Day 4-2 Samuel 7:12-14

So already we have seen that God's promised redemption will come in the form of a person (Day 1) and that person will be from the line of Abraham. Throughout the Old Testament history, we trace Abraham's line until we get to King David, our focus today. God promises to David some interesting things in this passage:

"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. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 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."

On the surface, this passage seems to refer to Solomon. After all, Solomon succeeded David as king, certainly came from David's own body, and did end up building a temple, where God's presence dwelt. So, how could this passage refer to the Messiah, God's plan for redemption?

This passage introduces a key concept for understanding prophecies in the Bible. There is an "already/not yet" tension that exists. In other words, yes, some portions of this prophecy have already come true. Yet some portions of this prophecy have not yet come true. It exists on multiple levels, and we must understand that tension in order to avoid misinterpretations. For example, Solomon did not reign forever, nor has any king from the Davidic line. That portion of the prophecy will have to wait until Christ returns to earth to establish His eternal kingdom. So, this promise from God, while it seems to have Solomon directly in mind, also looks ahead to a future time when Christ will reign eternally.

Tomorrow we'll look at what the gospels say about Christ as David's son...