David Grows Up

David’s house dies and rises again several times in 1-2 Kings: After Athaliah kills the royal seed, Joash rises from the temple; after Samaria falls, the Lord saves Judah from Assyria through Hezekiah’s prayer; after Nebuchadnezzar takes Judah into exile, Jehoiachin is taken from prison and set at the king’s table.

Each time the house of David goes through a death and resurrection, David’s house matures, and each death and resurrection takes the house of David a step further than before. Joash is the first king to give serious attention to the disrepair of the temple; after a long period where the temple is ignored, the temple becomes so important that by the time of Jeremiah Judah is idolizing the temple. Hezekiah goes further, taking down the high places, and Josiah follows his example. These two events foreshadow the maturation that takes place after the exile, when a restored Israel rebuilds the temple and never returns to high places or overt idolatry.