Did God Want King David to Build a Temple? cont.

Written by Dean Smith

So David consulted with the prophet Nathan to see if he should build a temple. Initially, Nathan told David to build whatever was on his heart (verse 3). But at this point, Nathan was delivering his opinion on the matter and not the Lord’s.

Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” (2 Samuel 7:1-2 NASV)

That same night Nathan received a dream where God said that David was not to build a temple. God had dwelt in Moses’s Tabernacle and David’s tent and never asked any of the tribes to build a temple and God did not want David to build one either (2 Samuel 7:4-7).

But the dream didn’t stop there. The Lord says that instead of David building a house for God, God was going to build a house for David through one of his descendants:

11 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. 12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

“What does the New Testament teach is the temple of God? We’re the temple. “Ye are the temple of God!”– Who are “ye”? Those who have received Jesus. And there’s a general word applied to those who know the Lord, which is even in the Bible, although it’s misused nowadays.” ‘The Church.’

16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” (2 Sam 7: 11-13, 16 NASV).

But notice that his descendant’s throne would reign forever. This was clearly a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The church that was Christ’s body would be God’s temple (John 2:20-21; 1 Corinthians 3:16) and the believers would be the living stones of that temple (1 Peter 2:5). God was going to dwell in the hearts of His people like He did on the Ark of the Covenant (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God wanted believers to be His temple, not some structure made of stone and wood. But notice David’s reaction. He misconstrued that prophecy and thought it meant that his immediate son Solomon was supposed to build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:7-10). Though God told David not to build the Temple, he purchased all the materials, designed it, selected the place where to build it and even arranged the labor force (1 Chronicles 22:2-5; 1 Chronicles 21:24-26). David did all the work and all Solomon had to do was give the order to build. Though technically it was Solomon who built the temple, it was actually David who told his son to “arise, therefore, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God” (1 Chronicles 22:18-19). Once Solomon completed construction, he moved the Ark of the Covenant from David’s tabernacle into the Temple and the glory of God fell so heavy the priests could not stand to minister (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). Of course this begs the question: if David was not supposed to build a temple, why did God’s glory fall? I think the reason is this. Though we desire to do God’s will, we are not doing it perfectly every time we minister.

Is your pastor always preaching the message that God wants every Sunday? Obviously not. No one has a perfect track record. Nevertheless, God will still anoint and bless the message even though it’s not the word God desired that Sunday morning.

I know this may sound like heresy, but I believe God will bless and anoint us even when we make mistakes. Romans 8:28 says that God turns everything (even our mistakes) to good for those who love Him. (Note to COD> Reboot is a good example of this<)

Some have also suggested that Solomon’s temple was a foretaste of what was to come through Jesus and the church. I tend to disagree with this view because God said He was going to build the house and this is exactly what happened in the early church after the Holy Spirit fell and begin residing in the hearts of man because of Christ’s redemption.

God’s promise of a temple was to be fulfilled in Christ, not Solomon. I don’t believe God wanted a physical temple, but still worked with it once Solomon built it. We learn a couple of things from this story:

 We see how easy it is to misinterpret prophecy. When God referred to David’s descendant, he immediately presumed it was Solomon. More wishful interpretation than an actual one. Prophecy is not always fulfilled in the way you think it will be. God will still bless the work of our hands, even if we don’t get God’s will perfectly right. The key here is motivation. David’s heart was right. He loved God and was not building his own Kingdom, but God’s.

GO TO PART 4