Few; if any, will dispute the statement that David was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was raised up to be king over Israel, God had before Him, as it were, the life and acts of His own Son as King, and so ordered the events in the history of the type, that, whilst what took place seemed to outward eyes the lot appointed for David; when his life should be read centuries after his death, its typical character should be discerned, as the history of the one of whom he is a type should be gathered from the prophetic Scriptures.
For convenience in studying this period of his life we may arrange it under four heads-David at Hebron; David at Jerusalem; David in his priestly character; David in his kingly character.
Prophet, Priest, and King are titles of office which belong to the Lord Jesus. By one only besides him have these three offices been in any measure together filled. David and David's Son stand alone in this. But the difference between them when these offices are more carefully examined is immense. David was a prophet, but he was not the prophet. In common with the other ' prophets he probably knew not the value of all that he penned. The Lord as the prophet spake of what he knew, and testified of what he had seen. As Priest, David could not minister at the altar of the tabernacle, much less enter the holy of holies. The Lord will be a Priest on His throne after the order of Melchisedek, and He has now entered the holy of holies, a privilege restricted to the high priests after the order of Aaron. David was king over Israel, and his dominions reached from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, but be could not fill the throne forever. The Lord will have the throne of His father David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever.
From Bethlehem, the burial place of Rachel,, came David. Of all his descendants the only one whom we read was born there, was that ruler, " whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Years before David ascended the throne he had been anointed by Samuel as the king of God's choice. Who can say what time will elapse between the first announcement that God's King, the Messiah, was on the earth, and the reins of Government being placed in his hands? Persecution was David's lot before he reigned. Rejection and death were experienced by his Son.
1. to Turn to David at Hebron.
Saul was dead. David's words on the hill of Hachilah had come true. "The Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish " (1 Sam. 26:1010David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. (1 Samuel 26:10)). He had descended into battle, and perished, and with him three of his sons. The man given to the people at their request to be their king had passed away, conquered and slain by the inveterate opponents of his nation the Philistines. Israel had asked for One to fight their battles.. Their king had fought and was overcome. David, the man of God's choice, had been in conflict at the same time with the Amalekites, the persistent enemies of God's people. Saul in the north was fighting with the Philistines; David in the south was engaged with the Amalekites.
Israel under Saul fled. David with the 400 pursued their enemies. The Philistines stripped Saul and the slain, and came and dwelt in the cities of Israel. David entered the camp of the Amalekites, recovered all that belonged to himself and his men, and returned to Judah laden with spoil, to learn that Saul was dead, and the time for him to have the kingdom had come.
To outward eyes it might appear that the kingly power had merely changed hands. In God's eyes we learn it was a most important epoch in the history of Israel, and of the world; for, now was to be set up, that throne on which the Lord is to sit, and rule over all. Unasked by the people, God had selected the family and tribe. David succeeded Saul, not because he was the king's son-in-law, but because he was the Lord's anointed. He was chosen by God, and anointed by Samuel, before he had done anything to commend himself to the people, or had connected himself by marriage with the house of Saul. Before he was at Saul's court he had the anointing oil poured on him. His valor and his wisdom commended him to the people as a fitting successor to Saul; but, before he could show to them what he was, he had been designated by God for the throne. He succeeded Saul, but did not sit on Saul's throne. In point of time he was Saul's successor. As regards dynasty, he was—the head of his own family, and founder of the throne. Ever after it was David's throne on which the kings of Judah sat, however much their dominions might be curtailed, or the glory of the kingdom dimmed. Another point to be noticed is the extent of the kingdom. Saul reigned over all Israel, but was unable to preserve their territory from the inroads of the Philistines; David's kingdom was co-extensive with the grant given by God to Abraham (Gen. 15:18-2118In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (Genesis 15:18‑21)). As God did for David, so will He do for His Son. He will set up for Him a kingdom, posterior in time to the four great empires of Daniel's vision, but more extensive than any of them, and deriving its succession and power from none of them-after them, but not of them or from them.
Before Saul's death David had been a wanderer and an exile, not from choice but necessity. Driven from his house when Saul sent messengers to take him. (1 Sam. 19), he was never allowed to have a settled abode till he sat on his throne in Hebron. From his house he went to Naioth in Rarnah to Samuel. Flying from Naioth he is found with Jonathan in the field; thence lie escapes to Nob, and then takes refuge with Achish, king of Gath. Unable to remain there, he conveys his family to the king of Moab, with whom they remain; but himself, directed by God, goes into the land of Judah to the forest of Hareth. Thenceforth the forest, or the wilderness, or a cave sheltered the Lord's anointed, till, his faith failing, he betook himself to the Philistines, and had Ziklag appointed for his residence. Was this to be his home? Had his wanderings now ceased? Was he to be content with that city as his permanent abode?
Was the king of Gath to settle the dwelling-place of God's king? He returned from the camp of the Philistines to find Ziklag burnt with fire, and his wives and substance, and all that belonged to his men, carried away by the Amalekites. He rescued all, and reached Ziklag just in time to hear of Saul's death, and then asks God if he should go up to any of the cities of Judah.
How different were the circumstances of Saul. When made king, he had a home to which he repaired without a question (1 Sam. 10:2626And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. (1 Samuel 10:26)). David was a wanderer without any sure dwelling-place. He had many haunts (1 Sam. 30:3131And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt. (1 Samuel 30:31)), but no home, a type in this of Him, who, when on earth, though king, had not where to lay His head, and, till He receives the kingdom, will never have had on earth, since He began His ministry a settled dwelling-place.
Saul went home to Gibead, i e., a hill, probably a position of some strength, suited to the leader of the hosts of Israel.
David did not betake himself to Bethlehem, and there, among his kindred, commence his reign. He asked counsel of God, and is directed to Hebron, a city of great antiquity, built seven years before loan, in Egypt. It stanch in the middle di a fertile valley, surrounded by hills, which afforded in ancient days good pasturage for flocks. As a shepherd he might have found Hebron a good center, but would it answer as well as the seat of government, and head quarters of a military power? During the days of his persecution, Hebron had been one of his haunts, now it was to be for seven years and six months his fixed dwelling-place. Why, it may be asked, was Hebron selected? Why would not Lachish or Eglon or Jarmuth, seats of Amorite power in common with Hebron, have done? What was there in Hebron more than in Bethlehem? Why was not Jerusalem selected?
