All right, so lesson four here is called the Davidic Covenant. We're going to be looking at chapter 17 through 20 in first Chronicles. But most of the time, the vast, if not really all this lesson, is going to really be on chapter 17, which is the great chapter on the Davidic Covenant itself. We'll quickly review chapters 18 through 20.
It's pretty straightforward stuff here, but I'll give you the main highlights of that. But this is a really, really important lesson. The Davidic Covenant is the high point of the entire Old Testament. You do have the parallel passages, the parallel chapter, I should really say, in Second Samuel chapter 7.
If you want to go back and review that lesson as well, there's a lot of similarities, but Chronicles is going to give us a lot of more interesting details and insights according to his biblical theology and the emphases that he wants to put down for us. That's going to be on the Bible study on the 1st and 2nd Samuel, and it's a 10 part series as well. That's going to be lesson eight where we discuss the covenant with David there. So I've got new quotes for you curated from the commentaries and different sources that I think is going to give us a really great supplemental understanding of what this Davidic Covenant is all about, especially, especially, most especially the fact that the Kingdom of David really is the Kingdom of the Lord.
Second Samuel 7 isn't going to talk about it all that much. So there will be some repeat from that lesson, if you know it, if you don't, then enjoy it, right? So we can't really overemphasize this chapter, like I was saying. I have a couple of quotes to launch us off here.
The first of which, from Dr. Han says, quote, the dynastic oracle, the prophet Nathan, is at the heart of the chroniclers work. Everything that proceeds this oracle anticipates it as everything that flows or follows in chronicles flows from it. That's really, really important as a great quote to kick us off here.
Everything that proceeds chapter 17 anticipates this covenant, even those genealogies, right? It was the whole hour on nine chapters of genealogies who would have thunk it, right? Who would have thought that there would be so much theology there and really grateful to Dr. Han's commentary and some of the others to give us some insights.
But even the genealogies are really orientated and geared towards understanding what God's going to do for Israel and the nations through the covenant. And then everything from here on out, right? We have six more lessons after this. It's going to flow from the foundation laid here in this covenant, because the future kings of Judah, by and large, are not going to be good.
There are some good ones here and there, especially Hezekiah and Josiah. They're awesome. But everything is going to be very, very disheartening and discouraging, demoralizing. But this covenant that God makes with David is going to be a sure foundation and a sure sign of hope, right?
And actually that brings me to my next quotation here, because I'm talking about hope. Remember that the chronicler is writing to his audience who are all witnesses, or at least they had heard about very recently, their father said witnessed the whole destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom. There was no Davidic king. There was no Jerusalem.
It was burnt to a crisp. The temple was plundered and flattened. It was absolutely discouraging. So the chronicler's audience is trying to rebuild all this stuff.
And yeah, you could rebuild the temple and you could rebuild the city, which is going to take a long, long time. But still there was no kingdom. There was no king. So they're trying to hold out hope, placing all their hope in the covenant that God made with David, so that way they can rebuild, right?
And then when they rebuild and if they're faithful to God and obey His covenants and turn their back on idolatry and debauchry and immorality, then God will bring the Davidic king back again. And that's what this next quote here is saying. It says, this time it's from the catholic side of Bible. It says, the chronicler's retelling of this episode.
When he says retelling, by the way, because his source is second-same in chapter seven. If not some of the other Psalms, right? Psalm 89. All right, Psalm 2.
But in any case, the chronicler's retelling of this episode appears to be animated by the hope that David's kingdom will be restored at some future point, despite the disappearance of the monarchy in his own day. End quote. That's really, really crucial as well. So as you're trying to imagine, you know, you're traipsing across the wilderness, you're fighting all kinds of foes and difficulties and obstacles and you're trying to rebuild everything.
You're trying to position yourself with disposition of heart, right? Disposition of obedience and faith to the covenant for God's kingdom to be reestablished and for David, quote, quote, quote David, right? The son of David to return. All right, there's another quote here down below in footnote number two.
I might as well just read that for you as well to establish this point. It says, the chronicler's intentions are catechitical. He is preparing his readers, both in Jerusalem and into the aspora, to recognize the signs of the times and to play their part in the anticipated fulfillment of God's promises and the eschatological restoration of the kingdom of David and the temple. End quote.
All right, so play your part. Do your best, right? Be faithful. And then when God and God's good timing, right?
In his providence that a vidic king will return just like the prophets said. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, all these prophets, right? So this is, I think, I hope sets up the stage really nicely for us. That chapter 17, the divinity covenant is crucial.
