David is accepted as King- 2 Sam 5
Today, we are continuing our series looking at King David. Last week we read about David receiving the news that King Saul had died, which opened the way for David to step into the role as king.
There were still obstacles, though. While David was anointed King over the tribe of Judah and settled in Hebron with his family, Saul’s son, Ish-Bosheth, was made king over Israel through the support of the commander of Saul’s army. This leads to a kind of civil war. Eventually, through battle and politics, and misguided loyal men who were willing to assassinate Saul’s son, David eventually is anointed king over not just Judah, but all of Israel. And this is where we are today in our reading. All the competing claims to rule have been silenced and the tribes recognize David as their king. … David meets with the elders of the tribes of Israel and makes a covenant with them before God, and he is anointed King of all the tribes of Israel.
The next thing David does is try to take the city of Jerusalem, which they haven’t been able to conquer yet. The Jebusites, who live there, are so confident in the defensibility of their city that they mock David and his men saying, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” But, David does take the city, and calls it the City of David. He makes this city his new residence and the capital from which he would unify Israel and lead them. He begins building and making Jerusalem his own.
So, in our passage we have David being anointed once again, this time as king over all Israel, and the establishing of Jerusalem as the city from which King David would rule. These are events that will reverberate throughout Israel’s history even to our own day. The Kings of Israel will all be compared to David, who defeated Israel’s enemies and united the people. … The awaited messiah will be called the Son of David. Even the word “Messiah” seems to point to the anointing of the King. Both of the words “Messiah” and “Christ” mean the “anointed one”. Samuel the prophet anointed David to be the king to replace Saul, just as Saul was anointed before him.
Jerusalem is still a place that is very special and symbolic for many people in the world. It is a place that we hear about in the news pretty regularly. In some medieval maps of the world Jerusalem is placed as the center of the world. For thousands of years pilgrims have been journeying to this city. It is the place where the temple would be build, that would become the heartbeat of Israel. It is also outside the walls of Jerusalem that Jesus would be put to death.
The early Christians read the Old Testament with Christ in mind. So, when they read about David, they were also looking for symbols that point to Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah. Jesus was thought of as the new David, or the perfect David. … For example, David, the shepherd boy, who goes without armour to meet the giant Goliath, is seen as pointing to Jesus who faces sin and death in vulnerability on the cross.
The kingship of David was also a unifying reality. … The promise to Abraham was that his family, created out of nothing, born to those who were well past the age of having children, was that his family would
The next thing David does is try to take the city of Jerusalem, which they haven’t been able to conquer yet. The Jebusites, who live there, are so confident in the defensibility of their city that they mock David and his men saying, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” But, David does take the city, and calls it the City of David. He makes this city his new residence and the capital from which he would unify Israel and lead them. He begins building and making Jerusalem his own.
So, in our passage we have David being anointed once again, this time as king over all Israel, and the establishing of Jerusalem as the city from which King David would rule. These are events that will reverberate throughout Israel’s history even to our own day. The Kings of Israel will all be compared to David, who defeated Israel’s enemies and united the people. … The awaited messiah will be called the Son of David. Even the word “Messiah” seems to point to the anointing of the King. Both of the words “Messiah” and “Christ” mean the “anointed one”. Samuel the prophet anointed David to be the king to replace Saul, just as Saul was anointed before him.
Jerusalem is still a place that is very special and symbolic for many people in the world. It is a place that we hear about in the news pretty regularly. In some medieval maps of the world Jerusalem is placed as the center of the world. For thousands of years pilgrims have been journeying to this city. It is the place where the temple would be build, that would become the heartbeat of Israel. It is also outside the walls of Jerusalem that Jesus would be put to death.
The early Christians read the Old Testament with Christ in mind. So, when they read about David, they were also looking for symbols that point to Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah. Jesus was thought of as the new David, or the perfect David. … For example, David, the shepherd boy, who goes without armour to meet the giant Goliath, is seen as pointing to Jesus who faces sin and death in vulnerability on the cross.
The kingship of David was also a unifying reality. … The promise to Abraham was that his family, created out of nothing, born to those who were well past the age of having children, was that his family would
“be a blessing… and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through [him]” (Gen 12:2,3).
Israel was meant to be a kind of priestly people who would draw the world to God. They would teach the ways of God to the nations. … We know the history of Israel, though. It is marked by moral failure, infighting, civil war, greed, idolatry, disobedience, and all those things that draw them away from the path God set in front of them. (We in the church, know these sinful dynamics all too well.) … At the time of the Judges, just before Saul was made king, the people were stuck in a cycle of disobedience and rescue- they would disobey by worshipping idols and practicing the ways of the nations around them, then they would be attacked. It was almost as if there was a protection they lost when they wandered away from God’s ways. Then, they would be released when they repented and God sent a Judge to save them, but the cycle would repeat, over and over. … Saul, their first king was a failure as, well.
