Page 228 - Through New Eyes

The World of the Temple 227

Mosaic legislation in the New Covenant, but it also reminds us
that the foundation of our social wisdom must be a careful con-
sideration of that Mosaic Law.
From reading Samuel and Kings, and from a close study of 1
Chronicles 11-27, we can see many features of the new constitu-
tion. A full study of this goes beyond the limitations of the pres-
ent book, but we have already mentioned some of the changes: a
small professional army, a system of taxation, a palace complex
for the king. The most important feature of the new polity, how-
ever, was that the king must always submit to the word of the
prophet, for the prophet is the ambassador of the King of kings
(1 Samuel 10:8; 13:8-14).” It was precisely this that Saul refused
to do, and for his rebellion he lost his throne. Throughout the
books of Samuel and Kings, we find the interaction of the proph-
ets with the kings. Good kings hearkened to the prophets, while
bad ones rebelled.
David defeated the Philistine once and for all. He also cap-
tured and secured Melchizedek’s ancient capital, Jerusalem. For
the first time, the entire land was subdued. Now at last God
could move into His capital city and build a permanent sanc-
tuary. David wanted to build a physical house of cedar for God
(2 Samuel 7:7), but God told him that it was more important
that God have a human tree-house (v. 10). David’s own house,
said God, would be His new human cedar house (cf. Ezekiel 17),
His new messianic community gathered around Him. Only
when that human house had been set up would God permit
David’s son to build Him a physical house (VV. 12-16).

The New Heavens and Earth
When a new heavens and earth is set up, first of all the world
is rebuilt. The nations of the world are “restructured,” which
meant in this case that the oppressive nations had to be defeated.
In terms of the wider world, the New Covenant meant that
Israel now took her place among the nations as a kingdom, and
was no longer immature in this sense. After the world is recon-
structed, the land of Eden is recreated. As we mentioned above,
it was David’s task to reorganize the kingdom in this social polity
sense. David had to deal with internal rebellions and thereby
quieten the land. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, there