The promises God made to His people in the Old Testament still hold true and today on Alistair Begg traces the line from then to now as we shift our focus from David's kingdom to a higher throne. We're looking at 2 Samuel chapter 7.
We begin today in verse 8. The relationship between the LORD and his people Israel was the relationship of Father and Son. Now, just so that you don't think I'm making it up, then in Exodus and in 4, when the word is given to go to Pharaoh, and the LORD said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles I've put in your power, and so on, then you will say to Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son. Israel is my firstborn son. So the descendants of Abraham are his firstborn son.
And you must go to him and tell Pharaoh that the relationship that I have with them is a father-son relationship. I have chosen them, they belong to me, and they know that they are to love me and that they are to obey me. That is the covenant that he established with them, initiated by God and promised by God. And so they belong to God. And in belonging to God, then obedience and love for God is to be the evidence that they are actually members of the family, that they are offspring.
Now, then, what is the point? Well, it is at least this—that just as Israel was God's Son, so now the offspring of David is described in the same way. Now, at least we need to understand this, that God's great promises to Abraham concerning Israel are now being applied to the king of Israel descended from David.
All right? So that the descendants of David as the great king, God's people, will be God's sons, because their king is God's Son. Now, I'm not anywhere good enough to have picked this up, but I am phenomenally grateful to our dear friend John Woodhouse. If your Bible is open, you turn back a page to 2 Samuel chapter 5 and verse 1. And Woodhouse makes this profound observation in relationship to that—the idea of father and of son and the relationship that is interwoven. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, Behold, we are your bone and flesh. And Woodhouse observes, The bond between king and people is such that the people are included in the relationship between the king and God.
Sometimes when we sing that song, we sing that line, One with himself, I cannot die. Now, let me take a slight left-hand turn, but I think it's important to do this for us to just pause for a moment and consider what we're reading here in light of Galatians. Galatians chapter 3 and verses 7–9, and then a couple of more verses.
I just want to read them to you. And Paul is writing to these believers, and he is explaining to them in verse 6 that just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, in the same way you have believed God. In fact, he's writing to the Galatians here, but in his letter to the Romans and in chapter 4, he addresses that directly. We won't go to it now, but his point is very straightforward. He's saying that the righteousness that Abraham knew was not a righteousness on account of anything he had done.
It was not a reward for anything. God had called him out, God had made him his own, God had promised him, God had covenanted with him, and so on. And the righteousness that he enjoyed was an imputed righteousness. It was credited to him.
Credited to him on the basis of what? On the basis of the work of Christ on the cross. And so he says to the church at Rome, And the righteousness that is yours is not a righteousness that has come to you by way of the law, but it is a righteousness that has come through faith in Jesus Christ.
It is the same righteousness. All of the sons of God, all of the vast company that are as vast as the sand on the seashore and as the stars in the sky, they will all stand amazed in the presence of Jesus. The Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints and every tribe and every language, and they will say, We stand amazed in your presence, Lord Jesus, that you would bear our sin, that you would grant to us such a great salvation.
Now, that's the point, you see. And here in this Galatian section, know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying… Now, how did he preach the gospel to him? He said to him, In you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
On the count of what? On account of God's electing love. And so then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Now, if you just stay in chapter 3 and then go to, where?
26. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now, clearly, he is not saying that there are no Jewish people and no Greek people. He's not saying that there are people who are employed and there are others who are employers.
He's not saying that there are no men and no women. He's saying that in the vastness of the purposes of God, those distinctions which are realistic distinctions are ultimately lost sight of in the reality of God's amazing grace. And then, in verse 29, and if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. What promise? The promise that was first made to Abraham. The promise that then took on a dimension as it is reinforced in being made to David. This promise will find in its fulfillment a king who comes, a king who will out-king all the kings who have ever lived. So what does this mean? Well, it means at least this—that the church—the church, big C—the church consists of restored or spiritual Israel.
Let's put it that way. Spiritual Israel. In other words, Christian Jews. The church is made up. Think about the beginning of the church.
Who are these people? They're not Gentiles. They're Jews.
