2 SAMUEL 7


[Shmuel Bais 7]

Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

1 And it came to pass, when the king [HaMelech] sat in his house [Bais], and Yahweh had given him rest round about from all his enemies [oyevim];

In the former part of his reign he was much engaged in war, which was at length terminated by the Lord giving him rest from all his enemies. At this crisis of his history, it came into

his heart to build a magnificent temple for the ark and cherubim of glory. Though the Lord highly approved of the feeling which prompted the resolution, He forbid him carrying it into effect.

The work was too momentous to be undertaken by one in David's case. Yahweh being the real king of Israel did not permit a national temple to be erected in His kingdom by a subordinate ruler without His primary direction. David had shed much blood which was urged as an objection to his doing more than collecting the materials; which his son should put together after his decease.

Elpis Israel 2.4.



2 That the king [HaMelech] said unto Nathan the prophet [ Natan HaNavi], See now, I dwell in an house [Bais ] of cedar, but the ark of Elohim [Aron HaElohim] dwelleth within curtains [ the curtain].

'...the striking fact in the case, as illustrative of the ways of providence, is, that this covenant with David - (one of the chief pillars, as we may say, of the city having foundations) - was brought about, so far as David was concerned by David's own natural spontaneous meditations and intentions concerning the work of God.

We are told that Yahweh having given David rest from all his enemies, he began to grow uneasy at the fact that while he dwelt in a palace, the ark of God was under a tent. He mentioned his feelings to Nathan the prophet, as much as to intimate that he begrudged his own personal comforts and enjoyments while the things of God were less well appointed; and that he would like to put up a substantial edifice for the divine service and honour. *

3 And Nathan [Natan] said to the king [HaMelech], Go, do all that is in thine heart [lev]; for Yahweh is with thee.

Nathan encouraged David in his view: *



4 And it came to pass that night [lailah], that the word [Devar] of Yahweh came unto Nathan, saying,

5 Go and tell my servant David [Avdi Dovid], Thus saith Yahweh, Shalt thou build Me an house [Bais] for Me to dwell in?

But that night, a different light was put upon the subject by the message that came to Nathan. David was forbidden to build the contemplated temple. Having shed much blood, he was declared unsuitable, in the divine fitness of things, for undertaking a work of worship and peace.

He was commended for entertaining the idea:

"Thou didst well that it was in thine heart to build an house to My name. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house" (1 Kings 8:18). *



6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.


The Tabernacle is a wonderful allegory of type and lesson: God enthroned in Israel-first in Israel naturally, and then spiritual Israel. This is the deepest and most beautiful subject in Scripture; this is the heart of the divine purpose. Yahweh Elohim:

"He who shall be Mighty Ones," Emmanuel, God with us-the eternal purpose of God to tabernacle with men.

The whole Tabernacle was a picture of the way of salvation. It is called the Tabernacle of Meeting, for there God met with man. It is called the Tabernacle of Witness or Testi­mony, for it is God's witness, testimony or revelation of Himself-His characteristics, His desires and His purposes con­cerning man.

A tabernacle or tent is a temporary dwelling place, nothing fixed or final; it speaks of pilgrimage, or a wilderness journey, of no continuing city. The present is the tabernacle wilderness state. We look to the future for the permanent Temple state. We must be ready at all times to move with the Truth wherever it leads. Present considerations are secondary and unimportant.

Bro Growcott - The Court of the Tabernacle




12 And when thy days [ yamim] be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers [Avot], I will set up thy seed [raise up thy Zera] after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels [loins], and I will establish his kingdom [Mamlachah].

The individual who was to be -- he who was promised to Eve in Gen. iii. 15; to Abraham in Gen. xv. 4: xxi. 12; to Judah in Gen. xlix. 10; to David in 2 Sam. vii. 12-14; Isai. ix. 6,7 -- was the personage indicated by YAHWEH He shall be, styled, in Hebrew, "the Messiah;" in Greek, "the Christ;" and in English, "the Anointed." Now the Spirit said by the prophets, I shall be he; and here, in the Apocalypse, we find the Spirit and Jesus speaking as one.

