because he said she was his sister.

In the case of Isaac, he also said his wife was his sister. She was not taken from him, but might have been had not the king of Gerar noticed that Isaac and Rebekah were behaving differently than brothers and sisters behaved together. He saw them, the king James says, sporting, which is apparently euphemistic for petting or caressing or doing something.

And so he realized that Isaac and Rebekah were married, not brother and sister. But the point is that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt among pagan kings and sometimes were at their mercy. But God protected them.

And we know that when Levi and Simeon wiped out the people of Shechem, that the Bible says God put the fear of God on the nation surrounding them so that they didn't pursue Jacob. But what this psalm is saying is that these men, when they were few in number and small and defenseless, were actually protected by God. And it's as if God said to Abimelech, don't harm Abraham, don't harm my anointed one.

Do my prophets no wrong. God told Abimelech, the king in Genesis chapter 20, that Abraham was a prophet and that Abimelech should treat him right. So that's probably what's referred to here.

But notice the wording. David says that God told kings, touch not my anointed. And this is the very term that David had used when he refused to strike Saul.

He apparently was aware from the history of Israel that God had forbidden other kings from striking or afflicting or hurting his anointed, which meant Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in those days. But since Saul was God's anointed, David took warning from this, this awareness that God had made these kinds of statements earlier to earlier kings. And so he obviously had scruples about it himself.

Verse 23, sing to the Lord all the earth, proclaim the good news, the gospel of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all the peoples. That's precisely the commission that Jesus gave the church.

Declare the good news of salvation among the nations. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols. But the Lord made the heavens. The heathen all worship statues that don't do anything.

But our God is the one who made everything. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place.

Give to the Lord, O kindreds of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due his name.

Bring an offering and come before him. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth.

The world also is firmly established. It shall not be moved. Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad.

And let them say among the nations, Yahweh reigns. That is, by the way, the gospel of the kingdom. We go among the nations and we say, there's another king, one Jesus.

That's the message of the kingdom. Yahweh reigns. Our God reigns.

And he has appointed his Messiah to reign. And that's the message we have to the nations. Say among the nations, Yahweh reigns.

Let the sea roar in all its fullness. Let the field rejoice in all that is in it. Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord.

For he is coming to judge the earth. O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. For his mercy endures forever.

And say, save us, O God, of our salvation. Gather us together and deliver us from the Gentiles. To give thanks to your holy name.

To triumph in your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people said, Amen.

And praise the Lord. And so the rest of 1 Chronicles 16 talks about how a perpetuation of this worship was arranged for. Actually, verse 37 says, So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly as every day's work required.

And Obed-Edom, with his 68 brethren, he had a big family, including Obed-Edom, the son of Jaduthun and Hosea, to be gatekeeper. So apparently Obed-Edom now was given an additional responsibility to be gatekeeper. And Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place that was in Gibeon to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening and to do according to all that is written in the law of the Lord which he commanded Israel.

So it would appear that during the reign of Saul the worship of Yahweh as prescribed by Moses was neglected, obviously. If the ark was in the house of Abinadab near Beth Shemesh, rather than in the tabernacle at Nob, they could hardly be having the Day of Atonement celebrated as they should because the Day of Atonement required that the high priest go into the holy place and sprinkle stuff on the blood and stuff on the ark, on the mercy seat. But it wasn't there.

Clearly the prescribed worship that Moses had given Israel was simply neglected during the entire reign of Saul. David, however, restored at least some of it and even added to it which might be considered to be irreverent to add to the law of the Lord but David himself is referred to as a prophet in scripture and therefore his additions might very well have been inspired by God. And so there's like a new dimension of worship added to what Moses had said.

Moses, of course, we might see as a type of the law and David as a type of Christ and therefore the addition of rejoicing and dancing and music and so forth to what had been basically just a slaughterhouse religion before might suggest and be a type and a shadow of the new covenant under Christ actually being one of rejoicing rather than of severity. Remember when Jesus, he contrasted John the Baptist from himself, John the ultimate example of an Old Testament pious man, Jesus the ultimate example of the new covenant normative spirituality. He said that you people, Israel, you're like children playing in the marketplace saying we played a funeral dirge for you and you didn't mourn so we played a happy song and you wouldn't dance.

And he says for John the Baptist came neither eating meat nor drinking wine and you say he has a demon and the Son of Man comes eating and drinking and you say behold a winebibber and a glutton, a friend of tax collectors and sinners but wisdom is justified by her children he says. But what he seems to be saying is that John the ultimate epitome of the Old Covenant spirituality came fasting, mourning, severe. Jesus the epitome of New Testament spirituality came happy, feasting, celebrating.

