2 Samuel 7:4 - Forerunner Commentary

2 Samuel 7:4

2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in ^aa house of cedar, ^bbut the ark of God dwells inside tent ^ccurtains.”

3 Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your ^aheart, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,

5 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^a“Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?

6 For I have not dwelt in a house ^asince the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in ^ba tent and in a tabernacle.

7 Wherever I have ^amoved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded ^bto shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^a“I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for 2 Samuel 7:4.

II Samuel 7:1-7

You can see very clearly there that the context is the building of a structure. David lived inside a house of cedar. He got to thinking, "Boy, I live in this nice house and God lives in a tent. It shouldn't be that way. God should have a better house than that. God should live in a house of cedar too."

That was a good thought. He had good intentions. But, God comes back and says, "No, I don't need a house. When the time comes for a house we will do something else but I've never said a word about that. David, don't you worry about that, I am perfectly content to live in a tent."

Now, wait a minute. David already said he had a nice house. Is God going to build him another house? An even nicer house? No, because now God is shifting the emphasis from a building to something else: a family. Now we are seeing the word house being a metonymy for a family.

Excerpted from Don't Leave the House!

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