Gathering: Tabernacle
God Fulfills his Promise
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:26-38
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. December 20, 2020
David, we are told, was a man after God’s own heart. When Saul had fallen away God called Samuel to anoint young David, though he was still a boy. While David was not the biggest, or the strongest, God told Samuel he does not look on the outside but he looks at the heart. So David was anointed, and God’s spirit was with him.
God defended David throughout his life. He protected him from the jealousy of Saul. He saved him from foreign armies. He watched over him as he dwelled among the Philistines at Gaza. And, ultimately, God made him King of all Israel. All the tribes would bow before David. David would subdue all of Israel’s enemies. And our Old Testament reading this morning begins when David has settled in his rich Kingly palace, as God had given him rest from his enemies.
David, the man after God’s own heart, called the prophet Nathan before him. David had a concern. “I live in this sumptuous palace of Cedar” David told Nathan, “but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Since the days of Moses the Ark of the Covenant was housed in a tent. The Ark was a box that contained various artifacts from the Israelites sojourn in Egypt, such as the Ten Commandments, some manna, and Aaron’s staff. Its cover, called the mercy seat, was made of gold, and depicted two cherubim on either side. The Ark was believed to be the footstool of God, and was so holy no one could touch it. When the Israelites took the Ark to battle they were certain of victory. But when the Ark was not taken out for battle it was kept in the Tabernacle. There priests performed the sacrifices required by the Mosaic Law.
While David lived in a mansion, God dwelt in a tent. And David thought this was downright wrong. David wanted to build a temple to the Lord to house his Ark. At first, Nathan agreed, and told David, “Go, do all that you have mind; for the LORD is with you.”
But that night God spoke to Nathan. He had never once asked for a house in all the centuries his ark remained in the tabernacle. Why would he need one now? No, instead he says I will build you a house, David. Not a house of cedar, which won’t stand the test of time. But I will build you a dynasty that will stand the test of time. An everlasting dynasty. An everlasting house. “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.”
Such an astonishing promise. But at first it seems as if the promise was not kept. After Solomon’s reign, the Kingdom is split. By 587 BC the Kingdom of Judah is overcome by Babylon, and the house of David never has a King in Jerusalem again. And God does get a house built for his Ark. Solomon builds the Temple, a massive and extravagant house, far greater than the house of cedar David lived in. But that, too, would be lost. And with it, the Ark of the Covenant.
The Kingdom fallen, the house dispersed, the Temple destroyed, the Ark lost. It would seem God had abandoned his people, and that he had not kept his promise to David. There would be no everlasting kingdom, the throne would not be established forever.
But just as God did not desire an earthly Temple to show his glory, so too God does not require a temporal throne to fulfill his promise to David.
In our Gospel reading we see the fulfillment of God’s promise to David.
But it’s in a way no one could expect.
We hear that in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. He tells her that she will conceive, and bear a son. His name will be Jesus. He will be great, he will be the son of God, and he will have the throne of David. He will rule over Israel forever. His Kingdom will have no end.
In the end God gets himself a home, and in the end David’s Kingdom has no end. God gets himself a home not made of rock and gold, but one made of flesh. God tabernacles not in cloth, but in this person Jesus Christ. As John reminds us, “the word became flesh, and tabernacled among us.” God is now this person, Jesus. Descendent of David. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And he rules forevermore.
Unlike a Temple nothing can tear Jesus down. Unlike a worldly Kingdom no one can conquer him. There is no way to end his rule. He will reign. He must reign. He must reign until all enemies are trampled underfoot. This is God’s marvelous faithfulness, this is how God keeps his promise to David. Though human sin may seem to frustrate God’s promises, in the end it cannot. In the end God cannot be stopped.
And as the people of Israel would stream from all around the world to worship at the one Temple, so too now the nations are called to stream in from all around the world and follow the one Lord. Jesus calls us together into his Kingdom. Jesus gives us life. And Jesus lets us know peace. And we all await that day, that day that is surely coming, when his rule will be undeniable in its fulness.