Now, the "Seed of Abraham," genealogically considered, must partake of Abraham's nature -- must partake of flesh and blood. The Spirit, therefore, in effect said, I shall become flesh and blood. But how could this be? The answer to this is, that the fact depends not upon our ability to explain the mode in which spirit may be elaborated into flesh and blood. The Bible testifies that all things are out of Deity, who is spirit. The Eternal Power formed Adam out of dust.

Spirit is the basis of all created things; and, according to the will of the Creator, becomes rock, dust, sea, vegetable, and animal, in all their diversity of form and beauty. All the resurrected who shall be approved, will become spirit; "for that which has been begotten of the Spirit is spirit" -- begotten subsequently to their post-resurrectional appearance at Christ's tribunal. If, then, flesh and blood thus become spirit, (and some flesh and blood will become spirit without tasting of death, Paul says), why may not spirit become flesh and blood? It is but a reversal of results from a change of process.

The name, then, in connection with the testimony of the prophets, indicates a conversion of Spirit into flesh and blood, developed by the formative power of the Eternal, independently of and apart from the will of man. In the case of the first Adam, spirit, as it were leaven, mingled formatively with dust, and a flesh and blood man was developed styled "Son of God;" but in the case of the second Adam, spirit acted upon the nervous system of Mary, as it had previously done upon Sarah, and Hannah, but to a further degree (for in these, it had only imparted strength for conception according to nature) in that it operated germinatively upon the contents of Mary's ovarium; and caused an ovum, or "seed of the woman," to be deposited in her womb.

Here, as the spirit-germ of the second man it remained the usual "set time," subject to the laws of animal economy. At the appointed time it was born the babe of Bethlehem; and duly named Jesus, or He shall be who shall save -- both "Son of God," and "Son of Man," which the first Adam was not. Adam was Son of God and Son of the Dust; Jesus was Son of God and Son of Man, being a creation of the Eternal Power from the substance of David's daughter.

Such was the babe Jesus in preparation for the Sacrificial Man. His germination was irrespective of the lust of the flesh, the propensity excited in the first Adam by his guilty companion, and of which Cain was the fruit. In this particular, the generation of Jesus was different from that of all other men. If Joseph had been his father, he would have been born of blood, of the will of the flesh, and of man, instead of the Spirit. He would have been son of man only, and not Son of God; and consequently would not have answered to the testimony of the name.

Eureka 2.3.4.



This unconditional promise given to David by Yahweh concerned the throne; as that to Abraham confirmed the Land. Those in the Edenic covenant are offered Life; those in the Abrahamic are offered an Inheritance; in the Davidic, they are offered Honour.

Since the days of Zedekiah, only one king of the Davidic family has been crowned in Jerusalem, and he was crowned with thorns by a jeering mob. But the covenant is immutable by the oath of Yahweh (Psa. 89:24-37; 132:11), and Yahweh will yet give to the thorn-crowned One, the throne of his father David.

This covenant stands together with that in Eden (Gen. 3:15), in which was provided the Seed of the Woman who would give Life; with the covenant of Abraham (Gen. 12:2-3), in which was provided the Seed of Faith who would give the inheritance of the Land.

The covenant of David provided for the Seed of the Throne, so completing the three-fold gift of divine glory to Yahweh's people.

www.logos.org.au



13 He shall build an house for My name [Bais for My Shem], and I will stablish the throne [kisse] of his kingdom for ever [Mamlachah ad olam].

