2 Samuel 5:6-16 – God’s King Fulfils God’s Promises
If David’s exaltation has been a long time coming, the capture of Jerusalem has been even longer in the making. Eight hundred years before, God had promised Abraham – at the end of Genesis 15 – ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.’ Eight whole centuries. Whole civilisations had come and gone. The other names on the list had been dispatched long ago. But finally, in this chapter, God gives his people the land of the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of Jerusalem, in fulfilment of his promise.
It couldn’t have happened at a better time. David wouldn’t be an effective king over all Israel if he tried to rule from a Judean city like Hebron. Jerusalem was more central. It was just over the border into Benjaminite territory [Josh 18.28] – which would likely please those in Saul’s tribe – but it had never been claimed by them. Yet there was both a promise and a command, not just in Genesis, but also in Exodus and Deuteronomy for God’s people to defeat them. Joshua 15 contains the sad statement, ‘But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day’. But no longer!
For centuries God’s people had been waiting for someone who would fulfil this promise. Now, in the fullness of time, he had come! Just like Jesus came after God’s people had been waiting centuries – millennia even – for the one who had been promised who would crush the head of the snake. God’s true king doesn’t just arrive on the scene. He arrives, as God had planned long ago, ready to bring God’s promises to fulfilment. God’s king fulfils God’s promises.
Questions
- What had God promised about Jerusalem?
- What are some of God’s promises that Jesus fulfils?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that God always keeps His promises.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.