Sunday School | David - 2 Samuel 7

Okay. Alright. Hey, good morning, everybody. Good morning. You guys, if you're new here, if this is your first week, welcome to the deep end of the pool. We are looking at this morning, second Samuel chapter seven. And second Samuel chapter seven is beyond question, the most important chapter in the entire Samuel narrative. This is it. Everything, everything, everything has been leading to this moment, and really everything that comes after this is going to be looking back to this moment. This is massive, gigantic, super huge.

We're in second Samuel chapter seven. What's going to happen in this chapter is going to tie together massive, super important themes coming out of the Pentateuch, out of the Torah, all of the books of Moses. It is a major Old Testament nexus. All sorts of things are going to tie together. The New Testament is going to look back to this chapter over and over and over again. It is the basis of our understanding of numerous things about the Messiah that Jesus proves himself to be.

But if anybody just ever happens to ask you, "Hey, what do you think is the most important chapter in the Samuel narrative?" The answer is chapter seven. Okay, very good.

Alright, so check it out. If you really are new, two Samuel, one Samuel, all the Samuel narrative—it's all the story of David. We're just studying the life of David, who is really, with the exception of Jesus, who wins every prize, the most important person in the Bible. David is just gargantuanly important, and this is his highest moment.

Two Samuel chapter seven verse one says this:

After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am living in a palace of cedar while the ark of God remains in a tent." — 2 Samuel 7:1

Okay, so what is he talking about? Why is he saying that he's living in cedar and the ark is in a tent? What does that mean?

Tabernacle. Okay. What's a tabernacle? Giant tent that the Israelites were commanded to make, and it was very specific how it had to be made. It's a giant tent that the Israelites had commanded to be made, and it is essentially a temporary transportable temple. A few weeks ago we looked at this whole theme of temple throughout scripture. There's a great big long season where the temple was made out of cloth—leather and sticks. And the ark of God is there.

David wakes up one day and he's like, this is weird. God is greater than I am and I'm living in this sweet house and God's living in a tent. That's not okay. So he decides, "I'm going to build God a house." That's basically the way it all plays out.

So he mentions this to Nathan, who is a prophet, kind of an advisor, who has, in some peculiar way, a direct line to God. And Nathan replies to the king:

Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you. — 2 Samuel 7:3

Do you guys remember Nathan? He's a big deal. He's an adviser, and he's like, "Game on, David. Let's get it done." Problem is, Nathan was a little bit presumptuous when he says that. He's a man of God. He listens to the Lord, but in this instance, he just listens to himself. He's like, "Yeah, sure. Let's go ahead and do it." And God disagrees.

So later that night, God has a conversation with Nathan and says, "No, no, no, no. Go back. Clear that up. I didn't tell you to say that, so don't." And here's what happens.

That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, "Go and tell my servant David, this is what the Lord says." — 2 Samuel 7:4

Okay, so he blew it, retract it, we're going to get it right. Then he says tell him this.

Now, what's about to happen here from verse six and forward? This is where we're going to camp out on. This is the longest monologue that God gives since he was talking to Moses. Since that season, this is the longest continuous thing that God is going to say. When I say two Samuel chapter seven is a big, big, big, big, big deal, it's not the whole chapter. It's this. It is this speech that God gives to Nathan telling him what to go tell David. This is the nuclear bomb.

Listen to this. We're going to unpack it. We'll see a whole bunch of stuff. He says, here's what you gotta tell David:

Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. — 2 Samuel 7:5

I've been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. And wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" Okay. Now what is the essence of this? What is the essence of this moment in God's speech here? What's he saying? The Lord knows what he needs, what he wants, he'll let you know. Right? He'll let you know. Yes. I will tell you when I want you to do that. Not the same thing. Just do what God says. Yeah. You don't need to imagine it. You don't need to make it up. You don't need to feel bad for me. I'm perfectly content. I have never asked for this. It's cool. Everything's fine. Just relax. When I want you to do that, I'll do it. I live in a tabernacle. I live in a tent, and it's all just fine. Okay?