Now, with David, things looked hopeful. The people could be unified and protected from their enemies and perhaps they would now be encouraged to grow in holiness. Maybe this unified Israel can now get back on track to fulfill the mission given to Abraham to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth, to be a light to the nations (Is 42:6; 49:6; 60:3). Under David’s son Solomon this seems to start to take place. The kingdom becomes very wealthy under Solomon. The kingdom prospers and nations start to come to seek the wisdom of Israel- think of the Queen of Sheba. We know Solomon fails, but in the peace and prosperity and wisdom of Solomon’s reign we see a hint of what might have been- how they could have been the blessing to the nations that they were called to be.
Sin gets in the way. David was told that he couldn’t build God’s temple because of the blood on his hands- because is has lived as a violent warrior. David is a sinner. And he would feel the consequences of that in his own family. Solomon’s sin would lead to a divided kingdom. The northern kingdoms would be defeated and dissolved by the Assyrian Empire and the southern kingdom would be defeated and brought into exile by the Babylonian Empire. They would eventually limp back to their land, but something was lost. They would be oppressed by various peoples and empires- the Greeks, who would then be replaced by the Roman Empire.
Sin gets in the way. David was told that he couldn’t build God’s temple because of the blood on his hands- because is has lived as a violent warrior. David is a sinner. And he would feel the consequences of that in his own family. Solomon’s sin would lead to a divided kingdom. The northern kingdoms would be defeated and dissolved by the Assyrian Empire and the southern kingdom would be defeated and brought into exile by the Babylonian Empire. They would eventually limp back to their land, but something was lost. They would be oppressed by various peoples and empires- the Greeks, who would then be replaced by the Roman Empire.
The yearning for a messiah grows- an Anointed One, like David, who would unite the people, and drive back their enemies.
Jesus’ story is full of references to David. He was born in Bethlehem, which was David’s town. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ genealogy has an emphasis on David as Jesus’ ancestor. Jesus is called the messiah (the Anointed One).
Jesus gathers the people at his table. He reconstitutes the 12 tribes of Israel by selecting 12 apostles. ‘Apostle’ means one who is sent. Israel was always meant to be sent to the nations to gather humanity under the reign of God. And this is what Jesus’ reconstituted Israel would do. They would spread the news about … the kingdom (kingdoms have kings, remember). At this table, in this kingdom, all are welcome- the lost sheep of Israel, the tax collectors and sinners, the exiled, the nations. Jesus gathers humanity the way Abraham’s family was always meant to- to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.
Jesus is also a warrior like David. He fights against all that oppresses humanity. His ministry is full of battles against Satan and the demons, against sickness, and death. He fights against false teaching and polluted worship as confronts certain teachers of Israel and the Temple establishment. And eventually he takes on the powers of Sin and Death as he battles on the cross, with the sign placed above his head- “Jesus Christ, the king of the Jews”. And he then rises victorious, having defeated his enemies. …
Jesus’ story is full of references to David. He was born in Bethlehem, which was David’s town. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ genealogy has an emphasis on David as Jesus’ ancestor. Jesus is called the messiah (the Anointed One).
Jesus gathers the people at his table. He reconstitutes the 12 tribes of Israel by selecting 12 apostles. ‘Apostle’ means one who is sent. Israel was always meant to be sent to the nations to gather humanity under the reign of God. And this is what Jesus’ reconstituted Israel would do. They would spread the news about … the kingdom (kingdoms have kings, remember). At this table, in this kingdom, all are welcome- the lost sheep of Israel, the tax collectors and sinners, the exiled, the nations. Jesus gathers humanity the way Abraham’s family was always meant to- to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.
Jesus is also a warrior like David. He fights against all that oppresses humanity. His ministry is full of battles against Satan and the demons, against sickness, and death. He fights against false teaching and polluted worship as confronts certain teachers of Israel and the Temple establishment. And eventually he takes on the powers of Sin and Death as he battles on the cross, with the sign placed above his head- “Jesus Christ, the king of the Jews”. And he then rises victorious, having defeated his enemies. …
He doesn’t battle with violence. He battles with truth and love. Through his death and resurrection, he will draw all people to himself, to be a blessing to them and gather them as one family, who will then turn to be a blessing as the people of his kingdom. …
And at the very end of the Bible, what do we see? The author of the book of Revelation, sees in a vision. He sees,
“a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne” (Rev 7:9),
and at the end of the book he sees a home made for this gathered people of God. He says,
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev 21:2).
Jesus, the perfected David, unites the people, and establishes the new Jerusalem- home to God and God’s people. AMEN
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