Chapter 17: The Promise of a Kingdom
CHRONICLE OF REDEMPTION – PART 3
Ch 17: The Promise of a Kingdom
Dr. David Platt
5/09/10
If you have a Bible – and I hope you do – let me invite you to open with me to 2 Samuel 7 – 2 Samuel 7. This week’s scripture reading is not the most ideal scripture reading leading up to Mother’s Day. What we’ve got in the narrative here in the Old Testament is David going into war, and victories in battle; like it’s more along the lines of We Were Soldiers or Braveheart than it is Steel Magnolias or Sleepless in Seattle.
Like it just doesn’t have a real strong feminine appeal that leads into Mother’s Day; so you got that, and then 2 Samuel 11, David and Bathsheba, like not the ideal Mother’s Day text. So war and adultery – this is not the picture we’re going for. So I wrestled with this, but I believe 2 Samuel 7 has a strong word to moms and dads and families and followers of Christ all across this room, because this is one of the most important texts, really, in all the Old Testament for understanding how God relates to his people.
One scholar said this chapter is the most crucial theological statement in the entire Old Testament. That’s a bold statement, and you might not realize it when you just read through 2 Samuel 7. But what I wanna show you tonight is that what this chapter contains has so much to teach us about what’s happened up until this point, and so much to teach us about what will happen from this point, when it comes to how God relates to his people.
So here’s the deal: we’re gonna use 2 Samuel 7 as a home base. We’re gonna be all over the place. And so get your fingers ready; if you need to, kind of get the table of contents ready, because this is not gonna be passive listening tonight. Like this is gonna be a lot of work tonight. I think we’ll go into about 20 different other places in scripture. So get your pencil out, get ready to mark all over the place because I want to show you how this chapter fits into the whole of scripture.
Sound good? You ready? All right, here we go – 2 Samuel 7:1. We’re gonna read through the chapter, and then we’re gonna consider how huge this is for not only understanding what’s going on in the Old Testament, understanding what’s going on in the New Testament, and as a result, what’s going on in our relationship with God in this room.
2 Samuel 7:1:
Now when the king (the king being David) lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David thus says the Lord: ‘Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I’ve moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly from the time that I appointed my people judges over Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body, 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 to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God. And what more can David say to you, for you know your servant, O Lord God. Because of your promise and according to your own heart you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God beside you according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. And your name will be magnified forever, saying, “The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel,” and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, “I will build you a house.” Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”
O Lord God, we sit here with your Word in front of us tonight in awe of the reality that the One whom David was praying to here is the One that we are now praying to. And we want to learn tonight how you related to him and what that means for how we relate to you. We need your Spirit to teach us; to take this Word that has persisted throughout generations and to bring it alive in our hearts tonight.
So we pray that your Spirit would do that in our midst; that you would change us and transform us. We pray that there would be people whose lives are changed for eternity tonight by this Word, and your people would be built up based on your promises, your covenant toward David in 2 Samuel 7. Help us, we pray, for the glory of your name. Amen.
Okay, here’s the deal: we’ve talked about this so much – the different covenants. And this is kind of the setup to this passage right here. We have already seen four different covenants in scripture, and we’ve talked about all four of these covenants. First, Adam – the covenant of creation – God relating to Adam and Eve through promises to them – in the beginning, Genesis 1 and 2, and then even when sin enters the world.
And Genesis 3:15, God promises to send one who will crush the adversary, crush the serpent, and bring redemption – redeem a people for himself. So you’ve got Adam, the covenant of creation. Then second, Noah, the covenant of preservation. Actually, the first time we see covenant mentioned is in God’s relationship with Noah – the actual word. And it’s God’s promise never again to destroy his creation via flood like he has done. He’s going to reserve his people to the end. The sign of the covenant is the rainbow.
That sets the stage for the third covenant – Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17 – Abraham, the covenant of promise. And God says to Abraham – Abram in Genesis 12 – I’m gonna bless you, and that blessing’s gonna look like this when it comes to descendants. This unfolds in the chapters to come. When it comes to your descendants, when it comes to the land I’m gonna lead you to – I’m gonna give you great blessing, and the result will be all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
I preached on those texts when I was in India earlier this year. We looked at Genesis 12 and 15 and 17, 18, 22 – they all come together. And really after that, what happens with Isaac and Jacob, we see this covenant of promise playing out. God has promised, given promises to these patriarchs, these fathers of the faith, and they are living on those promises. That sets the stage – God’s people end up in slavery in Egypt.
God delivers them out of Egypt and brings them to Mount Sinai, where with Moses we see the covenant of law. There at Mount Sinai God reveals his glory to his people, and then gives him his commandments, his law. Now we’ve talked about this before. I want to remind you again tonight, when we see these different covenants in scripture, when you have a new covenant come on the scene, it’s not coming on the scene in a way that nullifies everything that’s happened before.
It’s not like okay, now you’ve got the covenant of law with Moses, the covenant of promise with Abraham is just off the table. Instead, what’s happening is each one of these is building on another, and we’re seeing progressively as we walk through redemptive history, how God relates to his people. And it’s gonna continue all the way till we see the new covenant by which we relate to God in the New Testament.
But what this means is in order to understand the new covenant – how you and I relate to God – we’ve gotta understand how God has related to his people before now. This is one of the coolest things. It’s why I love that song we sang, that second song we sang, By Faith. Isn’t it an awesome thought to realize that we stand in a long line of people who for generations – all the way back to Abraham – really before, but Abraham with the inception of the people of God. Generations of people who have been walking with God. Right. Abraham’s God is your God. And the same God whom Moses met on Mount Sinai is the same God you and I meet in our quiet time tomorrow morning. That is awesome. The same God who is speaking these promises to David is the same God who is – we talked about this last week. He’s not just David’s shepherd – he is your shepherd.
And so we’re in this long line, which brings this whole picture of what’s going on in 2 Samuel 7 right into our lap, because this is huge for understanding how we relate to God. So you got these four covenants all setting the stage for this fifth covenant that really is the last one we’re gonna see in the Old Testament, with David, the covenant of the kingdom. Now you look in 2 Samuel 7, you say, “Well, I didn’t see the word covenant anywhere.”
And you’re right, it’s not there. The closest it gets is down in verse 15 where God talks about his steadfast love, hesed, which is a word that is sometimes used as a synonym for covenant in scripture. But you don’t really see covenant mentioned here. Now there are other Old Testament passages that refer back to 2 Samuel 7 and talk about God’s covenant with David which is why virtually all Old Testament scholars call this passage the Davidic covenant; God entering into covenant with David.
Now what I wanna show you is how this covenant right here relates, builds on, parallels, all the ways God has related to his people in covenant up until this point. So we’re not gonna turn a lot right here, but if you are not opposed to writing in your Bible – if you are, then just pretend this is not happening around you. But if you’re not opposed, I wanna just show you, as we walk through 2 Samuel I just wanna give you a couple verses where you can go back and look and see how what God is saying to David here is the same thing he said to Abraham and Moses before him.
So you look for example at 2 Samuel 7:9, and God says, “I’ve been with you, David, wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.” Do you remember has God ever told anyone else “I’m gonna make you a great name?” It was Abraham – Genesis 12:2. So write a little note by verse 9 – Genesis 12:2. That was the very beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham.
“I’m going to make your name great, Abram.” It’s the same picture. Then you get to verse 10 (2 Samuel 7), “and I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.” Has God in the past promised his people a place to dwell in? Absolutely. You look at Genesis 15:18. God said to Abraham, “I’m gonna give you this land.” He spells it out – from the river Euphrates to this area to that area.
And here’s David sitting in the middle of that hearing God say, “I’m gonna appoint a place for you to dwell in.” It’s the same thing that God has already promised to Abraham. Now you go down to verse 12, “When your days are fulfilled, David, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” Make a little note there – Genesis 17:3-7.
Genesis 17:3-7 is when God told Abraham, “I’m gonna raise up offspring, give you many descendants” – same word – offspring – seed that’s going to come from you – your line, through your family.” And then he also says in Genesis 17, “and kings will come from you.” And here is God speaking to a king, saying, “I’m going to establish your son’s kingdom.” This is the picture. It’s exactly what God had said to Abram.
A couple more – look at 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” We’re gonna talk about this in a little bit, but write a little note there that points to Exodus 4:22. This is not the first time God has referred to his people or someone as his son. Exodus 4:22, when Moses was going to Pharaoh, God said, “You tell Pharaoh that Israel is my son.” And so the picture here of son – we’re gonna talk about what this means here in 2 Samuel 7:14.
But the picture of God’s relating to his people as father to a son is what we’ve seen in covenants leading up until this point. Then you get down to 2 Samuel 7:23-24, and David’s praying. He’s saying, “You redeem a people for yourself.” Write a little not out to the side there – Exodus 6:6-7 – it’s almost exactly the same language when God tells Moses, “I’m gonna redeem a people for myself, and they will be my people and I will be their God,” which is really kind of the language of covenant.