And then in verse eight, he says:

Now then, tell my servant David, "This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel." — 2 Samuel 7:8

This is the ultimate, ultimate rags to riches story. You were following sheep around in the pasture, and I've made you the exalted king over my chosen people. Right? You couldn't have a bigger change.

Verse nine:

I've been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. — 2 Samuel 7:9

Does that line remind you of anything? Do you remember the last time that God told someone, "I will make your name great"? Does that link in your brain to anywhere? Abraham. Very good. Exactly right. He says to Abraham in Genesis 12:

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. — Genesis 12:2-3

When God says to David, "I will make your name great," that is absolutely an homage to that, which is to say something is afoot. This is something big. This is Abrahamic level stuff, and if we're being honest, he's even greater than Abraham. Right? There's something happening right here.

And in verse 10 he says:

I will provide a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time that I appointed leaders over my people Israel. And I will also give you rest from all your enemies. — 2 Samuel 7:10

Okay, what's that promise? This section here, what is it saying? Say it out loud. What is it? Peace. You won't be harassed by foreign nations. You'll have rest from all your enemies. Right? Everything's gonna be great.

The Unfulfilled Promise

Now let me ask you. This is a thousand B.C. This conversation's happening. What happens in the next hundred years, two hundred years, three hundred years, three thousand years? Has this happened? No. This has not happened. Right? You should read this and be like, when God says to David regarding Israel, "Wicked people will not oppress them anymore," has that ever happened? There are brief moments, right? Not even in David's life. The golden era really was the age of Solomon. "Wicked people will not oppress them anymore." Right? He says, "I will give you rest from all your enemies." That never happened. Okay? Are we to understand how do we understand that then? If he says, "Listen, hey, great news. Everything's going to be awesome. No more enemies." What do we make of that when we read it and it's self evidently not so?

He's not talking about your whole graph. Right? He's talking about the New Jerusalem, perhaps the kingdom come. That's exactly right. See, this is the first thing—maybe not the first clue, but maybe it's the most obvious clue in this speech—that when God is speaking to David, and he's speaking to David about his kingdom, he is not just looking at the next thirty years. He's not even looking at the next thousand years. He is beginning to speak to David about his ultimate, eternal, everlasting purposes.

And the New Testament and the Old Testament both, when they allude to this chapter—2 Samuel chapter 7—gets clicked on over and over and over. And when they do, the uniform understanding of both the Old and the New Testament is that he's looking into the Messianic age. That all of this is about things that are ultimately true, will be universally true, but they're not true yet. He's looking through David to the Messiah. He's looking through David's kingdom to the Messianic kingdom.

And David's obviously talking about the physical tabernacle, temple. The temple's getting torn down, but the real temple that Jesus talks about tearing down and raising again is him. Is himself. Right. And through Pentecost today, the Holy Spirit indwells us.

The temple now is here. In the body of Christ, not in the building that we go to. That's exactly right. And so all that we explore that whole temple theme, like, I don't even know how long has it been, a month ago now or something? Like, when Jesus is gonna finally come, he is gonna be the fulfillment of so many different things. It's just completely insane.

But this right here, when you read this as just a normal person, what? That didn't happen. That didn't even come close to happening. That's right, but it's going to happen. Right? He's looking through it to the whole thing.

Here's a couple of places. There's lots. We're gonna look at a lot of other scripture today. But here's Isaiah chapter nine verse seven. When I'm telling you they're looking forward through David to the ultimate fulfillment of David, through David's kingdom, to the ultimate kingdom, you'll hear it here.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. — Isaiah 9:7

That's a Christmas passage. We'll often go to Isaiah nine, and there is this anticipation of this final kingdom that all is well. That's based on second Samuel chapter seven. Or Isaiah 16 says:

In love, a throne will be established. In faithfulness, a man will sit on it, one from the house of David, one who, in judging, seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. — Isaiah 16

Right? Jeremiah 23 says:

The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. And in his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called, the Lord our righteousness. — Jeremiah 23

Okay. Isaiah, Jeremiah, do you know when did those guys write relative to the life of David? Do you have any sense at all? Can you put them on a map? If David's around a thousand BC, and now we're working backward up to zero, where are we at, John?

