After God’s Heart: Part 2 | Pastor Jacob Sheriff

Message Date: June 15, 2025
Bible

 Introduction

 Interactive Image: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/robertrouse/viz/BibleCrossReferences/Arcs;
Other cross-referencing resources: https://viz.bible/remaking-an-influential-cross-reference-visualization/

The Bible is an incredible and beautiful work of art. 

The Bible is a literary work of genius, written by brilliant literary artists guided by the Holy Spirit of God. When approaching the Bible, the goal is not to try to make something speak to you, but to listen to what God is saying and doing throughout the whole text, and how this points to Jesus. 

2 Timothy 3:15 (ESV) and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

In studying the life of David, learning from his life, the goal is not to go first to “how this relates to me,” but “how does this reveal Jesus,” then, “what does this mean for me.”

Acts 13:22-23 (ESV)22 And when [God] had removed [King Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

The Bible’s Plot Line

  • Movement 1: Humanity — Genesis 1-3

Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Humans as God’s “image” were made to rule — have “dominion”. Who is in charge of creation at this point? What kind of relationship does God have with His image-bearers? Partnership. Who does God want to be in charge of His world? Humans. What are humans for? To reflect His image and rule (steward) His world. 

Humans as God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership

For God to rule the world is to be in partnership with humanity, and for humans to be in partnership with other humans — a triad of partnership. Humans will only rule well while in partnership with other humans; ruling creation is a relational endeavor. Apparently, humans can only be fully human while in relationship with other humans who are also in relationship with God.

Genesis 1:28 (ESV) And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Blessed means to be given capacity by God to fulfill a vocation (to image God). 

Humans are tasked with spreading God’s goodness (His character and purpose) by caring for and cultivating the garden, trusting His knowledge of good and evil (Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) instead of their own definitions of right and wrong (Genesis 2:15-17).

Genesis 3:1-6 (ESV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Humans make the decision to execute authority apart from God, through suspicion that leads to rebellion, they want to define good and evil on their own terms for themselves — and it’s the moment they embrace their own destruction. They fail at fulfilling their vocation and identity of being God’s image; this failure is referred to as sin (to “miss the mark” or “moral failure”). It is a quest for wisdom; we want to define good and evil on our own terms. 

Their sin fractures the relationship and break the partnership resulting in DEATH.

Literary Formula for Sin: “See — Take — Give” (Genesis 3:6) 

Genesis 3:14-15 (ESV) The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

The Bible’s basic PLOT line:

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans
      • Problem: Humans are the problem
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human

A human will come in the future, an “offspring of Eve,” and be a “snake-crusher” and will destroy evil at its source, but it will be at the cost of his own life, a type of mutual destruction. It’s a strange and beautiful promise, and it’s just left hanging there…

Until the next key moment in the story where God singles out this guy named Abraham and makes him a promise… 

Abraham’s Family

  • Movement 2: Abraham’s Family — Genesis 12, 15, 17 

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Through Abraham’s family, God will restore blessing to all of the nations of the world. 

The Bible’s PLOT line:

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Abraham’s family)

Genesis 15:5–6 (ESV)5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:18a (ESV)18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram…

God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership in Covenant

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Abraham’s family)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Hagar — Genesis 16:1-4)

Genesis 16:1–4 (ESV)1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

Literary Formula for Sin: “See — Take — Give” (Genesis 3:6)

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Abraham’s family)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Hagar — Genesis 16:1-4)
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (Abraham’s Test — Genesis 22:1-18)

Genesis 22:16–18 (ESV)16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

And as we follow this family, we get to one of Abraham’s great-grandsons named Judah. He receives a promise… 

Isaac, Jacob, Judah: Genesis 49:8-12

Genesis 49:8, 10 (ESV)8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. … 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 

Genesis 49:10 (NLT)10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.

A king will come from his line, one of his offspring, and the whole world is going to follow him, and he’s going to bring peace and harmony, with lots of food and wine and vineyards and it’s going to be awesome. 

Through a king from Judah’s offspring, God will restore blessing to all of the nations of the world.

The Nation of Israel

  • Movement 3: Israel — Exodus 19:1-6

 

Exodus 19:3-6 (ESV) while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

The Bible’s PLOT line:

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Israel)

God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership in Covenant (Israel as a “Kingdom of Priests”)

Exodus 24:7 (ESV) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 

God has chosen Israel as a covenant people to make them into a “priestly nation” (kingdom of priests) that will follow Him and so represent His character to all nations, which is one way He achieves His ultimate aim: blessing the world.

