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After the children of Israel entered into the good land of Canaan, and from the time that David became king and there was peace in the entire nation, David desired to build a holy temple for God. At that time God made a covenant with him through Nathan the prophet, the seventh covenant that God made with man (2 Sam. 7:8-16).
The One who made this covenant is Jehovah of hosts (2 Sam. 7:8). This title indicates that Jehovah God is the mighty One, the Lord of all the heavenly host, the Commander of all the host (1 Kings 22:19; Job 1:6). He is the King of glory (Psa. 24:10), the One who is strong and mighty in battle (Psa. 24:8). He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two, and He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth (Psa. 46:9); He will be exalted among the nations, and He will be exalted in the earth (Psa. 46:10). He has the authority to rule over all nations, and His hand holds the authority to remove kings and to set up kings (Dan. 2:21). It is such a Jehovah God, the Commander of all the host, who made this covenant with David.
The Bible first uses the title “Jehovah of hosts” in 1 Samuel 1:3. At that time the two sons of Eli were priests of Jehovah. But they did not know Jehovah, and they despised His offering. Eli knew the iniquity of his sons, who brought a curse upon themselves, yet he did not restrain them (1 Sam. 3:13), for he honored them above God (1 Sam. 2:29). Hence, in Eli the priesthood fell to the uttermost. At this time God revealed His name as Jehovah of hosts, indicating that when His administration was in such a destitute state, He would come out to rule over the entire situation to usher in the reign of His kingdom.
David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22), who served his own generation by the counsel of God (Acts 13:36). He did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of his life, except in the case in which he fell and sinned because of the wife of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15:5). He submitted himself to the God-ordained authority (1 Sam. 24; 26:6-25), fought for the interest of God, and established the kingdom of God. In the days of his life he did his best in his affliction to prepare the materials for the holy temple of Jehovah (1 Chron. 22:14-16; 29:1-5), even to the extent of neglecting his sleep and meals (2 Sam. 7:1-2; Psa. 132:1-5). Therefore, God testified that he was a man after His own heart.
David was a man of war (1 Chron. 28:3) and a victorious king. He prevailed against Goliath (1 Sam. 17:48-51) and the enemies round about (2 Sam. 8:1-14 ch. 10). Jehovah gave him victory wherever he went and delivered the enemies into his hand to be subdued by him (2 Sam. 8:14; 1 Chron. 22:18). Therefore, David, the one with whom this covenant was made, was not only a man after God’s own heart but also one who prevailed against the enemies to become the king.
The covenant which God made with David was included in the covenant which God made with Abraham. The former is a strengthening of the latter, especially in the aspect of the kingdom.
In this covenant God promised that He would be with David, that He would cut off all his enemies from before him, and that He would make him a great name (2 Sam. 7:9). Because of God’s presence, David defeated the Philistines, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Edomites (2 Sam. 8:1-14), and the Ammonites (2 Sam. 10). Jehovah caused the enemies round about to become servants to David and to bring him tribute (2 Sam. 8:2, 6, 14). Thus, God cut off all his enemies and made him a great name (2 Sam. 8:13).
God also promised David that He would cause his territory to rest from all his enemies (2 Sam. 7:10-11). In the age of the judges the children of Israel forsook God and bowed themselves down to other gods. Therefore, the anger of Jehovah was kindled against them, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers, who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies (Judg. 2:12-14). Now since David was a man after God’s own heart, God not only was with him and cut off all his enemies but also caused his territory to rest from all his enemies. Thus, the children of Israel were planted and would not be moved again, nor would they be afflicted anymore.
God would make David a house (2 Sam. 7:11b); that is, He would cause him to have a seed for the fulfillment of God’s will. David had the desire to build a temple for God (2 Sam. 7:1-2); that is, he desired to build a house for God. His thought was pleasing to God. However, he had made great wars and had shed blood abundantly. For this reason, he was not a man of rest and was not suitable for building a house for God (1 Chron. 22:8; 28:3). Nevertheless, God promised him in this covenant that He would make a house for him and would cause him to bring forth a son, whose name would be Solomon and who would be a man of rest to build a house for God (1 Chron. 22:9-10).
God promised David that He would set up his seed after him and that He would establish the kingdom and throne of his seed (2 Sam. 7:12, 13b). This promise refers not merely to Solomon succeeding to the throne of David his father; even more it refers to Christ reigning as King. Christ is the seed of David (Rom. 1:3), the Son of David (Matt. 1:1), and the greater Solomon (Matt. 12:42). God would cause Him to succeed to the throne of David His father (Luke 1:32-33) and to reign as King to execute justice and righteousness on the earth (Jer. 23:5); moreover, He would establish His kingdom and throne forever and ever (Heb. 1:8).
God promised David that his seed would build a house for God’s name. This refers not only to Solomon but also to Christ. Solomon typifies Christ as the Son of David succeeding to the throne of David and inheriting his kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Luke 1:32-33). As a type of Christ, Solomon mainly did two things: he built the house of God in the kingdom (1 Kings 6:2) and he spoke the words of wisdom (1 Kings 10:23-24; Matt. 12:42). As a fulfillment of this type, Christ spoke the words of wisdom in the Gospels, and He is now building the practical house of God, which is the church, in the kingdom of God. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said that He would build His church. The building of the church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 41-42) and continues up to the present. Today the Lord is still doing the work of building the church. It is not until the appearance of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth in eternity that Christ will have completed the work of building the house of God. This is the divine mingling of God with the redeemed, transformed, and glorified ones; it is also a mutual dwelling place for both the redeeming God and His redeemed as the corporate expression of Himself in eternity. Thus, the covenant in which God promised that the seed of David would build a house will be fulfilled.