Isaiah around 700. Excellent. Very good. So 700. And then Jeremiah even a little bit later. So it's three hundred years later. This is longer ago than the American Revolution. So the American Revolution, in 1776 they're making promises. It's going be like 2076 that they're looking back and they're saying, well, the promises are still to come. The promises are still to come. Okay? Which is to say the Old Testament for a long time realized this hasn't happened yet, but it's going to happen. It's coming. The day is coming that somebody's going to actually come and do this. This is great anticipation.

The Core of the Promise

And this is the core of the promise. Go back to two Samuel chapter seven. Here's the absolute centerpiece of the promise. The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you. Do you hear the play on words right there? What did David say he wanted to do? I'm gonna build a house for God. And God says, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're not gonna build a house for me. I'm gonna build a house for you. Right?

So David means I'm gonna build a temple. God means I'm gonna build you a dynasty. And what he's saying to David is that you, your children, your line, reign of you're gonna die, but then your son will rule, and his son will rule. And through this line of your sons, your house, your family, your dynasty is going to come the fulfillment of the promises that we've been talking about for centuries. The Messiah is gonna have your blood running in his veins. It's a big, big, big deal.

Fetz? Is there how do present day Jewish people explain this promise away? Have they just forgotten about it, don't care about it, or think it happened?

I don't know. I would imagine that just like when we talk about Christians monolithically, we're inaccurate. There's a variety of Christian thoughts. So probably when we talk about Jews monolithically, I don't know. There's a range of views. So I'm sure that there are some that don't even give it a moment's thought, but I'm sure there must be some that still anticipate the Davidic king will come. Right? Of course, generally, they don't believe that Jesus was that person, although lots of them do. There's a ton of Jewish messianic believers who see Jesus as the fulfillment of this, but probably some expected some, you know, just like you've got Christians who are functionally atheists, and you've got Jews that are functionally atheists as well. There's a whole range of being on that. Right?

But so what David is being told here is that sit down, David, because there's more going on here than you've ever dreamed of. And look at this.

When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. And he is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. — 2 Samuel 7:12-13

Now there's two levels of this. What are the two levels that we should understand those couple of verses at? Solomon. The first and the most obvious level is it's just Solomon. So David's going to have a kid. Who's Solomon's mom, by the way? Isn't that weird? Wouldn't you have picked one? I mean, he had like seven other wives he could have chosen from. He took Bathsheba, this woman of this whole scandalous story, but Bathsheba's son, Solomon, is the literal, immediate, instantaneous fulfillment of this. Meaning, Solomon is going to build the temple. He's the dude. It's his temple. Right? So David wants to build the temple. God says, no, no, no, no. Just stop. I don't want you to build the temple. Your son's going to build the temple. And I don't pretend to know all the things that are going on there, but I think part of it was to set up this prophetic fulfillment that David's son would build a temple.

The Two Fulfillments

And in the same way his first son, his immediate son, builds a temple out of stone, but David's greater son, his ultimate son, the Messiah, is going to be the one that brings the real temple himself. Right? So it's not through David, it's through David's son, but David's son comes to have a secondary layer of meaning. What's that? Think about the irony. Jesus says in John 2:

I am the temple. — John 2:19

I mean, it's not like he's going to break the temple. He's going to come out. That's right. He is the temple. He is the ultimate fulfillment of that in a way that no one probably saw or imagined. Right? Jesus always fulfills the pictures, but he always overfills the pictures. He always one-ups the whole game. Right?

So first, Solomon is the literal son of David. He builds the temple, but both the Old and the New Testaments looked beyond that. If you weren't in church a few weeks ago, we talked about this whole theme of temple. Right? He says, "Destroy it and I'll rebuild it." And he was talking about himself, that he's going to bring the real one. Right? This passage right here, 2 Samuel 7, is the seed of the concept that we see comes to full fruit in John chapter 2. Okay?