Forever - The Millenium and beyond

This, doubtless, had reference to Solomon, in whom also it had a preliminary fulfilment: but we have the authority of the Spirit of God, both in the prophets and the apostles, for giving it a much remoter, larger, and more glorious application to the "greater than Solomon," the Son, the Lord of David, the antitype and substance of all the allegories contained in the first covenant and its surroundings. What is worthy of special consideration is, that this important institute of the kingdom of God should have found the occasion of its introduction in David's own faithfulness, working in quite a natural way.

'...take heed to our ways, and strive to preserve always towards God, a tender, willing, and obedient heart. Who can tell what blessings will come to us in this attitude, which would otherwise never arise? *



14 I will be his father [Av], and he shall be My Son [Ben]. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men [shevet anashim], and with the stripes of the children of men [floggings of bnei adam]:


David's expectations of the Messiah

The idea, then of God having a son is Mosaic, and not of Nazarene origin. But we are not left to inference and implication in relation to the Christ being the Son of God. That he should be both Son of Man and Son of God -- "of man," by his mother, and "of God," by his Father--is expressly stated in 2 Sam. 7:14; 1 Chron. 17:13. In the Berith Olahm, or Covenant of the Aion, recorded there, Yahweh informed David that he should have a Seed or Descendant, who should be resurrected to sit upon the throne of the House of Israel; and that Yahweh would be his Father, and he, the Seed, should be His Son.

Hence, David expected that the Son of the Woman who is to bruise the Serpent's Head, would descend from himself, and therefore be Son of Man; but that he would be begotten in one of his female descendants by the Spirit of Yahweh, and therefore be Son of God. This was the kind of Christ expected by David; and therefore in Psalm 110 he styles him "Lord," although His son.

The berith or covenant, that promised this, was ever present to the mind of David. The truth of this is apparent abundantly in the Psalms; besides that, he would constantly have before his mind, what he tells us was "all his salvation, and all his delight."

He understood that the subject of this covenant was the Second Adam; for when it was delivered to him, he exclaimed: "Who am I, Yahweh Elohim; and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in Thine eyes, Elohim; for Thou hast spoken concerning the house of Thy servant to a far distant time; and Thou hast regarded me according to the oracle of the ascending Adam, Yahweh Elohim" (1 Chron. 17:17). And in 2 Sam. 7:19, he says of the covenant: "This is the oracle of the Adam, Yahweh Elohim."

David's mind then, was full of this remarkable idea, that the Son of God was to descend from his loins. No Jew can refute this proposition. They are as dumb in its presence as when Jesus silenced their fathers that they could not answer him a word. To the carnal mind the idea is no doubt absurd and incomprehensible, because it judges according to the flesh. How could the Son of God be born of a woman? This is "a great mystery," says Paul, "God manifested in flesh"; and with all the love of mystery, and acuteness of the human mind, Jews nor Gentiles can make nothing of it apart from Moses and the prophets.

Now look at a few sentences from David's pen, as illustrative of his views of things in connection with the Son of God, who was to descend from him. "The truth to David Yahweh swore; He will not turn from it; saying, from the fruit of thy body I will set for thee on the throne. If thy sons will keep my covenant (berith) and my testimony which I will teach them; even their sons shall sit on the throne for thee until AD adai-ad. Because Yahweh has chosen (to be) in Zion; he has desired it for a dwelling for Him. This, saith He, is My rest until AD; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. There I will make a Horn to bud forth for David. His enemies will I clothe with shame; and upon Him shall his crown flourish" (Psalm 132:11-18).

From this we learn:

1. That the Davidian Son of God is to be a King upon a throne in Zion, where David's sons have already reigned.

2. That the throne on which they sat is to have existence until AD.

3. That it should continue from David's time until AD, on condition of his sons keeping the covenant and the testimony.

4. That the Son of God Yahweh would consequently be the Ascending Adam, Yahweh Elohim, whom in Psalm 110 David in Spirit sees at the right hand of power.