And he says Israel rejected both. They didn't really follow the Old Covenant well and they were rejecting the New Covenant as well. They wouldn't listen to John or Jesus.

But the point here is that Moses' law was a law of great severity. But David introduces elements of joy and celebration and so forth to worship that were not really a part of the ordinary activities of the temple or the tabernacle in the days of Moses. And this innovation may not have been carnal.

This may have been something that God inspired David to do knowing that as we do that he was in fact a prophet. But it does say that they restored the morning and evening continual offering which was commanded by the law of Moses or as it's called here the law of the Lord in verse 41 and with them Heman and Jaduthun and the rest who were chosen who were designated by name to give thanks to the Lord because his mercy endures forever. These may have been the soloists, the guys with the best voices.

And with them Heman and Jaduthun to sound aloud with trumpets I guess that's their main contribution as cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jaduthun were gatekeepers. Then all the people departed, every man to his house and David returned to bless his house.

And that's when he ran into Michael when he returned to bless his house. So all this information kind of fits in between. In 2 Samuel 6 verses 16 through 19 we saw the installation of the ark in the tent that David built for it.

And then in verse 20 of chapter 6 we see David returning to his house to bless his household and all the material that we just read in 1 Chronicles 16 fit in between apparently in between verses 19 and 20 of 2 Samuel 6. Now the ark is in Jerusalem. David's mansion is in Jerusalem. And David begins to feel kind of bad about that because he's in a mansion but the ark that represents the presence of God is not housed so gloriously as the king himself is.

He starts to feel like maybe he's giving more honor to himself than to God. Now it came to pass, chapter 7, when the king was dwelling in his house that the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around that the king said to Nathan the prophet, See, now I dwell in a house of cedar that the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains. Then Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you.

But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord, Would you build a house for me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel from Egypt, indicating that I haven't cared about that. What makes you think I care about it now? Even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places where I have walked with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people? Israel saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the sheepfold and from following the sheep to be ruler over my people over Israel.

And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you and have made you a great name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more. Nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them any more as previously.

Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people of Israel and have caused you to rest from all your enemies, also the Lord tells you that he will make you a house, not the other way around. And then he explains that in verses 12 and following which we'll take in a moment. This conversation between David and Nathan was apparently, I mean it might have been a formal thing.

I mean David apparently had been looking out the windows of his house and seeing the tent that the ark was in and thinking, You know, I've done more to house myself gloriously than to house the ark of God gloriously. And although he doesn't say so, it's implied. You know, I think I ought to put out the effort to build a nice house for the ark also.

In other words, build a temple for the Lord. And he just says this. He doesn't even say what's on his mind.

Well, it's implied. He speaks to Nathan. Now maybe he called Nathan in to consult him and see whether God was in this or not.

Or maybe they're just sitting around his friends talking one day and David brings this up. Nathan's original answer is wrong. And, you know, he apparently gave the answer off the cuff.

Which shows that a prophet of God can be wrong. But Nathan was not speaking in the name of the Lord. He did say the Lord is with you.

But that's kind of a generic statement that many people would say to each other. This is not stating, he's not saying thus saith the Lord. When Nathan speaks and says go, do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you.

This is apparently just Nathan speaking off the top of his head. Thinking, you know, I like the idea you're suggesting. You're suggesting that the ark should have a house as glorious and elaborate as your own.

That sounds good to me too. I think the Lord's going to bless that. Go do it.

Now, if David had actually called Nathan in to consult him, and Nathan gave this wrong answer, then Nathan would really be dropping the ball here. Because a prophet of God shouldn't speak off the top of his head if he's being consulted to give the word of the Lord. That's why I think maybe David and Nathan were just friends, and just in a friendly conversation at some time, David just mentioned what he was thinking, and Nathan at first just gave sort of an unofficial answer.

An answer that basically he thought it sounded good to him. He thought the Lord would bless that. But of course, when the word of the Lord actually came to Nathan, the answer was otherwise.

Now, the answer of the Lord was basically this. No, you don't build me a house, I'll build you a house. That's the short of it.

And then in verse 12 and following, he's going to tell what he means by building him a house. In this oracle, the word house has double nuance. Because David was considering building an actual structure, a building, a house, to house the ark.

Whereas when God says he's going to build David a house, of course David didn't need a house built. He lived in a nice house already. That was what he was observing.

He lives in already a nicer house than God's ark does. But the word house, in the sense that God uses it in verse 11, means a household or a family, or in the case of a king's house, what would be a dynasty, an ongoing dynasty of his descendants, which came to be called the House of David. All the kings of Judah from this point on were referred to as the House of David, the dynasty, the offspring of David.

