Tuesday, April 9, 2013

David puts everything in place in anticipation of establishing regular worship once again, complete with music, singing, and presenting offerings before the Lord.  At this time the tabernacle of the Lord was located at a place called Gibeon.  Gibeon was one of the cities within the territory of Benjamin that was given to the Levites.  It is about five miles northwest of Jerusalem and the seat of an ancient sanctuary, called in 1Kings 3:4 “the great high place.”

David wants to build a proper temple for the Lord and speaks to Nathan the prophet. The Lord tells Nathan that David will NOT build a temple, but his son will.  God did not want a warrior to build His temple.
1Ch 28:3 
But God said to me, You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.

David is told that his throne and kingdom will endure forever. Interesting word - forever.  Eternity and forever are not the same.  Forever is relative to time.  Time and forever began on Day 4 of creation when the sun, moon, and stars were created. (Genesis 1:14-15) Time and forever end when the heavens are no more. (2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 20:11, Revelation 21:23, Revelation 22:5, Revelation 21:1) Then time and forever cease to exist.  There is only eternity.  Eternity never begins and never ends.  The sun, moon, and stars were created to establish time and forever. In eternity there is no need of the sun, moon, and stars nor is there need for time and forever.  God says that David's kingdom will last forever and His commanded feast days will be observed forever.  It means that there will be an end to both because forever and eternity are not the same. 

Fascinating story about Zadok the priest…the descendants of Zadok will serve in the Millennial Kingdom temple. Check out this prophecy from the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezek 40:46
and the room facing north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the LORD to minister before him."

Out of all the Levites, it will be the descendents of Zadok who will be chosen to minister before the Lord. What was so special that God would single them out specifically for this honored task? Is it because they were faithful to carry out God's instructions?

Ezek 44:15-16
"'But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD.

What kind of job may the Lord have set aside for us because we were faithful in carrying out our duties?

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