2 Samuel 7:1-17 [Build On The Rock 7]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
July 15, 2018
After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” 3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 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. 7 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?” ’ 8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 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 on earth. 10 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 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders h 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: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ” 17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
Dear Friends in Christ, How do you break it to someone that the news they are sharing with you is not the good news they think it is? For instance, how would you respond to your beaming four-year-old who has just told you that they “helped” by cleaning the bathroom…and they show you that they used the toilet brush and toilet water to “clean” everything? What do you say and how do you say it? After all, they are so proud of themselves for helping and they really were thinking of you and trying to do something nice. Parents have all kinds of stories like this because children don’t know what adults know. They have these moments when love and good intentions come together, but sometimes it just doesn’t come out right! King David had a moment like that. This child of God thought that he would do something nice for his heavenly Father. He was not just thinking of himself, but his heart swelled with love for God. He had this great idea—he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” The meeting with his pastor went well. Nathan was on board and he signed off on David building a stationary structure—a temple to replace the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant, the dwelling-place of the LORD, would have a fixed place among God’s people. It would be every bit as beautiful as the tabernacle, a building that would be fitting for their glorious God. But the lesson before us today from 2 Samuel chapter 7 reveals… God’s Unexpected Reaction to David’s Building Plans
1. He Announced an Alternate Plan for the Temple At first, it may seem kind of rude of God to react the way he did to David. David’s heart was in the right place—thinking of God more highly than himself. He was the king and military leader—he was not the prophet—so like a good military man, he followed “chain of command.” This had to do with God; God’s spokesman was the one to run this by. Loving, respectful, following protocol—what could go wrong? Well, the LORD used his spokesman, Nathan, to give David some difficult news. “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?” ’ David was thinking that finally, after a few hundred years, the Israelites had taken firm control of the Promised Land. They had conquered those who opposed their being there, and had finally settled in. He actually had time to sit at peace, which led to this brainstorm of his. But God hadn’t asked David to do this. In fact, he had never asked this of anyone at all. God had other things for David to be concerned with and do. David’s gifts were ruling over God’s people, leadership, military strategist, protector of Israel. And God had blessed him in all of this. David thought he had a great idea—and there was nothing wrong with his feelings or the idea itself, but he didn’t know what God knew and what God wanted. It would be good for us to take a mental note here. We may also think we know what God wants. Sometimes we can be so sure of it. And our intentions might be pure and righteous and there may be nothing inherently wrong with what we’re thinking. But unless God speaks on the subject, we cannot assume that what we have decided is God’s plan. Only when God speaks—and he does this only through his Word—can we be absolutely certain. No, David would not build this temple. And part of the LORD’s alternate plan had to kind of hurt. Although at first it didn’t sound like it, God was not absolutely against the idea of a temple; he just did not have in mind for David to build it. He would have David’s son Solomon build the temple. That—in the context of something far more important—is foretold here. And we see that as Scripture records Solomon eventually going about the work of building God’s house. I have always found it interesting how David was still involved—giving Solomon plans, helping to gather the materials and encouraging God’s people to give toward the construction of this place of worship. David picked out the location, planned it (down to fine details—1 Chron. 28), budgeted for it, funded it, gathered materials, and hired workers. The Bible tells us about a whole lot of “preparation” that David did. As you
read in later chapters and in 1 Chronicles, David was very much involved. You might almost wonder if David was listening when God said the he would not be the one to build the temple, that this would not be David’s House for the Lord! Ultimately, in the fourth year of his reign and after his father David had been taken to heaven, the Bible records that Solomon began the building of the temple—a wonderful building, the stationary structure his earthly father had in mind to serve their heavenly Father (2 Chronicles 3). 2. He Announced the Building of a Different Kind of “House” But you know, as amazing as it was, the building of “Solomon’s Temple” is not the most important part of this lesson or the history of God’s dwelling with his people! Grace’s Building Committee for our Sahuarita Church and Child Learning Center has seen a number of changes to the architectural design. The architect has offered different layouts and decorative features, but not an entirely different kind of structure. The things you will see next week at the Member Feedback Meeting are in line with our wishes from the beginning. But when the LORD reacted to David’s plan for God’s house, he offered an entirely different kind of “house!” David thought he had a great idea to build a great house for God but God’s better idea was to make David’s house great! “‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” There was a double fulfillment of this prophecy from God! Solomon, David’s offspring would build the temple. But the second meaning of this promise was even more unexpected and infinitely more important than the first! A spiritual house would be built—an eternal kingdom, but with a flesh and blood descendant of David’s on the throne. What an honor that the LORD would take a simple shepherd, make him king, grant him success of every kind, and promise that One from his family line would rule over this eternal kingdom! Well after David left this earth, this eternal King would come. The Savior would trace his earthly roots back to King David.
David was thinking of a permanent structure. I used the term “stationary structure” before because that earthly temple would not be “permanent.” It would be destroyed by the Babylonians because God’s people ignored him and chased after other gods. It would be rebuilt and destroyed again by the Romans in 70 AD. It was a stationary building, but not permanent. But God did have in mind something permanent—a forever kingdom built on the foundation of the Offspring of David, the forever King who rules over the hearts of his people and whose forever throne is established in the “temple” of heaven! Those “forever” statements tell us that something more was meant than the building Solomon would construct. They speak to a Son of David who did come and whom we know. We know that these words spoke of Jesus. And God would keep telling his people about this Savior-King. About 300 years after David, the Isaiah wrote with prophetic vision: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…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). Your important “Christmas in July” is not some sale or promotion run by a local store looking for a way to separate you from your money! Here’s your Christmas in July—the words we heard in the gospel today: “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end (Luke 1:30-33).’” And let me add this: So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:4-7). How blessed are we that we live at a time when we can look back and see not only that God made these promises to David and reaffirmed them to his people over the centuries, but that the LORD was faithful and sent Jesus, his Son, to be the Savior, the King who defeated the enemies of God’s people—sin and death and Satan—and has brought us forgiveness and peace through his cross and resurrection! Like David, we can sometimes be that child of God who thinks we’ve got it figured out, that we know what God wants. Sometimes it is not a matter of sin; we’re simply wrong. Sometimes, our thoughts and attitudes can be tinged with sin. Jesus, the earthly descendant of David, yet the eternal King, was punished and died for those sins of
ours and the sins of the whole world. It was the reason he came down from heaven and took on human flesh from David’s royal line. When he had lived a sinless life in our place, he then rose from death in victory and established the forever kingdom that you and I are part of. It is an unexpected and undeserved privilege to be part of God’s kingdom. We are part of the “house” of God— not a physical building, but a spiritual one and one that will last eternally. Like David did after the words of our lesson, take the time to thank God—in all humility—that the LORD has better plans that we do—and more important ones, like calling us to live in the spiritual house he has built through the life, death, and resurrection of David’s offspring—our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.