With the histories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Hebron is closely connected: To the oaks of Mamre by Hebron, Abraham first repaired after Lot had chosen the plain of Jordan, and God had just given to the patriarch and to his seed, all the land he could see for an inalienable possession. " To thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever" (Gen. 13:1515For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. (Genesis 13:15)). There he sojourned for years, and in its neighborhood he was buried. There too, in Hebron, Isaac was living when Jacob saw him on his return from Padan Aram. There Jacob lived till he departed to go down into Egypt. In the Books of Numbers, Joshua, and Judges, Hebron is brought before us in connection with the people of Israel at eventful epochs of their history. Was this the reason that David was directed to go there? Was it because Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had lived there? Was it not rather because they were buried there? For David was a type of Him whose reign was to commence in resurrection. Hence on that spot where lay the bones of the patriarchs, and those of Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, David's progenitors, and as it were over their very graves to shadow this forth, the kingdom was first set up. He, in whose family the promises to Abraham were to be made good, and whose Son in resurrection should exercise dominion over all the land given by God to Abraham, commences his reign in Hebron. Joseph was buried in Shechem, Rachel in Ephrath, i e., Bethlehem, for from neither of these did the kingdom proceed. Jacob's own property, which he bequeathed to Joseph, was not the place he selected for his own sepulcher. With Jacob, as far as we read, that burying place- in the cave of Machpelah was closed. Leah had to be buried there because Judah was her son. Jacob was laid there because his seed should be the king. So David was directed to Hebron, and there began his reign, where, upwards of eight hundred years before, the date of the birth of Abraham's had been first declared. How fitting then it was Hebron should have been selected rather than Bethlehem or any other of the cities of Judah. And though subsequently the seat of power was transferred to Jerusalem, no other spot, not even Jerusalem, could have answered the same purpose as Hebron. It matters little where Saul commenced his reign. It was all, important where David began his. Saul was not the type of Him that was to come. Perhaps David did not " understand the reason of his being directed to Hebron.
We see the reason of its selection in preference to any other city in the territory of Israel. Had David in his own wisdom gone at once to Jerusalem, he would clearly have acted contrary to God's mind. Had he stayed at Hebron all his days, he would equally have run counter to the divine intention. There was a time to be at Hebron, and a time to leave it; and when the seat of government was removed from it, it was never to be brought back. God's purpose regarding it was accomplished. David understood surely something of this when he removed to Jerusalem, and brought thither the ark, and desired to build God an house. He intimated by this that he understood Jerusalem, when once reached, was to be the abiding center of government, and the earthly dwelling-place of the Most High.
Comparing David with Absalom we at once see the difference. David understood about Jerusalem, Absalom did not. Imitating what had been done by his father, he too commenced his reign in Hebron. But the throne once established could not be established a second time. By this action it is clear that he would have set up a new throne. Instead of being David's successor he would commence anew in the place where David had begun his reign. When Solomon began his reign he did not seek out any other place than Jerusalem; neither Hebron nor Shechem did he visit for that purpose. He succeeded David, and so took the kingdom in the place in which it was established.
To Hebron David removed with his two wives as yet childless. His men too did David " bring up, every man with his household, and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron." Anointed by Samuel at Bethlehem, he is anointed by the men of Judah at Hebron. And here for the first time we meet with the men of Judah acting apart from the men of Israel. To all who witnessed this schism it must have seemed natural enough. It was natural that Judah should support one of their own tribe, in preference to going after the king Abner had set up. Natural as it was it was also according to His mind who had raised up David as a type of the Lord Jesus, that under his reign the men of Judah and the men of Israel should be re-united, after they had been separated, in anticipation of that day spoken of by Ezekiel, when the two sticks shall become one, and they shall become " one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be king to them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all And David my servant shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd." (Ezek. 37:22-2422And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. (Ezekiel 37:22‑24)). The differences between Judah and in now manifested, though outwardly covered over in the days of David and Solomon, were never permanently removed. We have an instance of this after the rebellion of Absalom, when the king was to be carried back to Jerusalem. Israel was jealous of Judah, and the contention, though no blows were struck, was the occasion of high words, for we read " the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel." At the end of David's reign Adonijah attempted to interest the men of Judah in his cause, but failed. During the reign of David and Solomon the people once united could not be divided. After Solomon's death the division was easily effected. The two kings types of the Lord, having passed away, the breach, again made apparent, became wider than ever, to be closed, and that finally, only when the David of prophecy shall come. For not only must He come to set the world in order, keep down evil, and establish and maintain to the end of His reign, what never has been maintained throughout the reign of any king, ari unvarying righteous rule, but His presence will also be needful to reconcile the long alienated hearts and tribes of the children of Israel and Judah.
When Saul began to reign, there was a division among the people, but not among the tribes. "The children of. Belial said: How shall this man save us? and they despised him, and brought him no presents." (1 Sam. 10;27). To reject an untried man does not seem strange. But when David took the kingdom, known of all as a successful warrior, whose name in Saul's reign had been much set by, anointed by Samuel as the man of God's choice, which Ishbosheth was not, it does seem strange, till the typical character of his reign is seen, that the greater part of the nation were determined to oppose him. For he must unite all Israel under his scepter, but to do that they must first be separated.
David, however, acts as king over all Israel by sending a message to the men of Jabesh Gilead. He takes cognizance of their kindness to their master Saul, who had rescued them from the king of the children of Ammon. They befriended him in death by decently interring his bones. As God's anointed, David waits his time for the submission of all the tribes, but, whilst waiting God's time, he does not give up for a moment the idea that he, and he only, is the rightful king over the house of Jacob. "I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing," is his promise to the men of Jabesh Gilead. Surely one might have supposed this would have been the duty and desire of Ishbosheth. We read not that he took notice of their action at all. But the anointed king, whose prerogative it is to reward and to punish, lets them know that he is acquainted with, and approves of, what they have done.
Those seven years and six months spent at Hebron were years of expectancy. David awaited the submission of the tribes. He did not strive with Israel willingly, for the battle between Joab and Abner seems to have been forced on by Abner, as Joab's reply (2 Sam. 2:2727And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. (2 Samuel 2:27)) intimates. As type of the Lord Jesus we understand how he is owned as king by the house of Judah, before the other tribes hail him as their sovereign. But here as elsewhere we are reminded that David in all this was only a type.. For in his case, Benjamin was with his opponents. When the remnant own the Lord, Benjamin will be associated with Judah, forming part of the ancient kingdom of Judah. Asahel, also, one of the worthies of David, was killed in the conflict by Abner, and never lived to see David king over all Israel; and David, though God's anointed, had to own, after Abner's death, that he was not rightly master in his own dominions. " Know ye not," he said to his servants, " that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? and I am this day weak though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, be too hard for me the Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness." (2 Sam. 3:38,3938And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? 39And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness. (2 Samuel 3:38‑39).) As the type, however, of the Lord Jesus Christ, God works that the kingdom should be his, and he does not owe it to any man. Abner thought to turn all Israel to him. He died before his plans could be carried into execution. David would have received it through the influence of Abner, but that could not be. He must be accepted as king over all Israel, but that consummation must be brought about by God. He was God's chosen one, not the candidate put forward by the people. Joab could not have turned all Israel to David. Abner alone had influence sufficient to attempt this. He was killed whilst busy about it. After his death the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and we read, " David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel." Abner's proposition was that the people should make a covenant with David. To do that they must have been able to treat with him. But man's thoughts are often wrong. David made a covenant with them, not they with him.. And this was fitting. Shall the nation in a future day make a covenant with Messiah regarding the terms on which he shall take the reins of government into His hands? A new covenant will be made, but made by God with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. So here they do not treat with David as an equal, but he treats with them as their superior in position.