You go back up to – I skipped over verse 22 – therefore you are great, O Lord. There is none like you. There is no God beside you. That’s the whole point of the Exodus. Write a little note there, Exodus 15:11, Exodus 8:10, Exodus 9:14. 8:10, 9:14, 15:11 – all of them, the whole point was God said all throughout the exodus, “I’m gonna show Pharaoh that there is no one like me.” And what they pray as they leave Egypt behind in Exodus 15:11 is, “There is no God like you.”
God is showing that there is no other name that is worthy of worship like he is. So what you see is there are parallels all over this picture that build on what God has done already. Now I do want you to turn to this one. Go to Deuteronomy 17 with me; it’s the fifth book in the Bible –Deuteronomy 17. Here’s the deal: when God gave his people the law, he told them that he was going to reign over them.
So basically Israel is a theocracy, which means who was king over Israel? God is. Yahweh is. Yahweh is the ruler. He is the one who reigns. He is king. But he knows that his people are going to be tempted to seek out another king, just like all these other pagan nations around them that have these other kings. And so he says to them here in Deuteronomy 17 where we’re about to read, he says, “You can appoint a king, but make sure not to appoint a king like those other pagan nations.”
Here’s God’s instructions – Deuteronomy 17:14. This has huge ramifications for what is happening in 2 Samuel 7. God said to his people – Deuteronomy 17:14,
When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose; one from among your brothers who you shall set as a king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire (here’s kind of some regulations) many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You shall never return that way again.” And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. Nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom (this is what he needs to do) he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests, and it shall be with him. And he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them. That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom; he and his children in Israel.
So this is the picture: God says, “You can have a king, but the whole design is the earthly king needs to represent me as heavenly King. He needs to be close to my laws and following my ways, so that as he leads and you follow him as king, you will ultimately be following” – who as king? The Lord – God said, “You’ll be following me as king.” And so the whole design in the kingdom – when we come back here to 2 Samuel 7, the whole design is that in the Davidic kingdom that it would be a reflection of the kingdom of Yahweh – of God.
It would be a reflection of his rule. And so that’s what’s happening here in 2 Samuel 7, so you’ve got in your notes there the Davidic kingdom. In 2 Samuel 5, David is anointed as king – and that’s what they would do. They would anoint him. The king was referred to as the anointed one. Hold onto that – the anointed one – the Lord’s anointed. And so here he was, he was anointed as king, and God says to him, “I’m gonna raise you up and establish this kingdom.”
And I want you to think about three facets of this kingdom – really three facets of any kingdom: people, place, and purpose. Any kingdom’s gonna have people and a place for a purpose. God’s kingdom, Davidic kingdom: God’s people in God’s place for God’s purpose. So let’s think about God’s people – follow with me here. This is where we’re gonna unpack what God is saying to David in 2 Samuel 7.
What God is telling David is that from his line – first thing, from his line, from David’s line, a continual seed will endure. A continual seed will endure. This whole chapter starts off – it’s kind of funny. The chapter starts off with David saying to God, “I want to build you a house.” And God, in a startling reversal, looks at David and says, “I want to build you a house. I want your family to be a house, a dynasty that will continue.”
And what he says to him – you see it down there in verses 12-13 – “when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you” – seed, offspring – “after you, who shall come from your body. And I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Circle that – forever – ‘cause that’s big all throughout the rest of this passage.
Look at verse 16, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. When your throne shall be established forever” – end of verse 16. Then you get down to verse 24, when David’s praying to God, “You establish for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever.” Verse 25, “And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word you have spoken.” Verse 26, “Your name will be magnified forever.”
Verse 29, “Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servants that it may continue forever before you.” When God’s saying these things, he’s saying, “What I’m putting in place now is going to last forever.” Now that has huge ramifications for us in this room because if God put this in place in 2 Samuel 7 then this is still in place in the 21st century in this room today.
Like we’re in what would be classified as forever, and we’re pretty much always going to be there. Like eternity is being shaped here in 2 Samuel 7, and what God is saying here persists right now to this day in this room. So now this text is really in our lap. This has huge ramifications for us. So the picture is a continual seed will endure. One from your line, your offspring, will endure forever. That’s a bold statement.
Second, an honored son will reign. Your seed will endure, and an honored son will reign. Now this is where it gets really, really interesting. Go back to verse 13. God has just said, “I’m gonna raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
“I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” Who is the him there – who is the he? Who is that talking about? David’s son Solomon, next king – he’s the one who’s gonna build the house. He’s the one who’s going to build the temple. Let me show this to you. Go over to the right – 1 Chronicles. So you’re gonna go past just three books – go past 1 and 2 Kings, and the third book is 1 Chronicles. Look at 1 Chronicles 22.
This is fascinating, what is being set up here, because what God is saying is that a son of David will be like a son of God. He will be a son to me and I will be his father. That’s stout language, and it’s exactly what happens. Look in 1 Chronicles 22:6 – this is David getting near the end of this life, and it says he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
David said to Solomon – and basically he’s gonna recount here what God had said to him in 2 Samuel 7. “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.’” Listen to verse 10: “He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.” The picture is God is raising up Solomon as king to be as a son. Like a son reflects a father, that’s what Solomon is going to do.
It gets even deeper – go to the very last chapter in 1 Chronicles. Look at 1 Chronicles 29:22. These are astounding verses right here. Listen to this – 1 Chronicles 29:22 – David is now on his deathbed, and so Solomon is being anointed as king. Listen to this – midway through verse 22: and they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the Lord, and Zadok as priest. That’s a big deal – prince for the Lord – Solomon is ruler for the Lord. But then listen to verse 23: then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of David his father. Did you catch that? Let me read that again. Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king. Who sits on the throne of the Lord? Are you gonna sit on the throne of the Lord? The Lord sits on the throne of the Lord. God sits on God’s throne. But this text is saying Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord.
Don’t miss what’s going on here. What God’s doing is he’s raising up kings. In this whole picture of the kingdom, the king will be the one through whom God will relate to his people. The king will mediate God’s covenant with his people. The king will represent God to his people; the earthly king, representative of heavenly king, as a son – “I will be his father, and he will reflect me as father to my people.”
That’s huge. An honored son will reign. Seed will endure, and a son will reign forever. His kingdom will be established forever. This is mind-boggling. So you got that – God’s people. A seed will endure; a son will reign in God’s place. Now come back to 2 Samuel 7 – we’ve seen this over and over again in the Old Testament as we see the people of God – the importance of land. And God is bringing them to a land.
We won’t turn there, but Deuteronomy 11, Deuteronomy 12 both talk about how God says, “I’m gonna bring you to a place of land – to the land where I’m gonna give you rest from all your enemies around you, and you’re gonna be established in that land.” So when in 2 Samuel 7:10 he says, “I’m gonna appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. Violent men shall afflict them no more, and I will give you rest from all your enemies.”
Here’s what God’s doing: God is bringing them to a place where they will enjoy God’s rest. Throughout their days, since Abraham, they have been wanderers, living in tents, always on the move from place to place to place. And now God is saying, “In my kingdom, in the Davidic kingdom, I’m bringing you to a place of rest where you will experience rest from all your enemies around you.”
A place where you will enjoy God’s rest – and then a place where they will encounter God’s glory, because the glory of God has also dwelled in a mobile fashion in the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant is being transported from place to place. But Solomon is going to build a house – verse 13 – for my name. He’s going to build a temple where my glory is going to dwell, here in Jerusalem.
In this place where I bring you rest, my glory, my glorious presence is going to dwell among you. He’s going to dwell among you. And you will encounter my glory here. That’s the promise he’s setting up in the kingdom and that’s what’s gonna happen. Solomon is gonna build the temple, and we’re gonna read about that, and this is where the glory of God is going to dwell among his people.
Why? Why is God giving these extravagant promises? For God’s purpose. Why is God saying these kind of things to David? Two-fold: number one, to redeem a chosen people. That’s clear. We’ve read it in verse 24 and 25. God is redeeming a people for himself; a people that will belong to him among all the peoples of the earth – the people of Israel will belong to him. But not just for the people of Israel.
Yes, to redeem a chosen people, but don’t miss it. Look in verse 23 – in 2 Samuel 7:23. Who is like your people Israel? The one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name – gotta love that phrase. God – what God is doing is he’s making a name for himself. That’s why you get further down and it says in verse 26 your name will be magnified forever.
And you heard it as we were reading: O Lord God, O Lord God, O Lord God. When you get to the end, verse 28, oh now, O Lord God, you are God. It’s just redundant. The point is God is showing his greatness. So the purpose here is to redeem a chosen people, and then to extol the incomparable God. To show the nations that there is no one who compares to Yahweh. There is no one like God. He is the only God. That’s gonna be the whole point.
