1 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 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.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 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. 7 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?” 8 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; 9 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. 10 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, 11 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. 12 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. 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 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. 15 But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever. 17 In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
See also Isaiah 9:6–7 6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
A LEADER WE LONG FOR
Presidential elections remind us how much people long for a leader – a leader who will bring justice and peace, protection and prosperity. However, all too often people’s aspirations are dashed as leaders reveal their own flaws and failures. No one person proves to be the ideal leader – with one exception.
One of the main themes that the Bible develops is that of a king whom God will appoint and through whom he will bring redemption. During the reign of King David, some one thousand years after Abraham (c. 10th cent. B.C.), we learn that key elements of God’s promises to Abraham have been fulfilled – his descendants are many, they possess the land from the River Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates River (modern Iraq), and there is a king (David) who has laid the foundation for a time of peace and prosperity under his descendants, in the first instance, his son Solomon.
During his reign David spoke with Nathan the prophet about building a house (temple) for God. He thought that things were not right spiritually in the kingdom – he lived in a palace but ‘the ark of God’ which was the focus of God’s presence among the people ‘dwells in a tent’ (7:2). He wanted to build a ‘place’ for God. God, however, through his prophet Nathan, wanted David to understand a bigger picture – first, God is not limited to buildings; second, he intended to make David’s name ‘great’ and establish his (David’s) ‘house’ (dynasty) forever. The king who would sit on David’s throne will not get these through personal posturing or political intrigue, but will be ‘chosen’ by God. God will raise up a ‘descendant’ of David who will reign over Israel (heirs of the promises), in peace and prosperity, justice and truth (7:10–11).
Notice the play on the word house – David had wanted to build God a house; God plans to build David another kind of house, a dynasty. David would one day die – he was not without sin – but, by God’s grace, from David’s house would arise a descendant who would be God’s perfect king.
In fulfillment of all that is promised here, David’s offspring would establish God’s reign forever (7:12–13). One day he would ride into the city of Jerusalem on the back of a donkey (see Zechariah 9:9; Luke 19:37–38) – Jesus, the son of David, son of Abraham, son of Adam, son of God (Luke 3:23–38).
When Jesus asked his close followers who he was, Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ’ [literally, the anointed king], the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16). The language of 2 Samuel 7 is prophetic and profound, identifying important motifs of God’s king and righteousness and peace forever. We should also note that the human inclination to look for a holy place is confounded by God’s passion for a holy people. ‘Look up for God’s king,’ 2 Samuel 7 urges us. ‘See now,’ says Luke and the other New Testament writers, ‘God’s king has come, death has not defeated him’ (Luke 24; Acts 17:30–31).
Consider:
the implications of God’s initiative – he called, anointed, and made David king;
the significance of the promise of a house; compare Jesus’ words, I will build my church (Matthew 16:16ff); and
what Jesus Christ means for you; what does it mean to turn to him and honor him?
1Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” 3Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 God did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; also they beheld God, and they ate and drank. 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Exodus is sometimes called the book of deliverance. Abraham’s descendants had become enslaved and oppressed in Egypt and with the opening chapters of Exodus, some seven hundred years later, they questioned whether God had forgotten the promises he had made to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As Exodus unfolds it becomes clear that God had not forgotten his promises and was planning a rescue that would result in freedom for his people. However, one of the lessons Exodus teaches is that God’s freedom does not come without God’s judgment. Judgment and salvation go hand in hand. At the same time God treats men and women with dignity, giving them choice: at least ten times God gave Egypt’s pharaoh the opportunity to let his people go, but each time the pharaoh said, ‘No’. Exodus 24 tells of the time that God, having rescued his people from Egypt, met with them on Mount Sinai. There are two important themes: first, the reason God rescues us; second, the way he rescues us.
Why God Rescues. The overriding reason is that God wants us to be with him (24:1, 9, 11) and share in his glory (24:16, 17). There are echoes of Genesis 3 where Adam is described as walking in the garden with God. Notice the further developments here – not just being with God, but feasting with him and enjoying his presence. Too often our relationship with God is limited to forgiveness and salvation. Exodus 24–39 reverberates with the language of the glory of God – his being with his people – and also, the language of the love and loyalty God’s people should have.
In this context words that spell out the relationship with God are important: Moses is called upon to write up and declare the ordinances and commandments of the Lord (24:3, 12). The Bible is not just a record of God’s redemption story, it becomes the instrument of the story of his rescue. It is not good enough simply to study the Bible, we need personally to encounter God as the Lord who loves and rescues men and women. The Word of God teaches us what it will be like to be with God: we ignore it or treat it casually at our peril.
