Thank you and welcome back. We have to make it from here all the way to King David. Put on your saddles. Get on the saddle and let's go. But at this stage, we know that we're getting to the place of the Lord taking them out of their slavery and taking them all the way to the promised land. Thank you again Cecil B. DeMille. They're getting out of Egypt. But notice something interesting. There are two interesting things about the Lord's choice for how to bring them out. When he brings them out, he doesn't take them direct to the promised land. There's a shorter way to go. He's got other plans, and they're two very important ones. Number one, He is going to work with them to show them their utter dependence on Him. And his choice to take them in that direction and in that manner is going to work with them and teach them that lesson. The other thing that's going to happen is that once they get to the meeting place, Mount Sinai is down there. When they get to Mount Sinai, that's a very purposeful gathering of his people. You could call it the summit meeting, right? It takes them to a place as a whole nation to now strike formal covenant with many more instructions there, formal covenant with them as a whole people. He had made covenant with Abraham and he had given him promises. They have now been fulfilled. They are a nation. He takes them out as a nation to the meeting place and important, important things go on there, which we'll get into here in a moment. But notice the route that he chooses. Right at first, right at the beginning, he says, tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp by the sea. Not logical from a strategic point of view, there's a lesson that they're going to learn there. It's not a very good place to camp because, in particular, there is this. Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they're wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. And God said, I will harden Pharaoh's heart And he will pursue them. And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. It's a lesson also for the Egyptians and for Israel. The Lord was going to show his hand again. But the people, the people walk through that in a struggle of faith. And they actually resent God having done it because they haven't yet learned to entrust themselves to His Word. Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? They're addressing Moses, of course, as their leader, the prophet of God. Is it because there were no graves in Egypt? Their thought was actually this. Here's what God's doing. He hates us too. He's just drawing us out to kill us. But Moses spoke comfort to them. And he said, excuse me. He said, fear not, stand firm, see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent. These would be the kind of lessons that would remain in their record and understanding for all time to come. They were to register this deliverance and he delivered them in this way purposefully. majestically, miraculously saying to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea and divided that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And the Lord drove back the sea by a strong east wind all night, making the sea dry land and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground. and the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. That's why I do the photograph thing. That dramatic hand of God explanation, or excuse me, explanation is not the right word. Him acting in that kind of dramatic way to show them that it's nothing else but the hand of God that is rescuing them from their enemies. Well, the Egyptians pursued them. They went in after them into the midst of the sea. All of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, his horsemen, And in the morning watch, the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic and clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. The Egyptians said, let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. And then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians and upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. Do you remember how the Lord had said, I will redeem you with mighty acts of judgment? Well, you have the most miraculous kind, manifest presence and a pillar of fire. All of that told ahead of time, Moses, stretch out your hand. This is what I will do. And he is working with Israel for their faith. Still though, the Israelites, were struggling in their faith. And the Lord is acting in a continuous manner on purpose, working with them in that. Where did he take them? He took them on a path that showed in an enormously clear manner that they could only survive by miracle. Because if you've got 600,000 fighting men and their families, you just can't survive out there very long. The water is going to run short. The bread is going to run short. And he took them there on purpose. What was their reaction again? If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt. You've brought us out into this desert to starve the entire assembly to death. They had seen the hand of the Lord's judgment against the Egyptians. And they thought perhaps this is only a manifestation that He's going to take us out as well. He's just going to destroy us. But the Word of God had been different from that. The Word of God to them had been different. That's not the purpose. And then He showed them in His actions that it was not the purpose, because He provided for them. He set them in a position of need for provision, but by his direct hand he provided, providing