Also, not only is he going to have a kingdom, according to verse 13, what else is this quote "son of David" going to do besides build a temple? Look at verse 13. He's going to be a ruler. He's going to rule, and for how long? Forever. He's going to have an eternal kingdom, right? The idea that Jesus has an eternal kingdom, that's all right here too, right? The throne of his kingdom will last forever. There is a whole lot of stuff. There's a lot of weight being born in this.

And then in verse 14, it says:

I will be his father and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 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, and your throne will be established forever. — 2 Samuel 7:14-16

Is that hard for you to apply at two levels? Why? Jesus doesn't do wrong. Right. Okay. So can we deal with the Solomon level? Is that acceptable to you? Did Solomon do anything wrong? A couple things, right? If his dad was kind of a little wonky with the women, do you remember Solomon? How many wives does this guy get? Like an easy grand, right? I mean, like unbelievable, right? Lots and lots and lots. Okay, so he's going to get punished. That makes sense.

Well, does it have a second level to Jesus? Okay, what would you do with that? Well, Jesus took sin on him, and remember God had to turn his face away. Yes, covering the sins, but it says, "I will not leave him." That's right. That's right.

So Jesus fulfills all of these pictures, but here, if it wasn't for his own sin, he does get flogged. He does take the punishment. The big difference here is it wasn't for his own wrongdoing, but for ours. Right? It's one thing to get punished for your own wrongdoing, but Jesus is punished for your wrongdoing. Right? He comes in and he does all of this.

Solomon, by the way, I want to show you where this exact thing is fulfilled. Turn out of here. Go to 1 Kings. I want you to see this. This is just kind of interesting how this gets picked up. 1 Kings 11. Kings is like after Samuel. Kings is going to continue the narrative of Samuel. So 1 and 2 Samuel are really about Saul and David, and then 1 Kings is about Solomon and then a bunch of others that come after it.

But in 1 Kings 11, just check this out, verse 31, 32. See, I'm going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you 10 tribes. This is the nation of Israel going split in two. There's the northern 10 tribes and the southern two tribes, and he's gonna take a bunch of stuff. Solomon blew it so bad, he's like, you know what? We're gonna diminish your kingdom. Take it away.

And it says, but check it out:

"For the sake of my servant David, this is chapter seven. This is back to what we're looking at. But for the sake of my servant David in the city of Jerusalem, I have chosen of the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped the Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, Moloch, the god of the Ammonites." — 1 Kings 11:31-32

By the way, Solomon's only problem wasn't his wives, but it was the foreign gods that his wives led him to worship.

"They have not walked in my ways or done what is right in my eyes or kept my statutes and laws as David, Solomon's father, did. But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand. I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose and who observed My commands and statutes. I will take this kingdom from his son's hands and give you 10 tribes. I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my name." — 1 Kings 11

"However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires. You will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you." — 1 Kings 11

You have David, David, which is the endless homage to David. The reason that Solomon's kingdom survives despite his own significant failings is because of David. This promise made to David will be locked in. It will be secure, and the Messiah will come for this line. So far so good?

The Davidic Line Through History

Okay. Now here's what I really want you to see. I'll go back one more thing historically. Verse 16 is the end of God's monologue. But I want to show you some of the ways that this is fulfilling things that have already been said. Okay? So go back to Genesis 49.

In Genesis chapter 49, God had told—there's the great line here: first there's Abraham, and then there's Isaac, and then there's Jacob, and then Jacob is blessing his 12 kids. And to one of those 12, he's gonna say from you the line is gonna come. Which of the 12 wins the prize? Judah. Judah.

So in Genesis 49, he's blessing all of his kids, and in verse 49:8, he says to Judah:

"Your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, and your father's sons will bow down to you. You're a lion's cub, O Judah. You return from the prey, my son. Like a lion, he crouches and he lies down like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? And then here's the big shot right here: The scepter will not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his." — Genesis 49:8-10

What's the scepter? The stick. The stick of the king. This anticipation from Judah will come the king when the right guy comes. And now we're learning that that king from Judah—and by the way, David's from Judah—is gonna further come. It's from Abraham, it's from Isaac, it's from Jacob, it's from Judah, and now we learn it's from David and no one else. It is gonna be for this Davidic king. This is the massive theme that's coming.