We read of the patience of Christ. He waits the Father's time to take the kingdom according to the statement of Psa. 110 " Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Perfect is He in everything. If we compare David with his Lord, the imperfection of the former only comes out more and more. Personally there could be no comparison between them. Typically there can. And what we know is true at this very time of the Lord, we find exemplified in the history of His servant. Again and again he refused to be a party to violent measures for the obtaining of the kingdom. Twice was Saul within his power, and though urged to take his life he refused. When, too, the messenger announced to him the king's death, and professed to have killed Saul at his own request, David had him executed for having put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. So also when Rechab and Baanah brought Ishbosheth's head to Hebron, he refused all participation in their guilt, though the great obstacle to the union of all Israel under his scepter was thereby removed. He had them killed as murderers. From God had he received the promise of the kingdom, and His time he would await.
2. David at Jerusalem.
The submission of all Israel to his authority having been effected, lie removed from Hebron to Jerusalem. War is the immediate consequence, and David is victorious. The Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land, left unsubdued since the days of Joshua, have now to be taught that resistance is impossible. Presuming on the strength of their citadel, they think that the blind and the lame can defend it against the king. The gates may be shut against him, but the enemy cannot keep him out. Joabnclimbs up by the gutter, and the stronghold of Zion is taken, and called the city of David. Jerusalem; the citadel excepted, had been taken at an earlier period of their history, but the capture of the hold was reserved for the reign of David. " So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. And David went on and grew great; and the Lord God of Hosts was with him" (2 Sam. 5:9,109So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. 10And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. (2 Samuel 5:9‑10)). How completely he makes Zion his own. He fashions it as it pleases him, building what it suits him to build, and calling it his own city. He sojourned at Hebron, he dwells at Jerusalem. Reaching it he finds he has reached his permanent resting place on earth. He evidently regarded it as a great point gained. Friends and foes thought so too, as the history now points out.
A new feature in the history of Israel is now brought out. " Hiram, king of Tire, sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons, and they built David an house." Very briefly is this embassy described. It deserves, however, a few minutes attention. It was the first embassy that we read of that ever set out from Tire to Jerusalem. During Saul's reign, the princes of Tire took no heed about the king over Israel. When Joshua conquered the land, and mapped out the territories of the tribes, we never hear of any attempt of the Tyrians to obtain the goodwill of the conqueror. But, when David had taken the citadel of Zion, Hiram sent to build him an house. When Solomon reigned, we find Hiram again manifesting his good will to the king, for he " was ever a lover of David" (1 Kings 5:11And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David. (1 Kings 5:1)). After Solomon, we never find the king of Tire concerning himself about any one who reigned at Jerusalem. Prophecy tells us of the fate of Tire, continental and insular, and of the future yet in store for her. Taken by Nebuchadnezzar, she will be found in the confederacy at the last days (Psa. 83:77Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; (Psalm 83:7)); and subsequently " her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord, it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing" (Isa. 23:1818And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. (Isaiah 23:18)). And when that takes place, Tire will be found, as Hiram was in the days of David, concerning herself with the king at Jerusalem. For we read The daughter of Tire shall be there with a gift" (Psa. 45:1212And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. (Psalm 45:12)). She exulted at the fall of Jerusalem (Ezek. 26:22Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: (Ezekiel 26:2).) She will present herself with a gift when Jerusalem is restored, and the Lord reigns, and her colonies also, for " the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents" (Psa. 72:1010The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. (Psalm 72:10)). We can understand then this embassy from Hiram to David now at Jerusalem, and see how suited it was, the earnest of that coming day when the wealth of the Gentiles shall flow to Jerusalem, and the kings of the earth shall yield obeisance to Messiah.
Whilst Hiram manifested good will to David, the Philistines show their enmity by setting themselves in array against him. Whilst he dwelt at Hebron they were quiet. As soon as they heard he had taken Zion they were all astir, and came out to fight him. Does not this remind us of Ps: 2 " Why do the heathen rage,- and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed." Why all this tumult? Because God had set His king on His holy hill of Zion, and the submission of all to the Anointed One must follow. So when. David established himself at Zion the Philistines appear against him, and manifest how important in their eyes was his new position. Whilst in Hebron they could leave him in peace. Satan tried in different ways to prevent the establishment of the kingdom, first by fomenting discord between Israel and Judah, next by the apparently impregnable position of the Jebusites on Mount Zion; and now lastly, when all else failed, by stirring up the Philistines to dislodge him if possible from the stronghold. No stone was to be left unturned to prevent the consolidation of power in the hands of David at Mount Zion, the place of God's choice (Psa. 78:6868But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. (Psalm 78:68)). Outwardly the struggle was between the Philistines, who had vanquished Saul, and their old opponent David. In reality the war was between the god of this world and the Lord God of Hosts. David's move to Jerusalem excited the jealousy of the Philistines. God's choice of Zion for the seat of His Son's throne aroused the anger of the enemy. The uncircumcised and the conqueror of Goliath, could not exist in peace side by side. Hence they determine to subdue him. And as in the last days, before and after the millennium, the conflict will rage round Jerusalem, so it was the selected battle field, when David was anointed king by all Israel. "All the Philistines came up to seek David, and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim " (2 Sam. 5:17,1817But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. 18The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. (2 Samuel 5:17‑18)). They sought him, not he them. So will it be when the battle of Rev. 17:1414These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:14) takes place. " They will make war with the Lamb." All the power of the beast will be collected to make war with the Lamb. But the Lamb shall overcome. All the Philistines were gathered together in the valley of Rephaim, but in vain.