When we read about the temple and it’s dedicated in 1 Kings 8:41-43, when Solomon dedicates this temple, what is he gonna say? He’s gonna say, “Lord God, people from all nations and foreigners from all places are going to come to this place and they’re going to see that you are God. You are making a name for yourself among all the nations to show all the nations that there is no one like you.”
That was the picture: God setting up a kingdom, Davidic kingdom, through this covenant here in 2 Samuel 7, that will endure forever through a son who will reign as the mediator between him and his people, where they will enjoy his rest, encounter his glory. A redeemed people making his greatness known among the nations – that was the Davidic kingdom, and that’s the way it was set up.
But there was a problem. You see these extravagant, grace-filled promises in 2 Samuel 7, and you see victory in chapter 8 and chapter 10 – David is conquering. Then you get to chapter 11, and you come to verse 2. “And it happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house” (when he should have been at battle – it was the time kings went to battle).
That he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and enquired about the woman, and one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him and he lay with her. Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
It started with a glance, and within a matter of moments became adultery, which led to pregnancy, which led to attempt at cover-up. Brothers and sisters, you cannot cover up your sin. Maybe for a little while, but you cannot cover up your sin. It is impossible for us to cover up our sin. And so cover-up turns into murder, and by the end of this chapter, verse 26, the wife of Uriah hears that her husband has died, and she laments.
And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. This is David, the Lord’s anointed, set up to display the glory of Yahweh as king, and from this point on everything changes. Everything changes from this point on. See sin’s anatomy here, because this is where we see Davidic kingdom led by defective kings; kings who displease the Lord.
Sin’s anatomy – it appears so subtly. It started with a glance. It starts with a glance. Close your eyes, men. Gouge out your eyes, Jesus said. If your eye causes you to sin, brothers, gouge it out and throw it away – Mark 9. It is better for you to enter into heaven with one eye than enter into an eternal hell with both eyes. That’s radical. Gouge it out. And it makes sense – like if David had to do it all over again knowing what he knew and the consequences that flowed from this, he’d have gone blind in an instant.
But he looked, and the subtlety crept in. Brother or sister in this room, if there is the slightest foothold of lust or greed or pride or covetousness or bitterness that is in your heart, run. Run fast. Even the slightest bit – doesn’t even seem like much at all – run from it. It appears so subtly, and it harms so deeply. Who can measure the effects of sin? Who can measure the effects of one sin? Sin does not just affect you. Your sin never just affects you.
My sin never just affects me. Any sin in me affects my wife and my children and the people God has entrusted me to lead. Any sin in your life goes far beyond you. You may think, we may think it doesn’t; we may think we’ve got it compartmentalized. It is not compartmentalized. It is having huge effects. And it’s all over this story. A child born from adultery in chapter 11 is dead in chapter 12.
And then David’s son does pretty much the same thing he did only he does it with his half-sister, and David does nothing about it – setting the stage for two years later, one of his other sons who will go – Absalom – and kill his brother, and lead a revolt against his father – a revolt that had temporary success; an entire revolt against the kingdom. And when the curtain closes on David’s life, what you’ve got is a picture of strife between the northern tribes and the southern tribes developing.
It harms so deeply. It controls so quickly. It spirals – sin spirals downward so quickly. It devastates so painfully. This whole picture started with one look on one day. But here’s the deal: all of this, all of these effects – that was not the worst of it. Yes, those were consequences, but that’s not what’s most tragic. Sin’s tragedy – we see the effects on others, but the real tragedy of David’s sin and the real tragedy in any sin is the defiance of God.
Psalm 51 – when David prays in confession, what does he say to God? “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” What? No, you sinned against Bathsheba, and you sinned against Uriah, but the reality is that pales in comparison to sin before an infinitely holy God. This is the primary offense. Brother or sister in this room, if you are – and I’m sure in a room this size – if you are hiding in secret sin. If you in your mind or your heart right now are squirming and thinking, “I don’t need to hear this. I don’t want to listen to this. I’m not coming back” – I want to with grace and love speak a word of truth into your life. You cannot hide your sin from God. He hates it, and it’s good that he hates it. It’s good that he hates what hurts you. See his hatred for sin in your life and his grace in bringing you into this room at this moment – see it as evidence of his great love for you.
And do not turn aside from his love. See the effect of sin, defiance of God which leads to the destruction of men, such that one sin against this God is enough, is sufficient, to condemn you or me to an eternal everlasting hell. This is the effect of sin. Sin is serious, and we see it in David’s life, and then after him, Solomon. God said it. He said, “The king needs to stay close to my Word. Do not acquire wives.” Solomon – wives, wives everywhere.
Do not acquire excessive silver or gold – and we even talk about this. We say, “Well, obviously excessive silver and gold is good, because God blessed Solomon and he had it.” No – this stole his heart from God. And so this is the picture of Solomon, and the kings that would come in succession after him. As we’ll read in the days to come, the kingdom does divide into the north and into the south, and the south is where Jerusalem is – Judah.
And this is where you see king after king after king. It’s the same in the north, but this is where the line continues, in king after king who is defective, who is displeasing the Lord. There’s bright spots here and there in Josiah – even he, though, at the end of his life turns away from the Lord. And over and over again you see this happening now. Now get the picture: what happens is as this just spirals worse and worse, then God does what he said in 2 Samuel 7.
He said – God brings discipline with the rod of men. God brings discipline with the rod of men, and he sends nations. He says, “You’re gonna be shocked. You’re gonna be amazed what I do when I bring nations to bring you down and show you my discipline.” And that’s exactly what happens, and the northern kingdom is destroyed, and the southern kingdom, where Jerusalem, where the temple is – Babylonians come attack Judah, destroy Judah, destroy the temple, and take those who are still surviving into exile.
And what happens is the prophets during that time are either speaking about hey, this is coming – destruction’s coming! Or they’re speaking after it’s happened. I want you to just try – let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of the people of God at that point. Like what do you do when your whole life is torn apart, and your whole family’s torn apart, and you’re in a foreign land like a slave, and nothing is the same?
And there seems to be no hope, and you’re looking, you’re longing for some kind of hope to hold onto. What’s the hope that you’re going to hold onto? 2 Samuel 7, because God said it – he said, “I’m going to establish this kingdom forever, and a seed is going to endure forever, and the son will reign forever.” So you’re holding onto this hope, and that’s exactly what we see all throughout the prophets.
Let me show you. Go to Isaiah 9 – Isaiah 9. We’ll just look at a couple of these – a couple of these – there’s so much. Like somebody shared with me after this morning – they said, “You were trying to preach like the whole Old Testament.” Well, yes, because it all comes alive when you realize the importance of 2 Samuel 7. Look at Isaiah 9:1 – you’ll recognize this. Now this is Isaiah speaking to a people who are in the middle of darkness, in the middle of gloom.
And he’s looking forward – he’s giving them hope, promises from God. Chapter 9:1, “There will be no gloom for her who is in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelled in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”
Now skip down to verse 6 – this is where it’ll get very familiar to you. “For to us a child is born; to us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” Listen to this: on the throne of who? “On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.”
What is Isaiah saying? He’s saying to the people of God there’s one who’s coming from the throne of David who will establish the throne of David again, and his justice and his righteousness will reign and rule. The zeal of God is going to accomplish this. It’s hope. You get over to Isaiah 11:1, same thing. There shall come forth – 11:1, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”
A stump of Jesse – that’s David’s father. It’s from the root of David. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And it just talks about how righteousness he will wear. You get down to verse 10, “In that day, the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of him the nations shall enquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Ah, they’re looking forward. There’s one who’s coming. Go to the next major prophet, Jeremiah. Look at Jeremiah 23:5 – one book over. Jeremiah 23:5 and see what Jeremiah says. They’re looking forward. They’re giving hope in the middle of all of this – where is the hope? And listen to what happens. Jeremiah 23:5 he says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch.”
That’s someone that comes from the root of David; a branch from the line of David. And he shall reign as king, and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. And in his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is the name by which he will be called: the Lord is our righteousness. And it continues on. Ezekiel 37:24-28 talks about one who will come from the line of David.
Hosea 3:4-5: Israel will wander around without a king, but then there will be one who will come from the line of David. Amos 9:11-12: God is going to take that which has been ruined in the line of David and he’s going to repair it. He’s going to rebuild it, and all the nations are gonna come and see his kingdom. Zechariah 12:7 and following, same thing – over and over again, all these prophets are saying amidst all these defective kings, there is one who is coming from the seed of David as a son of God who will usher in the kingdom.
And now the stage is set for the divine King. Now turn to Luke 1. You can leave 2 Samuel 7 behind – that’s old covenant. We’re moving on to new covenant now, and listen to Luke 1. We could go to Matthew – Matthew’s intentional in showing us this, but Luke is really intentional. I want you to see this. Here’s the picture of the divine King who ushers in God’s kingdom – God’s place; God’s people in God’s place for God’s purpose.
Think about God’s people. Luke at verse 26 – Luke 1:26. “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.” Not a coincidence. “And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings,’” and he begins to speak to her. Look down at verse 32, talking about her son Jesus.