It's the heart. It's the core. It's the center of this entire work, right? Considering first and chronicles to be one work, which it originally was, if you remember, this is the center of it, right?
So he actually moved pretty quickly. If you think about it back and first and first annual, second Samuel, it wasn't really for us to lesson 18 that we discussed this covenant. Here we are in lesson four and chronicles talking about it, because the chronicler really, really, really is trying to establish this as the hope for their future. All right, so at that point, looking at the context here, just like we saw in the last lesson, lesson three, the land has rest, right?
David is really bringing the land rest. He's conquering the enemies. He's completing really the mission of Joshua and that first generation to cross over the Jordan River right there, and we'll see the Rubicon, but there's a certain poetic sense in that as well. But he crossed over the Jordan River.
The land has rest because of his warfare and things are looking really, really good. He made Jerusalem his capital for all the reasons we discussed in lesson three, practical reasons, very common, sensical. It's central. It's defensible.
It has a water source, right? It hasn't been conquered at that point. We saw the religious reasons as well, remember, right? Because Jerusalem ties back to Abraham's binding of Isaac.
It ties back to Melchizedek blessing Abraham. Also, the Jews believe that Jerusalem was the center for the Garden of Eden. So it has all these religious and theological connections as well. So David is now the king, which means he is the successor of Melchizedek, which is probably the throne name for Popecham.
Popecham, the great forefather of all the Shemit, Semites, and he's the firstborn, righteous, good son of Noah. So all these things are established. David is, I think, very aware of what's going on here. Now he wants to build a house or a temple for God because the ark is just in the tent.
So remember, we discussed that as well in the last lesson. You have the Mosaic, tabernacle, back in Gibeon. Now you have a new tent or a new tabernacle in Jerusalem for the ark. It's kind of split at this point.
And David, rightly so, and God bless the man. And maybe all along he wanted to make Jerusalem his capital for this very purpose, this intention, which I think is arguable, right? So now he wants to build a permanent tabernacle sanctuary for the ark, for all is real to come to Jerusalem, his capital, and really God's capital, that's a worship God, right? Now, and even to prove all this, let me just read here verses one through two.
So open up to chapter 17. We'll just read a couple of verses here where it says, when David dwelt in his house, David said, in the prophet, Behold, I dwell in the house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent. And Nathan said to David, do all that is in your heart, for God is with you. And remember, every time it says, God is with somebody, that's pretty much a two thumbs up, gold star stamp of approval, green light.
The Lord is with you, you're going to have success wherever you go. You see that line pretty much everywhere. And you're going back to the patriarchs, Moses and Joshua, and now with the kings, right? So the Lord is with him.
So Nathan says, go for it. I mean, that's a really, really good aspiration. Of course it is. It's a great aspiration.
All right. So one thing I also want to remind you from the last lesson is that, remember that back in Deuteronomy chapter 12, Moses had said to the Israelites, when you get into the land, the Lord himself will establish a place where his name will dwell, right? Where you will enter into worship of God and covenant with God, and worship his holy name, which at that point had been revealed to be Yahweh, right? So that goes all the way back to chapter 12.
But so the point is that when God establishes the place for his name to dwell, part one is Jerusalem. And then part two, we're going to see actually that's going to be in a future lesson here. Next lesson, as a matter of fact, where in Jerusalem is the temple going to be built? That will be revealed here after David's census, his sinful census.
So hang tight for that. But the place is both the city as well as the particular location where the temple will be built. All right. So this is a very good thing.
Nathan approves. And that very, very night though, God speaks to Nathan and says, hold on, hold your horses. I have a few things to say myself about the situation. So what I'd like to do here is read with you versus three through 15.
If then we'll stop, make a few points. We'll finish the chapter, which is going to be David's humble prayer of thanksgiving to God. If then I want to take you through the rest of the notes here and outline the significance of this covenant, because truly it cannot be overstated. It's that important.
So let me read with you here then, verses three through 15, when David gets a little message from God through the prophet Nathan about what the Lord wants in all of this. All right. Verse three, And I will plant them that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. Invignment men shall waste to them no more as formerly from the time that I have pointed to judges over my people Israel and I will subdue all your enemies.
Moreover, I declare to you. Here's really the heart of it, right? Okay. So moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house.
When your days are fulfilled to go to view with your fathers, I'll raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. And I will not take my merciful love from him as I took it from him who was before you.
