WELCOME
PRAYER
WORD TO MUSIC
SILENCE
When we come back we’ll continue to flesh out the life of David before reading Peter’s reference to him.
Alright, we left off with reading about the 70,000 dying of pestilence due to David counting the Armies of Israel and my sharing a personal experience with faithlessness, which is at the heart of what “Army counting” is.
Please please please remember that the point is to remind us all to trust in Him and nothing more and not to put a burden on you.
I am VERY well aware that I could contact anyone of you for help and you would help. The whole point is do we all trust in the LORD to help?
So Peter is standing before thousands of devout men there in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and he has introduced this Old Testament figure through his exhortation – David.
As we said last week in the latter part of David’s life he experienced great sorrow with his children and family.
It is believed that much of this was related to two factors – his possession of many wives which lead to many children, which led to “factioning” among those children from different mothers AND the idea that David, as a father, was weak in terms of discipline.
This is believed (and this could be wrong) but it is believed that due to his relationship with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah, that David was partially broken as a man in his ability or willingness to correct his children and lead the family.
This happens to men.
When, as the Father figure, we have the respect of our children and wife, and this is lost due to the discovery of our feet of clay in some way, men often pull back from being the demonstrable leader of the family either because they don’t want to be hypocritical OR because the family no longer recognizes him as their leader any longer.
As an aside, in my estimation the best way for men to recover from such things is to allow the Lord to “recreate you” (by and through His Spirit). The reasons this are far too numerous to articulate here but if you are a father that has lost the rule or respect of your family due to your sins come see me – we’ll talk.
Anyway . . .
Acts 2.32B
October 4th 2015
Milk
In some way the personal respect for David seems to have been lowered (at least in the family and/or his mind) by the incident of Bathsheba/Uriah.
Nationally there was also a strong resentment against David for taking of the census.
People do NOT appreciate losing 70000 of their own due to the error of their King – even if their King is David.
When this National disrespect was at a peak David’s son, Absalom rebelled against his father and gradually gained the trust of the tribes so much so he assumed David’s throne!
That there’s some intrigue, eh?
A man named Ahithophel was Absalom’s chief counsellor and the revolt began in Hebron, the capital of Judah where Absalom was proclaimed king.
Being in imminent danger because of this soup David left Jerusalem and became a fugitive . . . once again.
This was a momentous day in Israel and the record of it includes more detail in scripture than any other Old Testament event.
In the end David prevailed which meant that in the process of his victory his son Absalom was put to death by a man named Joab.
The news of the death of his rebellious son filled David with grief as the death of a child would. Scripture says that David “went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept” then cried,
“Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Peace was now restored, and David returned to Jerusalem and resumed the direction of the Kingdom.
There were a few more disputes between the tribes but in the end peace was restored with David on the throne for another ten years before his death.
And it was during these years David stepped up gathering materials for the temple his Son Solomon would build.
The toil of his life caused David to age prematurely and he grew weak. Solomon was brought to Jerusalem and was anointed king and seated on his father’s throne. David’s last words, recorded in 2nd Samuel, reveal his unfailing faith in God.
He had reigned forty years and six months and died in B.C. 1015 at the age of seventy and was buried in Jerusalem on Mount Zion.
About 80 of the Psalms are attributed to David and when he assumed the throne he inherited a mess from Saul. But as a grand type for Christ the King David left a tremendous impression upon the Nation of Israel – even so much that Peter chose to appeal to his person here at the single most important day in the New Testament.
The writer of Hebrews says in 10:1,
“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things”
What this is saying is that the things of the Old Testament were the shadows (shadows have no substance) of the real things to come in the future as realities.
In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul wrote:
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
which are a shadow of things to come.”
Most of the significant events, stories, principles and people of the Old Testament were merely shadows of the “real thing” to come – with most of the real thing being Jesus.
For example, the Sabbath Day of rest. A physical command for those under the Law to rest.
But Jesus said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.”
The shadow (a sabbath day of rest) and the reality (Jesus Christ).
There are far, far, far too many to list here. They begin in the creation and continue throughout the entire Old Covenant with parallels in almost every event.