From Jerusalem the wave of conquests spreads. Eight hundred years before Abraham had stood on the neigh- houring mountain Moriah, with his son, as in a figure, raised up from the dead. At that time and on that spot and then and there only, did God make promise to Abraham that his " seed should possess the gate of his enemies." Now from that place where the promise was made, for Mount Moriah formed part of Jerusalem, the fulfillment in its widest extent commenced. Under Joshua the nations of Canaan were conquered. Under David all the nations of the territory given by God to Abraham, were first reduced to submission. As soon as David dwelt on Mount Zion the sword was drawn, which was not to return to its scabbard, till, from the great river, the river Euphrates, to the river of Egypt, and from the wilderness to the sea, the authority of God's anointed should be owned as paramount. Does not this remind us of what Isaiah predicts? " Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And He shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people " (Isaiah 2:3, 43And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:3‑4)). It was needful then to go to Jerusalem as at first it had been to sojourn in Hebron.. Had the Philistines acquiesced in what God had done in Israel there would have been no war. They entered into conflict with David, and were signally defeated. Twice did they come up against Zion, for the valley of the Rephaim is at its base, and each time they were worsted. Did we not know what all this pointed to we Might wonder at the interest shown in this rock.
The worshippers of idols were at war with the servant of Jehovah. What issue could there be but one? They had slain Saul, for God had forsaken him. They could not conquer David, for God was with him. And most signal were the victories, for David asked counsel of God, and did as He directed. The first time he confronted, them; the second he circumvented them. Before or behind they could not resist him. On the first occasion they left their idols, and David and his men burnt them.
God's Ark had been in captivity amongst these: uncircumcised, but He delivered it in His own way. The idols were taken by the conquerors, and for them there was no deliverance. Was not this a foreshadowing of what Isaiah also predicts? " The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, and the idols He shall utterly abolish.
In that day shall a man cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for.-himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats" -(Isa. 2:17,18,2017And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 18And the idols he shall utterly abolish. (Isaiah 2:17‑18)
20In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; (Isaiah 2:20)). When the kingdom is established in power the idols must give way. At the time of the Exodus, the redemption of God's people, on all the gods of Egypt judgment was executed. When the kingdom was first: set up a similar result was seen. And when redemption shall be completed, and the kingdom established in the hands of the Son of man in power, the idols will be demonstrated in the most signal manner to be no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone (Psa. 115).
On the second occasion that the Philistines come out and spread themselves in the same valley, David again inquires of the Lord. He would own each time his perfect dependance for guidance and for strength. This time God preceded the host of Israel. David had to follow where the Lord led: "And let it be, when thou nearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so, as the Lord had commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer" (2 Sam. 5:24,2524And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. 25And David did so, as the Lord had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer. (2 Samuel 5:24‑25)). How vain was the attempt of the enemy to disturb the purpose of God! Zion had He chosen, Zion would He guard. How vain will be the attempt of the Assyrian in the latter days to frustrate the counsel of God! Zion is God's chosen dwelling-place forever, Jerusalem He will defend. He may, as He has, leave it for a season, but no power in heaven or earth can drive Him from it: "As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it." And these battles of David we have warrant for regarding as typical of the contest yet to take place, "when the Lord of hosts shall come down to fight for Jerusalem, and the hill thereof;" just what He did in the days of David, for we read" The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim," referring to these very battles (Isa. 31:4,5;28. 21).
3. We Have Now, Following the Order in 2 Samuel, to View David in Another Character-His Priestly, Character.
Established firmly in Zion, the next step was to bring up " the Ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, that dwelleth between the cherubims," from Baale of Judah to Jerusalem.—This was an important matter and a memorable epoch, for it was the entry, for the first time, of the symbol of God's presence into the city which He loved. He took possession, as it were, on that day of Mount Zion as His dwelling-place, His rest forever which He has desired (Psa. 132).
From the days of Hophni and Phineas the Ark had been neglected. During the days of Saul the people had not inquired of it (1 Chron. 13:33And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul. (1 Chronicles 13:3)); once only is it mentioned (1 Sam. 14:1818And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. (1 Samuel 14:18)) during his reign. Separated all the time from the death of Eli to the dedication of the Temple from the altars of burnt offering and incense, the service of the day of atonement could not have been carried out; for the high priest, though he might enter within the veil, could not sprinkle the blood on and before the mercy seat. Till the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon, and the great work of his reign completed, no day of atonement could be observed. How this resembles the present condition of things in Israel! Since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews have not been able to go through the form of keeping that day. Since the times of the Gentiles began to run, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple, and the Ark ceased to exist, the services of that day have not been rightly carried out. But, as in the time of Solomon, when the kingdom was set up in peace and in power, that day could be rightly observed, so when the Lord reigns in power as Prince of Peace, the day of atonement will again be properly kept. Then, as Ezekiel teaches (xlv. 18, 20), in a new way, and at a different season of the year, in the first month instead of the seventh, will the cleansing of the sanctuary be annually carried out.
The entrance, however, of the Ark to Zion, and the building of the Temple, are very different things; David brought thither the Ark, Solomon built the house. By the Messiah both will be effected in the same order. God's presence at Jerusalem, under the symbol of the Ark, suggested to David the building of the house. The Lord Jehovah's presence on Mount Zion, in the person of Christ, must precede the rebuilding of the Temple. As on the return from Babylon the Lord returned to His city before His house was built (Zech. 1:1616Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. (Zechariah 1:16)), so, knowing of whom David, as king, was a type, we see the propriety of the Ark being brought to Jerusalem in his reign. As king the Lord will appear in Jerusalem, and as king He will build the house: " Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne" (Zech. 6:12,1312And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: 13Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. (Zechariah 6:12‑13)).
David felt the importance of the step, as we gather from the psalms sung on that occasion. He regarded it as a remembrance of God's covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that their seed should inherit the land, so they sang Psa. 105:1-151O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 2Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. 3Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 4Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. 5Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 6O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. 7He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth. 8He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 12When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. 13When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; 14He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. (Psalm 105:1‑15). He looked forward to supremacy over the nations as a, consequence, so they followed with Psa. 96; and he counted on the restoration of Israel to their land in a day future to him, and even to us, so they concluded with the first and the two last verses of Psa. 106 We know, too, that the step then taken was important, as foreshadowing the re-entry of the presence of God into Jerusalem, and the joyful consequences following it, when Messiah himself shall be there.
As the presence of God on Mount Zion, symbolized by the Ark, was something quite new, so we have David appearing in a new character, that of priest; girded with a linen ephod, lie danced before the Ark. With all the house of Israel he brought up the Ark " with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet." Will not there be a day when shouting and the sound of a trumpet shall again be heard in connection with the, presence of God in Jerusalem? Psa. 47:55God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. (Psalm 47:5) surely speaks of it, but it will be when the Lord God is acknowledged by Israel as their king, and the king over all the earth. At the close of that day's proceedings we find David not merely clothed in the priestly garment, worn by those who ministered before the Lord, but acting as a priest, for he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Saul bad never blessed them; David and Solomon both blessed them, the one after the Ark had entered the city of David, the other after it was placed in the oracle on Mount Moriah. Never more do we read of such an action performed by any king at Jerusalem. Hezekiah and his princes blessed the Lord and the people (2 Chron. 31:88And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. (2 Chronicles 31:8)). But the character of the blessing David and Solomon imparted was surely different from this; they blessed the people alone, typifying that which none of the princes could share in. For, as types of the Lord Jesus, the priest on his throne, who could be associated with them? The high priest had been commanded to bless Israel; here, in the presence of Zadok and Abiathar, David exercises that privilege.
