Friday, March 7, 2014

What the Covenant Means to Israel (2 Samuel 7:10-15)


9/6/2010 7:55:22 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  What the covenant means to Israel

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  2Samuel 7:10-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “10  "I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, 11  even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you. 12  "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13  "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14  "I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15  but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.”

 

            I think that when looking at the covenant that God is making to David that one has to go back to two places in the book of Genesis, well actually three places.  First let’s look at Genesis 3:15, “15  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’”  This promise of the “seed” is given shortly after Adam and Eve sinned, and this is the first promise of the “Seed” the Messiah.  Now before going to the next two sections in Genesis I want to look at a verse in the letter to the Galatians. “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ (Gal. 3:16).  The Davidic covenant is part of the promise that God gave to the woman (Eve) and it is about the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth.  If I am not mistaken Genesis 3:15 is the only place where when speaking of a seed it is the seed of the woman, for all the other times it is the seed of man.  Being the seed of the woman is speaking of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ through Mary.

            The other two places in Genesis that I wrote about are found in Genesis 12:1-3 and also Genesis 15:1-15, and in both of these places is written what is called “The Abrahamic Covenant.”  This covenant was between the Lord and Abraham and it is an unconditional covenant with God’s people Israel.  The covenant is still in effect and the promises that were made are still valid.  Part of this covenant with Abraham speaks of the whole world being blessed by God through this covenant, and of course that blessing to the entire world came through Jesus Christ.

            The Davidic covenant, I think that it would be true in saying, a more specific portion of the Abrahamic covenant.  In this covenant, which was began to unfold in yesterday’s SD are promises to David, the nation of Israel and also believers today.  In today’s SD I am looking at the promises concerning the nation of Israel, yet this includes the family of David. 

            Dr. Wiersbe, in his commentary on this section spends a lot of time on the word “rest” and the concept of this word is found in verse ten.  God first speaks of rest after He completed the creation of the world in Genesis 2:1-3, and then the Law given to Israel speaks of a Sabbath rest, and there are different concepts of that rest.  The Ten Commandants speak of the Sabbath rest in the following verses: “ 8  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9  "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10  but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11  "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

            God gave Israel rest after David won the battles around him and then Solomon was able to build the temple of the Lord while Israel was at rest.

            Believers also have a spiritual rest and this is written about in Matthew 11:28-30 and also in Hebrews 2:10 and 4:14-16.  In the one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ Israel is promised rest, so rest is an important part of the Davidic Covenant.

            Next in this covenant is seen a promise from God to build a “house” for David.  David had it in his heart to build for the Lord and then God tells David that He would build a house for David.  This house for David was speaking of the dynasty of David’s line as king of Israel culminating with the birth of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah who would be known as the “son of David.  “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: (Matthew 1:1).” 

            This section also speaks of David’s son Solomon along with the promised Messiah who is greater than Solomon, “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here (Matthew 12:42).”

            Solomon would build the temple, but at the end of his life he would die, but the messiah would go on forever.  If I know my eschatology correctly I believe that Jesus will build the Millennial Temple shortly after His return.  There is even a concept that I have heard by a commentator that Christ will build this temple in three days, but I am not sure of this.

            Just as David blessed the nation of Israel by preparing the things needed to build the temple and writing the songs that would be sung in the temple believers today are also blessed by David for keeping the light shining so that the Savior could come into the world.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  After my study of Daniel nine I was impressed so much of the timing of the Lord as the 490 years had a direct starting point and as seen in Luke 19 the first 483 years had a direct ending point as the timing was perfect.  I look at the Lord Jesus’ ministry while on earth and I can see that He was never in a hurry but He was never late, and this all has to do with the timing of God.  In Christ’s high priestly prayer He speaks about His time had come, the time that God chose to have the Son of God crucified, and it was all in His control. Looking at today’s verses the timing of God was perfect to give David this covenant.  This shows me that my time is in God’s hands and that certain things that happen in my life are happening because it is the perfect timing of God.  I certainly am responsible of the wrong that I do, but it is good to know that the God who created this universe and who came to earth to die for my sins that I may have a relationship with Him is in control of my life, and I would not want it any other way.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

2.      Trust the Lord to continue to teach me contentment.

3.      Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

4.      Trust the Holy Spirit to continue to teach me from His Word and to convict me of any unconfessed sin.

5.      Put on the Spiritual armor to be protected by the Lord.

 

9/6/2010 9:38:04 AM              

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