How God Rescues. The only way we can participate in God’s promises is when sin is removed. So how God does accomplish this great feat? The language of blood and sacrifice is key. Notice that the blood of the sacrifice is splashed in two directions – against the altar, symbolizing the satisfying of God’s justice (24:6) and over the people (24:8), symbolizing the removal of their sin. At the Passover meal on the night of his arrest, Jesus said, ‘This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ (Matthew 26:28). Jesus’ death was the one, true, sufficient sacrifice for our sin, perfectly satisfying God’s righteous requirements.
God’s grace is not cheap. Through the lens of the New Testament we see that Christ the righteous One suffered for an unrighteous humanity so that God impute to everyone who turns to Jesus Christ with heart-felt repentance and true faith, the very righteousness of Jesus Christ himself. God now sees his people through the lens of the cross of Christ. The New Testament gospel, foreshadowed in Exodus 24, is a gospel of redemption. We need to be aware that this gospel is being seriously challenged in some churches today. If we lose the gospel as God has revealed it in his Word, we have no grounds for hope. If we turn to God in the way he has designed and implemented, we will discover true freedom, joy and a new hope.
Consider:
the significance of God’s Word for our understanding of God, his rescue and his expectations of us;
the significance of the motifs of the righteousness of God and sacrifice for sin; and
the need to live under and protect the truth of God’s good news.
1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 11 records the development of new technology that facilitated new design and building techniques. Wanting to make a name for themselves, men erected a great tower. Symbolically it reached up to God. Motivated by pride and ambition it was another sign of humanity’s rejection of God. Millennia ago, men and women had anticipated the 19th century atheist poet Algernon Charles Swinburne’s cry , “Glory to man in the highest.”
God responded in two ways. With an act of discipline, not judgment as in Noah’s day, God scattered the people and divided their language. In doing so he struck at one of the essential features of what it means to be human – the capacity for communication and with it, of personal relationships. From the moment of the events of Genesis 3 human co-operation would be more challenging than ever because of the break-down of relationship with God and with one another – socially and ethnically, sexually and culturally.
But, God also acted in mercy. Into this dark scene dominated by godlessness and self-interest, Genesis 12 tells us that God shone a ray of light. He spoke to one man and made three promises that would impact the whole of humanity. Abraham would become ‘great’; he would be blessed with family and land where there would be peace and prosperity. It would be the reversal of the events of Genesis 3. And through this family all the nations of the world would be blessed.
Abram, as he was then known, had a choice: he could trust God and ‘Go’, or he could stay where he was. God did not violate the human capacity for choice. Abraham obeyed and the epic story of God’s rescue of humanity was launched. Down through the ages, men and women who identified themselves with the God of Abraham would be blessed. Abraham’s greatest successor, Jesus, would say, ‘I have come to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). Paul the Apostle would write: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:28, 29).
As someone has observed, it is no accident that when we turn to the Book of Revelation ‘we find Babel or Babylon re-appearing as a consumer-oriented, mercantile society that will dominate the last days – the time between Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension and his final return. It is no accident that it is the fall of Babylon that John, the writer of Revelation, sees as the immediate precursor of the return of Christ. Babel did not end thousands of years ago on the plain of Shinar. Metaphorically speaking, Babel features again and again throughout human history.’ Whenever men and women in their arrogance think that they can build something and make a name for themselves, ignoring the reality of God as their rightful king, getting power over others with no concern for true justice, there is Babel. The great news is that because God in his mercy set in motion three promises to one man, we can now look in hope to a very different city, a new Jerusalem. There we do not have to build a tower to reach to heaven, for God is in the midst of her and he invites us to walk with him one day in her streets.
Consider:
1. the details of the three promises God made; 2. the significance of the promise or promises for the nations; 3. the part that Abraham played and the role that we have today.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves…
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 17 And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 1 and 2 reveal that God has given us extraordinary authority to be his managers over the world. In doing so he has given us the awesome capacity for choice and the amazing capacity for relationship. As someone has observed, Rule, responsibility and relationship are three qualities that mark us out in the whole of creation.
In Genesis 3 the hopes for humanity are dashed. Tragedy enters the scene of perfection and peace (see 3:1). Temptation comes from outside the woman (not from within her) and, ironically, it symbolically comes from the animal world – a world men and women were intended to rule.
The tempter’s first tactic was to sow doubt and discord, portraying God as the heavenly spoilsport: ‘Did God really say, “Any tree?” he asked. No, God hadn’t said that. The question was an overstatement. The tempter uses the same ploy today: ‘All those rules and regulations – how dull and boring.’