On that day none were forgotten; it was a time when all should rejoice. David blessed them, but he did more -he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and " dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine" (2 Sam. 6:1919And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. (2 Samuel 6:19)). Feasting had accompanied the recognition of David as king over all Israel, but then, some of Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali provided it. Feasting accompanied the work of this day, in Jerusalem, but here David provided it. On that day the king, who took the chief place, must do everything; he offered offerings; he blessed the people, and sent all away rejoicing with what he bestowed after that he blessed his house, something distinct from the nation of Israel.
On another occasion we find David acting in a priestly character. An occasion it was of deep sorrow.
The Lord had been angry with Israel. Satan had moved David to number them, and the plague of three days' duration was the punishment God inflicted. The angel told Gad that David should go and set up an altar in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. This he did, " and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering"(1 Chron. 21:2626And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. (1 Chronicles 21:26)) and the sword of the angel was sheathed. Here ail depended on the anointed one; he must entreat, he must offer the offerings. The grace of God is manifested in arresting the arm of the destroying angel before David was told to offer the offerings; but the king, not the high priest, could alone act here. Do we not see how this, faintly indeed, yet truly, shadows out the king averting God's wrath from the people by a sacrifice he offered up? In the wilderness Aaron could alone stand between the dead and the living to stay the plague. That was the high priest's work. Now a similar service must be performed by the king. On that day the king was the prominent one. He interceded for the people, he paid the price for the threshing floor, and bought of Araunah the animals for the sacrifices.
When Joshua was appointed captain of the armies of Israel Moses set him before Eleazar the priest, and told him he was to stand before Eleazar, at whose word he and all the people should go out and come in (Num. 27:2121And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. (Numbers 27:21)). In the days of David a great alteration had taken place. He did not stand before the priest; Abiathar bore the Ark before him (1 Kings 2:2626And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. (1 Kings 2:26)). Nor did he receive directions from the priest how to act. He inquired himself (1 Sam. 23:9;30:89And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. (1 Samuel 23:9)
8And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. (1 Samuel 30:8)). And he not only regulated the affairs of the kingdom, and the marching of the armies, but also what was connected with the worship of God. The priests received orders from him, and ministered where he located them, and he distributed them according to their offices in their service (1 Chron. 16:39;24. 3). The priests ministered at the altar, but the king instituted " the service of song." The courses of the priests he appointed, the service of the Levites he regulated. By the law of Moses the Levites entered the sanctuary at the age of twenty-five, and carried the burdens at thirty. By the ordinance of David, the tabernacle being no longer migratory, they were to begin their work at twenty. Before his day we never read that singing formed a part of the regular service of God. From the entrance of the Ark into Zion the worship of the congregation had this accompaniment. David appointed of the Levites which he thought to proceed was wrong. He could not build the house, but his son should after his decease. The Prince of Peace builds it. So David must die, but die in the fullest confidence about its erection; for his seed, which should proceed out of his bowels, God would set up after him, and establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Would David's name then be forgotten when the throne of his Son's kingdom should be established, and that forever? It will be the throne of his Son (2 Sam. 7:1313He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (2 Samuel 7:13)), yet David's throne likewise. " Thy throne shall be established forever " (16). And, though he had to die that the promise might be fulfilled, God declared he should live forever; the glory of the kingdom he should behold, the faithfulness of God to His word he should witness, " Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee." To none before, and to none since, have such promises been made. David was the first of his line, his Son shall be the last, but the line will never end. Forever will be the duration of His kingdom. Forever before David his Son will reign. Well might he worship God after Nathan has set before him such a brilliant everlasting future.
4. This Leads on to Other Glories, Which We Must Glance at, Connected With David in His Kingly Character.
The attacks of the Philistines to prevent the establishment of his throne at Zion had been successfully resisted. Now he looked beyond the valley of the Rephaim, and even the confines of Canaan. He had acted on the defensive. He must take the initiative. Beginning with the Philistines he captured Metheg-Ammah. Going outside the land of Canaan he smote Moab, and measured them with a line. Hadadezer, king of Zobah, who went to recover his border at the Euphrates, experienced the irresistible might of the son of Jesse. The Syrians of Damascus, Edom Ammon, and Amalek, all have to succumb to him. He must be supreme between the Euphrates and the river of Egypt. In the days of the Judges both Moab and Ammon had been worsted in conflict with Israel, after they had first invaded the territory of the tribes. Now David, it would appear, acts not like Ehud or Jephthah, who delivered Israel from the presence and the yoke of strangers, but he invades their land, and is successful. A second time he is brought into conflict with the Syrians and the Ammonites, only to show them how invincible he is. The Syrians became his servants, and brought gifts; Rabbah of Ammon was taken, and the crown of Hanun transferred to the head of David. For the first time in the history of the world the king, who dwelt at Jerusalem, was obeyed on the banks of the Euphrates. The converse of this has also been seen. From the banks of the Euphrates has word gone out which was obeyed on Mount Sion. By and by it will be again discovered that the king, who shall reign at Zion, must be submitted to as supreme even in the province of Babylon. But besides conquests we have an account of Toi, king of Hamath, who submitted quietly to David. Thus he became the head of the heathen (Psa. 18:4343Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. (Psalm 18:43)). " The Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. And David reigned over all Israel, and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people" (2 Sam. 8:14,1614And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. (2 Samuel 8:14)
16And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; (2 Samuel 8:16)). The chief officers of his government are enumerated, and his sons are installed as chief rulers. Compare for this Psa. 45:1616Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. (Psalm 45:16).
A feature in the wars of David must be noticed. He warred for supremacy, not for extermination. Under Joshua it ought to have been a war of extermination, under David it was not. For, though the scene of Joshua's victories and some of David's battles was the same, their character was very different. Joshua's entrance to Canaan typified the saints of the heavenly places entering their proper place. David's battles in the land, and outside it, represent the establishment of the kingdom on earth under the Lord Jesus. From the heavenlies Satan and his angels must be driven out. On earth all who will submit to the righteous rule will be spared. " The strangers shall submit themselves " (margin" yield feigned obedience ").