water, providing food for them. And there's a place later where Moses actually reflects on the whole experience of it. because they were given miracle bread, the manna. They were given it every day, but only enough for the day. That miracle lasted for 40 years. That's a long-standing miracle, surviving on that. And later, at the end of all of that, Moses reflected backward and he taught the people this. If you want to ask yourself, why did the Lord do it in the manner that He did it? Here's why. It says so. He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Did you think that was a New Testament verse there at the bottom? That's Moses. That is the lesson of being taken into the wilderness on that route to Mount Sinai. That's the lesson. And so again, this is all about relationship with God. Well again, He took them to the summit meeting place. He took them to Mount Sinai. As we go there with them, Here's what we need to remember. The Mount Sinai event is a very distinct, formal, covenant-making event with the whole nation. They are assembled en masse in their tents at the base of Mount Sinai. And I want to say three things about what goes on there. Because, as I've been talking about the story unfolding, A lot of things become more precise, more clear at this point. The first of those being that the Lord at Mount Sinai will make more clear that righteousness is called for. Not turning to sins, not turning to false gods, he's going to make it precise and clear. He's going to define for them what righteousness looks like in more detail, and then he's going to strike covenant upon upon it. This is my law. This must be kept. The wages of sin is death. That's kind of what's going on. Secondly, and this is wonderful, at Mount Sinai, this is wonderful. Take it home with you. This is wonderful at Mount Sinai. God reveals to them at Mount Sinai that his whole intent for raising up a people, his whole intent for calling them out of Egypt, his whole intent for bringing them to a homeland was that he might live with them. There's grace at Mount Sinai, wonderful grace. The Lord is willing to be with his people. And then number three at Mount Sinai, because they would absolutely show themselves to be unfaithful sinners and covenant breakers. The Lord gave them more detailed commands in their worship concerning uncleanness and restoration. You know how detailed those are. But the constant theme of that is uncleanness and restoration, uncleanness and restoration, uncleanness and restoration. And today we will focus in on the very highlight of that in what is called the Day of Atonement. The giving of God's law doesn't have to be looked at as a negative thing. We know that 8 out of the 10 commands are, thou shalt not. But the only thing that's going on there is the already existing problem of the human race and tendency toward disobedience. And the Lord is saying to them, do not look to the worthless. Do not look to false gods who cannot help you. There is no hope, no meaning for your life there. And secondly, do not harm one another. That's a pretty brief description of the Ten Commandments. Don't look elsewhere. No help there. and do not harm one another." Moses, as he related God's law to them, did not relate it as though it were an inherently negative thing. He said, no, it's no empty word for you, but your very life. And by this word, you shall live long in the land that you're going over the Jordan to possess. I will say this about the giving of God's law, though. There is atmosphere. Can you think with me? There is atmosphere at Mount Sinai when you're gathered at the base of the mountain. What would that sensation of atmosphere be at the base of that mountain? Can I ask some of the children, younger guys? What would that atmosphere be? Go ahead. Maybe it's elevated like that. I don't I don't know how what what elevation I mean, they're at the base of the mountain They're not at the top. Okay But what what are they seeing? What's the what's the atmosphere that they're seeing up there? Can anybody say what what is the top of the mountain look like? Okay Interesting, huh? Can I give you a little Mount Sinai appearance here? Okay There are clouds There is fire. There is thunder. There is lightning. There is earthquake. The atmosphere of the giving of God's law is an atmosphere of consequence for breaking of judgment. That is the nature of the thing. That's that's on purpose, don't you think? Nobody is going to sit at the base of that mountain and say, I wonder if God really showed up, right? And God spoke the Ten Commandments the first time out loud. As far as who gets to witness God actually being involved, the entire nation got to hear His words out loud. In that atmosphere, here are the Ten Commandments. The wages of sin then would be death in that atmosphere. And He's communicating with them. They were afraid. They said, Moses, you go talk to Him. We don't know what to do here. Actually, you know what they said? Want to be more precise? We're going to die if he speaks to us again. Processing and in that atmosphere that actually hit home with them because God's law was given and we're lawbreakers and that's a problem. Here's another thing. Here's another thing. I'm trying to think if I've got all my slides going properly here. Yes. Yes. Yes. At the mountain in that atmosphere with the law given from God, they had to swear to it on oath. The covenant went both ways at that point. And here's the atmosphere of covenant swearing. There is the written law, because