While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22: 41-46).
A young boy and his father were in a car wreck. Both were seriously injured and rushed to the hospital. They were taken immediately into separate operating rooms and two doctors prepared to work on them, one doctor for each patient. The doctor operating on the father got to work right away, but the doctor assigned to the young boy said in shock and horror, "I cannot operate on him!" "That child is my son!" How can that be? Some of you may be old enough to remember when this riddle was popular. The answer, of course, is that the surgeon is the boy’s mother. When this riddle was first published, women surgeons were a rarity. Today, that is not the case, and the riddle can be answered easily. As with today’s lesson, as things are revealed, the riddles disappear. Our lesson will uncover a “mystery” that Jesus used as a riddle for the religious leaders of His time. Unlike us today, we have heard the answer. God’s word is truth, and His promises are faithful. Let’s dive in!
And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
King David was thankful for the blessings God had afforded him. He begins thinking of what he could do next to honor the God of Israel. David was surrounded by peace within the kingdom and even peace with his enemies. Then he thought about the portable, unassuming tabernacle that had been the dwelling place for God since the Exodus. His idea - to build a Temple!
After all, even the false gods had elaborate and ornate buildings for worship! So David confides in the prophet Nathan, and they agree that constructing a Temple is a great idea. However, the Lord speaks to the prophet with a change of plans and a little sarcastic humor. You are going to build me a house, a place for me to dwell!?! Our great ideas really do seem so silly when we hear them repeated by God, the Creator of the universe. God asks, “Did I say I wanted a house?”
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. 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; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
Nathan and David learn yet again another valuable lesson from the Lord. God alone is the one that has made David a King. He began as a lowly herdsman, and now he reigns over and shepherds the nation of Israel. God was with David when he was fighting Goliath, running from Saul, and fighting the Philistines. Everything that David achieved he did by the loving kindness, protection, and providence of God. How about you? Can you see the hand of God in your life? Can you praise God for the things you didn’t think you could survive but did? What about those problems that you couldn’t see a way to overcome, the riddles He handled without any help from you?
Interestingly, David’s noble thought and his desire to honor God fits the plans of purpose of God. The temple is built to very specific criteria, and ultimately, God uses everything in the Temple to represent Jesus. As a student of scripture, start to notice the multiple meanings and many layers that are built into the verses. God speaks to Nathan, to tell David that God will make David a house, a lineage of kings. David understands the great blessing he is being given.
Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant. For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2 Samuel 7:18-22).
David Praises God. The sweet psalmist of Israel, the man after God’s own heart praises the God of Heaven. May we learn from David’s example.
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Here is a riddle, the same riddle that Jesus presented to the Pharisees. What did David mean when he prophesied of the Messiah - The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 110:1). God reveals through Nathan that the house being built for David will cover the kingdom of Israel throughout the centuries, and the coming Messiah (Jesus) is the son of God. The New Testament presents both.
Jesus as the son of David:
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1)
And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. (Matthew 9:27)
And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? (Matthew 12:23)
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (Romans 1:3)
Jesus (the Messiah) as the Son of God:
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? (Matthew 8:29)
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (Luke 1:32)
And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. (John 1:34)
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31)
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3)
So, what is the blessing of David’s house, and what promises are made here? David cannot build the Temple, but it will be from his family that the House and Temple of God are established. It will be from his immediate son and his Messiah descendant that the Kingdom will be established forever.
Thank you for studying with us! God bless!