God Fulfills His Promise to David through Jesus
After Solomon constructs God’s temple, he holds a dedication service, bringing the ark into the temple. Then Solomon gives a lengthy prayer to celebrate the event. First he praises God. Then he offers a prayer of dedication.
In his prayer of dedication, Solomon acknowledges a promise God made to his father, David. This is a promise that David’s descendants will continue to rule forever (Samuel 7:12–16). It’s the promise of God’s everlasting kingdom.
Yet Solomon notes there’s a condition attached to it, which the king acknowledges. To receive this promise, David, his son, and future successors must be careful in everything they do, to walk with God as the law prescribes.
Solomon tells God he has done exactly that. At that time, he may have. But Solomon doesn’t finish strong. Toward the end of his life, his devotion to God wavers. He becomes distracted. He fails to fully embrace God and does so only partially.
Because of this, much of Solomon’s kingdom is torn away from his son Rehoboam. Though Rehoboam and his descendants will rule the nation of Judah for many generations, God’s wrath and judgment for their repeated disobedience will eventually be enacted on them as well.
Babylonia conquers Judah, loots and destroys the temple, and deports many of its people. This is the same temple that Solomon built.
Yet this isn’t the end of the story. God keeps his promise to David, though not as Solomon expects.
Jesus is a direct descendant of David (Matthew 1:6-16).
The Bible often calls Jesus a king. As a descendent of David, Jesus will rule as king. His kingdom will never end. Though it’s not a physical kingdom, it is a spiritual one—an eternal one.
Though Solomon faltered, God fulfills his promise to David anyway. It comes through King Jesus.
Because of Jesus, we can experience God’s everlasting kingdom.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 2 Chronicles 4-6, and today’s post is on 2 Chronicles 6:16.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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