So the church comprises restored, spiritual Israel, if you like, and along with that, converted Gentiles who are then privileged to share in Israel's blessings. Now, if—and I'm going to leave it at that—but if you start to think of it that way round rather than the other way around, as it is often put, like, we are in charge, the Gentiles are in charge of the whole thing, what a shame that the Jews got messed up, and maybe one day we can all talk to them again and they'll come back. No, no, no, no, no. We got our upside down here.
No! In the amazing work of God, the community of faith is a mysterious community. And as I said this morning, it is a mystery. And the mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs. That's a mystery! The mystery is not that probably there will be a wholesale turning of Jewish people to faith in Jesus Christ before the Messiah returns.
I certainly hope and pray to that end. I have no basis for saying it other than the longing of my own heart. But the mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, they're members of the same body, and they're partakers of the same promise that is in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Do you remember what we just said? And Abram had the gospel preached to him. So fantastic.
It really is… It is magnificent. And as I said this morning about what is later helping with what is former, when you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit of God. So in other words, as God's revelation proceeds, the people are able to turn back around and say, Oh, so that's what that is. That's what it is. What a mystery that the Gentiles would be involved in the blessings of Abraham.
Incidentally, you see what happens to you if you get this as a Y in the road? You read your Bible like this, and you say, All the blessings to Abram, that's for Jewish people. They're all gonna be somewhere in their own place, you know. For a period of time, at least. No, they're not.
No. The mystery is that the Gentiles are partakers of the promised blessings to Abraham, which are reinforced and advanced in the promise to David. Well, we need to stop. This is what God is doing—a house and a kingdom and a throne and a throne. And this throne is forever.
Your throne will be established forever. Now, what do we know from reading our Bibles? We know that the time would come when David's kingdom would be destroyed.
You read on in your Bible, and that's what we discover. Now the kingdom is divided. And now there is the kingdom of Israel, and then there is the kingdom of Judah. And I daren't delay on this, but you can read in 2 Kings for yourself. If you want to follow the line with the kingdom of Israel, then go to 2 Kings chapter 17. If you want to follow the line with Judah, then go to 2 Kings chapter 25. And you will discover there that in the former case, it is the Assyrians that come in and destroy them, and in the second case, it is the Babylonians that come in and destroy them.
Now, think about this for a moment. You're now living in that generation, and somebody's been reading the Old Testament to you, and your grandpa, and your grandpa's explaining, and the throne of David will last forever. And the bright ten-year-old says, Well, that's a fine story if ever I heard one, because I can't see any evidence of any great kingdom or of any great king.
The whole thing looks as though it has collapsed like a broken deck chair. Now, if you doubt that that was the kind of thing that was going on, then you'll need to read for your homework in Psalm 89. Because in Psalm 89 you have this great lament in relationship to what I've just described.
And this is what the people say. How long, O LORD, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is.
I'm only gonna live here for a wee while. For what vanity you have created all the children of man! What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? LORD, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David? Remember, O LORD, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations with which your enemies mock, O LORD, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed. That's the lament with which this psalm ends. But do you know what the context is for the beginning of the psalm? It begins, I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD forever. With my mouth I will make known your faithfulness for generations. Did you get it? It looks like the whole thing has collapsed.
How can we be sure that it hasn't? Because of the covenant love of God. I will keep my covenant with you. I will be your God, and you will be my people.
And sometimes when you step out of line, I'll have to come and deal with you. But I'm only gonna deal with you because I love you, and because I have pledged myself to you, and because I'm going to bring finally to completion the promises that I have made, not only to David but to Abraham too. And it is in that context of lament that you then find the prophets speaking up. And in that time, goodness, you need a prophet, don't you?
You need somebody to step up and say something. I mean, at the moment, I feel like I've been given the role of a prophet in one regard. I mean, I find myself saying on a daily basis, Excuse me, do you know that the Lord God omnipotent reigns? Do you know that there is a higher throne? Please don't talk to me again about stacking the Supreme Court.
I understand it politically. Do you understand that there is a higher throne, and all this world is known? Do you know this, you see? We're just saying this to the people of God, because the people of God are like in the lament at the end of Psalm 89. Lord, where have you been? What are you doing?
It doesn't look like anything will be fulfilled. History repeats itself. And what I say is, I imagine his wife saying, What did you write this morning? And he said, Well, I'm not sure about it all, but I wrote this down. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots shall bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. And she said, What does that mean? And he said, Well, I'm not sure myself, but I think it's very good.