I mean go back to the garden of Eden. What was the curse God gave Adam? He said in Genesis 3:18 of the earth that, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.”
And what did the Romans place on Jesus head when He was paying for the sins of the world caused by Adam?
A crown of thorns. Adam brought them (the shadow) Jesus redeemed them (reality).
Well in the lives of prominent Old Testament characters we have shadows too. With Moses there are a lot that picture the reality of Christ. In Joseph even more. In David’s life there are a number of them as well.
For instance, I see “a shadow” in the literal reign of the first three Kings of Israel – first Saul, then David and then Solomon.
To me Saul is a shadow of the reality of the Jews as Nation before Christ – people who were unfaithful to His grace and had their “kingdom” ultimately removed from them.
Then we have David, the
“anointed one” picturing the reality of Christ’s earthly reign which, like David, brought in victory and peace over enemies (which for David were from lions and bears and Goliaths and Philistines) and for Jesus sin and death.
Finally I see Solomon and his being the one to actually build the single most gorgeous temple edifice picturing the Gospel going out to the whole gentile nations. The fact that Solomon had thousands of Gentile wives plays into this picture as does the fact that the one who provided him with the materials to build this temple was David (Christ).
Of course the greatest similarities between David and Jesus deal with their annointings, Kingships, shepherding, and with both of them being “saviors” to the people – with David being the Nation of Israel and Jesus being the world.
And so standing there at Pentecost Peter says at Acts 2 verse 25:
Act 2:25 For David speaketh concerning him, (JESUS) saying:
“I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”
Alright back to verse 25.
Two weeks ago we read how Peter had told these men that they had not only delivered Jesus up to hands that crucified Him and put Him to death but he reminded them that death could NOT hold Jesus bound – that He had overcome the grave via resurrection.
So here Peter says:
“For David spoke concerning him (Jesus, the one that the grave could not hold) saying, “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved”
Peter is quoting from Psalm 16:8-11 and his quote is taken from what is called the Septuagint, which is a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. For this reason what Peter says here does not match exactly with what the Hebrew Old Testament recites in Psalm 16.
Now, for me at least, when Peter, and Paul quote David and his written words in the New Testament I am always temporarily confused.
The reason I get confused is because I can never tell who David was talking about when he wrote – was it himself or was it the Messiah or was it both?
I want to take a few – just four or five tedious minutes to help explain to you what has always confused me. Maybe it’s a no brainer for you but it may be so let’s check it out.
So Peter here recites the words of David written in Psalm 16. This is what he quotes David as writing:
Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
First of all these words were David speaking of himself and his situation. They reflect his heart toward the things of God.
That being said, here in Acts 2 Peter takes these words of David, and tells his audience that they speak of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
So let’s read them that way now, as if David was quoting Jesus as saying these words when He walked the earth.
So with this being the case we could say Jesus said:
Psalm 16:8 “I have set the LORD GOD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Got that? So they are words that apply to David and his walk and they are prophetically assigned by Peter to apply to Jesus – especially His resurrection.
From the words we can see that both David had hope of a resurrection (“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell”) and to Jesus (“neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to corruption” – which means the corruption of His flesh in the grave.)
Verses 25-28 are words of priority and hope. They are words that explain the devotion both David and Jesus had toward God as they lived their lives. And the culmination of the message relates to resurrection – which is the main reason Peter must be using them here.
Because after bringing up their hero David, who talked about resurrection, Peter says:
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Notice his tone – “Men and brethren,” and he continues. “I am going to speak openly but lawfully of the patriarch David,” he says.
What we are witnessing is the power of the Holy Spirit operating on a man. He is reaching to reach them and like Jesus, Peter is constructing some amazing logic.
They have put the Messiah to death. Death could NOT hold Him – He was resurrected. And let me talk to you about David, who said this in Psalm 16:
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Peter says “Let me speak boldly, freely and yet lawfully of David. Though he has been venerated by all of us as a king we have to admit – he’s dead and his body has been corrupted – in fact his sepulchure is with us today.”
