Jerusalem The Forever Kingdom 2 Sam 6:20-7:29 Mark Foreman NC3 v Jerusalem Becomes the Capital of the Kingdom (2 Sam 5:6-13) Ø Jerusalem was strategic, bordering both Judah and Benjamin (Josh 15:8; Judg 1:8,21). Ø Jerusalem and the Jebusites had a long history in the land (Gen 14:18; Josh 10:1-5; 15:8,63; 18:28; Judg 1:7, 8, 21). In the early days there was a kinship of theology. Whether it was a strict monotheism or more likely a monolatry, Abraham and Melchizedek were on the same page. 600 years later when Israel was returning as a nation from Egypt, five kings attacked Gibeon, Israel s ally and where then defeated by Joshua s army. (Stay with me. Don t slip into selfish, lazy thought, that says I m bored with history, it s not about me. There s a point to all of this). Jerusalem and the Jebusites became a thorn in the side of Israel, And a symbol of moral compromise. 6 The king and his men: This is not a large scale operation, but a risky conflict involving special forces. Through a 50 foot water shaft David s commandos invaded. Ø Jerusalem became symbolic of God s presence: (Psa 2:6; 14:7; 46:4; 48:2; 76:2; 102:16; 132:13; Isa 28:16; 59:20; Jer 3:17; Mic 4:2; Zach 8:22; 14:16; Rev 21:2-4). Later Judah became overconfident holding an arrogant, magical view of Jerusalem and was destroyed by the Babylonians. Babylon became a symbol of the world without & defiant towards God. After being rebuilt by Ezra and Nehemiah, becoming central again it was conquered and destroyed under Jesus prophecy. Now it is the object of tension between the Muslims and Israel. And Scripture speaks of a New Jerusalem. He is in the center of our lives, our worship, without compromise, and he is in our mist. 2Sam. 5:11 Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and
they built a palace for David: With the help of Lebanon, David built the City of David, his palace and increased his family there. 10 he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him. 12 And David knew that the LORD had established him for the sake of his people. v The Ark Is Brought To Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:1-23) Ø to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark (2). The ark was the ultimate symbol of God s centrality and immanence. The Name is essentially the rest of the sentence and is repeated in 1 Sam 17:45. It avoided the idea that God was actually located in the ark, yet retained its unique function as the meeting place. The last we read of the ark was in 1 Sam 4:1-7:2. We struggle with how God is depicted here, but it is an incomplete picture. The immediately following verses remind us of God s goodness. David apparently did some wrestling with Scripture discovering God s holiness (Exo 25:15; 37:5; 26:33; 30:6). The ark was God s meeting place but He was holy. Throughout scripture we are taught of the holiness of God: the burning bush, restrictions of Mount Sinai, the guilt sacrifices and blood, the priestly garb, the holy of holies, the vision of Isaiah. God is good, faithful, loving, all powerful, and holy. God through Jesus death on the cross has paid the price for our unholiness and sin. God is not now less holy. He is still holy, we now are holy through Christ. Ø The personal, holy God, the sustainer of goodness, beauty, love and truth. v The Heart of the Forever Kingdom (2 Sam 6:20-7:3) Ø David celebrates with holiness, abandonment and vulnerability. Ø David s wife, Michal (pronounced Mee-chal ), is indignant by David s behavior. 2
Michal is referring to David s dress and his dancing: 6:20 disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would! 6:14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. At first glance it appears that Michal (pronounced Meechal ), the wife of his youth and 1st wife, is concerned for David s reputation. But a closer look reveals she is concerned for herself and David has embarrassed her. Like Saul, Michal is focused on herself. Notice, daughter of Saul. Like father like daughter. Ø Disrobing and vulgar are not to be misunderstood. Vulgar here it means common or humble. 