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The House David did not Build

“When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever."

1Chronicles 17:11-14 ESV

One of the most profound accounts in the scriptures is the story of David's desire to build a house for Yahweh.[1] From that account, we learn it was not in God’s design to have David build the house for God; instead, God promised David that the one who would, “build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever,"[2] would spring from David’s loins. Church theologians have since called this promise to David the Davidic Covenant.[3]

God’s unconditional promise to David [4] extended beyond David’s immediate family. When one considers the account in its historical context, the natural inclination is to apply the promises directly to Solomon, David’s son. In terms of typology, they do apply to Solomon. It is true that Solomon, David’s legitimate son by Bathsheba, built the first temple in Jerusalem. It is also true, that both David and Solomon represent in type, in one aspect or another, the promised one to come, the true heir to the throne. Both David’s and Solomon’s lives and deeds, portrayed in various ways, were in a temporal sense what the expected promised one was to accomplish in the true or permanent sense as the King of Kings.  

As a side note, David and Bathsheba produced an illegitimate son, whom the LORD killed.[5] The child was produced when David, in his wanton lust, took Bathsheba, another man’s wife. David’s action led to the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. God judged David for his sin. King David’s illegitimate son, killed by the hand of the LORD, is an example (in type) of the first Adam. In many aspects, the story is a picture looking backwards in type,[6] paralleling the garden story. The picture took shape when David and Bathsheba produced a second child, Solomon, who became the rightful heir to the throne, and the one who built the House of the LORD.

Whether the type is a parallel to Adam,[7] revealed as the child the LORD killed, or perhaps in Cain or even Abel, or a combination of all, none of them would go on to be heir of the world. Only in Seth, (Adam’s third child) did the legitimate seed follow the godly line and lead to the true heir. The type is followed in Seth and Solomon, both children of the transgressors, (Adam and David) and yet from their seed the godly line continued and would, in the process of redemptive history, produce the heir who would inherit the world.

As for Adam, the man God made from the dust of the ground, the LORD had another son in mind, all along.[8] Paul called him the second Adam,[9] the Son of God’s choosing.[10] In time he would become Yahweh’s anointed one,[11] the one who would become the rightful heir of the world.[12]

 

Solomon indeed built a house of God, the first temple, which stood for some four hundred years before it was burned and gutted by the invading Babylonians around 600-580BC. At least two more temples were built and/or completely overhauled and then were again destroyed. In 70AD, the last of the temples, Herod’s temple, was completely dismantled[13] by the Roman army under Vespasian’s son Titus.

 Regardless of how many temples one might argue were actually built, the reality is, in terms of time and space, the temples were temporal. None exist today, and there is little physical proof the temples existed at all. Then how are we to understand the promise made to David, that the son of his loins would build God a house that was to continue forever?

To this day, in the conscience of many orthodox Jews,[14] the dilemma of the temple(s) being destroyed—wiped off the face of the earth along with the entire priestly and sacrificial system—has been a festering wound. In response, scholars of Christian theology have developed many theories to address this dilemma over the centuries. Since the temple no longer exists in time and space, how does one justify the scriptures and the promise God made to David?

In light of this dilemma, there are two questions needing our full consideration.

First, at any time, were any of the temples the true house of God?

And second, can a house that God builds be destroyed?

The answer lies before us. The temples that stood for centuries, which served and functioned as the house of God and that no longer exist, were a type. In other words, they were representations pointing to the true House where God desires to dwell.[15] For how can the true house of God be destroyed, as all those temples were? God’s answer is this, “Thus says the LORD: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?'”[16] When the prophet Isaiah penned those words, Solomon’s temple had been completed and in service to God for centuries.

The word of God reveals that Yahweh does not, nor did He ever, actually live in temples built by the hands of men.[17] Thus the question, did Israel, those recognized as the people of God, at any time believe the omnipresent God who is Spirit could or would confine Himself in such a manner as to be housed in a building made of stone and wood?

The answer is both yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the temple proper was the place where the sacrifice and worship took place. Only in that place, while the temple remained, could acceptable sacrifice and worship occur.

