Page 91 - Satan in the Sanctuary

Moses to Moshe—A Bloody Site 93

almost forty years, made Jerusalem his' capital. We are
still seeing the results of this choice. His first concern in
Jerusalem, as he told the prophet Nathan, was, "See now,
I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth
within curtains" (2 Sa 7:2). The Jews had continued
their worship in a temporary tabernacle, or tent, lacking a
proper Temple.
Nathan, speaking with the knowledge of a prophet of
God, encouraged David to go ahead with the Temple plans.
"The LORD is with thee," he advised (2 Sa 7:3).
The reaction of God to David's enthusiasm for the
sacred project was to promise, as He did with Abraham,
that David's posterity would endure; more, that the very
kingdom of Christ would be founded upon David.
Jesus, David's descendant ("of the seed of David ac-
cording to the flesh" Ro 1:3) was indeed "crowned" at
Jerusalem, but with a crown of thorns. The Davidic cove-
nant, as this promise is called, is immutable, however, and
as we have seen from prophecy, Jesus is to reign, truly the
king on earth.
But David was not to oversee the actual construction
of the temple. He disqualified himself as the years went on,
by being too much of a soldier. On one occasion he com-
mitted a sin of pride by conducting a military census of the
nation. He wanted to know the exact number of Hebrew
men who "drew the sword."
David's servant Joab could see the folly here; God would
be provoked by the king's conceit. "Why then doth my
lord require this thing?" he questions David. "Why will he
be a cause of trespass to Israel?" (1 Ch 21:3).
But David had his way. Israel's standing army was count-
ed and proved to boast of 1.5 million soldiers.
Joab was right about God's attitude toward this indiscre-