Never were greater vicissitudes endured by any nation than by Israel. Entering Egypt at the invitation of the king, a little company of seventy souls to be preserved during the famine, they were detained there in slavery till, numbering 600,000 men besides children, they were brought' out by the strong hand of Jehovah.. A prey to various enemies from without during the time of the Judges, reduced to the most abject condition by the Philistines during the reign of Saul, they found their alliance desired by the surrounding nations under David and Solomon; and, owned by them as superior's, to whom gifts were to be brought, the Egyptians, the descendants of their former masters, came to regard them as equals, when Solomon contracted marriage with Pharaoh's daughter. Reduced to the lowest condition for their sins, an astonishment and byword to the nations of the earth, scattered abroad over the face of the globe, the only nation which is not at home in its own land, they will again be gathered to Canaan, the two tribes first to go through a tribulation unequaled by any yet seen on the earth, after which the ancient kingdom of David will be revived, tnd his family be reseated on his throne in the person)f the Messiah. Where has the like been ever seen, that the sovereignty should be continued in one family without change for such a length of time? Dynasties ise and fall, families die out, but the house of David bides forever. The scepter has indeed fallen from heir grasp. It is ages since one of that family wielded on earth. It has fallen to be taken up by Him who Till rule all nations with a rod of iron, " the scepter f whose kingdom will be a right scepter." The stem Of Jesse, though cut down, has sent up a rod, a Branch as grown out of its root, destined to reduce all nations rider its sway.
Besides the nations submitting to David we read the race of giants being extirpated (2 Sam. 21). here had been a race of giants on the earth whose origin is shrouded in mystery, but whose country formed part of the territory given by God to Abraham and his descendants. First mentioned in the days of Abraham, we read of their gradual extinction. Moabites and Ammonites had prevailed against them. Og, who was of the remnant of the giants, was smitten by Israel under Moses. Caleb slew the three sons of Anak, and now under David the race is finally extirpated. He had slain Goliath, and others killed the rest. The power of man, however great, must bow before the rule which God sets up. -Isaiah sings of a time " when the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." In the prospect of this the admonition is given, " Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?." (Isa. 2:11,2211The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:11)
22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? (Isaiah 2:22)). When the giants are slain we see indeed " wherein is man to be accounted of."
All enemies overcome, God's salvation is celebrated in a song which clearly looks forward to the establishment of the kingdom of His Son. Delivered from the strivings of the people, made head of the heathen, David has reached the pinnacle of greatness. From the sheepfold he had risen to the throne, to wield a scepter which the nations around submitted to. But raised up so high he does not forget those who have accompanied him in his wars, and done acts of service for him. His warriors have each their place in the kingdom according to their deeds, and the special act of devotion of those three at the well of Bethlehem is placed on record never to be forgotten. Besides this, we learn from 1 Kings 2 that service done for him in the day of his flight was indelibly fixed on his heart. Man in the zenith of his power may forget those who have ministered to him in the day of his distress. It was not thus: David acted, for in this surely he is a type of -the Lord Jesus Christ. Barzillai's kindness to David must be remembered, and rewarded by Solomon. It was not enough that David should acknowledge it. It must not be forgotten whilst the Prince of Peace reigns. But here as elsewhere we see that the antitype goes beyond the type. " They came to me " David said, " when I fled because of Absalom thy brother" (1 Kings 2:77But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother. (1 Kings 2:7)). He remembered service done to himself; the Lord will requite service done to others during His absence from the earth (Matt. 25:35-4035For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:35‑40); Mark 9:4141For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. (Mark 9:41)). As David rewards, he also speaks of punishment to be meted out to those who have risen up against him. For all who resisted the authority of the king during any part of
But there is a feature about faith that we need to keep in mind, and it is just what we are reminded of in the last verses of the second chapter. "We beheld his glory, the glory as of an only begotten with the Father " is faith's testimony. We must not separate it from its object, nor from the glory of that object in its view. " Many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did." Was that faith? Clearly not, for it is added, " But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. It was " in man," then, to believe after that fashion. It was not the manifestation of Divine life at all.
But this is very solemn. It is startling. For if you turn back to the first chapter you will find the character of those who received Him, and to whom He gave title to the place of sons of God, to be expressed in the self-same words, " those that believed in his name." What then is the difference, here, or how shall we distinguish between true faith and false, if this be so? The difference lies in the words added about these at Jerusalem. They believed " when they saw the miracles that he did." Unspeakably solemn truth for Christendom, which yet grounds its faith on the same testimony! But it is certain that that which negatives as true faith this "believing in His name" is that it was one that rested simply upon the ground of His miracles.
But how should this negative it as true faith? Orthodox enough it was as to what they believed. " They believed in his name." Fair-seeming as that was, there was something in it, which to the eye of One who "judged not according to the appearance," rendered it unsound and untrustworthy. It was belief on outside evidence, not the true knowledge of the glory of the Son of God.
You may receive a miracle and say, "This man must be a teacher come from God, because no man can do these miracles which he doeth, except God be with him." All very true, indeed, but it is reasoning and not faith. You say "he must be," you do not say "he is.". When I have Christ's glory before my eyes, I do not say, " it must be there," I know it is. We understand this difference in common things: If I say, I must have left my book in such a place," does it not prove I am not there where it is? As soon as I get there, I do not say, " it must be there," I put my hand upon it, and say, " Here it is." So I may reason about God out of His presence. When I am there I do not reason, I adore.
" We beheld His glory." We did not believe it was there because something outside of it proved it. We beheld it ourselves, we did not need the proof. That is direct, personal acquaintance. " This is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Not to argue, but to know.
This is unspeakably solemn.. But some will ask, Do you not set aside the fact that "faith cometh by hearing" or " a report?" and if so, must I not judge if the report be true? I answer, thousands do so judge and believe upon that warrant, who yet remain totally unchanged by it. But when God by His own word searches the heart, it is different. The word, with one to whom it so comes, judges him. It comes in the " demonstration of the Spirit and of power." It is not something which he judges by his reason. He may be an idiot, still he knows that it is God. " The world by wisdom,"-with all its intellectual searching-" knows him not."
When that disciple wrote " we beheld his glory," he was not speaking of an intellectual process, but of faith. They of whom he spoke were none of the world's wise ones, but the wonder of that presence was upon their hearts. Eyes that had watched Him, had not seen it; ears heard nothing of it, that had listened to His words; it had not come of man's heart.' God had revealed it. God was there.
And nothing short of this is life. To know God and His Christ,-that only,-is to live.
Nevertheless in Nicodemus we see how reasoning may be mixed up with faith in the soul of one who really has life. A faith founded on reasoning is a different thing. But just as we know in the same person flesh and spirit lust against each other, so in the same person may intellectualism be at war with faith. So with Nicodemus. He comes professedly upon the same ground as those before spoken of, and the Lord, taking him upon that ground, meets him with, "Except a man be born again." But he comes to Jesus. His heart is attracted, and although his coming " by night" shows his feebleness, it shows too the spiritual instinct of a soul wherein God has wrought. The world will be against him and he comes trembling; but he comes, and to Him whom the world will be against,-he, the Pharisee in the need of his soul; he the wise man, for wisdom.
