2Sa 15:25 | KingComments | STEP | The passing over the brook Kidron of David has a strong parallel with the passing over the ravine of the Kidron by the Lord Jesus ( ). The Lord Jesus also passes over this ravine to leave the city. He goes the way of suffering, on the way to the cross. He does so, while He is innocent and to bear the guilt of others. The Lord Jesus goes with His disciples, that is that remnant of Israel with which He makes Himself one. David’s fault is his own. David is here a picture of the remnant that also confesses guilt to the blood of the Lord Jesus. Then come Zadok and the Levites with the ark. Zadok and Abiathar, who represent the priestly family, want to take the ark, but David does not. He doesn’t want to make the ark a mascot like in the days of Eli ( ). He is not superstitious. He knows that God is with him and that he is not dependent on a visible sign. David orders the ark to be brought back to the city, because there it belongs. His heart goes out to God’s house. There he longs for, there he wants to be. In view of this – and not in view of his return as king – he puts his life in the hand of the LORD. The words in which he expresses this are those also spoken by Eli ( ). With Eli it is resignation to the judgment that has been given to him, without it changing anything with him. With David it is different. He bows down and continues in the power of the LORD. Of the return of the ark to Jerusalem we can make the following application. The ark is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. The return of the ark to Jerusalem shows the situation that in the local church the Lord Jesus is again placed in the center and He is given all authority. We live in a time when human ideas increasingly decide how things should go in the church of God. What right is there still to be able to say that believers come together in the Name of the Lord? As far as we are concerned, every right to it has been forfeited. Yet it is still possible to come together to the Name of the Lord Jesus ( ). This is when we stand on the basis of grace and put everything in the hands of the Lord Jesus. Then we will be able to find Him – of Whom the ark is a picture – and the place where He is in the midst of the two or three – of which the temple in Jerusalem is a picture.

‏ 2 Samuel 15:25

The Ark Goes Back to Jerusalem

The passing over the brook Kidron of David has a strong parallel with the passing over the ravine of the Kidron by the Lord Jesus (Jn 18:1). The Lord Jesus also passes over this ravine to leave the city. He goes the way of suffering, on the way to the cross. He does so, while He is innocent and to bear the guilt of others. The Lord Jesus goes with His disciples, that is that remnant of Israel with which He makes Himself one. David’s fault is his own. David is here a picture of the remnant that also confesses guilt to the blood of the Lord Jesus.

Then come Zadok and the Levites with the ark. Zadok and Abiathar, who represent the priestly family, want to take the ark, but David does not. He doesn’t want to make the ark a mascot like in the days of Eli (1Sam 4:3-11). He is not superstitious. He knows that God is with him and that he is not dependent on a visible sign. David orders the ark to be brought back to the city, because there it belongs. His heart goes out to God’s house. There he longs for, there he wants to be.

In view of this – and not in view of his return as king – he puts his life in the hand of the LORD. The words in which he expresses this are those also spoken by Eli (1Sam 3:18). With Eli it is resignation to the judgment that has been given to him, without it changing anything with him. With David it is different. He bows down and continues in the power of the LORD.

Of the return of the ark to Jerusalem we can make the following application. The ark is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. The return of the ark to Jerusalem shows the situation that in the local church the Lord Jesus is again placed in the center and He is given all authority. We live in a time when human ideas increasingly decide how things should go in the church of God. What right is there still to be able to say that believers come together in the Name of the Lord? As far as we are concerned, every right to it has been forfeited.

Yet it is still possible to come together to the Name of the Lord Jesus (Mt 18:20). This is when we stand on the basis of grace and put everything in the hands of the Lord Jesus. Then we will be able to find Him – of Whom the ark is a picture – and the place where He is in the midst of the two or three – of which the temple in Jerusalem is a picture.