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Israel)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem

Exodus 32:1–4 (ESV)1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

Literary Formula for Sin: “See — Take — Give” (Exodus 32:1-4)

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Israel)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Israel’s idolatry — Exodus 32:1-4)
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human

Deuteronomy 6:4–7a (ESV)4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children.…

Deuteronomy 7:6–9 (ESV)6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Deuteronomy 7:12–14a (ESV)12 “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples… 

Deuteronomy 9:4–6 (ESV)4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.

After 40 years with these people, Moses knows that they will be unable to obey the terms of the covenant. He predicts their failure and exile (Deut. 28:41). He knows that they have a deep problem with their hard and selfish hearts and they need a deep transformation. It’s as if they are incapable of truly loving and obeying His commands. Moses’ promise lays the groundwork for the prophetic hope of a total renewal of Israel’s heart and mind. (Jeremiah 31:31-34 & Ezekiel 36:22-27)

Deuteronomy 30:5-6 (ESV) 5 “And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Israel)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Israel’s idolatry — Exodus 32:1-4)
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (New heart — Deuteronomy 30:6)

Moses connects Israel’s problem with their heart with the problem with all of humanity, our hearts are bent to do evil. This connects this story back to Genesis 3, mankind seizing autonomy and defining good and evil for ourselves, which brought a curse on the land. These stories are about Israel’s hard heart, but they are given as a window into the universal human condition. 

Deuteronomy 30:15–20 (ESV)15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

How does Israel do? Complete and total failure.

King — Deuteronomy 17:14-15; 18:15-18, Judges 21:25, 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 13:14, 16:7

 

Judges 21:25 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Israel)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Israel’s idolatry)
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (An Israelite King)

1 Samuel 8:4–9 (ESV)4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Deuteronomy 17:14–15 (ESV)14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 

1 Samuel 9-10 — Israel chooses Saul 

Literary Formula for Sin: “See — Take — Give” (1 Samuel 10:17-24) 

How does Saul do? Complete and total failure.

1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV)14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 

Deuteronomy 17:15a (ESV)15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose.

The Davidic Dynasty

  • Movement 4: David — 1 Samual 16:1-13, 2 Samuel 7:8-16

 

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 

1 Samuel 16:12–13 (ESV)12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

The first king we meet from the line of Judah is a guy named King David. And he is a hero, maybe he’s the snake crusher. 

David and Goliath — 1 Samuel 17:1-54

1 Samuel 17:5 — “coat of mail” is translated from a word that means “scales,” meaning that Goliath is being portrayed as a serpent. 

1 Samuel 17:45–51 (ESV)45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Davidic Covenant: 2 Samuel 7:11-16 (Cross reference 1 Chronicles 17:10-14)

2 Samuel 7:12-16 (ESV) “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”

Through a king from David’s offspring, God will restore blessing to all the world.

God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership in Covenant (Davidic King)

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Davidic King — 2 Samuel 7:11-16)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Bathsheba — 2 Samuel 11:1-27)

But it turns out David is infected with the same evil like the rest of humanity. He never crushes the snake, but just the opposite.

David and Bathsheba — 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Literary Formula for Sin: “See — Take — Give” (2 Samuel 11:2-4) 

2 Samuel 11:2–4 (ESV)2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Davidic King — 2 Samuel 7:11-16)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Bathsheba — 2 Samuel 11:1-27)
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (New Heart, New King)

As you go on into the story of Israel, you see that each generation of David’s sons are total chumps. They give into the snake, they choose evil and go after money, sex, and power, and following other gods. Things get so bad that they run the nation of Israel into the ground. And the nation of Babylon takes them out. Babylon destroys the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, murders the family of the king from the line of David, takes the nation into exile. Now, there are no more kings to fulfill this promise. It seems like the whole plan is lost… 

The Poets and Prophets

  • Movement 5: The Hope of Israel’s Poets and Prophets

Messianic Psalms: Psalm 2, 72, 89, 110, 132 (cf. 2 Samuel 7:11-16)

The Branch: Is. 9:1-7, 11:1-10; Jer. 23:3-6, 33:14-16; Zech. 6:12-13; Ez. 37:24-28

The Servant: Isaiah 41:8-10; 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 52:13-15, 53:1-12

A New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:22-27, Isaiah 54:4-10 (Ezekiel 34:25-26)

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (Israel & Davidic King)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Sin and Idolatry)
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (New Heart, New King)

During these dark days, there’s this group of guys called “prophets.” They just keep talking about this coming Messiah, this snake-crushing king, who will come defeat evil, and restore the garden. 

