Lesson Info:

Lesson 2 Winter Quarter
Lesson Text:  2 Samuel 7:4-16
Golden Text:  2 Samuel 7:13

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Introduction

This week’s lesson is the second lesson in the winter quarter.  In our lesson last week, we took a look at the forerunner of Christ.  This week’s lesson, again, has the birth of Christ in sight as we will take a look at God’s promise to David and his throne.

David Desires to Build God’s House

Our lesson opens with Nathan, the prophet, receiving word from God to deliver to David (v.4).  By this point in time, Saul had been killed in battle and David began to reign over all of Israel.  You often hear me speak of the divided kingdom years with Israel (ten tribes) reigning in the north of the Promised Land with Judah and Benjamin dwelling in the south.  Well, David lived at a time prior to the divided kingdom years where he had united all of Israel.

A grand desire

By this point in time, David had led Israel to capture Jerusalem for themselves (2 Sam. 5:6-12), and they had also defeated their great enemy, the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:17-25).  These days were really good days for Israel as they had retrieved the ark which had been stolen from them by the Philistines.  David was riding exceedingly high as he brought the ark into Jerusalem and danced with great joy before the Lord (2 Sam. 6:13-15).

With this great high from a great victory, David had the grand desire to build a house for the Lord.  As he was dwelling in his house that the Lord had blessed him with, David pointed out to Nathan that the ark of God was inside tent curtains – the tabernacle.  David had the grand desire to build something magnificent for the Lord and Nathan essentially gave David his blessings (2 Sam. 7:1-3).

Now, God did not give David any instructions whatsoever to build Him a house.  God, we know, does not need a house to dwell in because He is everywhere at all times; He is beyond this world of course.  In Isaiah’s prophecy, we will see that the Lord said, “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.  Where is the house that you will build Me?  And where is the place of My rest?  For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist … (Is. 66:1-2)”

So, the Lord had to correct Nathan at first because God had not given David instructions to build Him a house.  God’s message to David was about this grand desire as he asked David, through Nathan, “would you build a house for Me to dwell in (v.5)?”  The Lord cannot be confined to a house built by man’s hands.  The gesture from David was a grand one but, again, this was David’s own desire and not the Lord’s desire.

Rebuking David’s grand desire

God then spoke of how He did not dwell in a house during the days the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt; God stated moved about in a tent (the tabernacle) (v.6).  In fact, in scripture, we know that the Lord led the children of Israel through the wilderness and His glory would come to a rest above the tabernacle solely as a signal to the children of Israel to come to a rest on their journey (Ex. 40:34-38); God did not need to ever come to a rest on the journey.

Again, what would God need a stationary home for?  God does not need to have a place to go to sleep in because God does not require sleep (rest).  With this in mind, the Lord said to David that He had never commanded or asked anybody about building Him a home (v.7).  So, Nathan was commanded to go to David and tell David that he was raised up to rule over His people (v.8).

One of the biggest problems that many believers face, especially us preachers, is that we have to learn how to put our desires in check for the Lord’s desire.  This reminds me of Paul who, through his years of ministering, always had the grand desire of going to Rome, even though the Lord never instructed Him to do so.  In fact, the Lord prohibited Paul from going to Rome and blocks were even put in Paul’s path from going to Rome until the Lord’s planned time for him to go.

So, this thought essentially ties into the lessons we had last quarter that dealt with being obedient to God’s instructions.  We have seen that those who are obedient to the instructions of God will be blessed.  You and I, as true believers, do not have to do more than what the Lord desires of us because He is going to bless us when we simply follow His instructions.  This, again, we know for a truth because we have seen the Lord move on our behalf because of our obedience and this is what God reminded David (v.9).

David did not need to bless God, in fact, who are we to even think that we can bless the Lord?  Again, I understand David’s gesture here, but he was simply doing more than what God had asked of him.  The Lord essentially says to David in the next couple of verses, “Don’t worry about building Me a house when I am going to build you a house.”

