Devotions
Rev Gav
Forever
2 Samuel 7.1–16
Now when the king was settled in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind, 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: Are you the one to build me a house to live 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 and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’
Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to 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 live in their own place and be disturbed no more, and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people 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 ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth 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 a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.”
Reflect
This passage from the book of 2 Samuel is considered to be one of the most important in the Old Testament, for it is here that the building of the temple in Jerusalem (a home for God) and the everlasting kingdom of David’s line are first discussed.
The prophet Nathan is the go-between God and King David, and in Chapter 7 we have the longest discourse from God since the days of Moses.
David wanted to build a temple for God as it did not seem right or fitting that he lived in a palace and the Ark of the Covenant (containing the stone tablets of the ten commandments) should be housed in a tent. Nathan said, “Go for it!” but then, that night, God spoke to Nathan to tell David what was going to happen.
David was not going to be the one who would build the temple, and the kind of house that God was going to build was going to be a dynasty or everlasting kingdom through his royal line. We see here, and echoed elsewhere in the Old Testament, that God was not interested in dwelling inside buildings, but much more interested in dwelling in and through people. This would culminate with a special King whose kingdom would last forever — one whom God would call his ‘Son’ and who would be punished by mortals.
God has always been interested in transforming or cultivating humanity — wooing us with love — to become more like God. God is perfectly good, holy, and righteous and, through relationship, wants to draw us close that we might walk with God, learn, and follow God’s ways.
The fulfilment of the promise to King David was and is Jesus Christ, who gave of self, not just for Israel but for the whole world, making it possible for any human to commune with God. In Christ, and with Christ, and through Christ, we become the people God created us to be — where God’s spirit is poured out to all who ask in Christ’s name.
Christmas is a special time when we celebrate the arrival of God into the world — not with fanfares and palaces, but quietly and unassumingly, in a backwater town — upending all our presuppositions of how an everlasting kingdom would be established. Tonight our Saviour is born and God’s promises of old are fulfilled.
“Glory to God in the highest.”
Pray
Holy God
Thank you that
you are faithful
and keep your promises.
Thank you for your Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
who has reconciled us to you,
and that through his
selfless act of sacrifice
we have been made
pure and holy,
and able to become
temples of your Holy Spirit.
and then