This is a powerful, powerful comparison Peter is making. In fact, there are bumper stickers today that appeal to the same tact when they compare the present status of men like Christopher Hitchens, Charles Darwin, Mohammed, or the Buddha and Christ.
All but one are in the tomb.
David’s was a delicate way of expressing great respect for the monarch whom they all honored but provided a death blow when comparing him and the Messiah.
One was dead and had rotten in the grave and the other had risen and God did not allow Him (His Holy One) to suffer corruption.
Josephus, the Hebrew historian wrote of the sepulchure of David in Peter’s day, saying:
“David was buried by his son Solomon in Jerusalem with great magnificence, and with all the other funeral pomps with which kings used to be buried. Moreover, he had immense wealth buried with him: for a thousand and three hundred years afterwards, Hyrcanus, the high priest, when he was besieged by Antiochus, and was desirous of giving him money to raise the siege, opened one room of David’s sepulchre, and took out three thousand talents. Herod, many years afterward, opened another room, and took away a great deal of money.” (Antiq., b. vii., c. xv., 3.)
Obviously we are pretty certain from Peter’s words that it was common knowledge as to the location of David’s tomb when Peter was speaking.
And Peter’s point?
We revere David. He is a hero to the Nation. He has inspired us and in our history served as a symbol to admire – but he’s dead. His tomb is over there. And apparently there was not a Jew in the house who would have disputed this.
And from this reasoning we know that at least part (if not all) of David’s words were speaking prophetically, especially verse 10 that says:
“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
In light of what Peter just said we know that he is applying these words to Jesus.
Now, remember, the first application of David’s Psalm were to himself and then also prophetically, so we know that when he wrote:
“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
That He was speaking both of his own soul AND that of the Messiah.
For God did NOT leave David’s soul in hell nor did He leave Jesus soul in hell either. Additionally God would not let His Holy One’s (Jesus) body see corruption of the grave (but He certainly let David’s body).
See how that all works?
Let me approach it another way.
In the city of Jerusalem the Jews cared meticulously for the tomb of the prophet David. They would have – it was a sign of respect to them.
In so doing they tacitly acknowledged that David was dead and his remains, now turned to dust, were captured inside.
So by quoting David’s Psalm Peter was able to show his audience of devout men that it spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, and was NOT speaking of David, because David’s body had experienced corruption!
(beat)
I would suggest that when this point struck home, many – at that moment – had the light come on.
And so Peter continues appealing to this logic and says (verses 30-31):
30 Therefore (David) being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before (it occurred) spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Peter points out here that David, as a prophet, and the one who was promised by God that from his own loins God would raise up the Messiah to sit on His throne, saw (well before it occurred) the resurrection of this Messiah, which David prophesied through the words:
“His soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.”
The oath God gave David is reported in Psalm 89:3,4 which says,
“I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish,” and also in Psalm 132:11:
“The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.”
The Jews present at Pentecost would have been familiar with these promises.
Did Jesus go to hell after He died. He sure did. Let’s remember the facts – the afterlife location for people to the Jews was sheol – also called Hell. The term “sheol” means, “a covering” or “a place with a lid on it.”
There was a prison part of sheol (hell) and a paradise part where the righteous went.
Referring to the activities of Jesus after He gave up the Ghost Peter wrote many years later in 1st Peter 3:18-20:
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”
Now, I won’t go to deep on this but I want to point out a few things about these passages (which are so important to the Catholic idea of purgatory and to the idea of the LDS gospel being preached to people after this life.
First, where the passage says, “he went and preached unto the Spirits in prison,” the word for preached is NOT
YOO ANGLE ID ZOE but KAY ROOS SO.
Does this mean anything? I think so. Whenever the Gospel or Good News is described as being preached in the New Testament the Greek term is YOO ANGLE ID ZOE. So when Peter uses KAYROOS SO it seems to mean NOT the preaching of the Gospel but the making of an announcement.
So when we teach that the Gospel was preached to those in prison that is taking great liberties with the text.
Secondly, where Peter writes:
“and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,”
We have to admit that the ONLY people or spirits Jesus went and made an announcement to were those who were disobedient prior to the flood or in the days of Noah.
