“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” – Romans 8:14
“For it was fitting for Him, for Whom are all things, and through Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the Author of their salvation through sufferings.” – Hebrews 2:10
“Then one of the young men said, ‘Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man (a man of good presence); and the Lord is with him.” – 1 Samuel 16:18
I have been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel, tracing the Seed of God’s inheritance through God’s choosing, proving, and exalting of David; a pattern that reveals how God forms sons before He establishes His kingdom. This man after God’s own heart, chosen “from the sheepfolds…to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance (Psalm 78:70-72),” endured incredible hardship and difficulty in the 15 or so years from God’s anointing to the unification of all Israel in 2 Samuel 5. These 15 years are most instructive to “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12)! If the Lord wills, we will revisit this period in the coming days.
Passing that for now, after the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan (whom David loved dearly), David inquired of the Lord. Thank God; “he inquired of the Lord (2 Sam. 2:1)!” God directed him to go up to Hebron. Now, Hebron means fellowship which we know comes through relationship and intimate knowledge of our Lord. In God’s order, fellowship precedes government. This is very significant. God established David’s reign over Judah in the place of fellowship. It wasn’t attained through bloodshed, but in “the integrity of his heart (Ps. 78:72)!”
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” – 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
Our Lord Jesus “learned obedience through the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).” That is, what was already intrinsic was tested, proven, embodied, and brought to its full expression. “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him, the source of eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9).”
This pattern is demonstrated (though imperfectly) in David in the 15 years previously mentioned. Oh, the patience of God! The kingdom was not established all at once, but progressively, through righteousness formed and proven over time. It was not the passing of years that produced maturity, but a posture of submission and obedience proven through testing. For 7 1/2 years, he reigned over Judah alone; all of the tribes of Israel were not yet unified. “But when the fulness of time came…at just the right time,” God brought all of Israel together under one head (Galatians 4:4; Romans 5:6)!” The first reference to “King David” is in 2 Sam. 5:3, and in my most recent reading of this, my reaction was “Oh, that looks good on you!” This references back to my time in the military when someone would receive a promotion. Other soldiers would say those words in an affectionate way, stronger than a mere word of congratulation.
How fitting that the man of God’s choosing, whose name means beloved, was proven on the run, dwelling in caves, as a hunted man, would first reign in the place of fellowship. Was this not simply placing a name on David’s time with his and our precious Lord in the field and in the strongholds?
But then, God’s place of union where all of Israel came together under one king, was Jerusalem, the city of peace! Union gives way to rest.
“Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies…” – 2 Samuel 7:1
The “sabbath rest” of Hebrews four is not primarily about cessation of activity, but of God arriving at His intended end: the exalted King living in His house; fully expressed, with nothing of flesh intertwined. Hebron and Jerusalem, Judah and Israel united brings rest. Remember? “I have chosen David…to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.” Is this not a foreshadowing of “God’s own possession…the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:14, 18)?” This inheritance is the full satisfaction of God’s heart in His Son displayed and expressed in “many sons (Heb. 2:10).” This sabbath rest can be explained by briefly looking at Genesis.
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good…By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” – Genesis 1:31; 2:2
Rest on every side and the sabbath rest speak of completion: God satisfied because His work reached its intended end. No self-effort. No self-exaltation. No selfish ambition. Nothing of the flesh can enter the rest of God! “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God…” are no longer children, but sons by “adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself (Rom. 8:14; Eph. 1:5).”
So we have in David the pattern of the work of God in our lives. His godly character was formed in the seemingly mundane “care of the ewes with suckling lambs,” the worship of God in his heart, and his submission to and reliance upon God for everything. He then walked out this heavenly position through the most difficult times of hardship, rejection, and loneliness, as one hunted and betrayed like “a dead dog, a single flea (1 Sam. 24:14).”
But God exalted that man and brought under one (a man after God’s own heart) the nation of God’s choosing, His “son and firstborn (Exodus 4:22).” Formerly there was division due to war in the spirit, but now there was unity.
““that they may all be one…” – John 17:20
Beloved, God is doing this today. He is judging all things in our lives that are of the old man and old order, so that what remains is Christ alone.
“to the intent that now…the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Ephesians 3:9-10
God is gathering together again all things in Christ. Christ as Head, Christ as life, and Christ in full expression in “many sons.” When He is exalted, all division ends; when He is satisfied, all striving ceases. The rest of God is not found in the absence of labor, but in the presence of Christ fully formed and fully governing. When nothing of the old remains to assert itself, God rests, and so do His sons.
“for it is God Who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13
In this we worship, endure, and yield, until “Christ is all, and in all (Colossians 3:11)!”
Much love to you,
Eric