1 Chronicles 22:6

DAVID COMMANDS SOLOMON TO BUILD THE TEMPLE

"Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for Jehovah, the God of Israel. And David said to Solomon his son, As for me, it was in my heart to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God. But the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about him; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his time. He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, Jehovah be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of Jehovah thy God, as he hath spoken concerning thee."

"David charged him (Solomon) to build a house for Jehovah" (1 Chronicles 22:6,11). Throughout the Bible, the principle that one actually does what he commands others to do is fully established; and in this command, David went beyond God's Word.

"Thou hast shed blood abundantly" (1 Chronicles 22:8). Great significance attaches to this verse. It presupposes that war is sinful, wrong, contrary to God's will. This cannot mean that David's wars were not justified. God commanded his people to fight wars; but here shines the eternal truth that bloodshed is inherently evil, no matter how necessary it may be at times.

"Behold, a son shall be born unto thee" (1 Chronicles 22:9). The words used here show that David was referring to the words of God through Nathan (2 Samuel 7:12-14). Yes, God promised that son, all right, but David failed to understand what God said about WHEN that son would be born. It would not happen during David's lifetime, but when thou shalt sleep with thy fathers (2 Samuel 7:12).

Furthermore, the kingdom of that son would be established after David (2 Samuel 7:12); but Solomon's kingdom was established during David's lifetime. "Solomon was made king before David's death (1 Kings 1:32-40; 1 Chronicles 23:1) ... there was a co-regency of four years."[3]

"His name shall be called Solomon" (1 Chronicles 22:9). We believe this to be a mistranslation, because all scholars agree that the Hebrew word here rendered Solomon is "peace," or "peaceful"; and on the basis that the word Solomon is supposed to mean peaceful, the translators have incorrectly injected the proper name Solomon into this verse.

REGARDING THE NAME SOLOMON

1. "For his name shall be Solomon" (1 Chronicles 22:9). It is a mistake to read these words as revealing the name that God Himself gave to that Great One who would build David a house. This clause is the word of David, not the Word of God. God indeed gave Solomon a name, but that name was Jedidah (2 Samuel 12:25). God certainly did not name Solomon twice!

2. The word in the Hebrew text is not "Solomon" (S-L-M-H), but "peace" (S-L-W-M).[4] There are two different words here; and there is no authority for changing the word PEACE to SOLOMON. The conviction of this writer is that the passage in 2 Samuel 7 is focused, not upon Solomon at all, but upon Jesus Christ the Messiah. Certainly the word PEACE is far more applicable to the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) than it is to Solomon with his legions of slave-laborers.

3. God did not name David's successor to be Solomon; Bathsheba did so. "The name corresponds to `Irenaeus' in Greek, `Friedrich' in German (Frederick in English), and `Selim' in Arabian. The name should be pronounced `Shillumah,' meaning compensation, because Solomon was given to her (Bathsheba) in the place of a child who had died."[5]

"He shall be my son, and I shall be his father" (1 Chronicles 22:10). This is a direct quotation of 2 Samuel 12:14. "It refers to Christ,"[6] fully in keeping with our interpretation of the entire passage. Solomon, a `son of God'? Ridiculous! Where, in all the Bible is any passage that supports such a notion as that? He built more pagan temples than any other man in human history.

In this light, we must discern David's mistaken interpretation of God's prophecy through Nathan. Those magnificent messianic passages of the Psalms, written by David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, may not have been fully understood, even by David himself, as an apostle stated (1 Peter 1:10-12).

"Now my son, ... build the house of Jehovah thy God" (1 Chronicles 22:11). Thus David, in effect, by his previous preparations, and by direct orders to his son and successor, did the very thing God had prohibited him from doing.

Of course, God forgave David for this misunderstanding and mistake. As a forerunner and type of Messiah himself, David's temple was overruled and utilized by the Lord in the ultimate achievement of the divine purpose of providing salvation to be made available for all men. God allowed it to stand under the old covenant as a type of the true temple of God, namely, the Holy Church of Jesus Christ. Such a thing was possible only because the temple incorporated so many features of the tabernacle which it replaced (As conclusively indicated in the Book of Hebrews).

Thus, God allowed to stand for the time then present David's mistake regarding the nature of God's true temple; but over and beyond David's application of God's Word through Nathan to the building of Solomon's temple, there still stood, and it still stands, the immortal prophecy of the Son of God Himself.