2 Samuel, Chapter 7 (part 1) - Why Not David? | Prophets of Israel Daily

[music] Shalom friends. Welcome back to the Prophets of Israel Daily brought to [music] you by the land of Israel network at the land of Israel.com. This is the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 7, part one. That's right. I had to split this one in two. There was just too much beauty in here. It was just too rich. I just couldn't fit it all into one session. So, friends, there's a uh there's a Jewish practice that reaches back thousands of years. When we finish building a new home, we deliberately leave one portion of it, usually in the living room, somewhere in plain sight, unpainted and unfinished. If you get the home finished completely, then you actually scrape away a square so it will be unpainted and unfinished. Now, many would call this an eyesore, and perhaps it is, but it's it's meant to be. And the origin of this ancient practice is buried inside the very chapter that we open today. Because here's what I find so extraordinarily beautiful about the heart of King David. One of the many things. This chapter opens at the summit of his journey thus far with a king who has finally fully come home. Verse one. And it came to pass when the king dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him. David has arrived. the wars have gone quiet and he's sitting in a beautiful palace built from the elegant cedar woods largely donated by King Hyram of Ty. You'd think that uh he would finally, you know, just exhale and let himself rest for a second, but no. What does he do? And here it is. Here is the beauty of David's heart. Instead of settling into a moment of serenity in his magnificent palace, his heart is unsettled. He's actually pained by it. And so he turns to Natan Hanavi. Natan the prophet. Verse two. You see now I dwelt in a house of cedar but the ark of God dwells within curtains. David is essentially saying how can I sit in a palace while the presence of God dwells in a tent? How can my house be complete while his house is still unfinished? How can I rest when the throne of heaven has not yet found its resting place on earth? That is the heart of King David. And Natan answers immediately, verse three, go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. You know what I I what I really appreciate about this story is the prophet Natan says, yes, do it, David. And he's wrong. and the greatest prophet in the kingdom blesses the king's plan. And that very night, God overturns it. And that doesn't disqualify Natan as a Nav'vi as a prophet. It's what actually makes him a true prophet of Israel. And so the prophet told the king what he intuitively thought was right. But as soon as he realized he was wrong, he was open enough to hear a message that was against his initial instincts. And he was humble enough to change his ways. And then he was courageous enough to walk back into the throne room the next morning and say, "I spoke from my own heart last night, but I was wrong. God does not want you, David, to build the temple." And that could not have been easy news to deliver to King David. And I think sometimes in life, you know, we're so convinced that something is true for us. We believe God wants us to do something like Abraham, like Abraham, being called to sacrifice Isaac. We have to always be open to analyzing the situation, seeing the truth of our life as it unfolds. Because we might be called to make a U-turn at any point. Imagine if Abraham was so convinced that he was right that he had to sacrifice Isaac and he wasn't open to that second voice that came in. I mean, I think like Natan the prophet, we always need to be open to that preceding guidance in life. Yeah. You always talk about, Jeremy, that's one of your things, living that guided life. And that's right. The word of Hashem came to Natan that night and overturned everything. He tells David, "No, it will not be you that build me a temple. It will be your son." Verse 5. the the she shall you build me a house for me to dwell in? God asks. And then he continues, I have not dwelt in a house since I brought Israel out of Egypt. I've been moving about in a tent. Did I ever ask a single tribe? Why have you not built me a house of cedar? No. God tells David, "When you pass on, I will raise up a son after you, and he will build a house for my name." And here's the question that's bothered me for years. And my close friends, I've spoken about this. This comes up a lot. And I sort of took this opportunity of what we're doing here in the pro prophets of Israel daily to take a deeper dive and and to try to bring a little bit more perspective to the issue. So the text says plainly, not you. It will not be David that will build the bed mikdash on Mount Mariah. As much as his heart yearns for it above all else, it will not be David that builds the temple in Jerusalem. But it never tells us why. And into that silence, people have poured much thought. But one primary explanation has emerged and is relatively accepted. And you've heard it, you've heard it a hundred times. David couldn't build the beta mikdash because he had too much blood on his hands. And this answer does have a source. But notice where that source is. It's not in the prophecy we just quoted above. It's not in this chapter. In the text of our chapter, God promises David an eternal dynasty and a son who would build the house of God. But not one word about blood. The blood, that whole blood reason comes later actually from David's own mouth. Indaim the book of Chronicles in chapter 22 an agent King David explains to his son I could not build a house for God's name because I shed dam right much blood and I waged great wars or or many wars and so it feels settled right the hands of David the warrior are simply too stained to build God's house >> you know but Ari before you go any further I just want to say how strange that answer feels to me. I mean, just think for a second about what we spent these whole chapters celebrating. David's wars weren't ambition or blood lust. We know that he was driving back the Philistines who terrorized Israel, clearing out the enemies, who wanted God's own people erased from the earth. Those were wars of heaven. And so now we're being told that the very blood he spilled defending the covenant is the very thing that's preventing him from fulfilling the holiest act of his life. It just doesn't fit right with me. It almost sounds like God is penalizing David for the one thing he sent him to do. So to me, the popular answer can't be the whole story. Either it's incomplete or we've been reading it backwards this entire time. And I have a feeling you're about to tell me that it's both. >> That's exactly where I want to go, Jeremy, because I'm not here I'm not here to challenge that explanation. God forbid. Those are from those words are from David's mouth. I'm here I think what I want to do here is expand on it. We have a tradition brought down from the midrash in intraabati in which uh Davided hears those very words, right? You have shed much blood and trembling and I'm I'm paraphrasing here. He turns to heaven. And he turns to Hashem and he and he asks, "Have I been disqualified? Was the blood I spilled a stain on my soul?" And listen to how God answers him. Davidid Alira, David, do not fear. The blood you spilled is precious before me, like the blood of the offerings on the altar. Your wars were no sin. You defended my people and drove evil out of the land. That blood was holy. So David presses the real question. Then why, master of the world, why, if my hands are clean, if my wars were holy, why can I not build your house? And here's the answer that turns Jeremy, I think it turns the whole thing on its head. And that answer, when it finally comes, does not just solve a question that has sat unanswered for 3,000 years. It reaches all the way down into the unfinished corner we leave bare in our homes. It reaches all the way down to the empty throne that we still ache for at this very moment today. But that answer, my friends, we'll have to wait until tomorrow. So maybe take a few minutes before our next session and think about that question. Try to hold it the way David did with an expectant humble heart as David trembled in his palace of cedar wanting to understand why. Why would God turn away the one man whose whole heart burned to build his house? Anyways, we'll talk about it tomorrow. And tomorrow, Bizraem, we will come together and I promise you, Bizam, it it overturns almost everything you thought you knew about why the temple wasn't David's to build. Kazak Vamat, my friends, we will see you tomorrow. And if you're loving this, come to our website, the landofisrael.com. Join the network. There's different tiers and different ways to connect. There's so many things we're doing. Just come check us out. [music] Shalom. Shalom.