And of course, it was very good. On Tuesday, he wrote another one, for unto us a child is born, and to us a Son is given. Out of Egypt I have called my Son. I have set my Son on my holy hill.
Do you see this? And the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
Here we go. And on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice, with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore. And how is that gonna happen? The zeal of the Lord of hosts, the God of heaven's armies, will accomplish it.
That's the point. And so here are these people, the great promise of the kingdom. It collapses before their very eyes.
They're trying to make their way through life. And the prophet steps up, and he says, Here we are. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Have you forgotten about 2 Samuel 7? He says, There's more to come. There's another place. There's another name. There's another rest. There's another kingdom.
There's another throne. It's all fulfilled in Jesus. No, the house that he has built that bears his name is not a temple in Jerusalem. But his church, I will build my church, I will build my house, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The temple—please, do not keep on about the temple and the Temple Mount and the Muslims, and get yourself all messed up with that stuff. The temple was a shadow of the reality that was to come. It's not about Jerusalem in the Middle East. It is about the new Jerusalem. Jerusalem was simply a shadow, a pointer on the journey to the end. And that's why Paul, when he writes, says to the Corinthians, For we are the temple of the living God. For God says—and he's quoting Leviticus, interestingly—God says, I will make my dwelling among them, and I will be their God.
Isn't this quite amazing? God says to David, I don't want you to build a place for me. I've never had one. I've never needed one.
And I've never asked for one. And in actual fact, the temple in Jerusalem was a pointer to the reality of God. But now, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am, present in his house. So the promised offspring of David has come. He's the son of David. He's the son of Abraham.
The eternal kingdom has begun, and he will reign forever and forever. Now, this has to translate itself into the reality of tomorrow and everyday life. Otherwise, it's just an exercise in studying an old book. This does impact your politics. This does impact your understanding of geography. This actually shapes your view of history. The decisions you make about this 2 Samuel 7 have a phenomenal impact, way beyond any considerations that are sort of in-house discussions about the nature of eschatology or whatever it might be.
And when we understand it, then it will help us. I will finish in this way. When I used to visit for Derek Prime, many of the people that I visited were infirm.
Many of them were in nursing home facilities and so on. And I've told you before that I once said to my boss, I said, Hey, you know, Mrs. So-and-so never even opens her eyes. You know, why do I have to go and see her? And he said, well, you remember that Jesus said, Inasmuch as you do it to the least of one of these my brethren, you do it to me. And I said, Yeah.
He said, Well, then that's why you go. It's a ministry to Christ. But one of those ladies had had a stroke. It had affected her speech profoundly. She was actually the sister-in-law of one of our elders, a man called Mr. Barron.
Very godly little man. And I used to go and visit this lady, and she wanted to sing, but she couldn't barely speak. But the song that she wanted was a song that goes like this. We are building day by day as the moments pass away, a temple that this world cannot see. And every victory won by grace will be sure to find a place in that building for eternity. And I thought to myself, She can't even form the words nor get the melody. But in her heart, somebody must have really helped her get a grip of 2 Samuel 7.
Because she, in those untoward circumstances, was actually believing the promise—believing it. And I say to myself and to you again, Do you believe this in a sitting-down way, trusting your entire destiny on Jesus as the King, as the one who has borne our sins, as the one who has raised victorious over it, as the one who is at the right hand of the Father? And He will return in power and in great glory.
And what an event that will be. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. If you are benefiting from our study in 2 Samuel, you'll find the complete study through both 1 and 2 Samuel on our website. Each sermon can be streamed or downloaded for free.
Go to truthforlife.org. We're currently in volume 6 of the series. In this series, Alistair walks us through the narrative of 1 and 2 Samuel, tracing the development of Israel's monarchy from its establishment under the prophet Samuel, to the reign of King Saul, to the anointing of King David, and the promise of an eternal king and kingdom. Now if you would prefer having a physical copy of Alistair's teaching through 1 and 2 Samuel, this series is available on a USB for just $5. That's more than 50 hours of teaching. You can just plug it into your car USB drive or your phone or your tablet and listen on the go.
Visit truthforlife.org slash store and browse the USB section. Thanks for studying God's Word with us today. You know, many people would gloat if they were promised a forever dynasty. Tomorrow we'll see how David responded to that promise. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
