II Samuel 5-7
II Samuel 7 may not be the ultimate pinnacle of all of Scripture, but I’d say it’s the highest ground on which we’ve stood lately. If you have fallen behind in your reading and are either skimming or skipping some text to catch up, be sure not to skim or skip this chapter. Read it. All of Israel’s history (and certainly all of David’s history) has been building to this point, so heads up!
Having moved into a nice new house of cedar, David proposes upgrading the accommodations of the Ark of the Covenant from a tent to a house, a solid building. But the LORD has a surprise for David. The LORD tells David that He does not particularly need a house. He has never dwelt in a house, and He has not asked for one. Instead, God promises to establish David’s house — but God does not mean a building; He means a dynasty. God says that after David dies, God will raise up David’s offspring, who will build God’s house, and that his throne and kingdom will be established forever. Though David’s descendants may need to be disciplined, the LORD will never remove His steadfast love from David’s line.
David is not to build God’s house. God is going to build David’s house. As we continue to read through the Scriptures, we’ll see how that plays out. As with many other prophecies, what God says here has a dual fulfillment — one narrow and “short” term, and one much broader and “long” term or even eternal. The narrow focus here is the business of establishing David’s earthly successors. It is not just that David is now king. David is to be the root of a dynasty that will last for generations. That is a tremendous promise in itself. But the broader fulfillment is far superior: the establishment of the Kingdom of God in David’s descendant, Jesus Christ.
The cynic sees only the narrow focus and the ultimate downfall of David’s dynasty under the Babylonians. The cynic sees no Kingdom of God. In Jesus, the cynic sees only a man who gets himself crucified. He fails to see the Resurrection of that Man. And the cynic lives accordingly. But the saint knows better. The saint knows that Jesus is the promised King. The saint knows that Jesus is building God’s house, a temple built of living stones. (I Peter 2:4-5; Eph. 2:19-22) The saint knows that even now King Jesus reigns over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:33) And the saint lives accordingly.
So how about you? Are you living as a cynic? Or as a saint?