Verse 31, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.” There it is. 2 Samuel – write a little note – 2 Samuel 7 – God is going to give to him the throne of David. The kingdom that was promised to endure is going to endure through your son, Mary.
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. God’s people – God had said in the Davidic kingdom a continual seed will endure. Here we see in Jesus – Jesus came from the seed of David. In order for 2 Samuel 7 to be true and for the kingdom to endure, then one must come who is from the seed of David. Now go over to chapter 2 in Luke – 2:8.
This passage that’s so familiar to us when we read it – like this is like Christmas in May. Verse 8: in the same – now read it just in the light of all that we’ve seen. In the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angle said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, who is Christ.” Christ – the Christ – that’s the Greek, the Christ – the same word in the Hebrew, anybody know what it means? The Messiah – that’s the Hebrew. That’s what Christ means – the Messiah; the anointed one; the Lord’s anointed. Today in the city of David is born the one who is anointed King. The Messiah is here. Hah! He came from the seed of David, and he came as the Son of God. Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father as Son.
What the kingdom is intended to show is happening in Christ – a perfect representation of the Father – an earthly king who is a perfect representation of the heavenly King. Jesus came from the seed of David as the Son of God – God’s people in God’s place. In Christ we find our rest. In him, he’s the place where we find our rest. Go back to Luke 1:68 – this is Zachariah talking. He’s gonna be the father of John the Baptist, but he’s talking about what God has done.
Listen to this: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. He has visited and redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.” Listen to verse 71; it’s the same language we saw in 2 Samuel 7 – that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. It goes on farther down.
Verse 74: “That we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days” – this is why the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 4 says that Christ is our rest; that in him we find rest. We find rest from all of our struggles to earn a righteousness before a holy God. You rest from that, because Christ is your righteousness.
You find rest from all of your struggles with sin because Christ is your righteousness. This is the picture. In Christ we find our rest, and in Christ we see his glory. He is the place where we encounter the glory of God. John 1, John 2: I am the temple. We have beheld his glory, the glory of the one and only. 2 Corinthians 4, we have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ. You wanna see the glory of God? Look at Jesus.
This is the manifestation. He is the manifestation of the glory of God. This is the picture: Christ is fulfilling this, in God’s people, God’s place, for God’s purpose, in Christ. He comes as the divine King. Why? Two-fold: number one, to save a chosen people. Okay, just a couple more places to turn, I promise, but stick with me, it’s worth it. Keep going to the right and go to Acts 2 – Acts 2. Acts 2:29. The King, Christ, came; the Messiah came to save, to redeem a chosen people.
So Acts 2 is when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost, and this was the first Christian sermon. And so Peter’s about to preach the first sermon ever preached, and it’s going to be written down for years to come, so get this one right, Peter. Like use your best stuff. He’s got a crowd of Jewish people in front of him, so what does he do? He starts talking about you’ll never guess who. He starts talking about David.
He starts talking about what David said, and God’s promises to David. You look in verse 25, 26, 27, 28, he’s quoting from David, and you get to verse 29 he says, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” In other words, David is dead. These pictures that the Old Testament was pointing to are pointing us to someone else.
Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne – 2 Samuel 7, that’s it. God had sworn to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne. David foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, the Messiah – there it is again. Spoke about the resurrection of the anointed one, the Messiah; that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
This Jesus God raised up. We’re all witnesses of this. He gets to the conclusion – this is the last statement in the sermon, verse 36, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ; this Jesus, whom you crucified.” Feel the weight of that statement. Peter says to a crowd of Jewish people, “You took the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, the one who came in the line of David as the son who would reign.
“You took the Messiah, and you nailed him to a cross. You crucified him.” And so they say, “What shall we do?” And Peter looks at them and he says, “Repent. Turn from your sin and trust in the Messiah.” He says the same thing that I want to say to every single person in this room tonight. If you have never turned to Christ as Lord, I want to urge you tonight to repent, to turn from your sin, to turn from yourself.
This is not about religious games. Turn from your sin and yourself, and trust in Jesus as your only hope. As the one who is promised to come to save you from your sins. Trust in him as King over your life. This is salvation. And follower of Christ in this room, do not be content, then, any longer to dwell in sin. Turn. You have been set free; find your rest in Christ. Seek his glory, know his glory, and throw aside everything that keeps you from him.
That he might be the sole desire of your heart; the hope upon whom you lean in every circumstance. He is King. He came to save a chosen people, but that’s not it. It’s the same picture – just like he came not just to redeem the people of Israel, just like we saw in 2 Samuel 7, he came to make a name for himself. And so Jesus the divine King came, yes, to save a chosen people, but also to exalt the incomparable God.
That through our salvation, it might be clear to the nations around us that there is no one like our God. Oh, God, help us to be finished and done with an easy believism that claims to trust in Christ as Messiah, and our lives demonstrate nothing different to the world. No, our lives are intended to be a display of the glory of the one who has saved us, that it may be clear something’s happened by the grace of God for the glory of God.
That just as they came to see God’s glory at the temple, now that they might see your life, my life, and the church – the temple, 1 Corinthians 6, individually, 1 Corinthians 3 – together, and they might say, “There is no God like yours.” That’s the whole goal, that all the nations might do that. When you get to Acts 15 you see this picture of the gospel is going to the nations, and they’re wondering is this okay that all these Gentiles are coming into the family of God?
And you know what James does? James is a part of this meeting when they’re having the council at Jerusalem, and he quotes from Amos 9:11-12. This is one of the places that I mentioned that refers to the Davidic covenant. And James says, “This is exactly what God had said – that one would come who would reign, and all the nations would be drawn to him. And that’s what God is doing, so we need to embrace global mission.”
That’s what they decided – Acts 15 – and that’s the picture. We are created to exalt the incomparable God. All right, one last place; this is it, I promise. Revelation 5 – I want you to see where this all heads. Revelation 5 – I can’t sit down for this thing. All right, Revelation 5, here’s the deal: John in Revelation 5, this is a heavenly vision, and the picture is they’re waiting for someone who can usher in God’s kingdom fully and finally, once for all.
Longing for someone who can, who can overcome the sin and suffering and sickness and problems and hurt and pain and tragedy that we experience in this world. And what happens? Revelation 5:1, “I saw on the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within on the back, sealed with seven seals, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ (Who is worthy to usher in the kingdom?) And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it.” Could David open it? Absolutely not. Could Solomon open it? No. Could Abraham open it? No. Could Moses open it? No. None of these people could open it. Could Peter open it, could Paul open it? Nobody. Listen to this:
And I began to weep loudly, because no one was found worth to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
And he went and he took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a hard and golden bowls full of incense, which is the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song, saying, “Worth are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God. And they shall reign on the earth.”
This is where it’s all headed, brothers and sisters. There is coming a day when our King will usher in a new creation kingdom where he reigns. And we – hah! – reign with him as his sons and daughters.
There’s coming a day when we will be God’s people in God’s place for God’s purpose, and all of eternity we will worship him. So what do we do now? We don’t sit back and just wait. We give our lives to advance this kingdom on this earth. We don’t sit back and expect nations to come to us, nations to come to the temple. No – we are the temple, and now the temple goes to the nations to declare God’s greatness.
This is what we do: we spend our lives going to the ends of the earth – every nation, tribe, people, and language – telling them the Messiah has come and can save them from, will save them from their sins. This has everything to do with Mother’s Day. I got a letter from a mom in our faith family who had been to Guatemala, and she had come back, and another church had asked her to share. And this is what she shared:
I made the decision to go to Guatemala after seeing in God’s Word that he commands us to go and make disciples of all nations. I was going out of obedience, not because I had a heart for missions or a passion for the people of Guatemala. I want you to understand that I am a wife, mother, and I work part-time. I’m not a missionary, and I’m certainly not a preacher. I was just being minimally obedient to what God’s Word tells us all to do.
Praise God he is not minimally faithful and does minimally bless us! After spending a week around precious children who eat a small cup of porridge a day, the question I’ve come back to Birmingham asking God is why he has blessed me when others have so little, and this is what God has showed me. I have blessed you for my glory. Not so you will have a comfortable life with a big house and a nice car.
Not so you can spend lots of money on vacations, education, or clothing. Those aren’t bad things, but I’ve blessed you so that the nations will know me and see my glory. All my life I have completely disconnected God’s blessing from God’s purpose, and now I realize what I had never seen: God has blessed me to show his love to Domingo. It’s an elderly man who came to Christ that week in Guatemala.
God has blessed me to show his mercy and grace to children in Guatemala. God has – that is why God has given me income and education and resources; God saves me so that the nations will know him. He blesses me so that all the earth will see his glory. So God, raise up moms across this faith family, who with their children and throughout this community and to the ends of the earth declare his glory.
And God, raise up dads who lead the way. And God, raise up a faith family that is being spent for the proclamation of the glory of the Messiah to the ends of the earth.