And so God is going to say, I'm going to build you what will be called the House of David. And that will be more in keeping with my wishes than for you to build me a house of cedar or a house of physical structure. Now it's interesting that the word of God to Nathan was, this idea is not from me.

In fact, God seems to be saying it never crossed my mind to want a house. I mean, have I ever asked for one? I instructed Moses to build a tent so I could move around, so I would not be stapled down to the ground in one spot, but I could move around to be where I want the people of God to be. I wanted to be where the people are.

I wanted to go where the people go. I wanted to dwell among my people. I've never really wanted to just nail down one spot and say this is where I'm going to stay.

And God doesn't say so, but it sounds like he's particularly not changed his mind even at this point, that he's not necessarily interested in a house. Now he does make a concession to David and we'll see that in the verses that follow, that David's son will build a house. And even that has a double meaning.

But Stephen, when he was preaching, in Acts chapter 7, is actually rebuking the Sanhedrin because of their over-reverence for the temple as a holy building. The bottom line of Stephen's preaching is that in verse 48, however the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. But throughout his sermon in Acts chapter 7, what Stephen is pointing out again and again is that God isn't nailed down to one spot.

For example, in the beginning of the sermon, in verse 2 of Acts 7, he says, The God of glory appeared to our father Abram when he was in Mesopotamia. That's pretty far from Jerusalem, Mesopotamia. And yet God was there because God's man was there.

Where God's man is, that's where God is. He doesn't live in a house made with hands. God is everywhere and he's particularly manifest where a man of faith is to be found.

And so he appeared to Abram in Mesopotamia. And then it said in verse 9, The patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. Where? In Egypt.

Not in Jerusalem. God was with Abram in Mesopotamia. He was with Joseph in Egypt.

And then of course, we read further on and through the sermon that Moses in verse 29 was a sojourner in the land of Midian. And verse 30 says, And the angel of the Lord appeared to him there. So in Midian, the Lord appeared to Moses.

And interestingly enough, in verse 33, Stephen points out that there in Midian, God said, take the sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground. Midian? Holy ground? I thought Jerusalem was the holy place. No, Midian was when God was there meeting with his man.

Wherever God meets with man, that's a holy ground. It's not where a building stands. It's called a holy building.

It says in verse 36, He brought them out of Egypt after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years. God was with them in Egypt, in the Red Sea and in the wilderness. It doesn't matter where geography, geography doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter where the people are. Where the people are is where God is. And then in verse 44, He says, Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness.

So God dwelt with them wherever they were in the wilderness. Not Jerusalem. The wilderness is far from Jerusalem.

Stephen's rebuke of these people is that they thought the temple in Jerusalem was a sacred spot. And he said, No, the only sacred spot is where God is, meeting with his people. As Jesus put it, where two or more are gathered in my name.

There am I. It's not a location. And it says in verses 44 through 48, Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he appointed, instructing Moses to make according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers having received, it in turn also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. Meaning, this is what we're reading about in 2 Samuel 7 right now.

But Solomon built him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, what house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or what is the place of my rest? Now, the point here is that even though God did allow the temple to be built in Jerusalem, He still says, this isn't really where I'm resting.

My throne is in heaven. The whole planet earth is where I put my feet down. And in that scripture, He goes on to say, But to this man I will look, even to him who is of a poor and contrite spirit who trembles at my word.

That's of course Isaiah chapter 61, 65 verses 1 and 2, or excuse me, 66 verses 1 and 2. And so God rebukes them for thinking there's a house on earth that is His home. Now notice what Stephen says, that in verse 44 he says, God appointed and gave instructions concerning building a tabernacle. But it says, David asked to build a house for him and Solomon built it.

It's essentially saying, the only structure God ever asked for was a tabernacle in Moses' day. It was David's idea, not God's, to build a house. However, God allowed it to happen, but declared that that's not really where he lives.

He lives in heaven and on earth everywhere. The house could be a symbol of His presence, but that was not something that God wanted people to begin to think of as where God lives. David apparently was not entirely in touch with God's heart about this.

David thought he should honor God with architecture. There's better ways to honor God than that. You know, in the Middle Ages, it is said that the strategy of the church was evangelism through architecture.

Building big cathedrals, building big buildings, giving Christianity a dignified and respectable face by having the biggest, most elaborate buildings, the fanciest, as it were, temples, actually cathedrals. And all this money was spent with these gilded structures and so forth, beautiful structures, but it was wrongheaded. God doesn't live in temples made with hands.

