“Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.”
–2 Samuel 7:11, 16
After years of being a successful King, after years of accruing wealth and achieving victories over Israel’s enemies, King David decided that it was time to do something special to honor God. He decided to build God a house greater than the King’s palace, a lavish and permanent home where the ark of the covenant would stay and where God’s presence could reside.
God, however, would not and could be confined by Temple walls and a fancy structure. God turned David’s offer down, saying, When did I ever asked for a house? The Lord, it seems, had other plans for residing among the people of God. God would not accept David’s plans to build a Temple because God longed to dwell with people in a more personal and life-giving way. God would come to dwell among people, not in a Temple, but in flesh and blood, as a human. God would come to dwell with people in the person of Jesus. God would walk this earth among people and invite them to be in a relationship with God. But David didn’t know this.
So God made David a promise. This promise is an important prophecy for the Jewish hope of the Messiah, and this promise is foundational for our Christian hope. You don’t need to make me a house, the Lord told David, for I will make you a house. “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever” (v. 16). God promised that David’s kingdom would reign forever, and that through this kingdom eternal peace would conquer the evil and strife of the world.
Years and years later, after scribes and scholars pondered how David’s kingdom will be established forever, after Jewish families longed for the Messiah to come and rule on David’s throne and establish an enduring Kingdom of peace and prosperity, an angel of the Lord appeared to a young, faithful girl and brought tidings of a baby. The angel told young Mary: Your son will be great. He will be the Son of the Most High, and God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Years and years later, the promise of God reached a fulfillment – a baby would be born, and this baby would reign as King over an enduring Kingdom of peace.
Yet, the baby born to Mary and Joseph was a different kind of King then the world had ever seen. He was born in a stable and was laid in a manger. He wasn’t raised in a palace and he never fought a victorious battle with an enemy nation. Jesus the King ushered in a different kind of Kingdom than the world has ever seen – the Kingdom of heaven, where love and peace conquer all.
As Christmas approaches and we remember the fulfillment of the prophecy made long ago, Jesus our King invites each of us to be a part of his eternal kingdom. Jesus our King invites us to make him Lord of our hearts and lives, following the ways of his Kingdom – the ways of peace and love. In the days before Christmas, let us prepare our hearts to receive our King. As it says in the Christmas hymn, Joy to the World:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
Advent Blessings,
Laura
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