And thus is brought before us another characteristic of true faith. In the least measure of it there is confidence. The heart is drawn to the person of Christ; for saving faith is, as we have before seen, the knowledge of a person, not of a creed, however true. "He that hath the Son bath life." It is quite true we have to listen to the word of Him to whom we are brought, and to know His work, for peace. And thus fear may contend with love, where His word and work are not rightly known. But there is, in spite of all, a sense of goodness which attracts, wherever there is faith. " He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him." That seek Rim, not life merely or a reward: of that men are capable. But naturally, " there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." All that the world understands by religion is something very different from this, nay, the reverse of it. Natural conscience seeks to hide from God; and how many systems of divinity are molded upon this pattern. Elaborate processes to turn away His anger-preparations to meet Him who must be met at last,-futile as the fig-leaves of Eden when God is really there; but salvation thus, with multitudes-God unknown-merely to be saved from Him.
Doubtless, the renewed soul may, in its first bewilderment, be entangled in such devices, but even so, there is a truer instinct at bottom and that before He be known as a Savior and a Justifier. Its sighing is still after Himself; " Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" Life and salvation too, surely, if not known, but withal Him." Gleams of His glory are breaking through the clouds, however lowering, and the soul, while not satisfied, is yet won.
And such an one is Nicodemus. Yet, though not in nature merely, he takes that ground, and therefore must learn what nature is. Indeed, so it is with us all. Only as quickened do we learn what death is. And it is absolutely necessary we should learn it, for therein lies the whole mystery of strength and blessing for us. God's way of saving is the unveiling of Himself. But to be saved I must be a sinner. I must be " ungodly," and " without strength." I must be in my rags before Him. Do you think, when I have Him upon my neck, I would, for anything that you could name, have rather had my rags off before I had Him there?
" Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said to thee, Ye must be born again."
The connection with the line of truth which we have in this gospel is here apparent. " Water " has come before us already in the 2nd chapter as a symbol. We have it again in the 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 13th, and 19th chapters. In some of these, indeed, it is " living water " that is spoken of, and in the 7th this is interpreted to mean the Spirit: " this spake he of the Spirit." But that helps all the more clearly in the understanding of the rest. The use of water is in cleansing and in refreshing. Both are by the Spirit, and both are by the word. Beautifully, if the Word be water, the Spirit is " living water." " Now ye are clean through the word that I have spoken to you." " The washing of water, by the word."
The commencement of this water washing is manifestly in new birth. After that there is still the daily practical cleansing of our walk and ways. The Lord speaks of both when He says, " He that is washed (or has been bathed) needeth not save to wash his feet."
There is another thing, also, in close connection with cleansing, which water signifies. It is the figure of judgment, as it was actually the judgment of the old world. And to this Peter refers when he writes, " the like figure whereunto, even baptism doth also now save us." For we are saved by judgment. Like Noah, we pass on to our new world through the ruins of the old. " Our old man crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
" That which is born of the flesh is flesh." Out of flesh you can get nothing else. There is no change, therefore, as to it: " the mind of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." It is judged, not saved-destroyed, not changed.
And withal there is the impartation of a new life, as distinct and real, at least, as was the old. Scripture speaks of it as " eternal life abiding in" us (1 John 3), and of the exhibition of it in its perfectness in Christ's life down here, so that having spoken of Him as the " Word of life," the Apostle goes on to say: " For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." So distinct, so perfect, so separate from mixture with the old, that it can be said of everyone born of God, " whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." The flesh cannot do ought else, for it is not of God, but it is for faith " crucified with Christ," and I look at it and say, "it is not I, but sin that dwelleth in me." As born of God-in the new life which comes from Him-we cannot sin.
Were it otherwise, a gradual change of the old man into the new, it could not be said that God "bath made us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light," where that expression " in light " speaks of everything made manifest. Instead of that we should, only be meet when that process was completed. Nor would new birth be a bathing, a washing of the old person, never needing to be renewed. But Scripture, with perfect consistency, speaks of it as that, as we have seen.
But people naturally object, How about sanctification, then? Is there no growth in grace? Surely there is. We do not start at once into full-grown men in Christ. Spiritually, as in nature, there are babes, young men and fathers; and these very terms may tell us how the two things consist. A child's nature is as perfect as a man's. It wants development, that is all. It gets that as it grows up among men, and has before it the full maturity of what it is. Let a child grow up in a desert apart from men, and it will scarcely be a man at all. Yet not from its not possessing a nature perfect as any other's. Even so, with Christ before us, we grow up, unto Christ, no more perfect in nature at the last than at the first, but perfected in development-the full-grown man.
But how we do marvel when we learn, as we must do practically, this mystery of new birth I When in the sincere desire of our souls we come to Christ as the teacher of righteousness, only to learn that it cannot come of us! How we cavil at it, and question it, and try to falsify it too, seeking the help of His grace to work out a character for ourselves, to substitute our righteousness for His righteousness, and so be at peace! And how, in His mercy, when all such efforts fail-as it is of His mercy they should fail-and we find, indeed, our place in death, ungodly, and without strength-" bap-wed into his death," we find our new birth unto a " living hope," unto "life and peace," in and with Him who lay in death for us, our death, and has risen out of it, the first-begotten from the dead, and brought us up, out of it, quickened together with Him!
Of new birth, law, strictly as law, knew nothing, just as it knew nothing of salvation. " What shall I do to be saved?" is the question of man's ignorance simply. It never said, " the man that doeth these things shall be saved," for if he did them, he needed no salvation. Yet there is a form in which (when, along with law, God's long-suffering goodness was proclaimed, as when the tables came out of the mount the second time) God did connect these things: " When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he bath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." It is not even here " he shall be saved," but " he shall save himself" That is a wide enough difference. In reality it is only the opening up of man's need more distinctly. Already once lost, could he now conform to God's conditions, and save a life already in strictness forfeited? God never so couples doing with His salvation, but if man could even now "save himself," there were the terms.
Just in the same way you find the need of new birth coming out, but it is put upon man himself to effect. As hopeless a task as in Nicodemus' question, " Can a man enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" So God says in Ezekiel, " Make you a new heart and a new spirit, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"
With reference to repentance on the part of God, on the other hand, the word is used thirty-six times. For what the law proposed to man was to change (if he could) God's mind about him. "Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return," had been God's word to Adam, but "the man that doeth these things shall live in them," was the proposition of the law. And in a somewhat modified form, this is announced (Jer. 18) as the principle of God's dealings with the nations. Yet, while this was proposed, practically, if God repented, it was "because of the multitude of his mercies," or else to cut man off in judgment (eq., Gen. 6) as a sinner.