1. V. 22 helps us interpret the meaning: 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor. 2. Here it is referring to the fact that David, as king, dressed as a common priest, in honor of God, instead of as a King. We are not to think that David dressed as the high priest, a one of a kind ephod decorated, with multiple colored threads and stones and brilliantly white. Rather, his was the common off-white ephod worn by the common priests. There was nothing immodest in David s dress or behavior. She thought royalty should remain aloof. David was not naked or inappropriate in front of these girls. This would violate the law. Rather, he took off his kingly robe to dress as a common priest, humble before God (see v. 22). Allowing Scripture to interpret itself, it is clear Michal despised David because of his humble, abandonment before the Lord (v. 14). Her real concern was not David s immodesty before young maidens, but his lack of restraint before the Lord. She believed that the king should not have mixed with the commoners the way he did in the celebration and should have been more reserved and stately. It s hard when one s mate doesn t share the same devotion to the Lord. Ø Michal, growing up in the public eye with Saul as her father, had the same problem her father had the fear of man (cf. 1 Sam 13:8-12; 15:17-31). Prov. 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. 3
Fear of man is an OT phrase for faith and devotion. It is to care about and make reliable what others think and say rather than what God thinks and says. Ø Michal missed an opportunity of a lifetime to share in her husband s joy and abandonment over this great event. Instead, she judged and criticized him because she was embarrassed. This attitude robbed her of intimacy with her husband. Ø It is abandonment of self and obedience before the king that is at the heart of worship. David had obeyed fully and now celebrated with abandonment. Ø David s desire to build a temple for God fits with his unselfish, abandoned, fully committed, and humble attitude of worship toward God. v The Promise of a Forever Kingdom (2 Sam 7:4-17) Ø God out-celebrates and out-gives David, overflowing with a promise to David. Ø Playing off of the word house, which can refer to a home or a household, God promises to build David a house (11). The building of David s palace (only one verse, 5:11) is incidental to this great promise. Ø It is clear he is referring to a descendant of David s who will reign forever (12-13). David now is given the prominence of the Abraham covenant. Ø It is this future, forever king whom God will establish, who will build God a temple. God s covenant love (hesed) will never be removed (15). Ø The relationship God has with this descendant will be profound: I will be his father, he will be my son. Ø But there is also a hint of tragedy in this prophecy with the words, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. Ø We are not to be confused by the phrase when he does wrong. He may refer to David s descendants corporately or these words set the stage for the atonement. 2Cor. 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Matt. 27:38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 4
Ø The fact that David s descendants ceased to rule, gave rise to the promise from the prophets regarding the Messiah (Am 9:11; Isa 11:1-19; Jer. 23:5; Zech 3:8). Ø Here we have a clear prophecy of the coming kingdom & gracious nature of God. John 1:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. v The Thankful Prayer for a Forever Kingdom (2 Sam 7:18-29) Ø David went in to the formal, temporary tent where the ark was housed, to be with his God. What a picture of a king before the Ultimate King. Ø David is overwhelmed with God s goodness and in comparison, his own sense of being unworthy (18-19). This is both unusual and usual. Ø David is speechless before God s grace (20). Ø David then gives a great praise, prayer and doxology to God (22-29). We like to think of God on our terms and dismiss the realities that exist. That s a made up religion. Ø This messianic promise became central to Israel s growing understanding of the Messiah. It is also part of our inheritance (John 2:19; Eph 2:21; Rev 21:22). John 2:19 Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. Eph. 2:21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. Rev. 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 1Pet. 2:4 As you come to him, the living Stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, 8 and, A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the message which is also what they were destined for. 5
v Taking It Home Ø Revisit the story of David worshiping in 1 Sam 6:14-16 and 20-23. Ø In the story of David and Michal, who do you find yourself identifying with the most: the abandoned worshiper or the judger of other worshipers, and why? Ø There is something about David that God seems quite pleased with. In your own words, what is this? Ø How is chapter seven a passage of grace? Read Eph 1:3-14; John 1:16. Ø Relate this to Palm Sunday. How is it similar? How are we now a partial fulfillment of this promise? How will this promise ultimately be completed? 6