Messianic Psalms: Psalm 2, 72, 89, 110, 132 (cf. 2 Samuel 7:11-16)

Psalm 2:1-8 (ESV) Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) (connect to David – 1 Chronicles 17:10-14)

Isaiah 42:1, 6-7 (ESV) (connect to Abraham – Genesis 22:17-18)

Isaiah 49:5-6 (ESV) (connect to Judah – Genesis 49:17-18)

Isaiah 53:2-6, 10-12 (ESV) (connect to the Wounded Victory – Genesis 3:15)

The Branch from David

The Branch: Isaiah 9:1-7, 11:1-10; Jeremiah 23:3-6, 33:14-16; Zechariah 6:12-13; 

Ezekiel 37:24-28

Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 11:1–5 (ESV)1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 

Jeremiah 23:3–6 (ESV)3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 

Ezekiel 37:24–26 (ESV)24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

Zechariah 6:12–13 (ESV)12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ 

The Servant of YHWH

The Servant: Isaiah 41:8-10; 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 52:13-15, 53:1-12

Isaiah 41:8–10 (ESV)8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; 9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; 10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 42:1, 5-7 (ESV) Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations… Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership in Covenant (Israel’s Davidic King, YHWH’s Servant)

Isaiah 49:1, 3, 5-6 (ESV) Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name… And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord , and my God has become my strength— he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This prophet Isaiah tells us more as to why this king is bitten. Isaiah says this promised king will receive this wound because of humanity’s evil and that it kills him. 

Isaiah 52:13–15 (ESV)13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 53:1–5 (ESV)1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) …with his stripes we are healed.

2 Samuel 7:14 (ESV) “14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men , with the stripes of the sons of men…”

Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Sin and Idolatry) 
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (New Heart, New King, the Servant)

The Suffering Servant becomes the Snake-crusher who takes upon himself the sin of humanity, and in so doing, extends forgiveness and righteousness to us. 

Isaiah 53:10-12 (ESV) Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

This “Suffering Servant” in Isaiah 53 will be “pierced” (or “crushed”) for humanity’s evil and will die. But he comes back, and because he suffered this wound from evil and death, now he can be a source of healing and forgiveness for many. (Isaiah 65:17-18, 25 gives hope for a new heaven and earth and that “the snake will eat dust,” evil will be destroyed finally.)

The New Covenant

A New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:22-27, Isaiah 54:4-10 (Ezekiel 34:25-26)

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV) “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership in a New Covenant

Ezekiel 36:22-27 (ESV) “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (New Covenant)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Forgiveness) 
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (New Heart)

Isaiah 54:4-10 (ESV) “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

The anticipation of this new covenant pushes the story forward until you get to the end of the Old Testament wondering if God will keep His promises, will Israel ever obey fully, when will the king from the line of David come and set things right. 

The Old Testament ends and the snake-crushing King never shows up… 

Jesus, the New Human

  • Movement 6: Jesus, the Davidic King

Colossians 1:15 (ESV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Jesus is declared to be the King from the line of David:

Matthew 1:1 (ESV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

Luke 1:26-35 (ESV) In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” 

Jesus claims to be the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53: 

Mark 10:42-45 (ESV) And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus claims that his sacrifice on the cross will be the enact ment of the New Covenant. 

Luke 22:19–20 (ESV)19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

The Apostle Paul connects the role David played in bringing about God’s purposes through the work of Jesus, the Messiah. 

Acts 13:21–23 (ESV)21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 

Acts 13:36–38 (ESV)36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

Psalm 57:1–2 (ESV)1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

      • Plot: God wants to bless and rule the world through humans (New Covenant)
      • Problem: Humans are the problem (Forgiveness) 
      • Promise: We need a new kind of human (New Heart)

Reflections

God uses and blesses sinful (messed-up) people. 

Though there are consequences to our sin, God remains faithful. 

God’s purposes outlast sin’s evil. 

Our purpose is fulfilled within God’s overarching purpose. 

God’s Image — Representation and Rule through Partnership in a New Covenant

We represent God and rule in this world by following the Suffering Servant.