The Place of Rest

David cannot build God's temple. Perhaps that reality is a struggle for many Bible readers because of how faithful and courageous David was for the Lord. Well, in 1 Chronicles 22 we get a LOT more clarity on that matter. Look with me:

1 Chronicles 22:7-10 (ESV) David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’  

There are some key ideas communicated here by David. First, the reason for David's rejection from God to build the temple: he shed a lot of blood in a lot of war. He killed many many people. Bloodshed was never God's original idea for the Earth. Blood had to be shed because of our sin.

Ezekiel 18:20 (ESV) The soul who sins shall die. 

Second, we are supposed to look beyond David. As great as David was, he is NOT the ultimate plan and purpose of God. He was only supposed to point toward him for you and me. In this passage, we are to see Solomon, but ultimately we are to see Christ, the true Son of David. 

Third, Solomon's name means, "Peaceable" from the Hebrew, "Shalom". It is clear the man God would choose to build a place for His dwelling must be a man of peace and not bloodshed. Why? Because that's what our salvation is - peace with God and with our fellow man. 

Finally, we see the intention of the Temple. Look closer at verse 9:

1 Chronicles 22:9 (ESV) Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies.

The important description of Solomon? He will be a man of rest. Interestingly, David would forget this later on as he gives Solomon detailed instructions to "off" a certain few fellows who treated him poorly. Again, David was not perfect. But Solomon would be the man of REST that would build a place for God's people to come and rest from their labor in His presence.

The passage is clear: We need a man of peace to bring us back to God and provide us rest from all our toil and strain. That man of peace would ultimately be Christ, not Solomon. Ephesians 2:14 says, "He himself is our peace..."

Now in Christ, we have a true Temple by which we enter into God's presence and God dwells in us. The Temple that was Christ's body was broken and "cast down" into the grave to bring us peace with God. The blood that He shed was only His. He died for us who were His enemies. In this way, Jesus is both our true David and Solomon.

Jesus provides what no other hero can - a place of peace in the presence of God.

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