it had been written down. The commands were, build an altar for sacrifice. So there would be sacrifice. So there's the law, there's the sacrifice, the people are all gathered around in formal assembly, and what was supposed to be done. animals are sacrificed, blood is shed, and the blood gets shaken all over the place. Actually, if you collect the various verses, it's shaken on all three things. You've got the written law, shake the blood upon it. You've got the altar of God, the judgment place, shake it, shake the blood upon it. And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. All the people said all that the Lord has spoken. We will do sworn oath, right? And then this. Moses took the blood and he threw it where? On the people saying, behold, the blood of the covenant. that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." What's blood covenant? Right? You've got the commands of God, a sworn oath to keep it, and blood shaken everywhere. It's a blood oath if you break the covenant, it's death. Does that make sense? That's what's going on at Mount Sinai. That's not any different at all from what we've been seeing since the beginning. Adam and Eve's family. Abel goes to the altar. It's not explained back then, but it's pretty clear now. Abel goes to what looks like the judgment place. And there is blood shed because it is the judgment place and you are guilty, right? You have it again in the symbolism at Passover. And you have it here at Mount Sinai. It is more thoroughly defined for them. The law is now set before them. And we are going to find out later one of its functions very importantly. But back to good news. Don't we need some good news every once in a while in this story? Back to good news. One of the things the Lord revealed to them in a very, very understandable manner was His willingness to live with them. What was his command? Put my tent in your camp. I will be willing to live among you. Put my tent in your camp. I don't guess at that meaning. There are two of my favorite passages that declare it. I, says the Lord God in Leviticus 26, I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you, and I will walk among you and be your God. That's the good news. My soul shall not abhor you, not despise you. There's a lot of atmosphere of judgment, and I understand that, and I understand how that tears our guts up sometimes with that. But even the Sinai experience is God saying, I will not abhor you. I will live among you. And he places his tent. When he does so, there are instructions that go with the tent that help them understand that. How can they, the covenant-breaking people, the ones with all the record in their history, and the ones that you've just, I don't know, have you ever promised to do something and you think, I wonder if I can keep that? So that's all before them in the atmosphere, but he says, I will not abhor you. The tabernacle, the tent, helps them and instructs them in that. Here's my other favorite verse. I am the Lord their God. who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell with them." If you ask about purpose passages, which passages tell you what the whole story is about, right? Why did God bring them out of Egypt? Answer? He would dwell with them. That's what it's all about. And that verse, look at the rest of the context, that is about the tent. It's what the tent means. And you can look at that in Exodus 29. I want to go to the matter of the Day of Atonement. how the tent instructs them. Okay, so you remember that the tent was in two chambers, a front chamber and a back chamber, the back chamber being called the most holy place. Because if you've got a sense that God is dwelling among you, I mean, God is everywhere, right? He doesn't need a tent over His head. But for their sake, He manifests His presence among them. And in the most precise manner, He's manifesting His presence most precisely there in the holiest You can see an object back there. There's a box back there with angels on top of the box. And so if a priest on Day of Atonement was getting prepared to go back there, he would look around. I don't know if they had the burning lamps back there. Probably not. Anyway, but these lamps from here would shine enough to see What does that represent? What does that represent? By the way, and this is just personal reflection, I think, what would it have been like, what would it have been like for a priest, knowing what all that represented, God's presence, God's immediate presence, what would it be like to pull that curtain back and have a look? I can see it right there. So back there is this. This is the Ark of the Covenant, but nothing on that Ark is an idol. There are carvings on the Ark, but nothing on there is God. What then would the carvings of cherubim angels facing one another seem to represent? They would seem to represent the idea that angels, attending angels, serve God in His immediate presence. So that represents God's immediate presence. And He actually says it in distinct words, I will meet you there, between the cherubim angels. But it's an interesting combination of things. because that box has something inside. Oh, there it is, Exodus 25, 22. I will meet you there from above the mercy seat between the two cherubim. We're going to have to figure out what mercy seat is about here shortly, okay? But there's something inside that box. What? I'll take an out loud answer. What's inside the box? The law. Can we use the term as the scripture does? I think we can then. The covenants