"When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will 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 forever. 2 Samuel 7:12-13

God forbade David to build a temple for His dwelling place. The first reason, of course is that God cannot be contained in a single place, much less a building made by human hands (Isaiah 66:1-2).

Beyond that, God disallowed David to be the builder because He was a man of war and bloodshed (1 Chronicles 28:3).

But God promised that David’s son would be a king and that he would build a house for God. We know that David’s son, Solomon, succeeded David as king of Israel, and Solomon did built a great temple. But, was Solomon the only one in God’s mind when promising David a son who would build a temple for the Lord?

Prophecy often, and this is no exception, has both a near and a far fulfillment—a soon and a much later fulfillment. When God gave David His promise of a kingly son who would build a temple, He spoke of Solomon as the sooner fulfillment of the promise, and of Jesus as the later (and ultimate) fulfillment.

Solomon was a great king, and he did build a great temple. But what about the promise that the kingdom of David’s son would be forever? Solomon’s kingdom ended, and in disgrace. His temple lasted for some 400 years—before being destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

The reign of David’s greater Son, King Jesus, is forever. And while Jesus built no temple of stone, He is building an eternal temple made of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:4-5), that is the “habitation of God” (Ephesians 2:21-22).

Let us read the Bible, the Old Testament in particular, with eyes to see that it is about Jesus!