Week 15 II Samuel
Exercise:
Let’s say I have an inverted-V.
And I have the book of II Samuel.
Let’s say I have to fit the inverted-V over the story of David so the point of the V sits at the high point in his story. Question: where will it land?
Answer: chapter seven. Hands down. Where the Lord gives David a Big (twelve-verses long) Promise. It ends by saying: your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.
This long promise divides into several smaller promises.
The beginning promises are for David – success, victory, peace, rest, fame. Right-Now promises.
Then there’s a promise that one of David’s descendants will build the temple. That’s a Near-Future promise.
And then there’s the final promise: your throne shall be established forever. A permanent dynasty. Which is a Distant-Future promise.
Prophecies that are true have to come true. So I’ll tuck these last two away for future reference.
Note: quote is from II Samuel 7:16 (NASB version).
Side-note: The descendant’s promise (verse 12-14) is complicated by having an if-then attached to it. This muddies things because at first the promise sounds like it’s totally without any conditions. But it turns out that the way the descendant lives his life will have a huge impact on the way the promise develops. The kingdom will succeed, guaranteed. Will the descendant succeed? Maybe.