THE UNFOLDING MYSTERY DISCOVERING CHRIST ege IN THE Sp OLD TESTAMENT SECOND EDITION WITH STUDY AND APPLICATION QUESTIONS EDMUND P. CLOWNEY U BLIS HI P.O, BOX 817 » PHILLIPSBURG = NEW JERSEY (8865-0817— First Edition © 1988 by Edmund P. Clowney Second edition © 2013 by The Edmund P. Clowney Legacy Corp Allrights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise —except for brief quotations for the purpose of review or comment, without the prior permission of the publisher, P&R Pub- lishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865-0817. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible: New International Version (w1v). © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers, ‘Other versions used: the Revised Standard Version (rsv), ©1946, 1952, 1971, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, used by permission, all rights reserved; the New King James Version (Nk1v), © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers; and the King James Version (Kj). ISBN: 978-1-59638-892-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-59638-893-2 (ePub) ISBN: 978-1-59638-894-9 (Mobi) Cover images: The disciples encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus, engraving by Gustave Doré @ istockphoto.com /ivan-96; paper @ istockphoto.com / Ursula Alter Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Clowney, Edmund P. The unfolding mystery : discovering Christ in the Old Testament : with study and application questions / Edmund P. Clowney, -- Second Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index, ISBN 978-1-59638-892-5 (pbk.) 1. Typology (Theology) 2. Bible, New Testament--Relation to the Old Testament. 1. Title. BT225.C57 2013 232112--de23, 2013019239CHAPTER BIGHT THE PRINCE OF PEACE DAVID, THE LORD’S ANOINTED, celebrated the promise God gave him of the Messianic King to come (Ps. 110). The glory of God's covenant with David remains a theme of the praises of Israel (Ps. 89; 132). That promise continued to be remembered by the prophets before the exile (Amos 9:11; Mic. 5:1-5; Isa. 9:5-6), on the eve of the exile (Jer. 23:5-6; 30:9), during the exile (Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:21-25), and after the exile (Zech. 12:8).' God's promise of the Messiah to come was given to David when he had deter- mined to build a Temple to the Lord. God denied his request. David would not build God’s house; rather, God would build David's house. He would establish his Son's throne forever (2 Sam. 7:1, 16). David was not called to build the Temple, for he was a warrior, a man who had shed blood in battle (1 Chron. 28:3). When the wars of David were over, when the Lord had subdued all the enemies of his kingdom; then, and only then, would the Temple be built (1 Kings 5:3). The reign of Solomon completes the reign of David. In the ancient Near East, the culmination ofa king's military campaigns was often commemorated by the building of a palace or a temple. David won the victories on which Solomon's peaceful reign was established, He prepared for the Temple by gatheringa great store of materials for its construction (1 Kings 7:51; 1 Chron. 22:2-5). I7ITHE UNFOLDING MYSTERY The two reigns must therefore be taken together; together, David and Solomon picture the Lord’s king. David, the royal warrior, is succeeded by Solomon, the prince of peace (“Solo- mon,’ fromshalom, means “peaceful"—see t Chron. 22:9). While Solomon is not the Son of David in whom all the promises are fulfilled, he does stand as a type of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The royal psalms idealize the reign of Solomon, using it as a model to point forward to the true and final King (Ps. 2; 45; 72). David's sufferings, so vividly expressed in his psalms, mark himas the suffering servant of the Lord. Saul hated and pursued him without any cause (Ps. 35:19; 69:4). He was betrayed by one closest to him (Ahithophel, his friend and counselor—2 Sam. 15:12): “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9). The Gospel of John calls our attention to the way in which David's sufferings point to Christ’s (John 13:18; 15:25). Even the geographical details have vivid similarities. David, too, left Jeru- salem and crossed the Kidron to the slope of the Mount of Olives. In the midst of his sufferings and humiliation, David con- stantly showed mercy toward his enemies, so much so that his general Joab accused him of loving those who hated him (2 Sam. 19:6). On one occasion, in his outlaw days, he was about to use his sword to exact tribute and bring vengeance on Nabal, whose flocks he had been protecting (t Sam. 25:9-13). But he heeded the plea of Abigail, Nabal’s wife, when she met him to intercept his raid. He praised God for deterring him from executing his own vengeance. The Lord avenged Nabal’s folly. On the other hand, David did charge Solomon with the exe- cution of swift justice against those who had hated and betrayed him (1 Kings 2:2-9), a commission that Solomon fulfilled. This action on David's part need not be seen as a weakness in his character, as though he shrank from the consequences of admin- istering justice. We may, indeed, feel that David was weakat times 172THE PRINCE OF PEACE in dealing with transgression and crime. But David's charge to Solomon takes account of the difference in their reigns. David bears not only the agony of battle, but also the reproach of those who betrayed and disobeyed him. Solomon brings in the kingdom in which peace is founded on stern justice. David foreshadows the longsuffering restraint of Christ’s humiliation. Solomon typifies Christ as the Judge, who ushers in the Kingdom by judging justly. Christ's rule as the Prince of Peace is grounded in the perfect justice of His judgment. The fulfillment is, of course, far richer than the foreshadowing. We cannot simply take King David to be the type of Christ's first coming and King Solomon of His second coming. On the one hand, Christ’s kingdom rule was evident even in the days of His suffering: the demons obeyed Him. On the other hand, the justice that He will bring with Him when He comes again is the justice of the Lamb on the throne. The glory of Christ's rule is not still future; it is already established in heaven. Jesus not only goes to prepare a place for us; He has already built the new Temple by His resurrection and by the union of His people to Himself. Nevertheless, the marked contrast between David and Solomon helps us recognize the contrast between the humiliation and exaltation of Christ: His longsuffering grace and His final justice. Solomon's reign brought the history of the people of God to a mountaintop. The craftsmen had put the finishing touches on the carved cedar and wrought gold of the Temple; Huram of Tyre had cast bronze into huge pillars and delicate capitals, basins, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. Seven years of construction. had converted an immense treasury into the glory of a Temple without rival. Solomon assembled all the elders and leaders of Israel to dedicate the house of God, the place on earth where the Lord. would set His name, where His glory would dwell. Hundreds 173THE UNFOLDING MYSTERY of priests offered uncounted numbers of sheep and cattle. The priests and Levites bore the ark of the Lord into the holy of holies; the cloud of God’s presence filled His house with glory and His people's hearts with awe. The long march of the cen- turies had come to rest. God had brought His people from the darkness of Egyptian bondage to the lightning of Sinai and then to Mount Zion, the place of His dwelling in the midst of His inheritance. Solomon stood before the people and praised God for keeping all His promises: not only His promise to David that his son would build the Temple, but His promises to Moses as well. “Praise be to the Lorp, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses” (1 Kings 8:56). itis in this setting of the fulfillment of the promises of God that the theme of wisdom comes to the fore. Solomon, offered his choice of the blessings of God, asked for wisdom, and his request was abundantly granted (1 Kings 3:4-15). Indeed, the wisdom that God gave to Solomon became the blessing that fulfilled God’s promise, not just to Moses but to Abraham. In the seed of Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed. When Israel was established in the land and the house of God set up, the time had come for blessing to flow out to the nations. This happened in the reign of Solomon. God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, anda breadth ofunderstandingas measureless as the sand on the seashore. ... ‘And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five, He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. Healso taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom. (1 Kings 4:29-34) 174