in the box. That's often called the covenant there in the box. So it's God's word on sworn oath. The relationship between us is about this. And they keep it in a storage place. This is the receptacle for the covenant. That's why we call it the Ark of the Covenant, whenever you think of that box, whenever you think of that box, this is the place to store the law. We're going to see it shortly as a witness against them. OK, so now let's be let's let's play the high priest's role. So, I'm sorry, you're going to go back there. It's only once a year that anyone is allowed. That's the most holy place. It's the immediate presence of God. An awe-inspiring place. Overwhelmingly awe-inspiring. But now you're going to go back there, and the issue back there is that the law of God is there on testimony and witness against the people. So now you've got to meet God, in His immediate presence with all the evidence against you in the box. Does that make sense? Does it make sense? Yeah, I'm not trying to manipulate you. I want to make sure it makes sense. The witness against the people is in the box. If you break the law, it's all on record right there in the box. So in the holiest place, immediate presence of God in there, That lid has a name. We just kind of touched it a second ago, right? That would be the place, the seat, the place where mercy happens in their understanding of what this was all supposed to portray to them. That's the place where the mercy happens. And on the Day of Atonement, once a year, The priest would, there were sacrifices to be made and blood to be taken back there into the most holy place. And the blood was meant to go right there on the cover. Teaching them. Is this an unclear lesson or a clear lesson? I think it's a clear lesson. There's the witness of the law against you. But God provides blood atonement so that the issue of law against you can be taken care of. And then you can be accepted. On this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you and you shall be clean before the Lord from what? How many of your sins? All. And that's something where the lessons God is teaching are now clearer than they had been before. Because they would have been very familiar with sacrifice. Sacrifice all the time. And in the command, sacrifice is still offered every day. Morning, evening, every day. Upon occasion of sin, bring sacrifice. It's always the concept of being unclean but needing to be made clean by sacrifice. But this introduces something new. That there might be one sacrifice for all. One sacrifice for all your sins and for the whole nation at that time. I may have lost my place. We'll see. We need to take them on to the promised land is what we need to do. Get them from Sinai to the promised land. By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if you're thinking, how shall we finish? the whole Bible in one weekend. But notice this, and I want to give you encouragement, that the rest of Old Testament history falls out in sort of big blocks of time with relatively short narrative to describe it. And then you get the message of the prophets, which is really quite a substantial body of literature, but we're going to handle that in the next lecture. The narrative is relatively short. We can walk through the narrative. Let me give you the outline. I should have put the outline right up here, but here, listen to this. Here's what we're going to have. We're going to have Israel leaving Sinai, but lacking faith to come into the promised land. Well, maybe there it is. I did provide you with that. They're going to wander in the wilderness and a whole generation is going to pass away, and then the next generation will come into the Promised Land. Just before they do, there's a reaffirmation of covenant in the Book of Deuteronomy, the whole thing. There is a season of tribal living once they're in the Promised Land, goes on for about 350 years. Then there's a season of living under kings, Then they are exiled from the promised land and then they get to return and the Old Testament is over. So categorically it's not too hard. The storyline just goes like that. Wilderness wanderings, covenant renewal, entry into the promised land, a season of tribal living, that doesn't go well. A season of living under kings, that doesn't go well. exile from the land, but with a promise of return. It's all the plan and the story and it communicates with us. So let's go on to one of the first items here. That first generation of people who had seen all the Lord's wonders, the parting of the Red Sea, the provision of miracle food in the desert, the provision of miracle water in the desert, preservation all the way down to Mount Sinai, hearing the voice of God out loud, all of that, the commands and everything. They did not have the faith to enter the promised land. They feared. The Lord said, you may enter. And they said, basically, I mean, and the land was good, right? The land was really good. And they sent spies up into the land to find out. And they came back with a mention of this. But 10 out of the 12 spies said, we couldn't possibly face those enemies in that land. And they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land. So they wandered. And it was God's sentence of wandering upon them. So that it was really going to be the next generation of people that would go into the promised land. But, after that wandering, and after the passing away of that first generation, the Lord said, you've been traveling around this mountain country long enough, turn