May the mumbling commence!
David wanted to do something for the Lord. He wanted to build the Lord a house of cedar, to build a house for the name of the Lord. The prophet Nathan said, “Go for it!” Then, God came to Nathan in the night. It is always good to wait on the Lord. David had his ideas, but God’s ideas were far beyond what David imagined. David wanted to build God a house because David had become established in his own palace of cedar. His palace must have seemed heavenly to David after so many years on the run hiding in caves.
But God had bigger plans for him. Read about these plans from both 2 Samuel (7:11b-16) and 1 Chronicles (17:10b-14):
“The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'" (2 Sam)
“I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.'" (1 Chron.)
One generation in a house made my humanity was far below the promise of God to David. God promised David that his descendants would reap the benefits of having David, the man after God’s heart, as their ancestor. The witness from 2 Samuel declares that the throne and house of David would be established forever – from Solomon to his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren… 2 Samuel speaks about punishing the son of David when he does wrong with the rod of men.
The 1 Chronicles witness records a slightly different message. No longer is there any mention of David’s son doing wrong. Interesting! The witness from 1 Chronicles always puts David in a favorable light. The episode between Bathsheba, Uriah, and David is conspicuously missing. Is this a carryover from that thought process? If David does no wrong, then his son would not either?
This simple explanation might convince me if it were not for the changes in the last sentence. Your house and your kingdom are transformed from the second person to the third person – him and his. It seems that one person is being spoken about. It says that God will set him over my house and my kingdom forever. No longer does God speak of a human dynasty; God speaks instead of a divine One that will last forever. The person that God talks about will have his throne established forever. That must mean that this person will live forever!
The person that this prophecy speaks about cannot be Solomon, for he has been dead for centuries. This prophecy points us to Jesus Christ. God calls Jesus the only begotten Son. Jesus built a house for the Lord by his perfect obedience to his Father. So God set Jesus to reign over God’s house and over God’s kingdom forever. I believe that the Chronicler foreshadows Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, in this passage. What a promise! And better yet, it is fulfilled through the life of Jesus. Let us praise our living, resurrected Lord!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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