King David of Israel had decided to build a temple to the Lord God in 2 Samuel 7. Then came the word of the Lord through the prophet Nathan. God was not going to allow David to build Him a temple. However God did make certain promises to David.

“When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” 2Sam. 7:12-13 WEB

He also says some other things in the verses following. To this “seed,” this son, God says He will be a father to this son of David. God says that if He does things that are wrong, “I will chasten him with the rod of men.” Still God says that His love for this son of David will not go away, and that “your throne shall be established forever.”

An immediate son of David was King Solomon. He built a literal temple, a “house” to the Lord, in the tenth century BC. And Scripture claims, “Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.” 1Kings 8:20 WEB. A similar claim is made in 2Chr. 6:10. This much fits the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7 very well.

But there are things in the story of Solomon which are unsettling. First of all, Scripture says God’s love for Solomon could be lost, for it was told to Solomon about seeking God,

“… If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1Chron 28:9 WEB.

That is quite a bit different from “but my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.” 2Sam 7:15 WEB

So first of all Solomon could be rejected, and indeed was rejected at least to some extend because of idolatry in his old age. Secondly, Solomon’s kingdom did not last forever, as prophesied. In fact it was brought to an abrupt end with the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC. These facts are far beyond “if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men,” 2Sam 7:14 WEB. These are a couple of big misses!

So where do these facts leave us? Is this a Bible prophecy which has failed? Or is this simply a false prophecy by a false prophet by the name of Nathan?

Or then on the other hand, we might ask, is there another “seed” of David, another son of David, who will come later, and who will fulfill these prophecies?

WEB is the World English Bible, is a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version of 1901