northward, it is time to go into the promised land, and you get a whole book of the Bible. Deuteronomy. You get a whole book of the Bible. What Deuteronomy is, is this. Famous last words of Moses, for one thing. But the whole book is God's striking covenant again with this new generation just before they enter into the promised land. again head north they came up on the east side of the Dead Sea and on the east side of the Jordan River and the Lord assembled them for the last words of Moses and then said this with regard to you know what was written down in the book of Deuteronomy this was a speech that probably took days and days But it's a landmark event of covenant. And the Lord said about that, take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there unto what purpose? For a witness. What kind of witness? Against. Against you. We know that that's what the Ten Commandments were for in the first place. Here now is a new generation striking covenant with the whole. Promises for them. The law of God to them and the law stands there as witness against them. As they enter the promised land. It is one more hard thing, and I admit the hardness, the human hardness of it, that they were called upon to make war. You can't dodge that. They were called upon to make war against the persons in the Promised Land, the ones that had lived there, the Canaanite tribes and the other tribes. I obviously can't go into the full explanation of that, but I want to declare what the Scripture declares. That's what we can do. What's the truth about the matter? And the scripture says what it's not when they enter the promised land. This calls to have them make war. It tells them what it is not and it tells them what it is. So the Lord said to the children of Israel, do not say in your heart after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, it's because of my righteousness that the Lord brought me into this land. No, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you. Know therefore that the Lord your God is not Giving you this good land to possess what? Because of your righteousness for you are a stubborn people It's one of the one of the most fundamental things to to learn about Israel Entering the promised land and having to be called upon to to make war. It's not because of their righteousness not because of their righteousness not because of their righteousness. What then is it? What is it that God called upon them? What is it that God was doing, putting them on assignment, when they entered the Promised Land? It's because of the wickedness of these nations. So we've said what it is not and what it is. And that's the only explanation I have. It's not different from what we've seen before. The whole earth is under the judgment of the Lord. All of us go to mortality because of sin. All of us. Every one of us. And in Noah's day, sweeping judgment. And in Egypt, concentrated, focused judgment. But even in Egypt, think about this. Even in Egypt, it doesn't mean that the other nations further away weren't worshiping other gods. They were. It was a lesson that was being taught in Egypt. Israel suffered plagues for disobedience, and some died in that. The issue is that the wages of sin is death, and that's what they were being called upon to do. Fascinating prophecy, another prediction of times to come. Heartbreaking, though. Before Moses' death, The Lord said to him, Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers, and then this people will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. I want a better theme. I want things to be more cheerful. But it's not what happened. Because the people actually, actually broke covenant, actually turned to other gods, actually broke his law in every conceivable manner, and actually became cruel and harsh with one another, harming one another, harming one another, harming one another. And so Moses is told ahead of time, this is what the people will do. And it's a major theme in scripture. Is it a major theme so far across what we've seen the failings of mankind, the failings of mankind, the failings of even the most privileged among mankind, those who had seen God's wonders, those to whom God has spoken directly. the failing of them to follow. And so that's the theme and word, but that's not without a mention of mercy. Moses is told the whole story of their next 800 years. Okay? Moses is told their whole story, saying very distinctly, so that it would be on permanent record, if you turn from the Lord, there will be no more protection from other countries. Those other countries will win the wars against you, and they'll put you into exile. Yes, they will. But at the end of Deuteronomy, and this is all before it all happens, comes this word, even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. That whole context is about hearts turned toward him in repentance. And it's a wonderful, great theme of all of what's going on. Joshua, at the end of his life, See, here's what happened. While Joshua was still living, they were given the great victories, although it wasn't complete. Because of sin, it wasn't a complete victory. Joshua, at the end of his life, they had been given the promised land. And the elders of Israel had pretty much followed God during that lifetime and whatever. But at the end of his life, he said, now I'm about to go the way of all the earth. And you know, in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed from all the good things the Lord your God has promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you. Not one of them has failed. Fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods your forefathers served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But just after Joshua's time comes a whole season in the life of the children of Israel, something on a ballpark of 350 years, which is covered in 19 pages. Judges is a short book, a long time short book. It's a long season in their lives, but look what it says. The whole theme is already declared at the front. There arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel. What Judges happens in a cycle, again it's a long time. They are still living kind of tribally. They're in different regions of the Promised Land. There's a season of serving the Lord under Joshua and all of that. But then another generation is raised up and they forget the Lord. The predicted, predicted sufferings from Moses and the Word of God come to bear and they suffer, but they cry out. for relief and the Lord sends a rescuer and there's a season of time where they serve the Lord and another generation is raised up and they forget and that's 350 years just like that there's a there's a dozen rescuers Listed in the book of Judges and the reason they call them judges is because they would lead the nation for a while not as a king, but as one who would take the law of God and administer it the judges aren't perfect. The people are always in this cycle, but that's that's what the judges the whole book of Judges does 350 years one basic lesson. I'm sorry, there's what happened there. There's the season. One basic lesson for judges, the what was articulated at the beginning, the generations would raise up not knowing the Lord. And then this, in those days, there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. And that's no compliment. That's not in the original Hebrew, but that's my words at the bottom. The whole meaning of those words, everyone did what was right in his own eyes, is not a compliment. It's to show you. And judges, you couldn't make a movie of it because you couldn't rate it down where people could see it. Like that. But these last words, because there was no king in Israel, also introduce a new concept. There will be a king in Israel. And there will be. I mean, they try it once and for the wrong reasons. But there will be a king in Israel. That's been predicted already. Remember line of Judah? A king to whom the obedience of the nations would come eventually. There would be a king that would come In this season of time, the Lord puts on Zion's hill a king of his own choosing. The narrative is short. Do you see that? Squeezed between the hands, first and second kings? That covers a lot of years. It's a short narrative. Think with me. 57% of that narrative, if you go from 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 2nd Kings, because Chronicle repeats some stuff, right? Those four books, 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 2nd Kings, 57% of that account concerns the house of David and of Solomon. 57%, isn't that telling us something? It's about this. This is introducing something new in the unfolding plan of God's redemption. And it could come under these words. It is a man of God's own choosing. I think when the scripture says a man after God's own heart, I think what it means is This is the one of God's choosing. And I want to say three things about David's life that this with this introduction that it's already been prophesied all the way back who prophesied that by the way. Who said those words of prophecy? It's Jacob. It's that far back. Okay. ruling the nations, that kind of thing. But I want to say three things about the reign of King David and of Solomon. First of all, in this season there is a measure of fulfillment where the boundary lines of the promised land become complete. I often use the terminology foothills and mountains, something that happens here that foreshadows a greater thing. When the king of God's own choosing comes, he and his son, the boundaries of the promised land reach their fulfillment. Secondly, it is during that time that God puts his house down permanently. We're going to talk about that. Thirdly, about King David, there are promises made to King David that are bigger than he could possibly be. In the season of King David, when 57% of the narrative takes up his issues and his son Solomon's issues, promises are made to him that are greater than he could ever be. Let's take some time on the idea of the house of God being set down permanently. It's very understandable to the people that God was willing to dwell among them. Put my tent in your camp. But there's this other aspect. There is promised land. You won't always be tent dwellers, right? There's promised land. And when you get there, Moses had even said this, because this is from Deuteronomy. The Lord had said through Moses, when you get to promised land, you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose from out of all your tribes to put his name there and make his habitation there. There would be a place. The tent came in for years and years. It moved from different cities. But in David's time, the king of God's choosing, and in Solomon's time, the house is set down as a temple and a permanent kind of house. How did that occur in David's own life? David had sinned. The people had sinned. There was the judgment of God coming, mortal judgment. And David went off to a hillside to plead with the Lord that there would be a redemption from this plague of