Week of 1/13-1/19: Develops - God Provides Leaders

Day One: 2 Samuel 7:11-16 “ ‘The LORD declares to you: The LORD Himself will make a house for you. When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” “He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others. But My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way.” “Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY POSSESSIONS left to you by an older relative? Maybe your grandfather’s old watch sits in a drawer, or your great-grandmother’s pearls are in your jewelry box. Leaving behind a tangible reminder of your life to generations that follow is a key part of the way our society remembers its previous generations. It humanizes the names we grow up hearing about and gives us something to look at to think about those who came before us. It helps those who went before us live on in our hearts and minds.

In this passage, God is making clear his intention to rule his people through a human king, David, but also to set up a lineage and a kingdom. “I w

ill raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body,” he tells David. There would be no watch or journal left behind—future generations would remember David’s reign (and God’s fulfillment of His promises) through David’s lineage, beginning with his son, Solomon.

Items that get passed from generation to generation are clues that help us understand the person who left them. In this passage, we see some other clues—look closer at the language God uses: “I will establish his kingdom forever.” God is speaking about a greater King to come—a King whose reign will never end. A King who will never be removed from his throne. Any human king that would ever take the throne would pale to this coming King, this King Jesus, who would leave behind a life and ministry that would change the world forever. Now that’s a legacy you can’t keep in a drawer.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷How does looking at items left from one generation to another help us remember the person who left them?

▷▷How would you feel if you were given the message God gave David—that He would establish a kingdom through your lineage?

▷▷How does this promise to David point to Jesus?