Ch 17: The Promise of a Kingdom
Dr. David Platt
5/09/10
If you have a Bible – and I hope you do – let me invite you to open with me to 2 Samuel 7 – 2 Samuel 7. This week’s scripture reading is not the most ideal scripture reading leading up to Mother’s Day. What we’ve got in the narrative here in the Old Testament is David going into war, and victories in battle; like it’s more along the lines of We Were Soldiers or Braveheart than it is Steel Magnolias or Sleepless in Seattle.
Like it just doesn’t have a real strong feminine appeal that leads into Mother’s Day; so you got that, and then 2 Samuel 11, David and Bathsheba, like not the ideal Mother’s Day text. So war and adultery – this is not the picture we’re going for. So I wrestled with this, but I believe 2 Samuel 7 has a strong word to moms and dads and families and followers of Christ all across this room, because this is one of the most important texts, really, in all the Old Testament for understanding how God relates to his people.
One scholar said this chapter is the most crucial theological statement in the entire Old Testament. That’s a bold statement, and you might not realize it when you just read through 2 Samuel 7. But what I wanna show you tonight is that what this chapter contains has so much to teach us about what’s happened up until this point, and so much to teach us about what will happen from this point, when it comes to how God relates to his people.
So here’s the deal: we’re gonna use 2 Samuel 7 as a home base. We’re gonna be all over the place. And so get your fingers ready; if you need to, kind of get the table of contents ready, because this is not gonna be passive listening tonight. Like this is gonna be a lot of work tonight. I think we’ll go into about 20 different other places in scripture. So get your pencil out, get ready to mark all over the place because I want to show you how this chapter fits into the whole of scripture.
Sound good? You ready? All right, here we go – 2 Samuel 7:1. We’re gonna read through the chapter, and then we’re gonna consider how huge this is for not only understanding what’s going on in the Old Testament, understanding what’s going on in the New Testament, and as a result, what’s going on in our relationship with God in this room.
2 Samuel 7:1:
Now when the king (the king being David) lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David thus says the Lord: ‘Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I’ve moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly from the time that I appointed my people judges over Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body, 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 to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God. And what more can David say to you, for you know your servant, O Lord God. Because of your promise and according to your own heart you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God beside you according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. And your name will be magnified forever, saying, “The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel,” and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, “I will build you a house.” Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”
O Lord God, we sit here with your Word in front of us tonight in awe of the reality that the One whom David was praying to here is the One that we are now praying to. And we want to learn tonight how you related to him and what that means for how we relate to you. We need your Spirit to teach us; to take this Word that has persisted throughout generations and to bring it alive in our hearts tonight.
So we pray that your Spirit would do that in our midst; that you would change us and transform us. We pray that there would be people whose lives are changed for eternity tonight by this Word, and your people would be built up based on your promises, your covenant toward David in 2 Samuel 7. Help us, we pray, for the glory of your name. Amen.
Okay, here’s the deal: we’ve talked about this so much – the different covenants. And this is kind of the setup to this passage right here. We have already seen four different covenants in scripture, and we’ve talked about all four of these covenants. First, Adam – the covenant of creation – God relating to Adam and Eve through promises to them – in the beginning, Genesis 1 and 2, and then even when sin enters the world.
And Genesis 3:15, God promises to send one who will crush the adversary, crush the serpent, and bring redemption – redeem a people for himself. So you’ve got Adam, the covenant of creation. Then second, Noah, the covenant of preservation. Actually, the first time we see covenant mentioned is in God’s relationship with Noah – the actual word. And it’s God’s promise never again to destroy his creation via flood like he has done. He’s going to reserve his people to the end. The sign of the covenant is the rainbow.
That sets the stage for the third covenant – Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17 – Abraham, the covenant of promise. And God says to Abraham – Abram in Genesis 12 – I’m gonna bless you, and that blessing’s gonna look like this when it comes to descendants. This unfolds in the chapters to come. When it comes to your descendants, when it comes to the land I’m gonna lead you to – I’m gonna give you great blessing, and the result will be all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
I preached on those texts when I was in India earlier this year. We looked at Genesis 12 and 15 and 17, 18, 22 – they all come together. And really after that, what happens with Isaac and Jacob, we see this covenant of promise playing out. God has promised, given promises to these patriarchs, these fathers of the faith, and they are living on those promises. That sets the stage – God’s people end up in slavery in Egypt.
God delivers them out of Egypt and brings them to Mount Sinai, where with Moses we see the covenant of law. There at Mount Sinai God reveals his glory to his people, and then gives him his commandments, his law. Now we’ve talked about this before. I want to remind you again tonight, when we see these different covenants in scripture, when you have a new covenant come on the scene, it’s not coming on the scene in a way that nullifies everything that’s happened before.
It’s not like okay, now you’ve got the covenant of law with Moses, the covenant of promise with Abraham is just off the table. Instead, what’s happening is each one of these is building on another, and we’re seeing progressively as we walk through redemptive history, how God relates to his people. And it’s gonna continue all the way till we see the new covenant by which we relate to God in the New Testament.
But what this means is in order to understand the new covenant – how you and I relate to God – we’ve gotta understand how God has related to his people before now. This is one of the coolest things. It’s why I love that song we sang, that second song we sang, By Faith. Isn’t it an awesome thought to realize that we stand in a long line of people who for generations – all the way back to Abraham – really before, but Abraham with the inception of the people of God. Generations of people who have been walking with God. Right. Abraham’s God is your God. And the same God whom Moses met on Mount Sinai is the same God you and I meet in our quiet time tomorrow morning. That is awesome. The same God who is speaking these promises to David is the same God who is – we talked about this last week. He’s not just David’s shepherd – he is your shepherd.
And so we’re in this long line, which brings this whole picture of what’s going on in 2 Samuel 7 right into our lap, because this is huge for understanding how we relate to God. So you got these four covenants all setting the stage for this fifth covenant that really is the last one we’re gonna see in the Old Testament, with David, the covenant of the kingdom. Now you look in 2 Samuel 7, you say, “Well, I didn’t see the word covenant anywhere.”
And you’re right, it’s not there. The closest it gets is down in verse 15 where God talks about his steadfast love, hesed, which is a word that is sometimes used as a synonym for covenant in scripture. But you don’t really see covenant mentioned here. Now there are other Old Testament passages that refer back to 2 Samuel 7 and talk about God’s covenant with David which is why virtually all Old Testament scholars call this passage the Davidic covenant; God entering into covenant with David.
Now what I wanna show you is how this covenant right here relates, builds on, parallels, all the ways God has related to his people in covenant up until this point. So we’re not gonna turn a lot right here, but if you are not opposed to writing in your Bible – if you are, then just pretend this is not happening around you. But if you’re not opposed, I wanna just show you, as we walk through 2 Samuel I just wanna give you a couple verses where you can go back and look and see how what God is saying to David here is the same thing he said to Abraham and Moses before him.
So you look for example at 2 Samuel 7:9, and God says, “I’ve been with you, David, wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.” Do you remember has God ever told anyone else “I’m gonna make you a great name?” It was Abraham – Genesis 12:2. So write a little note by verse 9 – Genesis 12:2. That was the very beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham.
“I’m going to make your name great, Abram.” It’s the same picture. Then you get to verse 10 (2 Samuel 7), “and I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.” Has God in the past promised his people a place to dwell in? Absolutely. You look at Genesis 15:18. God said to Abraham, “I’m gonna give you this land.” He spells it out – from the river Euphrates to this area to that area.
And here’s David sitting in the middle of that hearing God say, “I’m gonna appoint a place for you to dwell in.” It’s the same thing that God has already promised to Abraham. Now you go down to verse 12, “When your days are fulfilled, David, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” Make a little note there – Genesis 17:3-7.
Genesis 17:3-7 is when God told Abraham, “I’m gonna raise up offspring, give you many descendants” – same word – offspring – seed that’s going to come from you – your line, through your family.” And then he also says in Genesis 17, “and kings will come from you.” And here is God speaking to a king, saying, “I’m going to establish your son’s kingdom.” This is the picture. It’s exactly what God had said to Abram.
A couple more – look at 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” We’re gonna talk about this in a little bit, but write a little note there that points to Exodus 4:22. This is not the first time God has referred to his people or someone as his son. Exodus 4:22, when Moses was going to Pharaoh, God said, “You tell Pharaoh that Israel is my son.” And so the picture here of son – we’re gonna talk about what this means here in 2 Samuel 7:14.
But the picture of God’s relating to his people as father to a son is what we’ve seen in covenants leading up until this point. Then you get down to 2 Samuel 7:23-24, and David’s praying. He’s saying, “You redeem a people for yourself.” Write a little not out to the side there – Exodus 6:6-7 – it’s almost exactly the same language when God tells Moses, “I’m gonna redeem a people for myself, and they will be my people and I will be their God,” which is really kind of the language of covenant.