Now, you guys, pass this out real quick. I got a sheet because there's so much scripture on here, and I figured there's no way I'm gonna have time to cover it all. So I want you to see why this chapter is such a big, big, big deal. As these guys are passing it out, we're gonna begin on the Old Testament side. At the very top, it's gonna say "Old Testament Reflections on 2 Samuel 7," and then "New Testament Reflections on 2 Samuel 7."

When I tell you this is a huge chapter, I'm not making that up. Over and over and over and over again, the Bible is gonna point back to this moment. So once these things have made their way around, we'll take a look at some of the Old Testament.

The faithful people of God, when they read 2 Samuel 7, understood that whatever else God is doing in this complicated, broken, heartbroken world, he is bringing a Messiah. Christianity is not some weird thing where we're tacking on some P.S.

Also, there's a messiah. The Jewish faith is entirely about this one who would come. And when they wanted to know who he's gonna be, the clearest thing is that this guy that's gonna come is gonna be a son of David. He's gonna be from the line of David. So just take a look. We'll skim through and look at a bunch of these.

Isaiah 9, look at verse six. This one, we alluded to a different part of this, but here it is. This is as Christmassy as Handel's Messiah as you get.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government of peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. — Isaiah 9:6

That's 2 Samuel 7. Or Isaiah 11:

A shoot will come from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a branch will bear fruit. — Isaiah 11:1

Jesse is David's dad. This passage I won't read the whole thing, but skim through chapter 11. Do you recognize some of this language? This is the golden era. This is the day we look forward to. Look at the things that will someday be true. Verse six:

The wolf lives with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the goat. — Isaiah 11:6

I don't like verse eight:

The infant will play near the hole of the cobra. The young child will put his hand in the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. — Isaiah 11:8-9

When everything is finally at peace. Or how about this, Isaiah 16:

In love a throne will be established and faithfulness. A man will sit on it, one from the house of David. — Isaiah 16:5

That's 2 Samuel 7. Isaiah 55:

Give ear to me, hear me, that your soul may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. — Isaiah 55:3

In the same way that Solomon got to keep his kingdom for the sake of David, even though he blew it, we—this is the same thing. We get to keep all of the blessings, all of the promises, not because of this David, but because of the greater David. Solomon received blessings because of what David had done. We receive innumerable blessings because of what Jesus has done, not because of us.

Jeremiah:

The days are coming. I'll raise up to David a righteous branch. — Jeremiah 23:5

We looked at that. Jeremiah 33:

In those days and at that time, I will make a righteous branch sprout from David's line. He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sit on the throne of the house of Israel. — Jeremiah 33:15-17

That's 2 Samuel chapter 7. It's all coming out of there. A whole bunch more from Jeremiah. Ezekiel 34:

I'll place over them one shepherd, my servant David. — Ezekiel 34:23

Ezekiel 37:

My servant David will be king over them, and David my servant will be prince forever. — Ezekiel 37:24

When Ezekiel is written, it's been like 350 years. David ain't David. David is the greater David. David is the David who is to come. Hosea 3:

Afterward, the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. — Hosea 3:5

It will restore David's fountain. It's all these promises are made to the people of God that will be fulfilled. Every time you see David, you think it's Messiah. It's Messiah. It's Messiah. That's what he's pointing to.

David's Response

Now what David is gonna do, well, tell me this. If you were David and God comes to you and says, "David, I will raise up from you a seed. From you will come the Messiah." How would you feel? It's a lot of pressure. I think I would feel profoundly and abidingly unworthy. And look at David's response. Look at what he says here, verse 18:

King David went in and he sat before the Lord, and he said, "Who am I, Sovereign Lord? And what is my family that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord? What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. How great you are, O Sovereign Lord. There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears." — 2 Samuel 7:18-22

Who is like your people Israel, one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself and to make a name for himself, to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out the nations. And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house, do as you promised so that your name will be great forever.