We may remark here that ad is a remoter period than olahm. Ad does not arrive till olahm has passed away. It is an indefinite series of ages beyond the thousand years of Messiah's Aion. David's throne is for this period, styled in Daniel, "a season and a time." Olahm ends where Ad begins; so that "until Ad" is to the end of Olahm. Paul refers to this when he says, in 1 Cor. 15:24: "Then cometh the END when he, Christ, shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father ... that God may be all things in all men" (Ta Panta en pasin).

This is what obtains beyond olahm, or in Ad. When the end of Olahm touches the beginning of Ad, a change in mundane affairs again ensues. It is the epoch of the crushing of the serpent's head, which occurs 1,000 years after his being bound. "The Son of God reigns until He (the Eternal Spirit) hath put all enemies under his feet." This is Paul's testimony; and that "until" is the "until Ad" of Psalm 132:12, 14. When "all enemies" are destroyed, there will be no occasion for any more reigning; for to continue a reign after the last enemy is destroyed, and God is "all things in all," would be for God to reign over Himself, which is absurd.

Now David's throne would have continued from David's time until Ad, without interruption, if his sons had kept Yahweh's covenant and testimony; even that testimony which should be delivered to them after David wrote -- "which," says he, "I shall teach them." This testimony was the Gospel of the Kingdom, which the Eternal Spirit had sent Jesus of Nazareth to proclaim to Israel -- the Spirit's words put into the mouth of the prophet like unto Moses, which a man can reject only at the hazard of damnation (Deut. 18:15-19). But they despised the Covenant of Promise, and therefore the sons of David were excluded from the throne at the Babylonish captivity; and the throne itself abolished until the Son of God should come as "The Repairer of the Breach; the Restorer of the paths to dwell in" (Isaiah 58:12).

But David saw that the Son of God would not be allowed by the kings of the earth and their partizans to enter peaceably upon the possession of his throne; in fact that they would do their best to prevent it. In his last words he styles them "a thornbush to be thrust away, and consumed": and though they should fill the Son of God with iron and the shaft of a spear, he should nevertheless smite them (2 Sam. 23:5-7), and by the power of the Eternal Spirit, be established in Zion as King over the nations to the utmost bounds of the earth, as testified in the second Psalm.

Will a Jew read this, and persist in denying that Yahweh has a Son? In that testimony he will find predicted a conspiracy to murder "Yahweh's Anointed," and so get quit of his yoke. But that it is only temporarily successful, because of the interposition of Divine Power. Yahweh laughs their impotence to scorn, and tells them that notwithstanding all efforts against it, He will set His King on Zion, after He has raised him from the dead, according to the words, "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee; and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them to pieces as a potter's vessel" (Psalm 2).

David's expectations of the Messiah


Notice further, that 2Samuel 7 outlines two houses: one composed of living stones, a house of faith that Yahweh would build (v. 11), and a house of literal stones, a house of worship that Yahshua would build (v. 13; cp. Zech. 6:12-13).

www.logos.org.au


14 I will be his father [Av], and he shall be My Son [Ben]. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men [shevet anashim], and with the stripes of the children of men [floggings of bnei adam]:

The whole covenant is based upon the divine Fatherhood, though the Son would bear the iniquity of Adamic condemnation.

Bro. Thomas translates this verse:

"Whom in his being caused to bow down, I will chasten with a sceptre of men and with stripes from the sons of Adam."

Bearing sin's flesh, the Christ would be redeemed therefrom by his sacrifice (the sceptre and stripes), and thus lead his people to eternal glory (v. 16).

www.logos.org.au


David's expectations of the Messiah

The idea, then of God having a son is Mosaic, and not of Nazarene origin. But we are not left to inference and implication in relation to the Christ being the Son of God. That he should be both Son of Man and Son of God -- "of man," by his mother, and "of God," by his Father--is expressly stated in 2 Sam. 7:14; 1 Chron. 17:13. In the Berith Olahm, or Covenant of the Aion, recorded there, Yahweh informed David that he should have a Seed or Descendant, who should be resurrected to sit upon the throne of the House of Israel; and that Yahweh would be his Father, and he, the Seed, should be His Son.