You go back up to – I skipped over verse 22 – therefore you are great, O Lord. There is none like you. There is no God beside you. That’s the whole point of the Exodus. Write a little note there, Exodus 15:11, Exodus 8:10, Exodus 9:14. 8:10, 9:14, 15:11 – all of them, the whole point was God said all throughout the exodus, “I’m gonna show Pharaoh that there is no one like me.” And what they pray as they leave Egypt behind in Exodus 15:11 is, “There is no God like you.”
God is showing that there is no other name that is worthy of worship like he is. So what you see is there are parallels all over this picture that build on what God has done already. Now I do want you to turn to this one. Go to Deuteronomy 17 with me; it’s the fifth book in the Bible –Deuteronomy 17. Here’s the deal: when God gave his people the law, he told them that he was going to reign over them.
So basically Israel is a theocracy, which means who was king over Israel? God is. Yahweh is. Yahweh is the ruler. He is the one who reigns. He is king. But he knows that his people are going to be tempted to seek out another king, just like all these other pagan nations around them that have these other kings. And so he says to them here in Deuteronomy 17 where we’re about to read, he says, “You can appoint a king, but make sure not to appoint a king like those other pagan nations.”
Here’s God’s instructions – Deuteronomy 17:14. This has huge ramifications for what is happening in 2 Samuel 7. God said to his people – Deuteronomy 17:14,
When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose; one from among your brothers who you shall set as a king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire (here’s kind of some regulations) many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You shall never return that way again.” And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. Nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom (this is what he needs to do) he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests, and it shall be with him. And he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them. That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom; he and his children in Israel.
So this is the picture: God says, “You can have a king, but the whole design is the earthly king needs to represent me as heavenly King. He needs to be close to my laws and following my ways, so that as he leads and you follow him as king, you will ultimately be following” – who as king? The Lord – God said, “You’ll be following me as king.” And so the whole design in the kingdom – when we come back here to 2 Samuel 7, the whole design is that in the Davidic kingdom that it would be a reflection of the kingdom of Yahweh – of God.
It would be a reflection of his rule. And so that’s what’s happening here in 2 Samuel 7, so you’ve got in your notes there the Davidic kingdom. In 2 Samuel 5, David is anointed as king – and that’s what they would do. They would anoint him. The king was referred to as the anointed one. Hold onto that – the anointed one – the Lord’s anointed. And so here he was, he was anointed as king, and God says to him, “I’m gonna raise you up and establish this kingdom.”
And I want you to think about three facets of this kingdom – really three facets of any kingdom: people, place, and purpose. Any kingdom’s gonna have people and a place for a purpose. God’s kingdom, Davidic kingdom: God’s people in God’s place for God’s purpose. So let’s think about God’s people – follow with me here. This is where we’re gonna unpack what God is saying to David in 2 Samuel 7.
What God is telling David is that from his line – first thing, from his line, from David’s line, a continual seed will endure. A continual seed will endure. This whole chapter starts off – it’s kind of funny. The chapter starts off with David saying to God, “I want to build you a house.” And God, in a startling reversal, looks at David and says, “I want to build you a house. I want your family to be a house, a dynasty that will continue.”
And what he says to him – you see it down there in verses 12-13 – “when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you” – seed, offspring – “after you, who shall come from your body. And I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Circle that – forever – ‘cause that’s big all throughout the rest of this passage.
Look at verse 16, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. When your throne shall be established forever” – end of verse 16. Then you get down to verse 24, when David’s praying to God, “You establish for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever.” Verse 25, “And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word you have spoken.” Verse 26, “Your name will be magnified forever.”
Verse 29, “Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servants that it may continue forever before you.” When God’s saying these things, he’s saying, “What I’m putting in place now is going to last forever.” Now that has huge ramifications for us in this room because if God put this in place in 2 Samuel 7 then this is still in place in the 21st century in this room today.
Like we’re in what would be classified as forever, and we’re pretty much always going to be there. Like eternity is being shaped here in 2 Samuel 7, and what God is saying here persists right now to this day in this room. So now this text is really in our lap. This has huge ramifications for us. So the picture is a continual seed will endure. One from your line, your offspring, will endure forever. That’s a bold statement.
Second, an honored son will reign. Your seed will endure, and an honored son will reign. Now this is where it gets really, really interesting. Go back to verse 13. God has just said, “I’m gonna raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
“I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” Who is the him there – who is the he? Who is that talking about? David’s son Solomon, next king – he’s the one who’s gonna build the house. He’s the one who’s going to build the temple. Let me show this to you. Go over to the right – 1 Chronicles. So you’re gonna go past just three books – go past 1 and 2 Kings, and the third book is 1 Chronicles. Look at 1 Chronicles 22.
This is fascinating, what is being set up here, because what God is saying is that a son of David will be like a son of God. He will be a son to me and I will be his father. That’s stout language, and it’s exactly what happens. Look in 1 Chronicles 22:6 – this is David getting near the end of this life, and it says he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
David said to Solomon – and basically he’s gonna recount here what God had said to him in 2 Samuel 7. “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.’” Listen to verse 10: “He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.” The picture is God is raising up Solomon as king to be as a son. Like a son reflects a father, that’s what Solomon is going to do.
It gets even deeper – go to the very last chapter in 1 Chronicles. Look at 1 Chronicles 29:22. These are astounding verses right here. Listen to this – 1 Chronicles 29:22 – David is now on his deathbed, and so Solomon is being anointed as king. Listen to this – midway through verse 22: and they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the Lord, and Zadok as priest. That’s a big deal – prince for the Lord – Solomon is ruler for the Lord. But then listen to verse 23: then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of David his father. Did you catch that? Let me read that again. Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king. Who sits on the throne of the Lord? Are you gonna sit on the throne of the Lord? The Lord sits on the throne of the Lord. God sits on God’s throne. But this text is saying Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord.
Don’t miss what’s going on here. What God’s doing is he’s raising up kings. In this whole picture of the kingdom, the king will be the one through whom God will relate to his people. The king will mediate God’s covenant with his people. The king will represent God to his people; the earthly king, representative of heavenly king, as a son – “I will be his father, and he will reflect me as father to my people.”
That’s huge. An honored son will reign. Seed will endure, and a son will reign forever. His kingdom will be established forever. This is mind-boggling. So you got that – God’s people. A seed will endure; a son will reign in God’s place. Now come back to 2 Samuel 7 – we’ve seen this over and over again in the Old Testament as we see the people of God – the importance of land. And God is bringing them to a land.
We won’t turn there, but Deuteronomy 11, Deuteronomy 12 both talk about how God says, “I’m gonna bring you to a place of land – to the land where I’m gonna give you rest from all your enemies around you, and you’re gonna be established in that land.” So when in 2 Samuel 7:10 he says, “I’m gonna appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. Violent men shall afflict them no more, and I will give you rest from all your enemies.”
Here’s what God’s doing: God is bringing them to a place where they will enjoy God’s rest. Throughout their days, since Abraham, they have been wanderers, living in tents, always on the move from place to place to place. And now God is saying, “In my kingdom, in the Davidic kingdom, I’m bringing you to a place of rest where you will experience rest from all your enemies around you.”
A place where you will enjoy God’s rest – and then a place where they will encounter God’s glory, because the glory of God has also dwelled in a mobile fashion in the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant is being transported from place to place. But Solomon is going to build a house – verse 13 – for my name. He’s going to build a temple where my glory is going to dwell, here in Jerusalem.
In this place where I bring you rest, my glory, my glorious presence is going to dwell among you. He’s going to dwell among you. And you will encounter my glory here. That’s the promise he’s setting up in the kingdom and that’s what’s gonna happen. Solomon is gonna build the temple, and we’re gonna read about that, and this is where the glory of God is going to dwell among his people.
Why? Why is God giving these extravagant promises? For God’s purpose. Why is God saying these kind of things to David? Two-fold: number one, to redeem a chosen people. That’s clear. We’ve read it in verse 24 and 25. God is redeeming a people for himself; a people that will belong to him among all the peoples of the earth – the people of Israel will belong to him. But not just for the people of Israel.
Yes, to redeem a chosen people, but don’t miss it. Look in verse 23 – in 2 Samuel 7:23. Who is like your people Israel? The one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name – gotta love that phrase. God – what God is doing is he’s making a name for himself. That’s why you get further down and it says in verse 26 your name will be magnified forever.
And you heard it as we were reading: O Lord God, O Lord God, O Lord God. When you get to the end, verse 28, oh now, O Lord God, you are God. It’s just redundant. The point is God is showing his greatness. So the purpose here is to redeem a chosen people, and then to extol the incomparable God. To show the nations that there is no one who compares to Yahweh. There is no one like God. He is the only God. That’s gonna be the whole point.
When we read about the temple and it’s dedicated in 1 Kings 8:41-43, when Solomon dedicates this temple, what is he gonna say? He’s gonna say, “Lord God, people from all nations and foreigners from all places are going to come to this place and they’re going to see that you are God. You are making a name for yourself among all the nations to show all the nations that there is no one like you.”