But, does it make any sense to believe that Yahweh confined Himself behind the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies? As logic would dictate, the answer comes back with an absolute no! For how could a building made by the hands of men contain the God which the highest of heavens cannot? [18]

God ordained both the sacrificial system and the priesthood, dictating the proper way for believers to approach Him in worship. This began with the instructions given through Moses’ leadership soon after the people had gathered at the foot of the mountain of God.[19] The second half of the book of Exodus and all of Leviticus delineate the intricate details of the priesthood, the sacrifice, the tabernacle, and the furniture within, all of which were mere shadows, representative of the better thing to come.[20]

After nearly five hundred years, the mobile tabernacle was replaced by the more permanent temple Solomon built. The mobile tabernacle and the permanent temple express two important concepts.

First, God moves with and where He places His people; and second, God is found within the place where He desires to put His name. The tabernacle and temple were both temporary shadows, representing the better things[21] promised for the age to come.[22]

Second, the better things are the true House[23] Yahweh is building for Himself, the place where He desires to dwell and place His name. The promise of God is sure, and is found in the son of David, “he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”[24]

 

The promise to David is an essential part of the story of redemptive history. The house[25] the son of David is building today, in this age, is the true house of God, and therefore must be understood in a spiritual context.[26] As the son of David,[27] the glorified Jesus of Nazareth, having been raised from the dead, thus “declared the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness,” is the one who is building the house where God desires to dwell.

The house the son of David is currently building is the Church of God.[28] This house is not made with men’s hands. It is a house comprised of living stones which are the people of God.[29] These living stones are the called-out[30] assembly of believers, the saints who have been gathered throughout the ages.

Beginning with righteous Abel, along with all the saints,[31] those called of God[32] are being formed into a dwelling place for the true living God. The true House of God[33] continues to grow,[34] as the living stones come together to form the holy temple in which God dwells.[35] The Apostle Paul affirmed, “For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” [36] Those whom God calls "my people" are His anointed ones.[37] They are the people of God from all the ages, who, together with Jesus, comprise the House upon which God has placed His name.[38]

In conclusion, Jesus the Christ is both the builder and the chief cornerstone of the House of God.[39] The house is the living temple of God, the true and everlasting House, which cannot be destroyed. The cornerstone of the House of God was laid in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. To this day, the house continues to grow, and will not be complete, until the last living stone[40] has been added. When the temple is complete, the consummation of the new age will have arrived.[41]

In the age to come, the place where there will be no memory of the stone and wooden temples—those forms which served as a representation of the true—will be revealed. The promise is that the former things will have passed away.[42] For those who have the ears to hear, the declaration of God cries out, “behold, I am making all things new.”[43]

On that day, salvation will be complete[44] for the people of God, and redemptive history will be concluded.[45] On that day, God and the Lamb will become the temple for His people; as the Apostle John declared, “And I saw no temple therein: for the LORD God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”[46]

It will be the dawning[47] of the new age, upon the new earth, which "according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."[48]

It will be the day of the restitution, when the people of God will realize the new day,[49] in which God and man will walk[50] together as one.

On that day, the redeemed will walk in the temple that is God, for they shall “be one.”[51] On that day, the goal for the people of God will have been realized in what God has spoken, “I will be their God and they shall be my people.”[52] It will be the day when all of God’s people “shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”[53]

 

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[1] 2Samuel 7 Here, the entire chapter is in consideration.

[2] 2Samuel 7:13

[3] Covenant – there are several covenants God made with His people. The Covenant God made with Israel at Mt. Sinai was conditional.
"Obey and keep my laws and I will bless you." Other Covenants were unconditional, such as the Covenant God made with David.
 God made and would keep His promise with David, regardless of the actions and behavior of the nation.

[4] 2Samuel 7:1-29 1Chronicles 17:1-27

[5] 2Samuel 12:14-15

[6] As redemptive history unfolds, typology works looking forward or backward.

[7] The LORD condemned Adam to death, "in the day you eat of it, you will surely die." Genesis 2:17

[8] Luke 3:38 "…Adam, the son of God…" the godly line leading to the promised heir of the world.

[9] 1Corinthians 15:45-46

[10] Isaiah 42:1, cited in Matthew 12:18-20 *See also Isaiah 49:1-9, 50:4-9 52:13-15,
All of Isaiah chapter 53 for what the chosen one of God was destined to perform.

