“After the king had been living in his palace a while and Adonai had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies.”-2 Samuel 7:1
Once David entered a place of relative peace and calm in his life, he did what most of us do.
He began to contemplate his existence and how far he had come since the days of his youth.
He reminisced about how he began life as a humble shepherd boy in Jerusalem.
And how he was now sitting on the throne of a gorgeous palace constructed of Cedar Wood.
In terms of a timeline, we know he didn’t build a palace until the midpoint of his reign over Israel.
The desire to build a temple for the Lord didn’t arise in him until long after the Ark was brought to the City of David (as noted in Chapter 6).
We’re told David yearned to build a temple.
He communicated this desire to his prophet Nathan.
This is what he told him:
“Here, I’m living in a cedar-wood palace;
but the ark of God is kept in a tent!”
So the question that arises is why did David think now was the right time to build a Temple to the Lord?
The ancient sages believe that David thought he was fulfilling the promise contained in the following verses from Deuteronomy:
“But when you cross the Yarden and live in the land ADONAI your God is having you inherit, and he gives you rest from all your surrounding enemies, so that you are living in safety; then you will bring all that I am ordering you to the place ADONAI your God chooses to have his name live– your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tenths, the offering from your hand, and all your best possessions that you dedicate to ADONAI;”
So David probably concluded that since Israel was no longer in danger of attack from her enemies (at least temporarily)…
And that Jerusalem was where God chose to have his name live…
The timing was now ripe to construct a temple for the Lord.
But here’s the thing.
The Deuteronomy verses I quoted above contain no such command to build a temple.
Yet David was hellbent on doing so.
Why?
Because that was the practice of the whole world at that time.
Since this is what everyone else was doing, David assumed he had to do the same.
He assumed the place where Adonai would choose to have his name live would have to be a huge and lavish temple.
This leads to our takeaway for today.
David, as a representative of the God of Israel, was to stand as a witness for God to the world, NOT be part of the world.
Remember, from the very beginning, God has always been about separation, division, and election…
We can’t show a dark and dying world mired in sin our faith is different if we’re not different in thought, word, and deed.
Ya feel me?
See ya all next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“I have given them your word,
and the world has hated them
because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
I do not ask that you take them
out of the world,
but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.”
-John 17:14-1
“Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
-Romans 12:2
“You adulterous people!
Do you not know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore whoever wishes
to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God.”
-James 4:4
“Do not love the world
or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world
—the desires of the flesh
and the desires of the eyes and pride of life
—is not from the Father
but is from the world.
And the world is passing away
along with its desires,
but whoever does the will
of God abides forever.“
-1 John 2:15-17
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