Kelly and I went out to dinner last night, and I was just reflecting on this because I knew we were talking about it today. It's just so strange. This is three thousand years ago in some little village in the middle of nowhere to some family of shepherds, which are like the lowest form—I mean, they're just like, this is not an exalted thing, right? What is David? Like, the sixth kid or the seventh kid? He's the runt of the litter. He's like late in the game. This little kid, this nobody from nowhere, and God plucks him out and says, "From you will come the fulfillment of the reason that I made the universe." Isn't that extraordinary? And he raises them up and he grants them all this thing, which is to say everything, everything, everything is gift. We live in a sea of ridiculous grace as God picks nobody from nowhere to be the most significant person who's ever lived and to bring from him the fulfillment of the purpose of the world.

Messiah Prophecies from 2 Samuel 7

Flip it over. Look at the New Testament reflections on this. I organized this around theological concepts. Some of these are straightforward. Some of these are going to come from David—that's a big deal. But there's theological meat that comes out of this. Some of these take a little bit of effort, and we've got ten minutes. So let's just blitz through these. Then you can look on this sheet more if you're interested in it.

Things that we learn about Messiah because of 2 Samuel chapter 7. First of all, is that he would be divinely conceived, which is to say virgin born, immaculate conception more properly understood. Chapter one:

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. — Luke 1

"Well, how will this be?" Mary asked the angel. "Since I am a virgin." And the angel answered:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. — Luke 1

There's a couple of lines that you need to understand about this. When 2 Samuel 7 uses that language—that this one who will come after David will be his son—he says, "I will be his father and he will be my son." This is going to show up in a couple different ways.

When you hear that Jesus is the "Son of God," what does that mean to you? There are at least three ways—three correct ways—that you can understand it. So what does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God? This is going to be a very crash course in theology. What is the first most fundamental way that Jesus is the Son of God?

He is one with God. One being with the Father. We're going to our Trinitarian theology, right? So if you really want to get fancy, we would say ontologically—Jesus' "son of Godness" is his second person of the Trinity-ness, right? He is begotten of the Father, not in a manger in Bethlehem, but in eternity past. That's number one. He's the Son of God. He is very being God.

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. — John 1:1

He is the Son of God ontologically.

What's the second thing, if you want to chronologically walk it down? That's the Mary version right here. So who is his father? He is the Son of God conceived in a virgin's womb. There was no father. There was no human male involved in the game. His zygote-ness comes from God, right? So he is ontologically one with the Father. God is his conceiver in this virgin's womb. That's two.

How about the third one? The genealogy in Matthew. There's a sense in which we are therefore all sons of God, right, or daughters of God in our descent from Adam. So that's true.

There's another sense that we don't tend to think about so much, and we're unaware of it, and so it kind of messes up some of our theology. Are you referring to a subordination? Well, I would say ontologically, he is subordinate to the Father. That's part of the Son of God. He's the second person of the Trinity, so he is subordinate there. But there's something else that is royal in nature. Authority. Yes. Well, his kingship.

So the language here—I'll just give it to you because it's a little bit weird. This language that he is the son of God, what that means is that he is king. Generally speaking, in the book of Hebrews, when it talks about the son, it's talking about the royalty of this one. You get a hint of it if you go back to 2 Samuel chapter 7, when God says—verse 14—"I will be his father and he will be my son." What that's saying is that when this person, this son of David becomes king, he's being adopted into the kingship. The king is a royal son of the great king. And so Jesus, when he becomes king, he becomes the Son of God.

If you've ever noticed passages in the New Testament that say Jesus became the Son of God, and you're like, "What? I thought he was already the Son of God," and that's weird to you—this is what it's talking about. He is ontologically always the second person of the Trinity, but he becomes the Son of God. He becomes the royal king.

It's Psalm 2. You guys want somebody flip there really quickly. We'll do this speedy-wise. What did I just say? Psalm 2. You'll hear this again—the same language of 2 Samuel 14. Chapter 2, verse 7. This is the coronation of the king. This is ultimately the coronation of the moment the Messiah becomes king. Psalm 2 should be sung.