The people He lives in are the poor and the humble, and those who tremble at His word, perhaps the money should have been given to them instead of the buildings. And even to this day, though we don't build big cathedrals with gold and all that stuff, we still have some pretty big churches that are very elaborate. And church buildings cost a lot of money.

I mean, real estate's expensive. And the church still hasn't learned this lesson that God doesn't really dwell in temples made with hands, in buildings made with hands. He dwells in people.

And therefore God's resources, no doubt, are best used to help people rather than to build fancy buildings that command the respect of people who are carnal enough to think that a building is a holy place. There is no building that's a holy place. There used to be the tabernacle, but that was the only holy place that God ever ordained, and it moved with the people.

It was a symbol of the presence of God in Christ who tabernacled with us. But the temple, that was a human idea. And it's like when they asked for a king.

That wasn't God's idea, but he accommodated them. David asked to build a temple. That wasn't God's idea, but he accommodated him.

But he didn't let David do it. He said his son would do it. Anyway, the answer that God gave Nathan to tell David was really contrary to Nathan's first response and even to David's own sentiments.

So David was a man after God's heart. He didn't always know what was on God's heart. And so David wanted something that God was not even interested in.

And God said, no, I'll tell you what, I'd much rather build you a house. Why? Because the house of David is the dynasty that Jesus reigns in. Jesus descended from David.

The Davidic dynasty continues for eternity through the Davidic king who's on the throne even now and has been for the past 2,000 years and will be for eternity. David's son is on the throne and God had much more interest in bringing the Messiah and salvation and the kingdom of God through David's line than he had in having some kind of physical structure that he could take or leave. And he could leave it.

In Ezekiel chapter 11, we see a vision of God leaving the temple and letting the Babylonians come and destroy it. We see God in a vision at the end of Ezekiel 11, the glory of God is seen removing itself from Solomon's temple, going out of Jerusalem, out the east gate and standing on the Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem. That is, the glory of God has departed from the temple and left it vulnerable to the attack of the Babylonians who would in fact destroy it.

Zechariah 14 says God would do that again with the new temple. We see in Zechariah 14, God again standing on the Mount of Olives. That is outside of Jerusalem.

That is, having departed from Jerusalem, which is the same emblem as in Ezekiel 11, God has departed from the temple and I believe that Zechariah 14 is predicting that the Romans would come and destroy the temple just as the Babylonians had. But the point here is that the temple never really mattered to God. When it was in the people's minds the place where God lived, then God honored their devotion to it just because it was seen as devotion to Him.

But He never really cared to have a temple. And that's what He says to David. Now in verse 12 it says, continuing the oracle to David, and by the way, these verses that follow are usually referred to as the Davidic Covenant, a special covenant God made with David.

When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seat after you who will come from your body 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 His father and He shall be My son.

If He commits iniquity, I will chasten Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men, but My mercy shall not depart from Him as I took it from Saul whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

According to all these words and according to all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. Now the promise about David's seed has got to be understood as having at least a double application because it says when you rest with your fathers, when you're dead, in other words, in the grave, I'm going to raise up your seat after you and He will sit on your throne after you and He will build a house to My name. Solomon did that.

Solomon was David's seed. When David died, he sat on David's throne and he built a temple, built a house to the name of the Lord. And further it says, concerning the descendants of David, if that man does evil, if he commits iniquity, verse 14, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

Solomon and his successors, when they did evil, did come under divine discipline at the hands of humans. There were persons that afflicted Judah in the time of Solomon because of his defection from God. Later kings of Judah were afflicted, especially Jeconiah, who reigned at the time that the Babylonians came and carried away the Judean kings and their families.

And so God did discipline the offspring of David, the dynasty of David, the house of David, when they did iniquity. But there's something else here. Because it says in verse 14, I will be his father and he shall be my son.

And it is said that in the ancient world, the kings of almost all the nations were considered to be the sons of their gods. That is, the king of Moab was counted to be the son of Chemosh. The king of Babylon was considered to be the son of Bel or Nebo, the gods of that region.

The pharaohs were considered to be gods and sons of their gods, Ra. And so it was commonplace for the monarch of a country to be regarded as the son of that country's god. In fact, some say that in Israel the terminology was used also.

That when God said to David in Psalm 2, 7, you are my son, this day have I begotten you. Some people think this is a coronation psalm. That when David was coronated, that God was announcing, you're my son now, David.

You're the king of my people. And the term son was used as a figure for God's representative ruler under him. And so the statement, I will be his father and he shall be my son, could be taken simply as a reference to Solomon and any other Davidic king after Solomon who would be, as it were, God's son, ruling over God's people.