That was the picture: God setting up a kingdom, Davidic kingdom, through this covenant here in 2 Samuel 7, that will endure forever through a son who will reign as the mediator between him and his people, where they will enjoy his rest, encounter his glory. A redeemed people making his greatness known among the nations – that was the Davidic kingdom, and that’s the way it was set up.
But there was a problem. You see these extravagant, grace-filled promises in 2 Samuel 7, and you see victory in chapter 8 and chapter 10 – David is conquering. Then you get to chapter 11, and you come to verse 2. “And it happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house” (when he should have been at battle – it was the time kings went to battle).
That he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and enquired about the woman, and one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him and he lay with her. Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
It started with a glance, and within a matter of moments became adultery, which led to pregnancy, which led to attempt at cover-up. Brothers and sisters, you cannot cover up your sin. Maybe for a little while, but you cannot cover up your sin. It is impossible for us to cover up our sin. And so cover-up turns into murder, and by the end of this chapter, verse 26, the wife of Uriah hears that her husband has died, and she laments.
And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. This is David, the Lord’s anointed, set up to display the glory of Yahweh as king, and from this point on everything changes. Everything changes from this point on. See sin’s anatomy here, because this is where we see Davidic kingdom led by defective kings; kings who displease the Lord.
Sin’s anatomy – it appears so subtly. It started with a glance. It starts with a glance. Close your eyes, men. Gouge out your eyes, Jesus said. If your eye causes you to sin, brothers, gouge it out and throw it away – Mark 9. It is better for you to enter into heaven with one eye than enter into an eternal hell with both eyes. That’s radical. Gouge it out. And it makes sense – like if David had to do it all over again knowing what he knew and the consequences that flowed from this, he’d have gone blind in an instant.
But he looked, and the subtlety crept in. Brother or sister in this room, if there is the slightest foothold of lust or greed or pride or covetousness or bitterness that is in your heart, run. Run fast. Even the slightest bit – doesn’t even seem like much at all – run from it. It appears so subtly, and it harms so deeply. Who can measure the effects of sin? Who can measure the effects of one sin? Sin does not just affect you. Your sin never just affects you.
My sin never just affects me. Any sin in me affects my wife and my children and the people God has entrusted me to lead. Any sin in your life goes far beyond you. You may think, we may think it doesn’t; we may think we’ve got it compartmentalized. It is not compartmentalized. It is having huge effects. And it’s all over this story. A child born from adultery in chapter 11 is dead in chapter 12.
And then David’s son does pretty much the same thing he did only he does it with his half-sister, and David does nothing about it – setting the stage for two years later, one of his other sons who will go – Absalom – and kill his brother, and lead a revolt against his father – a revolt that had temporary success; an entire revolt against the kingdom. And when the curtain closes on David’s life, what you’ve got is a picture of strife between the northern tribes and the southern tribes developing.
It harms so deeply. It controls so quickly. It spirals – sin spirals downward so quickly. It devastates so painfully. This whole picture started with one look on one day. But here’s the deal: all of this, all of these effects – that was not the worst of it. Yes, those were consequences, but that’s not what’s most tragic. Sin’s tragedy – we see the effects on others, but the real tragedy of David’s sin and the real tragedy in any sin is the defiance of God.
Psalm 51 – when David prays in confession, what does he say to God? “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” What? No, you sinned against Bathsheba, and you sinned against Uriah, but the reality is that pales in comparison to sin before an infinitely holy God. This is the primary offense. Brother or sister in this room, if you are – and I’m sure in a room this size – if you are hiding in secret sin. If you in your mind or your heart right now are squirming and thinking, “I don’t need to hear this. I don’t want to listen to this. I’m not coming back” – I want to with grace and love speak a word of truth into your life. You cannot hide your sin from God. He hates it, and it’s good that he hates it. It’s good that he hates what hurts you. See his hatred for sin in your life and his grace in bringing you into this room at this moment – see it as evidence of his great love for you.
And do not turn aside from his love. See the effect of sin, defiance of God which leads to the destruction of men, such that one sin against this God is enough, is sufficient, to condemn you or me to an eternal everlasting hell. This is the effect of sin. Sin is serious, and we see it in David’s life, and then after him, Solomon. God said it. He said, “The king needs to stay close to my Word. Do not acquire wives.” Solomon – wives, wives everywhere.
Do not acquire excessive silver or gold – and we even talk about this. We say, “Well, obviously excessive silver and gold is good, because God blessed Solomon and he had it.” No – this stole his heart from God. And so this is the picture of Solomon, and the kings that would come in succession after him. As we’ll read in the days to come, the kingdom does divide into the north and into the south, and the south is where Jerusalem is – Judah.
And this is where you see king after king after king. It’s the same in the north, but this is where the line continues, in king after king who is defective, who is displeasing the Lord. There’s bright spots here and there in Josiah – even he, though, at the end of his life turns away from the Lord. And over and over again you see this happening now. Now get the picture: what happens is as this just spirals worse and worse, then God does what he said in 2 Samuel 7.
He said – God brings discipline with the rod of men. God brings discipline with the rod of men, and he sends nations. He says, “You’re gonna be shocked. You’re gonna be amazed what I do when I bring nations to bring you down and show you my discipline.” And that’s exactly what happens, and the northern kingdom is destroyed, and the southern kingdom, where Jerusalem, where the temple is – Babylonians come attack Judah, destroy Judah, destroy the temple, and take those who are still surviving into exile.
And what happens is the prophets during that time are either speaking about hey, this is coming – destruction’s coming! Or they’re speaking after it’s happened. I want you to just try – let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of the people of God at that point. Like what do you do when your whole life is torn apart, and your whole family’s torn apart, and you’re in a foreign land like a slave, and nothing is the same?
And there seems to be no hope, and you’re looking, you’re longing for some kind of hope to hold onto. What’s the hope that you’re going to hold onto? 2 Samuel 7, because God said it – he said, “I’m going to establish this kingdom forever, and a seed is going to endure forever, and the son will reign forever.” So you’re holding onto this hope, and that’s exactly what we see all throughout the prophets.
Let me show you. Go to Isaiah 9 – Isaiah 9. We’ll just look at a couple of these – a couple of these – there’s so much. Like somebody shared with me after this morning – they said, “You were trying to preach like the whole Old Testament.” Well, yes, because it all comes alive when you realize the importance of 2 Samuel 7. Look at Isaiah 9:1 – you’ll recognize this. Now this is Isaiah speaking to a people who are in the middle of darkness, in the middle of gloom.
And he’s looking forward – he’s giving them hope, promises from God. Chapter 9:1, “There will be no gloom for her who is in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelled in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”
Now skip down to verse 6 – this is where it’ll get very familiar to you. “For to us a child is born; to us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” Listen to this: on the throne of who? “On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.”
What is Isaiah saying? He’s saying to the people of God there’s one who’s coming from the throne of David who will establish the throne of David again, and his justice and his righteousness will reign and rule. The zeal of God is going to accomplish this. It’s hope. You get over to Isaiah 11:1, same thing. There shall come forth – 11:1, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”
A stump of Jesse – that’s David’s father. It’s from the root of David. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And it just talks about how righteousness he will wear. You get down to verse 10, “In that day, the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of him the nations shall enquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Ah, they’re looking forward. There’s one who’s coming. Go to the next major prophet, Jeremiah. Look at Jeremiah 23:5 – one book over. Jeremiah 23:5 and see what Jeremiah says. They’re looking forward. They’re giving hope in the middle of all of this – where is the hope? And listen to what happens. Jeremiah 23:5 he says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch.”
That’s someone that comes from the root of David; a branch from the line of David. And he shall reign as king, and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. And in his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is the name by which he will be called: the Lord is our righteousness. And it continues on. Ezekiel 37:24-28 talks about one who will come from the line of David.
Hosea 3:4-5: Israel will wander around without a king, but then there will be one who will come from the line of David. Amos 9:11-12: God is going to take that which has been ruined in the line of David and he’s going to repair it. He’s going to rebuild it, and all the nations are gonna come and see his kingdom. Zechariah 12:7 and following, same thing – over and over again, all these prophets are saying amidst all these defective kings, there is one who is coming from the seed of David as a son of God who will usher in the kingdom.
And now the stage is set for the divine King. Now turn to Luke 1. You can leave 2 Samuel 7 behind – that’s old covenant. We’re moving on to new covenant now, and listen to Luke 1. We could go to Matthew – Matthew’s intentional in showing us this, but Luke is really intentional. I want you to see this. Here’s the picture of the divine King who ushers in God’s kingdom – God’s place; God’s people in God’s place for God’s purpose.
Think about God’s people. Luke at verse 26 – Luke 1:26. “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.” Not a coincidence. “And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings,’” and he begins to speak to her. Look down at verse 32, talking about her son Jesus.
