Chiastic structures for the Messiah in the Prophets are not pictures of the Messiah, but rather “Shadows” of the Messiah. The TaNaK (Torah, Prophets and Writings) frequently uses thematic equivalents to indicate who and what the Messiah will be. The chiastic structure we will be looking at today focuses on love and adoption. There are multiple chiastic structures in this chapter alone.
Author: Daniel
Once David had some security in his kingship, he seeks out Jonathan’s kin and discovers that Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth is still alive (and has a son of his own) and has survived the political assassinations and turmoil that were part of the aftermath of Saul’s death.
Chiastic literary structures you find in the TaNaK (Torah, Prophets and Writings) and the Apostolic Scriptures give us prophetic clues in texts that don’t seem to be prophetic at all.
Once in a while it’s good to get back to basics. The “gospel” of the Kingdom of God is more than the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Shimini Atzeret, or the Eighth Day (Isaiah 52), is a celebration of salvation, peace, restoration and the reign of God.
When we look in the Tanak to find examples of the Messiah, we ususally look to the “good” men in the TaNaK (Torah, Prophets and Writings), men such as Moses, David and Solomon. However, there is an “evil” son of King David whose final hours gives us clues about the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. The clues of the final hours of Absalom were so important that the Apostles allude to them when teaching and writing about the Gospel to their communities.
We see another example of David as a messianic figure. He has “bloody hands” so his heir, Shlomo (Solomon), another messianic figure, will be able to reign in peace and build God’s temple undistracted by threats of war. There are a number of parallels between the David’s subjugation of Israel’s enemies to bring in Shlomo’s peace and the dual functions of Messiah Yeshua at His return as bringer of war to the enemies of God and the eternal peace of God’s presence on Earth.
Many who read this text think that God is somehow rejecting David or turning away from him, but this is not the case at all. God is not rejecting David but He is giving David a great insight into God’s purpose for him. David finds out what God really thinks of him. How many of us hear straight from God what He thinks of what we are doing for ourselves and our future generations? So, rather than thinking of this story as a type of rebuke to David, consider it God’s gift to David.
David moves the Ark of the Testimony to Yerushalayim. Along the way, a priest is killed when he tries to “help” God in keeping the Ark from falling from a cart.