Death of a Dream (Part 2)

Continuing on with where we left off yesterday in looking at the death of David’s dream of building a temple for God. Yesterday we saw that when God says no to something that you want to do for him that He will do something even more amazing.

2nd Samuel 7:10 And I have provided a permanent homeland for my people Israel, a secure place where they will never be disturbed. It will be their own land where wicked nations won’t oppress them as they did in the past, 11 from the time I appointed judges to rule my people. And I will keep you safe from all your enemies. ‘And now the LORD declares that he will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings! 12 For when you die, I will raise up one of your descendants, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him. 15 But my unfailing love will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed before you. 16 Your dynasty and your kingdom will continue for all time before me, and your throne will be secure forever.’" 17So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said.

What we have here in this portion of Scripture is something called the Davidic Covenant. What is it? This is an unconditional covenant made between God and David through which God promises David and Israel that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah and would establish a kingdom that would endure forever as seen in verses 10-13. The Davidic Covenant is unconditional because God does not place any conditions of obedience upon its fulfillment. The surety of the promises made rests solely on God’s faithfulness and does not depend at all on David or Israel’s obedience.

The Davidic Covenant centers on several key promises that are made to David.

1) God reaffirms the promise of the land that He made in the first two covenants with Israel which are the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants. This promise is seen in 2 Samuel 7:10, “Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously.”

2) God promises that David’s descendant or “seed” will succeed him as king of Israel and that David’s throne will be established forever. This promise is seen in verses 12-13, "I will set up your seed after you, who will 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.” This is a reference to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The provisions of the covenant are summarized in 2 Samuel 7:16, “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” The promise that David’s “house,” “kingdom” and “throne” will be established forever is significant because it shows that the Messiah will come from the lineage of David and that He will establish a kingdom from which He will reign. The covenant is summarized by the words “house,” promising a dynasty in the lineage of David; “kingdom,” referring to a people who are governed by a king; “throne,” emphasizing the authority of the king’s rule; and “forever,” emphasizing the eternal and unconditional nature of this promise to David and Israel.

So again there are two promises for David:

1) God will provide a permanent place for the Israelites to live.

2) God will build David a house or in other words a dynasty will come from David’s line. What this is saying is that David would live on long after his death. Funny how David wanted to build God a house but God said no thank you but I will build you a house! What we see here is God honored David’s sincere intentions.

Each of these great promises was partially fulfilled in Solomon, David’s son and successor to his throne.

· Solomon ruled on David’s throne

· God’s mercies never departed from Solomon, though he sinned

· Solomon built God a magnificent house

God’s promises to David are completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

· Jesus does reign, and will reign on David’s throne forever

· The Father’s mercies never departed from Jesus, even when He was made sin for us

· Jesus is building the Father a magnificent house as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19 and we are God’s temples as read in 1 Peter 2:5 and the church is God’s new house. We also see Christ fitting in to these as well as the prophets foretold of fulfillment of these promises that are seen in the life of Christ. This covenant here had a double meaning; all these things fit Christ as well as Solomon. God promised that the Christ would come through the line of David and He did. God truly blessed David in the middle of saying no to his dream!

Have you ever had God say no to a dream of yours?  If so, what was it and did God give you something even better?

About these ads