Preparing a Place

"I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly,

(2 Samuel 7:10)

"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3)

God’s covenant and promise to David reaches far beyond the life of David and his son Solomon. David’s dynasty was to be an eternal reign: “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” 7:13). The ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic covenant came through David’s greatest son, Messiah Jesus. The Apostle Paul affirmed this fulfillment on his first missionary journey to Antioch in Pisidia:

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.' And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.'

(Acts 13:32-34)

The Apostle James also confirmed this connection when he declared at the council in Jerusalem:

 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, “After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,  says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.” (Acts 15:15-18)

And Jesus Himself affirmed his Messiahship with this challenge to the Pharisees:

"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, "'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" (Matthew 22:42-45)

God promised David that He would appoint a place for His people Israel where they would be safe from all harm and nourished by the Lord Himself. The physical Promised Land was not the ultimate fulfillment of that promise. The writer to the Hebrews, commenting on Psalm 95:7-11 referring to the Promised Land as God’s “rest,” says this:

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:8-10)

That “Sabbath rest” is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and it will ultimately culminate in the New Heaven and New Earth where there is perfect peace and righteousness.

When you read God’s promise to David, “I will appoint a place for My people,” can you not hear also the words of the Savior: “I go to prepare a place for you . . . that where I am you may be also”?