Hence, David expected that the Son of the Woman who is to bruise the Serpent's Head, would descend from himself, and therefore be Son of Man; but that he would be begotten in one of his female descendants by the Spirit of Yahweh, and therefore be Son of God. This was the kind of Christ expected by David; and therefore in Psalm 110 he styles him "Lord," although His son.

The berith or covenant, that promised this, was ever present to the mind of David. The truth of this is apparent abundantly in the Psalms; besides that, he would constantly have before his mind, what he tells us was "all his salvation, and all his delight."

He understood that the subject of this covenant was the Second Adam; for when it was delivered to him, he exclaimed: "Who am I, Yahweh Elohim; and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in Thine eyes, Elohim; for Thou hast spoken concerning the house of Thy servant to a far distant time; and Thou hast regarded me according to the oracle of the ascending Adam, Yahweh Elohim" (1 Chron. 17:17). And in 2 Sam. 7:19, he says of the covenant:

"This is the oracle of the Adam, Yahweh Elohim."

David's mind then, was full of this remarkable idea, that the Son of God was to descend from his loins. No Jew can refute this proposition. They are as dumb in its presence as when Jesus silenced their fathers that they could not answer him a word.

To the carnal mind the idea is no doubt absurd and incomprehensible, because it judges according to the flesh. How could the Son of God be born of a woman? This is "a great mystery," says Paul, "God manifested in flesh"; and with all the love of mystery, and acuteness of the human mind, Jews nor Gentiles can make nothing of it apart from Moses and the prophets.

Now look at a few sentences from David's pen, as illustrative of his views of things in connection with the Son of God, who was to descend from him.

"The truth to David Yahweh swore; He will not turn from it; saying, from the fruit of thy body I will set for thee on the throne. If thy sons will keep my covenant (berith) and my testimony which I will teach them; even their sons shall sit on the throne for thee until AD adai-ad. Because Yahweh has chosen (to be) in Zion; he has desired it for a dwelling for Him. This, saith He, is My rest until AD; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. There I will make a Horn to bud forth for David. His enemies will I clothe with shame; and upon Him shall his crown flourish" (Psalm 132:11-18).

From this we learn:

1. That the Davidian Son of God is to be a King upon a throne in Zion, where David's sons have already reigned.

2. That the throne on which they sat is to have existence until AD.

3. That it should continue from David's time until AD, on condition of his sons keeping the covenant and the testimony.

4. That the Son of God Yahweh would consequently be the Ascending Adam, Yahweh Elohim, whom in Psalm 110 David in Spirit sees at the right hand of power.

We may remark here that ad is a remoter period than olahm. Ad does not arrive till olahm has passed away. It is an indefinite series of ages beyond the thousand years of Messiah's Aion. David's throne is for this period, styled in Daniel, "a season and a time." Olahm ends where Ad begins; so that "until Ad" is to the end of Olahm. Paul refers to this when he says, in 1 Cor. 15:24:

"Then cometh the END when he, Christ, shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father ... that God may be all things in all men" (Ta Panta en pasin).

This is what obtains beyond olahm, or in Ad. When the end of Olahm touches the beginning of Ad, a change in mundane affairs again ensues. It is the epoch of the crushing of the serpent's head, which occurs 1,000 years after his being bound.

"The Son of God reigns until He (the Eternal Spirit) hath put all enemies under his feet."

This is Paul's testimony; and that "until" is the "until Ad" of Psalm 132:12, 14. When "all enemies" are destroyed, there will be no occasion for any more reigning; for to continue a reign after the last enemy is destroyed, and God is "all things in all," would be for God to reign over Himself, which is absurd.