His second tactic was to appeal to pride (3:5). The tempter’s voice implied, ‘God knows that you have the potential to be greater than you are. Don’t be fooled – be courageously independent. You can do without him.’
His third tactic was to appeal to desires (3:6) – physical, aesthetic, intellectual. Self-fulfillment was the implication then as it has become the catch-cry today – ‘Indulge yourself. Why stop?’ is the voice of temptation.
His fourth tactic was to appeal to weakness (3:6). The woman had the authority and power to say ‘No’. The man also could have said, ‘No’. He didn’t even quote back to the tempter God’s true words – as Jesus would do. Both capitulated to the temptation to see themselves as ‘gods’ and challenge God’s rightful place in the universe and in their lives.
Shame and fear were the result. There were now ideas that made them blush. There was a lack of trust and a need for privacy. And, there was overwhelming guilt before God. Delight and innocent joy in their relationship with God, and with one another, were shattered.
Both began to make excuses. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. But the reality was they had made a choice, and they were responsible for that choice. They deserved to be judged and judged they were. Deep down all of us know how right such judgement is, not least in the choices we make that betray our loyalty to him and to one another.
Judgment (3:17ff). We notice immediately the disturbance in God’s good creation – in human relationships, in the world, in child-birth. The dread shadow of death now hovers over humanity as an angel was sent to guard the tree of life.
A Ray of Hope (3:15). The tempter will do his worst to deceive and deface the image-bearers of God; all men and women are now tainted for life with a predisposition to serve self – and not God. The consequences of this will emerge in varying ways and varying degrees. Men and women will display a strange and distorted capacity for both good and evil. But Genesis 3:15 introduces good news into this world of gloom and death. A descendant of the original couple will come to our rescue. In the midst of darkness and despair, a sign of God’s love emerges.
Consider:
1. the fact that temptation involved the tactic of misquotation and deception; men and women were tempted to feel ‘restricted’ by God’s command rather than rejoice in God’s good purposes for them; 2. the way in which the temptations appealed to doubt, pride, desire and weakness; 3. the fact that God’s justice is tempered by mercy (Adam and Eve did not die) and hope (3:15).
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness…
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
True meaning and joy in life begin with the discovery that God likes us. It is sometimes said that in order to live life to the full we need to first learn to love and forgive ourselves. The Bible sees things very differently, as we discover in the first chapter of Genesis.
Confusion often exists over Genesis because, influenced by a culture of science, we come to it with the wrong question. Genesis does not set out to explain the ‘how’ of creation. It is interested in the ‘who’ and the ‘what’. The Bible epic begins by telling us that God created all things and therefore all things have their origin and meaning in him.
Day Six of the creation account is significant. Midway through the ‘sixth day’ of creation the style of the language changes and we sense a break between the creation of the animals and the creation of men and women. It is as though there was a pre-cosmic pause while a conversation took place in the Godhead where the question was discussed: ‘Will we do it?’ The language, ‘Let us’, implies the question, ‘Will we go ahead with this next and final part of creation? The cost will be great.’ (Philippians 2:6 provides another window on this pre-cosmic conversation: the second person of the Godhead made a personal choice to follow through the plan that had been set before creation. The incarnation and the crucifixion of Jesus were not Plan B but part of Plan A. But I rush ahead.)
The Glory of God’s Creation
Genesis 1:26ff tells us that God moved ahead with the final great act of creation – created in God’s image, men and women were the glory of his creating work. Unlike other ancient creation accounts, such as the Enuma Elish story, men and women are not a final emanation of the god(s), created to serve their needs and pleasures. Rather, the God of Genesis 1 has ordered everything in such a way that men and women have the responsibility and joy in overseeing it. We are God’s under-rulers, vicegerents – or as C.S. Lewis put it in his Narnia series, ‘kings and queens’ of the earth. As his vicegerents God calls on us to learn from him, to trust him and to find our meaning and purpose in him.
That God delighted in us is seen in the profound and uplifting words that close the chapter, God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. Everything was perfect, a joy to God. He could say that his handiwork, including men and women was good. It would be his delight to serve us as it should be our delight to serve him ! But as the biblical story unfolds God’s service of us would come at a very great price.
Consider:
1. the implication that God exists and in his wisdom and power created all things out of nothing;
2. what it means for us men and women to be the climax and glory of God’s creation;
3. the suggestion that in giving men and women dominion over aspects of creation God has given us the privilege and responsibility of a stewardship that is ultimately accountable to him.