[11] Isaiah 61:1, cited in Luke 4:18 See also Isaiah 11:1-5, 42:1-4,

[12] Psalms 2:7-8, 72:1-20, 89:27, Daniel 7:14 At present, Jesus, depicted as the nobleman in the parable (Luke 19:12-27)
 "has gone away to a faraway country to receive for himself a kingdom…who will return."

[13] The Roman army's destruction of the temple was complete. Not one stone was left upon another, just as Jesus prophesied. Matthew 24:2

[14] Especially Orthodox Jews, as there are liberal Jews who have given up on the hope and promises of God.

[15] Acts 17:24

[16] Isaiah 66:1, cited in Acts 7:49-50

[17] Acts 17:24

[18] 1Kings 8:27 2Chronicles 6:18 In his desire to build God a house,
 David clearly understood that the building he wanted for the LORD could not contain him.
 If anyone, at any time, believed the temple was where God could be found, David was not among them.

[19] Exodus 19:1-3 The people camped before the mountain of God. The entire chapter is in view.

[20] Hebrews 8:5, 9:23, 10:1 Colossians 2:17

[21] Hebrews 12:24

[22] Ephesians 1:21 Hebrews 6:5 Luke 18:30

[23] Hebrews 9:24

[24] 1Chronicles 22:10 2Samuel 7:13

[25] Ephesians 2:19-22 1Timothy 3:15 1Corinthians 3:16

[26] 1Peter 2:5

[27] Matthew 1:1, 12:23, 21:9 Mark 12:35

[28] Acts 20:28 1Corinthians 1:2, 10:32, 11:22, 15:9 Galatians 1:13 1Timothy 3:5

[29] Hebrews 3:6

[30] Romans 1:6, 8:28 1Peter 2:9b

[31] Hebrews 11:40 The saints of old cannot be made perfect (complete) apart from the saints making up the Church of Jesus Christ.
 There is but one Church, and it is made up of all the saints throughout redemptive history,
 one body of the anointed, all to be found in Jesus in the resurrection upon the last day of this age.

[32] The called of God. 1Peter 2:9 Romans 8:30 2Thessalonians 2:14

[33] Hebrews 3:4-6

[34] Ephesians 2:21, 22

[35] 1Corinthians 3:16 2Corinthians 6:16 Ephesians 2:22

[36] 2Corinthians 6:16 Ephesians 2:22 1Corinthians 3:16 See also Leviticus 26:11-12

[37] The saints under the New Covenant have been anointed by God. 1John 2:20, 27 *2Corinthians 1:21
God's plan for His anointed people is that they will be a Kingdom of priests who are to reign as kings.
Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6. Under the Old Covenant, priests, kings, and prophets were anointed. 1Chronicles 16:22 Psalms 105:15
The anointing of God's people finds its foundation all the way back to the Exodus  from Egypt,
when God made known to the world the people He claimed for Himself. Exodus 19:6
"you shall be, a kingdom of priests" (the verb shall be is in the future tense).
This passage is cited in 1Peter 2:5, 9, with the verbs in the present indicative and aorist active, showing the reality of the fulfillment.

[38] 1Kings 8:19, 29, 9:3 Isaiah 52:6 Revelation 3:12

[39] Acts 4:11 Romans 9:33 Ephesians 2:20

[40] 1Peter 2:5 1Corinthians 3:9

[41] Hebrews 2:5, 6:5 Luke 18:30 Ephesians 4:16 Colossians 2:19

[42] Isaiah 43:18 Revelation 21:4

[43] Revelation 21:5 Isaiah 65:17, 66:22 2Peter 3:13 Hebrews 12:27

[44] Luke 21:28 Romans 13:11 Isaiah 56:1

[45] For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. Romans 13:11

[46] Revelation 21:22

[47] 1Peter 2:19 Revelation 2:28, 22:16 Malachi 4:2

[48] 2Peter 3:13 "Behold I create a new heaven and earth." Isaiah 65:17, 66:22 Revelation 21:1

[49] "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24

[50] Leviticus 26:12, cited in 2Corinthians 6:16 *Revelation 3:4, 21:22-24

[51] John 17:22, 23 1Corinthians 15:28 Ephesians 1:23

[52] Jeremiah 24:7, 30:22 Ezekiel 37:23 2Corinthians 6:16 Hebrews 8:10

[53] Hebrews 8:11b-12, cited from Jeremiah 31:34