The passage does not say that Jesus went and made a proclamation to the whole spirit world, whether in prison or paradise, but just to those spirits that were disobedient in Noah’s day while the ark was being prepared.
Why? Don’t know.
How? (meaning how did He announce to them only) no idea.
Nevertheless, back to the point – Jesus soul was NOT left in sheol as David predicted.
Neither did his flesh see corruption – meaning the grave did not have victory over it.
And having established all of this, Peter does what he as an apostle was called to do – witness of Jesus resurrection from the grave and says (verse 32):
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
“This Jesus, of whom David wrote and prophesied about, the one that you put in the grace believing that He would go to hell and remain there while His body deteriorated in the grave, GOD HAS RAISED UP and all of us standing here before you are witnesses of it.”
Boom.
When Peter says and we are all witnesses of it he was probably speaking of the 120
who were there and who had witnessed the resurrected Lord.
The proof was tough to deny. We had an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like no other. We had an appeal to the prophet Joel and David. We had 120 witnesses and if this wouldn’t establish the fact in the hearts of those present we have to wonder if anything would.
But Peter continues and gives them a “therefore . . .”
Now before I read it, remember, the crowd was not sure of what was going on in front of them and some assumed that the apostles were drunk. And so Peter stood up to explain and make a defense.
It is here at verse 33 where he actually explains what they are seeing. So he begins with THEREFORE . . .
Acts 2:33 Therefore, (in other words, “so what you are seeing is,” “Therefore,” and now speaking of Jesus) “being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
So, Peter says, as a result of Jesus –
Being on the right hand of God exalted
And having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,
He (Jesus) has shed forth this (us speaking in tongues and being drunk with the Spirit)
Which you now see and hear.
In other words, all that you are witnessing has occurred because Jesus (again, whom you put to death) has
overcome the grave
is on the right hand of God exalted
And received what He said the Father would give – the Holy Spirit –
Which He (Jesus) shed forth and which you are all seeing and hearing.
And then Peter appeals to David again, and says to them (at verse 34-35):
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he said himself, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
King David has not ascended into the heavens but instead said:
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
Here Peter quotes the words of David which are found in Psalm 110:1.
These are the MOST quoted Old Testament passages in the New Testament. What do they mean coming from David way back then:
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
Okay. When we see, “the LORD,” in scripture with all caps the title is taken from the proper noun name of God, YHWH or Yehovah.
Yehovah is God’s proper noun name.
So we would read these words of David:
“Yahweh said to my Lord.”
When we read Lord with a capital L but with lower case ord the Hebrews translated that to Adonai and it could mean any type of Lord – secular or deific.
So that first line has David saying:
“Jehovah, the Supreme Lord God of heaven and earth said to him whom I, David, acknowledge to be my superior and sovereign, (even Jesus Christ . . .)
“Sit thou on my right hand,” (which Peter just said Jesus had done) “until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
By saying this David prophetically admitted that His Lord would be a descendent of his flesh and it was through this that Jesus Himself confounded the heck out of the Pharisees in Matthew 22:42-46.
There is something very significant I want to point out relative to these passages from David.
God – the Sovereign God said to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ:
“Sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
This intimates that there will be a time when the Lord Jesus Christ will step FROM the right hand of God as God said to His Son:
“Sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
In 1st Corinthians 15 Paul writes, speaking of the END of the Jewish world:
Then cometh the end, when he (Jesus Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign, until he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet.
Then Paul adds “But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is exempted which did put all things under him.) and then he continues saying, “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
I would humbly, even fearfully suggest to you that at this point the purposes of God in having His word become flesh, will cease – and the Word will dissolve back into God from whence He came that God may be all in all.
Giving us one more “therefore,” Peter now concludes with a challenge for all to hear, saying:
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
This was Peter’s ultimate purpose – to get his brethren to hear that God make Yeshua, who they killed, both Lord (the Lord David called His Lord) and Messiah.
What was the reaction from the crowd? Repentance – a topic we will cover that next week.
Q and A