Verse 31, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.” There it is. 2 Samuel – write a little note – 2 Samuel 7 – God is going to give to him the throne of David. The kingdom that was promised to endure is going to endure through your son, Mary.
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. God’s people – God had said in the Davidic kingdom a continual seed will endure. Here we see in Jesus – Jesus came from the seed of David. In order for 2 Samuel 7 to be true and for the kingdom to endure, then one must come who is from the seed of David. Now go over to chapter 2 in Luke – 2:8.
This passage that’s so familiar to us when we read it – like this is like Christmas in May. Verse 8: in the same – now read it just in the light of all that we’ve seen. In the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angle said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, who is Christ.” Christ – the Christ – that’s the Greek, the Christ – the same word in the Hebrew, anybody know what it means? The Messiah – that’s the Hebrew. That’s what Christ means – the Messiah; the anointed one; the Lord’s anointed. Today in the city of David is born the one who is anointed King. The Messiah is here. Hah! He came from the seed of David, and he came as the Son of God. Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father as Son.
What the kingdom is intended to show is happening in Christ – a perfect representation of the Father – an earthly king who is a perfect representation of the heavenly King. Jesus came from the seed of David as the Son of God – God’s people in God’s place. In Christ we find our rest. In him, he’s the place where we find our rest. Go back to Luke 1:68 – this is Zachariah talking. He’s gonna be the father of John the Baptist, but he’s talking about what God has done.
Listen to this: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. He has visited and redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.” Listen to verse 71; it’s the same language we saw in 2 Samuel 7 – that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. It goes on farther down.
Verse 74: “That we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days” – this is why the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 4 says that Christ is our rest; that in him we find rest. We find rest from all of our struggles to earn a righteousness before a holy God. You rest from that, because Christ is your righteousness.
You find rest from all of your struggles with sin because Christ is your righteousness. This is the picture. In Christ we find our rest, and in Christ we see his glory. He is the place where we encounter the glory of God. John 1, John 2: I am the temple. We have beheld his glory, the glory of the one and only. 2 Corinthians 4, we have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ. You wanna see the glory of God? Look at Jesus.
This is the manifestation. He is the manifestation of the glory of God. This is the picture: Christ is fulfilling this, in God’s people, God’s place, for God’s purpose, in Christ. He comes as the divine King. Why? Two-fold: number one, to save a chosen people. Okay, just a couple more places to turn, I promise, but stick with me, it’s worth it. Keep going to the right and go to Acts 2 – Acts 2. Acts 2:29. The King, Christ, came; the Messiah came to save, to redeem a chosen people.
So Acts 2 is when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost, and this was the first Christian sermon. And so Peter’s about to preach the first sermon ever preached, and it’s going to be written down for years to come, so get this one right, Peter. Like use your best stuff. He’s got a crowd of Jewish people in front of him, so what does he do? He starts talking about you’ll never guess who. He starts talking about David.
He starts talking about what David said, and God’s promises to David. You look in verse 25, 26, 27, 28, he’s quoting from David, and you get to verse 29 he says, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” In other words, David is dead. These pictures that the Old Testament was pointing to are pointing us to someone else.
Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne – 2 Samuel 7, that’s it. God had sworn to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne. David foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, the Messiah – there it is again. Spoke about the resurrection of the anointed one, the Messiah; that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
This Jesus God raised up. We’re all witnesses of this. He gets to the conclusion – this is the last statement in the sermon, verse 36, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ; this Jesus, whom you crucified.” Feel the weight of that statement. Peter says to a crowd of Jewish people, “You took the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, the one who came in the line of David as the son who would reign.
“You took the Messiah, and you nailed him to a cross. You crucified him.” And so they say, “What shall we do?” And Peter looks at them and he says, “Repent. Turn from your sin and trust in the Messiah.” He says the same thing that I want to say to every single person in this room tonight. If you have never turned to Christ as Lord, I want to urge you tonight to repent, to turn from your sin, to turn from yourself.
This is not about religious games. Turn from your sin and yourself, and trust in Jesus as your only hope. As the one who is promised to come to save you from your sins. Trust in him as King over your life. This is salvation. And follower of Christ in this room, do not be content, then, any longer to dwell in sin. Turn. You have been set free; find your rest in Christ. Seek his glory, know his glory, and throw aside everything that keeps you from him.
That he might be the sole desire of your heart; the hope upon whom you lean in every circumstance. He is King. He came to save a chosen people, but that’s not it. It’s the same picture – just like he came not just to redeem the people of Israel, just like we saw in 2 Samuel 7, he came to make a name for himself. And so Jesus the divine King came, yes, to save a chosen people, but also to exalt the incomparable God.
That through our salvation, it might be clear to the nations around us that there is no one like our God. Oh, God, help us to be finished and done with an easy believism that claims to trust in Christ as Messiah, and our lives demonstrate nothing different to the world. No, our lives are intended to be a display of the glory of the one who has saved us, that it may be clear something’s happened by the grace of God for the glory of God.
That just as they came to see God’s glory at the temple, now that they might see your life, my life, and the church – the temple, 1 Corinthians 6, individually, 1 Corinthians 3 – together, and they might say, “There is no God like yours.” That’s the whole goal, that all the nations might do that. When you get to Acts 15 you see this picture of the gospel is going to the nations, and they’re wondering is this okay that all these Gentiles are coming into the family of God?
And you know what James does? James is a part of this meeting when they’re having the council at Jerusalem, and he quotes from Amos 9:11-12. This is one of the places that I mentioned that refers to the Davidic covenant. And James says, “This is exactly what God had said – that one would come who would reign, and all the nations would be drawn to him. And that’s what God is doing, so we need to embrace global mission.”
That’s what they decided – Acts 15 – and that’s the picture. We are created to exalt the incomparable God. All right, one last place; this is it, I promise. Revelation 5 – I want you to see where this all heads. Revelation 5 – I can’t sit down for this thing. All right, Revelation 5, here’s the deal: John in Revelation 5, this is a heavenly vision, and the picture is they’re waiting for someone who can usher in God’s kingdom fully and finally, once for all.
Longing for someone who can, who can overcome the sin and suffering and sickness and problems and hurt and pain and tragedy that we experience in this world. And what happens? Revelation 5:1, “I saw on the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within on the back, sealed with seven seals, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ (Who is worthy to usher in the kingdom?) And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it.” Could David open it? Absolutely not. Could Solomon open it? No. Could Abraham open it? No. Could Moses open it? No. None of these people could open it. Could Peter open it, could Paul open it? Nobody. Listen to this:
And I began to weep loudly, because no one was found worth to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
And he went and he took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a hard and golden bowls full of incense, which is the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song, saying, “Worth are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God. And they shall reign on the earth.”
This is where it’s all headed, brothers and sisters. There is coming a day when our King will usher in a new creation kingdom where he reigns. And we – hah! – reign with him as his sons and daughters.
There’s coming a day when we will be God’s people in God’s place for God’s purpose, and all of eternity we will worship him. So what do we do now? We don’t sit back and just wait. We give our lives to advance this kingdom on this earth. We don’t sit back and expect nations to come to us, nations to come to the temple. No – we are the temple, and now the temple goes to the nations to declare God’s greatness.
This is what we do: we spend our lives going to the ends of the earth – every nation, tribe, people, and language – telling them the Messiah has come and can save them from, will save them from their sins. This has everything to do with Mother’s Day. I got a letter from a mom in our faith family who had been to Guatemala, and she had come back, and another church had asked her to share. And this is what she shared:
I made the decision to go to Guatemala after seeing in God’s Word that he commands us to go and make disciples of all nations. I was going out of obedience, not because I had a heart for missions or a passion for the people of Guatemala. I want you to understand that I am a wife, mother, and I work part-time. I’m not a missionary, and I’m certainly not a preacher. I was just being minimally obedient to what God’s Word tells us all to do.
Praise God he is not minimally faithful and does minimally bless us! After spending a week around precious children who eat a small cup of porridge a day, the question I’ve come back to Birmingham asking God is why he has blessed me when others have so little, and this is what God has showed me. I have blessed you for my glory. Not so you will have a comfortable life with a big house and a nice car.
Not so you can spend lots of money on vacations, education, or clothing. Those aren’t bad things, but I’ve blessed you so that the nations will know me and see my glory. All my life I have completely disconnected God’s blessing from God’s purpose, and now I realize what I had never seen: God has blessed me to show his love to Domingo. It’s an elderly man who came to Christ that week in Guatemala.
God has blessed me to show his mercy and grace to children in Guatemala. God has – that is why God has given me income and education and resources; God saves me so that the nations will know him. He blesses me so that all the earth will see his glory. So God, raise up moms across this faith family, who with their children and throughout this community and to the ends of the earth declare his glory.
And God, raise up dads who lead the way. And God, raise up a faith family that is being spent for the proclamation of the glory of the Messiah to the ends of the earth.