Got A Nice House? Not Like This One.

          

Several prophecies in Scripture foresee the coming of someone to save us.

And if we ever needed saving, it’s now.

One of the prophesies in the Bible that is a little harder to unravel was uttered by Nathan, a prophet to Israel when David was king.

A little back story.

David began to feel badly about his home in comparison to God’s. He said to Nathan, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent” (2 Samuel 7:2).¹ The Lord heard this conversation. (Did you know the Lord listens to your conversations? Check out Malachi 3:16-18.) That night the Lord told Nathan to inform David that He wasn’t concerned about living in a tabernacle. He had never asked Israel for another. So, the Lord turned the tables on David and said that although he wanted to build Him a better house, it was He, instead, who would build a house for David.

Here is what God said about the house He had planned to build. First, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12) This offspring “…shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (2 Samuel 7:13–14a).

Well, that seems clear enough. Surely, He is talking about Jesus, the Son of God.

But then comes this: “When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you” (2 Samuel 7:14b–15).

This king commits iniquity? So, He’s not talking about Jesus here? The Lord must be talking about another king. Solomon built a temple for the Lord but committed iniquity when he worshiped at the altars of idols. However, there is no account of Solomon being disciplined. And David’s lineage of kings ended with Zedekiah. But the Lord said that David’s throne, his rule, would be established forever.  

So, what is going on here?

Well, the Lord was talking about Jesus. This part confuses us a bit because Jesus didn’t sin. “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). Yet, in Nathan’s prophecy, He would be disciplined for committing iniquity. How so?

In Jesus’ crucifixion, the Father viewed Jesus as the one who had committed a multitude of abominable sins and must be punished. Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Not laid on you, if you believe in Him. Not laid on you, if you realize what a massive sinner you are and what He did to wash you clean.

But there is more.

Earlier in this prophecy, the Lord said to David, “And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more…” (2 Samuel 7:10).

This is eternal, heavenly kingdom, beautiful-place-to-live talk here.

One day, if you are a Christian, you will dwell in your own place. You will be disturbed no more. Violent men shall afflict you no more. There will be peace.

This gives me hope. Jesus promised it, and I trust Him with my life. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2–3).

Is there anyone else you could trust to give you your own place that is eternal and without strife?

Right. I didn’t think so.

¹All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Gif courtesy Bing images.