Now David's throne would have continued from David's time until Ad, without interruption, if his sons had kept Yahweh's covenant and testimony; even that testimony which should be delivered to them after David wrote -- "which," says he, "I shall teach them." This testimony was the Gospel of the Kingdom, which the Eternal Spirit had sent Jesus of Nazareth to proclaim to Israel -- the Spirit's words put into the mouth of the prophet like unto Moses, which a man can reject only at the hazard of damnation (Deut. 18:15-19).

But they despised the Covenant of Promise, and therefore the sons of David were excluded from the throne at the Babylonish captivity; and the throne itself abolished until the Son of God should come as

"The Repairer of the Breach; the Restorer of the paths to dwell in" (Isaiah 58:12).

But David saw that the Son of God would not be allowed by the kings of the earth and their partizans to enter peaceably upon the possession of his throne; in fact that they would do their best to prevent it. In his last words he styles them

"a thornbush to be thrust away, and consumed":

and though they should fill the Son of God with iron and the shaft of a spear, he should nevertheless smite them (2 Sam. 23:5-7), and by the power of the Eternal Spirit, be established in Zion as King over the nations to the utmost bounds of the earth, as testified in the second Psalm.

Will a Jew read this, and persist in denying that Yahweh has a Son? In that testimony he will find predicted a conspiracy to murder "Yahweh's Anointed," and so get quit of his yoke. But that it is only temporarily successful, because of the interposition of Divine Power.

Yahweh laughs their impotence to scorn, and tells them that notwithstanding all efforts against it, He will set His King on Zion, after He has raised him from the dead, according to the words,

"Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee; and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them to pieces as a potter's vessel" (Psalm 2).

Phanerosis - David's expectations of the Messiah.



16 And thine house [Bais] and thy kingdom [Mamlachah] shall be established for ever [ad olam] before thee: thy throne [kisse] shall be established for ever [ ad olam ].

These promises are styled "an everlasting covenant even the sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55:3; Acts 13:34). There can be no doubt to whom they refer, for the apostle has applied them to Christ (Heb. 1:5). In his last words, David thus expresses himself concerning them,

"The God of Israel spake to me, saying, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And He (the Just One) shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although He make it not to grow" (2 Sam. 23:3-5).

This covenant of the throne and kingdom was David's desire and salvation, because it promised him a resurrection to eternal life, in the assurance that his house, kingdom, and throne, with God's son and his son, one person, sitting upon it, should be established in his presence for ever.

"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, saying, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing which has gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven'' (Psalm 89:3, 4, 19-28, 34-37).

After these testimonies there requires no further proof that David's family was constituted by a solemn covenant the Royal House of God's Kingdom; and that one of David's posterity whom God should acknowledge to be his son, should be its everlasting king. The claims of Jesus to be David's Seed and God's Son have been fully established by his resurrcetion from the dead; which is an assurance to all men, both Jews and Gentiles, that God hath appointed him, as the Holy one of Israel their king; to rule the world in righteousness, and to establish truth and equity among the nations; as God sware to Moses, saying,

"Truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."

Elpis Israel 2.4.



18 Then went king David [HaMelech Dovid] in, and sat before Yahweh, and he said, Who am I, O Adonai Yahweh? and what is my house [Bais], that Thou hast brought me hitherto [this far]?

19 And this was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Adonai Yahweh; but Thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house [Bais Avdecha] for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man [And is this fitting for haAdam (such as me)], O Adonai Yahweh?

20 And what can David [Dovid] say more unto Thee? For Thou, Adonai Yahweh, knowest thy servant [Avdecha].

21 For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart [lev], hast Thou done all these great things [gedullah], to make thy servant know them [ made it known to Avdecha].

22 Wherefore Thou art great, Adonoi Hashem; for there is none like Thee, neither is there any Elohim but Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

People think that the work of God is independent of man: so it is in a sense. They think it will come to pass quite irrespective of human disposition or human action. So in a sense it will. His great and mighty purposes conceived and executed "after the counsel of His own will" will be accomplished, whoever might fail or try to hinder. At the same time, His work, in its individual application is evidently affected by individual conditions. The words are not idle words which are uttered by James,

"Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you." *

* Ways of Providence Ch 17.


