In our preceding lessons, we met the young shepherd David, or Dawud, whom God raised to the position of king of all Israel. A great soldier and a skillful general, David fought the enemies of God’s people, and the Lord was with him. In all things, David gave God the glory and honor for his successes. As he had during the years of trials, David continued during the years of glory and power to compose psalms which expressed his love and admiration for the King of the universe.
The Ark Transported
David, led by pious feelings, took the initiative to get the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to Jerusalem with great rejoicing. The Ark of the Covenant was not an idol, but it was an extremely sacred object which represented the throne of God among his people. This was a gold-plated case of great value, made during the time of Moses according to instructions from God Himself. It contained the two stone tablets on which were written the ten commandments which summarized the Torah, the law that God had given to Israel. Also found in it was a pot of manna—the food that God had miraculously provided to the Israelites during the forty years they spent in the wilderness after being delivered from slavery in Egypt—and Aaron’s rod which God had caused to bloom to designate Aaron and his descendants as priests.
During the reign of King Saul, the Israelites had neglected the Ark of the Covenant but David proposed to them that it be brought to Jerusalem and be given the honor it deserved.
Unfortunately, David and the people did not consult the law of God before moving the Ark. There were several commands regarding how to handle the Ark. No one was to touch it. The people were not even to look at it. It was to be covered with a special cloth. Gold-plated bars were to be passed through rings at the four corners of the Ark. Four consecrated men from the tribe of Levi were to lift it on their shoulders by the bars.
Instead of following these instructions, David had the Ark placed on a new cart pulled by oxen. All the people sang and danced with joy as they accompanied the Ark toward the holy city, but they came to a certain place where the oxen almost caused the sacred box to fall. A man named Uzzah put out his hand to steady it. Then the Lord became angry with him and struck him at that place because of his thoughtless action. Uzzah died there beside the Ark.
The procession stopped at that point. David was shocked and gave up on moving the Ark to Jerusalem. He placed it in the house of a certain man named Obed-Edom. It remained there for three months and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family.
Meanwhile, David came to understand that Uzzah’s death happened because they had not followed God’s orders concerning the sacred Ark. The sincerity of the intention to honor God was good, but sincerity did not replace obedience to the word of God. David committed mistakes like all people, but when he was at fault, instead of hardening his heart, David repented. He prepared a place and put up a tent to shelter the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem, but this time he brought the Levites and gave them the responsibility of transporting the Ark of the Covenant according to the law of God. The songs of praise and the smoke from the sacrifices rose before God and pleased Him.
Desire to Build a Temple
“The king had settled into his palace… the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Look I am living in a cedar house, while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.’ So Nathan told the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.’
But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go to My servant David and say, “This is what the Lord says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in?”… I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel… I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land… I will give you rest from all your enemies.
‘“The Lord declares to you: The Lord Himself will make a house for you. When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me… My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way. Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.”’” (2 Samuel 7)
In his love for God, David had the intention of doing something grand for Him. God did not authorize construction of a temple in His honor. According to 1 Chronicles 28:3, 6, God said to David, “You are not to build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood… Your son Solomon is the one who is to build My house and My courts…” But this was not to punish David. No, while saying that David would not build a house for God, God promised to build a house for David—not a house in the sense of a building but in the sense of a dynasty, a royal power that would be passed from generation to generation.
When he heard these words, David was moved with inexpressible gratitude. He prayed to God in these words:
“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? What You have done so far was a little thing to You, Lord God, for You have also spoken about Your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation for mankind, Lord God.” (2 Samuel 7:18,19)
Promise of a Son
Like many Bible prophecies, this one would have a double fulfillment: the first fulfillment would be in the relatively near future from the point of the view of the prophet who made the prophecy, while the second fulfillment would be in the life of Jesus Christ. God’s promise did concern Solomon, the son of David who would follow him on the throne of Israel and who would build the first temple in Jerusalem. But certain aspects of the promise apply instead to a descendant of David who would come a thousand years later… Jesus, born in Bethlehem, the hometown of David. In fact, God promised to confirm forever the throne of the son of David. He had said, “Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16).
And yet, after four hundred years, the dynasty of David seemed to come to an end when the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and carried into captivity its king, Zedekiah, the last descendant of David to sit on an earthly throne. The Jews were able to return to the land of Canaan after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, but the descendants of David did not reclaim their reign as kings. The Jews always hoped that “the son of David” would return one day to restore the kingdom. Certain Jews still wait for this son of David, the Messiah, who will be anointed by God as king over His people.
According to the Gospel, it is in Jesus that God fulfilled the promise that he made to David. Notice first the words of the angel Gabriel, who announced to the virgin Mary that she would be the mother of the Christ:
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” (Luke 1:31-33)
This is what we must understand—that the throne of David of which the angel spoke, symbol of the royal authority over the people of God, is not found on earth as in the time of David himself. Jesus reigns, but he reigns from heaven. This is what the apostle Peter explained to the crowd on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when he said:
“Brothers, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing this in advance, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not left in Hades, and His flesh did not experience decay. God has resurrected this Jesus. We are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” (Acts 2:29-36)
In what we have just read, Peter quoted what David, as a prophet, announced in the Zabur, that is the Psalms, a book that the Qur’an recognizes as inspired by God. David predicted the resurrection of Jesus from among the dead and his rule until the end of time. David is certainly a very important person in the word of God. In many ways this man “after God’s own heart” serves as an example to us. But he is especially important because he prefigures Jesus, the perfect king to whom God gave all authority.