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to me, "You are my son. Today I have become your father. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter. You will dash them to pieces like pottery." — Psalm 2:7-9

That is the sense that has the least cultural buy-in to us, but that's what it means. Go to Romans 1. I'll show you this last one and then we'll keep moving because the clock keeps ticking.

If you ever read this and you're like, "What are you talking about?" This is what he's talking about. In Romans 1, starting at verse 2:

The Gospel that God promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy scriptures regarding His Son, who is ontologically the second person of the Trinity from all eternity past, who, as to His human nature, was a descendant of David, and who through the spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the son of God by his resurrection from the dead. — Romans 1:2-4

Right? He was declared the Son of God—that is, declared to be the king because of his resurrection. So he's always been the son, but he has become the son. He has become the royal son. He has become the king. Make sense? That's a lot there. You're gonna spin your head for a little while. But alright.

Jesus as the Fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7

So he's divinely conceived. He is the son of David. He's the fulfillment of that. That's the most obvious thing. He's the builder of the temple. We've unpacked that kind of at greater length. "Destroy this temple. I will raise it up." This is the house that he's building. It is his very self. He has come to bring the temple.

Even this one is crazy: the resurrection finds its root in 2 Samuel chapter 7. Take a look back at Acts 2:25. David said about the Messiah, looking forward to seeing Jesus:

I saw the Lord always before me. Because he's at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body will also live in hope because you will not abandon me to the grave nor will you let your holy one see decay. You've made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence. — Acts 2:25-28

This is complicated. What Peter is doing is quoting Psalm 16, which is a fantastic psalm. It's a happy, happy, happy song. "In your presence is fullness of joy, eternal pleasures are at your right hand." And in Psalm 16, David says this:

You will not let your holy ones see decay. — Psalm 16:10

Now, if David was talking about himself, then he was lying because David's body rotted in a grave three thousand years ago. Agree? And so what Peter is saying is: when David wrote Psalm 16 and he said, "You won't let your holy one see decay," there's no way he was talking about himself because he's dead and he stayed dead. When David wrote Psalm 16, he wasn't talking about himself.

He was talking about the true and greater David that would come from his line because that one did not see decay. Does that make sense? David is what Peter is saying is that David understood that when the Messiah came from his line and of his house, he would live forever. Now maybe David knew that he would die and rise again. Maybe he clued together some of the other things, or maybe he just thought he would live eternally. But he's saying, listen, when David wrote that, David understood. He wasn't talking about himself. He was talking about an ever living Messiah.

The resurrection itself is rooted in this notion of the Davidic king.

So because of the ambiguity of the term son, I think I would, I mean, I don't know all things here, but I suspect that at his baptism, he was talking about the fact that he is from all eternity past the second person of the Trinity. Because his sonship as a royal king, as you see in Romans 1 and lots of other places, he didn't become king at his baptism, he became king at his death and resurrection. So I think the language of "you today, you know, today you have become my son, I become your father"—that's cross and empty tomb language, that's where that's happening. So prior to that, he was the Son of God, the second person, the beloved Son of all eternity. At the cross and resurrection, he becomes the royal king.

An Eternal Throne and Kingdom

The royal sun we unpacked. And then here's the final thing: an eternal throne and kingdom. Whenever we think that Jesus is gonna reign forever, and he is, there's gonna be an interruption to it, by the way. This is a weird thing. We don't have time to unpack that. But look at Hebrews 1:

About the Son he said, "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever." — Hebrews 1

And Second Peter 1:

You will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. — 2 Peter 1

All of that, everything on this sheet is rooted in 2 Samuel chapter 7, which is why I'm telling you this is gargantuan. This is absolutely huge. That through David's line will come one who's gonna fulfill all these different things. When Jesus comes, he does it all, that we might live under the blessings that he purchased.

It's not contingent on your righteousness, and that's good news. It is not contingent on your obedience. It is not contingent on a house that you built. But all that we have, all the best and the sweetest things that you will ever enjoy in this life and in the life to come, were purchased for you by this Son of David who gave himself for you. That is what 2 Samuel chapter 7 is all about.

Groovy? Shem, glad you're here. It's good to see you. Alright. That's it. We'll talk later.