26 And let Thy name [Shem] be magnified for ever [ad olam], saying, Yahweh of hosts [Tzivos] is the Elohim over Israel [Yisroel]: and let the house of thy servant David [Bais of Avdecha Dovid] be established before thee.

This ELOAH is the great theme of prophecy. His manifestation was predicted in the promise of the Woman's Seed (Gen. 3:15) in Isaac (ch. 21:12); of the royal Shiloh from Judah (ch. 49:10) of the sceptred Star out of Jacob (Numb. 24:17); of the Divine Son assured to David (2 Sam. 7:14), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14) and to rule upon his throne (Isa. 9:6, 7). In these testimonies it was revealed, that he should be both Son of man and Son of Deity.

How this could be otherwise than is related in the New Testament would be impossible to devise. "Is there an Eloah without me?" saith the Spirit: "Yea, there is no Rock; I know none" (Isai. 44:8). The manifestation therefore, must be by the spirit of the Deity, or not at all. The time of manifestation was appointed and placed on record in Dan. 9:25; and "when the fulness of the time was come, the Deity sent forth his son, made of a woman;" begotten, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the Deity; by holy spirit coming upon her, and power of the Highest enveloping her; therefore also the holy thing she bore was called a Son of Deity, and named JESUS (Luke 1:35, 31).

Thus, "the Logos became flesh, and dwelt among us," says John, "and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth;" for "the law was given through Moses; the grace and the truth came through Jesus Anointed" (John 1:14, 17). Now, "Theos was the Logos," says John; that is, Deity was the Word; and this Word became flesh in the manner testified. Was the product, therefore, not Deity? Did the unions of spirit with flesh annihilate that spirit, and leave only flesh? Was the holy thing born a mere son of Adam? or "the fellow" and "equal" of the Deity? (Zech. 13:7; John 5:18 Phil. 2:6). The latter unquestionably.

After this manner, then, THE ETERNAL POWER, or Yahweh, became flesh; and commenced the initiation of His promise, that He would be to Israel for Elohim.

Eureka 1.2.2.



28 And now, O Adonai Yahweh, thou art that Elohim, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

David having received this crowning mercy of the throne-covenant in recognition of his faithful solicitude in the affairs of God, did not sink supinely in the delicious lethargy which it might have produced in some men. He busied himself more actively than he even appears to have done previously in the matters connected with the divine service and honour.

He pitched a tent for the ark in Jerusalem, and organised an extensive and regular service of the priests, and set himself to collect a vast store of materials for the building of the temple which he understood Solomon, the man of peace, was to build. In this David is an illustration to us of what Paul means when he not only recommends them to be "steadfast and unmoveable" but to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord."

Not that we can make opulent arrangement for the public honour of God as David was able to do: but we can "always abound" in the measure of what is possible to us. There are some who are full of steady and ingenious enterprise for the Truth's service in all its departments, and there are some that pour cold water on this class of activity. It is not difficult to decide to which of the two classes David's case belongs.

David's true brethren will want to emulate David's spirit. If we cannot render an official and resplendent service, there is all the greater reason why we should do what we can. The very smallness and poverty of our day is a reason for turning what opportunity we have to the very best account.

Men are very energetic and capable in the promotion of temporal enterprises, and, when successful, receive all sorts of encomiums for their talent, their public spirit, etc. Why should the sons of God be behind the children of this world in the doing of the work that belongs to them?

David was not behind contemporary kings in personal capacity or "go;" he was much before them. And we may all feel that it is permitted to the children of light to go as far as they can in the much higher line of things to which they stand related.

"They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible."

It is all a question of faith. When a man's faith is robust, his devisings and doings are not lagging or feeble.

Seasons 2.72