Furthermore, God promised David that He would be a Father to his seed and that his seed would be a son to Him. This refers to Christ, as typified by Solomon. Concerning the divinity of Christ, Hebrews 1:5 says, “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.” This word is evidently a quote from 2 Samuel 7:14. Hence, in this covenant, Christ, whom God promised would come to reign as King and build the church, is not only the seed of David but also the Son of God; He has not only humanity but also divinity. This is the first time the Old Testament speaks of Christ as the Son of God, having the deity of God and being equal with God. As the Son of God with the deity of God, He came to be the Christ of God to fulfill the covenant which God made with David.
God promised David that if his seed would commit iniquity, He would chasten his seed, but His lovingkindness would not depart from his seed (2 Sam. 7:14b-15). This word was fulfilled in Solomon and in his descendants. Solomon succeeded to the throne of David and built the holy temple for God. However, in his old age, lusting after his foreign wives, he forsook God and followed his foreign wives to worship idols, thus committing a grievous sin. Hence, God raised up adversaries to him, Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the king of Syria; Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Solomon’s servant, also lifted up his hand against him (1 Kings 11:14, 23, 26). Moreover, God was angry with him, and He tore the kingdom from him and gave it to his servant. However, for David’s sake, He did not do it in his days; He tore the kingdom out of the hand of his son, but He gave one tribe to his son for the sake of David and of Jerusalem which He had chosen (1 Kings 11:11-13). Although God chastened Solomon with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men, His lovingkindness did not depart from him as it did from Saul, whom He rejected.
God promised David that his house, his kingdom, and his throne would be established forever before God (2 Sam. 7:16). This refers to Christ inheriting the kingdom and throne of David His father. In the house of David, only the kingdom of Christ and His throne will last forever (Dan. 7:14). The word of God conveyed by the archangel Gabriel also confirmed that the covenant of David was fulfilled in Christ. This word says, “The Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall not be an end” (Luke 1:32-33). Therefore, God’s promise to David that his house and his kingdom would be made sure and that his throne would be established forever was fulfilled in Christ.
According to the covenant which He made with David, God caused David’s son Solomon to succeed David to the throne (1 Kings 1:39) to build the holy temple for God (1 Kings 6:1). Before his death, David gave to Solomon his son the pattern for the building of the holy temple (1 Chron. 28:11-19). After Solomon succeeded to the throne of David, he built the holy temple according to the pattern that his father had seen. This temple became the proper and firm dwelling place of God’s desire. At this point, God not only obtained a kingdom to express His authority, but He also gained a house to express His glory.
Solomon succeeded to the throne of David and built the holy temple for God. However, when he was old, he lusted after foreign wives and thus turned away from Jehovah, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep Jehovah’s commandment and did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah (1 Kings 11:6, 9-10). Besides taking the daughter of Pharaoh for his wife, he loved many foreign women. The foreign wives turned away his heart after other gods, and he rebuilt the high places for the foreign images (1 Kings 11:6-8). It is hard to imagine that such a one as Solomon, to whom God had given the surpassing wisdom, and who was such a king who had built the holy temple after God’s heart, could lust after foreign wives, allow them to lead him away from God to follow them in worshipping idols, and thus provoke God to anger (1 Kings 11:9) to the extent that God would tear the kingdom away from his son (1 Kings 11:12).
Because of his son Solomon’s wickedness, David’s kingdom lost ten tribes (1 Kings 11:29-36) and the nation of Israel was thus divided into two. When both parts were carried away to the nations, the kingdom of David became the tabernacle that has fallen (Amos 9:11), and his throne was thus suspended.
When Christ, the seed of David, comes again, He will rebuild the tabernacle of David—the kingdom of David—that has fallen; that is, He will restore the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6). He will inherit the throne of David according to the promise of God to David to reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall not be an end (Luke 1:32-33).
After the children of Israel entered into the good land of Canaan, and from the time that David became the king and there was peace in the entire nation, David desired to build the holy temple for God. At that time God made a covenant with him through Nathan the prophet, the seventh covenant that God made with man. The One who made this covenant is Jehovah of hosts, the Commander of all the host. This divine title was used beginning with the fall of the priesthood. The one with whom the covenant was made was David, a man after God’s heart and the one who prevailed against the enemies to become the king. This covenant was a strengthening of the covenant which God made with Abraham, especially in the aspect of the kingdom. In this covenant God promised that He would be with David, that He would cut off all his enemies from before him, that He would make him a great name, and that He would cause his territory to rest from all his enemies. Furthermore, God promised that He would make him a house, that He would set up his seed after him, and that He would establish the kingdom and throne of his seed. His seed would build a house for God’s name, and God would be a Father to his seed, Christ, and his seed would be a son to God. If his seed (referring to Solomon and his descendants) would commit iniquity, God would chasten his seed, but His lovingkindness would not depart from his seed. His house and his kingdom would be made sure before God, and his throne would be established forever. The result was that his son Solomon succeeded him to the throne and built the holy temple for God. However, when he was old, Solomon lusted after his foreign wives and followed them to worship idols, so that God was angry with him and tore the kingdom out of the hand of his son, thus dividing the kingdom of Israel into two. When both parts were carried away to the nations, the kingdom of David became the tabernacle that has fallen, and his throne was suspended. When Christ, the seed of David, comes again, He will rebuild the tabernacle that has fallen and will succeed to the throne to reign forever.