death upon his people. Jerusalem itself was being threatened to be destroyed. And he pleaded with the Lord. And the angel of the Lord appeared and told him that the plague would stop. and that the prophet of the Lord came. And on that occasion, David said, here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offerings for Israel. Think about this with me. In the days of the patriarchs, offering was sort of given all the time in different places. You sin in an offering and in the worship. But at Mount Sinai, there was the command from now on, you're not going to offer sacrifices on any hillside. You've got to come to God's house. That's where the offerings get made. But then God's house in this scenario is placed in a particular place. Bring your offerings there because that's where the provision of the redeeming sacrifice is going to occur. And there's a fascinating thing when Solomon is told about that, or when we have record in 2 Chronicles of Solomon actually building it. David got the commands for the temple, Solomon built it. Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, where? On Mount Moriah. where the Lord had appeared to David, his father, at the place that David had appointed. But here's this. Have we heard the idea of the region of Moriah before? That was the place. where Abraham had to set up that sacrifice. Go to the region of Moriah. Offer your son there and the Lord provides. And Abraham named that place the Lord will provide. And it became a saying among the people for generations thereafter. on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." And now, God sets His house on that mountain. This is connected prophecy from the beginning. And I think it's very encouraging on that level. Again, David, Well, yeah, here's that passage again from Genesis 22. On the mount of the Lord, it'll be provided. It's a very connected thing for the Lord to choose that same hill and put his place of sacrifice there. But again, with regard to King David, promises are made to him that are bigger than he can possibly be. And I want to give you a couple of instances of that. As we get to David, all of the structure of promises where we had the seeds of promise, the foreshadowing of great things, David begins to represent those great things given the promises that are given to him. Here's a promise to David. I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom What? Okay. Well, that's bigger than David can be. That's bigger than Solomon can be. And yet you get words of structure and of foreshadowing. The son of David, right? Someday the son of David will come. Solomon begins to foreshadow that because he builds the temple, but even he can't fulfill the whole thing because his kingdom doesn't last forever. We get these seeds that foreshadow greater things. I look at Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is wonderful for this. I almost think I should read the whole thing, but we're just going to wrap up the lecture here. Think about how this plays out. God says, Psalm 2 begins, why do the heathen nations rage? Why do these opposing power sources in the world, monarchs, why do they plot against the One, the very One whom the Lord has anointed? I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." Okay, so if we want to make relationship to David and his house and all of that, they lived it out on the ground in that manner. I've set my king on my holy hill, that's David. And that's Solomon. And that's the descendants of David and Solomon in the line of Judah. But it foreshadows greater things. I've set my king on Zion, my holy hill. You are my son. Ask of me. I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. Well, there's a way, I mean, there's a level on which it's appropriate to say God treated David like his son. You know, you are my son, ask of me, I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. But David lived and died as only partial fulfillment of that. That's bigger than David, bigger than David could be. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. OK? This is Psalms still. This is 1,000 years before Jesus comes. But the idea, God giving his people a land to dwell, dwelling there with him, giving them the king of his choosing. And then. Giving all nations to that king to the ends of all the earth, calling that king his son and saying, blessed are those who take refuge in him. That's bigger than David. And it's bigger than Solomon, but a new concept, you see how it unfolds now more than ever. they're beginning to look toward the promise of a Messiah, an anointed one. That's what the word Messiah means, an anointed one. An anointed one from the house of Judah, that's right, from the house of Judah, well, a descendant of Eve. You want to start all the way back there. Someone who would reign for God and defeat Satan and from the house of Judah govern all nations, whose kingdom would last forever. We're going to see whom that looks forward to. It's in the time of David that it begins to become more clearly forecast. Where's David from, by the way? What's David's hometown? OK, here we go, guys. David's hometown. Where was David born? In Judah. Good, but that's general. I need a town. Bethlehem. His, oh, you were gonna say it too, weren't you? Okay, okay, okay. Another name for that is Ephrathah. One of the prophets will eventually say, from you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah will come, the ruler of all the nations. All right, but we're gonna do the prophets next, and you get a break.