David’s Future House

The Lord then has a message of the future for David, a future, by the way, that has not been completely fulfilled.  The Lord says, “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 anymore, as previously (v.10)…”

Some of you may think that God was talking about the Promised Land but I want you to understand, again, that David was resting in Jerusalem; David was in the Promised Land already!  So what place is the Lord speaking of planting Israel to the point that we no longer have to move or ever be oppressed by the sons of wickedness?  The Lord, we should understand, was speaking of an eternal land – a land beyond this world of ours.

After this promise, Nathan was to tell David of another promise that was being directed to him only.  Nathan was to tell David that God was going to make a house of him (v.11).  Let us understand that when God is speaking about a house here, He is talking about an everlasting house – not a house of this world.  Houses of this world eventually crumble and fall apart, but houses of God’s kingdom are everlasting.

Also, I want you to understand that this “house” is speaking to David’s lineage being on the throne.  If you think about worldly monarchies, the idea is that the monarchy is typically ruled by one family, unless it is overtaken and destroyed.  “Saul’s house”, initially, was to be everlasting but because of his sin, Saul’s house was lost (1 Sam. 15:10-28).

God tells David that when his days are fulfilled and he goes to rest with his fathers, He will set up his seed after him and establish his kingdom (v.12).  Many of us would believe that Solomon was being spoken of here because Solomon followed David’s reign and did come from David’s body.  In fact, in the next verse, the Lord said that this seed would build a house for His name (v.13).  Solomon did build God’s temple.

The Messiah comes through David

Now, in that same verse, Christ enters into the picture here as the Lord says that He would establish David’s kingdom, through his seed, forever.  This verse establishes the fact that kings were to come through the seed of David.  Now, because Israel (ten of the tribes) split away from the two tribes to the south during the divided kingdom years, their kings did not come through the seed of David.

Judah (the Jews), the southern kingdom, were very strict in the southern kingdom as they kept to what the prophet had said on behalf of the Lord – David’s seed (his house) was to sit on the throne as king of the Jews.  Isaiah prophesied that a Rod from the stem of Jesse would come forth and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  Jesse was David’s father which meant that David was the rod in this prophecy and the Branch in this prophecy speaks to Jesus (Is. 11:1).

In scripture, we know that Christ, the Messiah, had to come through the seed of David.  This is why Matthew’s gospel opens with the genealogy of Jesus tracing all the way back to David.  The reason Matthew did this in his gospel was so that there could be no argument from any Jew about Jesus being the Messiah.

The Messiah, the Lord said, would also be His Son (v.14).  So, though we do not see it being mentioned specifically in this verse, this verse actually hints at the virgin’s birth of the Messiah.  The Lord literally meant that He would be the Father of the Messiah and in the gospels we see how the Holy Spirit moved through Mary in order for Christ to be born (Luke 1:35).

Suffering of the Messiah

The rest of this verse comes up with a very interesting statement from the Lord, especially if you read it without giving it any thought.  The Lord said, “If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.”  The ‘he’ of this verse is still speaking of the Messiah – Jesus.  So, is God saying that the Messiah would have been capable of committing iniquity?  Absolutely not.

I propose to you that this is a statement about the Messiah’s suffering which is further prophesied about in Isaiah’s prophecy (Is. 53).  Jesus, we know, was/is divine – He is not capable of committing sin.  However, Jesus did become sin on the cross when He became mankind’s propitiation – atonement offering.  In fact, because He was accused of being a sinner, we know that Jesus was brutally beaten and suffered at the hands of man.

With this in mind, the Lord said that His mercy would not depart from the Messiah as He took it from Saul (v.15).  On the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken Me (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34)?”  Jesus felt that separation from the Lord on the cross because He had become sin, but we know that the Father did not depart from Jesus.  In fact, Jesus was risen from the grave with all authority given to Him.

Jesus, we proclaim today, still lives – His kingdom still lives and it will live on forever!  So, our lesson closes out with the Lord’s message to David saying, “your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.  Your throne shall be established forever (v.16).”  David’s kingdom is forever because Christ was born into this world and fulfilled God’s promise to David.

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