Christ in the Old Testament

2 Samuel 7:16

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 7:8-17

Fast forwarding from yesterday’s study when Samuel is introduced to us and Israel has no king. King David is now the second king of Israel and “was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him” (2 Sam 7:1). David was a warrior-king and at this time had defeated his enemies and there was peace in Israel.

Nathan the prophet had King David’s ear. Nathan had proven himself to be a true prophet of God who delivered the messages that God gave him. And in our passage today, the Lord gave Nathan a message to deliver to David.

As with many prophecies, this one has double meanings and double fulfillments. In the first part of Nathan’s prophecy, the Lord says to David, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Sam 7:12).

This is clearly a prophecy about Jesus. Jesus will come from the line of David long after David is gone. And Jesus came to earth with the main purpose of establishing his kingdom. This prophecy was fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus.

This part of the prophecy concludes with, “I will be his father, and he will be my son” (2 Sam 7:14). This is also true of Jesus. But then the prophecy throws us a wrinkle. “When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands” (2 Sam 7:14). The American Standard Version translation says “if he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men” (2 Sam 7:14).

This section could be about Jesus. He was flogged, beaten and his body was striped by the rod and whips of human hands. However there is the part about him committing iniquity. Jesus never committed a sin. Solomon certainly did and Israel was punished for Solomon’s iniquities.

So this part of the prophecy could have a double meaning pertaining to Jesus as well as Solomon or other kings after David. Or it could be that Jesus was punished for our iniquities. There is another prophecy recorded by Isaiah that tells us Jesus was “crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).

The prophecy concludes with, “But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:15-16). This conclusion is about both Jesus and David. David was “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam 13:14). God tells David that his throne will be established forever through his offspring.

But this is also about Jesus as his kingdom will endure forever. The angel Gabriel told Mary that the baby she would deliver would have “the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1: 32-33). Gabriel was telling Mary that Nathan’s prophecy was being fulfilled in Jesus the King.

Today’s Prayer: I praise you Jesus as king. The king who is worthy.