Week 18

Passing Week 18!



Point to consider:


I am very pressed for time this week, so please excuse the abrupt post.

You probably noted early on a sense of deja vu during this week's reading. "Didn't I just read that?" Many of the passages of the histories will be repeated, echoed, and enhanced upon. Where one book may not specify some thing or other, another will detail those areas. These detailed passages help with understanding the history better, as well as act to corroborate each other.

The two passages I wanted to look at this week are from 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17.

"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," (2 Samuel 7:12-14)

"When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be My son;" (1 Chronicles 17:11-13a)

As we have discussed often, there are many pictures of Christ throughout the bible. This prophecy given to David, through Nathan, by God indeed speaks of David's son and heir, Solomon. Solomon, we will read, was given the throne, his kingdom established, and built the temple of God.

However, Solomon's throne and kingdom was not to last forever. When Solomon died, the kingdom was split into two kingdoms: Israel, the northen kingdom and Judah, the southern kingdom. Both of those eventually fell to foreign conquerors as punishment for falling away from God and turning to the gods of the Canaanites. Israel (the northen kingdom) was conquered in 722BC by the Assyrians. Judah (the southern kingdom) was conquered in 586BC by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

These passages speak of Solomon, but they also speak of Jesus. God, speaking as if He would to a friend, promised David that his line would last forever, and his throne would also through his descendent. We will see in Matthew and in Luke Jesus' lineage back to David and beyond. The author of Hebrews quotes from these sections in identifying Jesus:

For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? (Hebrews 1:5)

The house that Solomon built to God was the magnificient temple. The physical house. It was utterly destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah. The house the Jesus is building is the church. The spiritual house. - It will never be destroyed. Those who put their trust in Jesus is promised by God to live forever.

By this, God showed David what His redemptive plan was, and David, the psalmist, spoke of this merciful goodness of God time and again in his praises recorded for all of Israel and all of us today to read, to understand, and to come to God through Jesus.

Note in the passages, Jesus is referred to as a son (or desendent) of David, but God also claims Him as son. For some intersting related study, read Matthew 22:41-46 where Jesus quotes David's words of Psalm 110:1 on this matter. This would be good blog fodder as it could go very deep into scripture and theology.

Be blessed and keep reading!