Looking at Israel from "the top of the rocks," one that " heard the words of God and saw the vision of the Almighty," could say, " God is not a man that he should lie; nor the son of man, that he should repent." And an apostle of the New Testament could echo with him that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." This is the only passage in the New Testament in which even the thought of it on God's part suggests itself. It is now to man that repentance is proclaimed.)
Prophetically, however,- Ezekiel tells us, under the new covenant, of God's doing this, and here is what a "master in Israel" ought to have known. "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh," is certainly complete moral renovation or "new birth." And such a change was necessary in order to the introduction even of the earthly kingdom. If these "earthly things" stumbled him, how would he be prepared to believe One who spoke of things outside the range of the old prophets altogether? " If I have told- you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?"
And this bringing out of new truth yet further tests the state of the soul to which it is presented. Do I know the Shepherd's voice? Can I distinguish it from the voice of strangers? Or do I receive only what is accredited by the concurrent testimony of the piety or wisdom of past generations? That may seem very humble. It is practical infidelity. I do not believe God until man assures me He has spoken! Which is it then I really trust? It is one of the saddest things in a day of confusion to hear people say, "But so many good men differ." Yes, I reply, but are you listening to the distracting voices of men, then? Does not the Lord Jesus say, "My sheep hear my voice"? And is it not written, " There must also be heresies, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you"? The argument that because we are not infallible, God cannot communicate to us His mind infallibly, is as unreasonable even as it is dangerous. It is denying a distinctive characteristic of the Lord's teaching, " He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes." But if I cannot recognize His voice from that of the scribes themselves, what becomes of that authority? It is as much gone as if He had never spoken, and I cannot certainly say if I be walking in the path of His will or not. Though I " will do his will," I cannot " know of the doctrine." Though my "eye be single," my." whole body " cannot be " full of light."
Nicodemus might have said, " The whole mass of rabbinical commentators say nothing of new birth." Would that excuse him? The question was, did he know the voice of God? And with heavenly things now to be revealed, could he receive them, without the sanction of antiquity, upon the simple word of Him whom he had just acknowledged "a teacher come from God "?
And now, in our day, when there are no new revelations, but only the old truth, amid the perplexity of critics and the -folly of wise men, unperplexed and unchanged, the question still remains for each one of us, with all its interest, and with all its solemnity, Do I know the voice of God?
Then comes the testimony of the glory of His person who is there. " And no man bath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." Then the wonder of His work, still more revealing Him, " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." And then, as soon as you know Him, you know another. In another way than simply by the value of His work, He brings to God. " For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."
He would not leave you short of that blessed revelation, for that would be still to leave you short of perfect rest. " Lord, spew us the Father, and it sufficeth us," is, though the request of ignorance, for in Christ they had seen the Father, yet a true judgment of what it does need to " suffice" the heart. Were there aught, back of Christ, still to be revealed, we should not yet be fully blest. Christ in His love, paying my debt to God would not content me without the knowledge of God in His love, so declared by that debt paid. If my conscience needs the one, my heart needs the other. " God in Christ,"-that satisfies. " And not only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."
For it is a reality that we are " without God in the world " naturally, and that is another and a sadder truth even than being outcasts from God. Both go together, no doubt, but while to be an outcast from God is to be outside all I know of light and goodness, to be without Him is to be without the knowledge of light or goodness.
And it needs- that- surely to make-up the perfect agony of woe.
What a difference it is to say I know that I am safe, and " to know God"! And in one way, although it needs the knowledge of security, perfectly to know Him, this is the first thing proposed, and it is that which we go on in continually. In it comes the knowledge of peace, because to "acquaint thyself with him" is to be at peace." But this is only one of the varied fruits of that tree of life and blessing.
We know Him. We have a God. It is joy to put our mouths in the dust before Him, and to own Him as infinitely beyond us in goodness as in power and majesty He is. This is what the Cross reveals. This is what faith receives. And this is where I begin to live and walk with Him, whom daily I know better, and daily seek yet more to know.
What follows in verses 18-21 is man's responsibility in view of "light," thus " come into the world." John's Gospel gives us no pleading with man, no trial of him. The light exposes him, that is all. What can be looked for from one dead in trespasses and sins? Yet even so, that does not excuse him, his responsibility is unaffected by it. For if he be " dead," it is " in sins." If he be in darkness, he " loves darkness rather than light, because his deeds are evil." " This is his condemnation." This is why he does not come to the light, why he does not believe. It is his will that is in fault-his heart. The converse of " they believed not the truth," is simply " but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
-Yet " death " it is, surely. A state out of which none but God can bring. And we must know it, each one for himself, so that it shall be, save in the grace of it, no mystery, that the " Firstborn" of this "new creation" is also " the first begotten from the dead." Even so we, born unto God, are new-born out of death. He for us risen out of it we " quickened together with Him," " that He be-the Firstborn am on g many brethren."
And thus, it is solemn to see the, Lord of life and glory taking up John's work. " After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there He tarried with them, and baptized. John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized." It is the last time you meet with baptism in this gospel, for with this chapter we pass out of the region of death into the life beyond. It was fit to have this solemn witness first. It comes as the seal of the previous teaching, and because " the testimony of two men is true," the master authenticates the testimony of the disciple. All this will be left behind when He takes up His own peculiar " witness " of " heavenly things." But while passing on to this, He must confirm the " earthly," for grace does not " make void," but " establish law." The new revelation (if it go behind it) puts emphatically its seal upon the old.
John has accompanied us then so far. But the wilderness voice is now to give its last utterance, and joyful if solemn utterance it is. O how more than calmly we can look on at our own burial when Christ the Life is there! "He must increase, I must decrease" now. Think you there ought to be sorrow about that? Surely in another sense than old Simeon; but with relief of heart like his, we say " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."
Beautiful is this last utterance of one, than whom none greater had risen among them that are born of woman. He is still only "a voice," "a witness to the light," "not the light," and he pretends not to it. "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from heaven is above all."
Precious, simple, ungrudging witness! His glory was to be nothing. Cheaply attained as that is, who among us desires it?
But again and again this solemn testimony to man's utter ruin comes. Let heaven pour out its treasures, he does not value them. "What he hath seen and heard he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony." To receive that is to set to one's seal that God is true.
Truth is here again everything. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him,"
There the voice ceases. What is beyond is not for John (blessed servant as he is) to utter. He that comes from heaven is to speak now the things " which he hath seen and heard." F. W. G.