But I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever. And his throne shall be established forever. Verse 15, in accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke David. Now this is pretty awesome, pretty fun, pretty exciting for David.
Imagine you're King David, right? And you want to do something good for the Lord. You have a liturgical heart, you're a man after God's own heart and you want to build him a temple, right? That's awesome.
That's awesome stuff. And the Lord just turns the tables, spends everything around and makes David's blessing. So it makes David's intention to bless God. It turns that around to bless David even more.
It always reminds me, I think of this from time to time, you know how the Lord says, or scripture says about the Lord that he will not be outdone in generosity. If you go out and you want to be generous to God, right? By loving your neighbor, right? You love your neighbor for the love of God and you give alms, right?
And you really take care of people who are vulnerable in society, right? With wisdom, right? Obviously you have to be carefully not being conned out of your money. But you generally are loving your neighbor as I self and providing for them.
God will not be outdone in generosity. So he always takes those blessings that you give to him and he actually multiplies it somehow. This is true of money, but it's also true of time. I don't know about you, but there's been plenty of cases in my own little history, my experience where I'm like, oh Lord, I'm so busy.
I don't really have time to do anything else other than just be overwhelmed with my to-do list. And all these things going on, but here's a person who came into my life that could be a parishioner, could be a student, could be a family member, a friend, sure friends, need each other. And I got to give them my time. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to sacrifice my time.
I'm going to give my time to this person because they need me. And what happens? Somehow miraculously, the Lord blesses me, multiplies my time. And I have plenty of energy and focus or whatever to get my to-do list done, which is pretty amazing.
I mean, that happens with just money with time, with your talent, with your energy. You could be absolutely exhausted and still give of yourself as someone else. And the Lord sees that sacrifice and he blesses you in great abundance, more than you could ever imagine. So while that's true in our simple little lives, our day-to-day routines, this is kind of in my mind at least what's happening here with David.
David wants to build a God house, which is awesome. And the Lord says, that's very cute. That's a really wonderful day that pinches his cheek and says, I appreciate that so much, but I got a greater plan. And so because you were generous to me and wanted to give it yourself to me and make things right for the sake of your people, I'm going to now bless you more than you could have ever imagined.
And this is exactly a blessing that every single king would ever want to be told by the one true living God that I'm going to give you an everlasting dynasty. This is what a lot of kings freak out about, right? Because they don't want their son to be an incumpoop and screw everything up. They don't want some foreign superpower to rise up in a generation or two and conquer their descendant.
And now their kingdom and their empire, everything that worked hard to establish, is up in flames. It's up in smoke. They want their dynasty to last and last for hundreds of years, minimum, right? And so now David is told, it's going to last forever.
It's going to be an eternal kingdom. You will always have one of your own descendants to sit upon your throne. That's absolutely mind blowing. So no doubt, I just kind of imagine, right?
If I could depict this with AI or something like that, David's jaw is just dropping more and more and more. The longer Nathan speaks, the farther David's jaw drops to the floor because he's just absolutely astounded with all this. So let me just come back to the notes here, now that my little imaginary scenario is scenario is played out in my brain here. Let's look at some of the theology of what's going on here.
So first, there's this play. You probably noticed it right away. There's a play on the word house. All right, house in Hebrew is by it.
All right, when we talk about the al-Haba'it, that is the overseer of the house, that second in command, that is somebody that the king or, you know, or Pharaoh of Ol'gave, Joshua, not Joshua, excuse me, Joseph, Pharaoh gave Joseph basically the keys of the kingdom to make Joseph the al-Haba'it the overseer, the grandpoo, but the head honcho, the chief steward, the prime minister, whatever you want to call him, he is in power, right? So al-Haba'it means overseer of the house and by it, therefore, is just house. And there are many meanings of the word house here. All right, so house can mean as you read it in different contexts, David's palace, right, because David was living in his own house as palace, and he felt bad about that.
It can refer to the Lord's house, which is the future temple or sanctuary. It can refer to the house of David meaning his dynasty, right? Like you think of the house of Habsburg or the house of Tudor or something like that, right? If you refer to someone's family, right, the house of Levish, I don't really have a dynasty.
I hope I do, right? I hope I have a great dynasty. That would be awesome. Not that I'm a king or anything like that, but I want to see my bloodline go down and have, you know, have, you know, hundred different grand, great great grandchildren.
That would be super awesome. So it can mean all these different things, right? And in fact, commentaries will point out that there are 14 occurrences of this word just in this section here. 14 times, that's really seven doubled, right?
