20140426 Saturday, April 26 2014
2 Samuel 07: David's Temple Prophecy

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to Thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house"

The Ark of the Covenant (see Exodus 25: The Ark, The Table and The Lampstand) that housed the tables of stone upon which the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) wrote The Ten Commandments had by the time of David existed for over two centuries - through the after-the-Exodus time of Moses (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Moses), Joshua (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Joshua), the Judges (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Judges), Samuel (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Samuel) and through the civil war between David and Saul (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Civil War).

During that earlier time, The Ark was kept in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle (see also The Holy Place In History And Prophecy). After it was lost in battle by Eli's corrupt sons (they lawlessly and arrogantly took the Written Law away from its Commanded Place; see The Parting of The Ark and The Tabernacle), it was returned by the Philistines (see 1 Samuel 5: Why Did The Philistines Want To Return The Ark?) whereby it was kept for a number of years in the house of a righteous man, while tended to by the proper Levites (see Numbers 4: The Levite Clans).

After King David had emerged victorious from the civil war (see 2 Samuel 3: The War Between The Houses of David and Saul), the LORD had David move his capital from Hebron, in Judah, to Jerusalem, also in Judah (although bordered on the north of the city by Benjamin), whereby Jerusalem became the national capital of the united kingdom of Israel (see 2 Samuel 5: How Long Was Jerusalem The Capital Of Israel?). David then brought The Ark to Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 6: The Ark Of The LORD In The City Of David) where it was housed in a tent - just as it had always been in the Tabernacle (which means a temporary structure i.e. a tent; see also Exodus 40: The Glory Of The LORD In His Tabernacle).

One day, David decided that he wanted to build a "house" for The Ark because "I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." The king's inquiry was given to Nathan, a prophet of the LORD (see The Prophets: Nathan).

"7:1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; 7:2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

7:3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee." (2 Samuel 7:1-3 KJV)

David's request was answered by the LORD by means of a dream to Nathan. The response included a history lesson ("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") and a prophecy about David's son who would be the one to build a "house" for The Ark: "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."

"7:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,

7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 7:6 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. 7:7 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?

7:8 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: 7:9 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. 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; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, 7:11 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. 7:12 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. 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 7:14 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: 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David." (2 Samuel 7:4-17 KJV)

The Word of the LORD was then delivered to David by Nathan. David's idea to house The Ark in a Temple, rather than a Tabernacle, was accepted.

"7:18 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? 7:19 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?

7:20 And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant. 7:21 For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.

7:22 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. 7:23 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? 7:24 For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God.

7:25 And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. 7:26 And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

7:27 For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. 7:28 And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: 7:29 Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever." (2 Samuel 7:18-29 KJV)

Fact Finder: What was the history of the original Temple? (b) Who rebuilt the Temple? (c) What Temple existed in the time of the coming of the Messiah?
(a) See A History Of Jerusalem: The Temple Of The LORD
(b) See Ezra: The Return Of The Levites To Jerusalem and Nehemiah: The Return Of The Governor
(c) See Israel In History and Prophecy: Herod and What Was Holy About Herod's Temple?