But, verse 14 is quoted in the New Testament, in Hebrews 1, 5, as being about Jesus. In Hebrews 1, 5, it says, to which of the angels did he say at any time, you are my son, this day I have begotten you, or I shall be his father and he shall be my son. There are Old Testament statements about the Messiah being the son of God.

And he quotes Psalm 270, he quotes 2 Samuel 7, 14, which means that although this prophecy looks like a prophecy about David's son Solomon who would sit on his throne and build the house of the Lord and perhaps the remainder of his dynasty, which is said to last forever, yet there is special fulfillment in a particular son of David who would be the Messiah. Now it should not be thought that the Messiah did iniquity and was therefore chastened with the rods of men. Although Jesus was chastened with the rods of men, but not for his own crimes, but for those crimes of others.

It says in Isaiah 53, 6, all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord laid on him, the Messiah, the iniquity of us all. Jesus bore the iniquity of the world and God said if he commits iniquity I'll chasten him by the rods of the sons of men. In other words, Jesus was treated on behalf of the world as one who had committed iniquity.

He was chastened with the rods of men, he was beaten with rods and crucified, not because he committed iniquity, but he was treated as if he had. He had the iniquity of us all laid upon himself, it says in Isaiah 53, 6. So we have in a sense that Jesus is the son of David par excellence. There are many sons of David that sat on his throne after him, but Jesus, or the Messiah, would be the ultimate son of David who would rule and have an eternal kingdom and reign forever and would build a house.

Remember Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church. And forever afterward the church is referred to as the temple of the Holy Spirit or the house of God. In Hebrews 3, 6, it says that Jesus is the Lord over his own house whose house we are.

The church is his house. In 1 Timothy 3, 15, Paul says to Timothy if I am delayed I want you to know how to behave in the house of God which is the church of God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The church, the body of Christ, is the house of God.

In 1 Peter 2, 5, Peter says that we are like living stones built up into a spiritual house. We, the church, are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the house of God. Jesus builds this house.

Upon the rock he builds his church. So there is a sense in which this was fulfilled at least partially in Solomon, but more looks forward to the Messiah. And the Jews understood this.

It didn't take New Testament writers to figure this out. The Jews believed that this Davidic covenant was the basis for belief that the Messiah would come from David's line. They knew even before David's time that there would be a Messiah.

There are predictions of the Messiah that predate David. But at this point, God singles out David and his line as the one through whom the Messiah would come. And this Davidic covenant, though it has what looks like a partial fulfillment in the natural sons of David, Solomon and the rest, it was recognized as having a fuller fulfillment to come in the Messiah.

Now, when is the Messiah's kingdom? There are two opinions. There are some who believe it was established at his first coming, and there are some who believe it will be established at his second coming. Many people associate the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of God, with the millennium after Jesus comes back, that Jesus will come back and establish his kingdom in the millennium.

Others believe that he established his kingdom when he was here the first time. Is there any guidance for us between these two options here? Well, look at verse 12. Speaking to David, when your days are fulfilled and when you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seat after you, who will come in from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

Now, this is to happen while David is asleep with his fathers. When Jesus returns, among other things that are going to happen, he's going to raise the dead, all the dead. That means David will no longer be sleeping with his fathers.

David will be awake again. David will rise when Jesus returns, just like all other dead people will. It can't be that that's when God will establish the messianic kingdom, because David will not be sleeping with his fathers.

The kingdom would be established while David was in his grave, not afterwards. And this is brought out by Peter in Acts chapter 2. Peter points this out. Verse 29, Peter said, Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Well, that qualifies as the right time for the kingdom and the Messiah to come, because David is dead and buried, and his tomb is here. That's when God would set up the kingdom of the Messiah, of David's seed. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ, Messiah, to sit on his throne.

This is, of course, a reference to what we just read in 2 Samuel 7. He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear.

For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know surely that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. That is, the promises God made to David have been fulfilled now in the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus.

Even David said the Messiah would sit at the right hand of God, in Psalm 110, verse 1, which is quoted here. And therefore, he says, that's what's happened. We are witnesses.

God raised up the seat of David to sit on his throne, just like he said he would. And he's now on the throne at the right hand of God. Therefore, let the house of Israel know that these promises have been fulfilled, the promises made to David.

The Messiah has been exalted, is in position, he is enthroned, the kingdom of the Messiah has arrived. That's what Peter says. It's the same thing Jesus and John the Baptist said, the kingdom of God is at hand.

But now Peter says it has come. The Messiah is now enthroned. The promises God made to David have occurred.

And therefore, this promise to David has been fulfilled and that Jesus is reigning at the right hand of God and will reign forever. And these are the words that were spoken to David by Nathan. And we'll have to stop there and we'll have to pick up the remainder of this chapter next time.