That's an important number. Seven is the number of the covenant that's doubled. Often you have in scripture, like a doubling of something means that it sure to take place. Like just we just talked about Joseph a moment ago, so let's go back to him.
So remember, Joseph says to Pharaoh, because you've had a doubling of the dreams that thing is sure to take place. So there may be something going on right there. So it's seven doubled because this is the covenant that makes with David. So it's doubled meaning God can be trusted, of course, right?
God cannot lie or deceive or be deceived. There's kind of something cool there in the numerology as well. All right. Now you do find all this, you know, beautiful language that God says to Nathan to tell David, you find this in other songs as well.
We don't have the time to get into it, but I encourage in your own time, look at Psalm 2, Psalm 89, Psalm 132, especially 289. Those are really important Psalms that are celebrating this beautiful covenant, right? Because again, it's the high point, it's the apex, is I'm going to argue here in this lesson of all the covenants of the Old Testament. All right.
So there's this inversion, this double triple entangre of this word house. And then the Lord says, furthermore, I'm going to make, you know, your offspring, your seed, that's really important as well. I'll talk about this number of times today. The seed in Hebrew, it's Zara Z-E-R-A, Z-E-R-A, Zara.
That's the seed of David who will build this temple. That word is Zara, we're going to see again just very, very soon. So your seed, your descendant is going to build the temple and his seed, his son, his descendant is going to be the adoptive son of God himself. So not only is David freaking out from excitement because he's going to have an everlasting dynasty and one of his own sons, his heirs are going to be on the throne forever.
But not only that, to make matters even more splendid and unique, God says, I'm going to adopt your son to be my own son. Adoptive sonship. I mean, that's the whole story of salvation anyways, right? This is really crucial.
And to be saved, it really means to become a child of God. To be saved is not just to be freed from your sins. That's important, right? We need to be purified, sanctified, justified before God.
But the purpose of being freed from sin is to be free for sonship. That's the council of Trent. That's the definition of what salvation really means in Catholic theology there. So I'll come back to this whole idea of sonship a couple of different times, but I just want to say a couple of different points.
So first, why does God say that you're not going to build the temple, but your Zara, your seed, your descendant will build the temple? Well, as we're going to see later on a couple of different passages in the next lesson here, these final chapters of First Chronicles makes it clear when David is transitioning the kingdom to his son. David can't build the temple, as you probably know, because he shed so much blood. Now, there's a number of different ways to understand that.
What does it mean he shed too much blood? Well, commentaries will say that it's because he fought many wars. He is a man of war. He's a warlord, essentially, for good, right?
He is conquering his enemies. He is establishing his kingdom. He's uprooting idolatry and paganism. That's all good stuff there for sure.
All right, so it makes sense then because he shed so much blood as a man of war, he's not going to build a temple, right? Because yeah, wars can be justified, absolutely. I think sadly, nine out of ten wars, that's a broad generalization, but nine out of ten wars are probably not justified. You know, you've got warmongers and every single generation for sure.
But still, I mean, you shed blood, that's kind of an ugly thing, right? Nevertheless, so God says because you shed so much blood, you're not going to build my temple. So that's probably the case. Also, commentaries will say, because those wars were justified, maybe that's not the full picture because David, because these wars are justified.
Therefore, the blood that he spilled was legitimate, right? Because you got people fighting him. It's a war of establishment or self-defense or purification, whatever it may be there. But he did shit innocent blood for sure, right?
When you just think of the story of Uriah, when he killed Uriah, that was one of his closest men. If you remember back in the genealogy, I pointed that out and that's going to actually come up here. Oh, that's where it was. It was when David's close circle of 30 men was described in the last lesson.
Uriah the hit-type was one of his closest men. So he killed his buddy, his close advisor, one of his trusted warriors. That's a problem, right? When you shed innocent blood, like David did, committing murder, that might disqualify you if you think about it.
And not only that, we're going to discover in the next chapter or rather in the next lesson, chapter 21, that David was responsible for the death of 70,000 different Israelites because of his unlawful, sinful census. More on the story to come here, but he's guilty for the death of all of these different Israelites. So it's probably an all of the above, right? I think it's Dr.
Han who argues it's mostly the innocent blood, which is totally justified as an argument. I tend to think personally, it's shedding innocent blood isn't it disqualifying first and foremost, but the very fact that he did conquer so many people and kill them, that's probably a consideration as well. Hey, this is Dr. Neck.
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