1 Chronicles 22:1–10

Read the passage.

This is your periodic reminder that the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are a later addition and actually arbitrary. In the ESV, 1 Chronicles 22:1 is under the previous heading, and verse 2 starts a new one about the preparations for building the temple.

We learn that David bought the threshing floor from Ornan, near where the angel had stopped when the judgement against Israel ceased, because he intended for the temple of the Lord to be built there. He had already received the instruction that he would not be the one to build it, but he decided to do as much as he was allowed to help the project along. He conscripted labor from the non-Israelites living within his borders, he drafted plans for the construction, and he gathered materials of every necessary kind. Part of his reason was certainly his love for the Lord, which inspired him to want to build the temple in the first place, but he also saw that Solomon was young and inexperienced, and might not do as good of a job as his father could.

Also as part of the preparations, David charges his son Solomon to finish the project, as the Lord had decreed he would do. While David was a man of war with a life full of bloodshed, Solomon would be a man of peace with a restful reign over Israel. As Solomon builds the house for the Lord, so will the Lord build his house and establish it forever. This is a reiteration of the covenant Yahweh had made with David, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Noah had three sons, but the line of promise continued through Shem. Abraham had several sons, but the line of promise continued through Isaac. David had many sons, but the line of promise continued through Solomon. Jesus had no sons, but the promise is fulfilled in Him and He will reign forever and ever.

Your word never returns void, and all Your sayings are trustworthy.