Guards Are Sent to Arrest Jesus

John 7 ³²The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, so they and the chief priests sent some guards to arrest him. ³³Jesus said, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I shall go away to him who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me, but you will not find me, because you cannot go where I will be."
³⁵The Jewish authorities said among themselves, "Where is he about to go so that we shall not find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live, and teach the Greeks? ³⁶He says that we will look for him but will not find him, and that we cannot go where he will be. What does he mean?"

Streams of Life-Giving Water

³⁷On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, "Whoever is thirsty should come to me, and ³⁸whoever believes in me should drink. As the scripture says, 'Streams of life-giving water will pour out from his side.'" ³⁹Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were going to receive. At that time the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not been raised to glory.

Division among the People

⁴⁰Some of the people in the crowd heard him say this and said, "This man is really the Prophet!"
⁴¹Others said, "He is the Messiah!"
But others said, "The Messiah will not come from Galilee! ⁴²The scripture says that the Messiah will be a descendant of King David and will be born in Bethlehem, the town where David lived." ⁴³So there was a division in the crowd because of Jesus. ⁴⁴Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

The Unbelief of the Jewish Authorities

⁴⁵When the guards went back, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, "Why did you not bring him?"
⁴⁶The guards answered, "Nobody has ever talked the way this man does!"
⁴⁷"Did he fool you, too?" the Pharisees asked them. ⁴⁸"Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him? ⁴⁹This crowd does not know the Law of Moses, so they are under God's curse!"
⁵⁰One of the Pharisees there was Nicodemus, the man who had gone to see Jesus before. He said to the others, ⁵¹"According to our Law we cannot condemn people before hearing them and finding out what they have done."
⁵²"Well," they answered, "are you also from Galilee? Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet ever comes from Galilee."

Gifts for Building the Temple

1 Chronicles 29 King David announced to the whole assembly: "My son Solomon is the one whom God has chosen, but he is still young and lacks experience. The work to be done is tremendous, because this is not a palace for people but a temple for the LORD God. ²I have made every effort to prepare materials for the Temple--gold, silver, bronze, iron, timber, precious stones and gems, stones for mosaics, and quantities of marble. ³Over and above all this that I have provided, I have given silver and gold from my personal property because of my love for God's Temple. ⁴I have given 115 tons of the finest gold and 265 tons of pure silver for decorating the walls of the Temple ⁵and for all the objects which the skilled workers are to make. Now who else is willing to give a generous offering to the LORD?"
⁶Then the heads of the clans, the officials of the tribes, the commanders of the army, and the administrators of the royal property volunteered to give ⁷the following for the work on the Temple: 190 tons of gold, 380 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron. ⁸Those who had precious stones gave them to the Temple treasury, which was administered by Jehiel of the Levite clan of Gershon. ⁹The people had given willingly to the LORD, and they were happy that so much had been given. King David also was extremely happy.

David Praises God

¹⁰There in front of the whole assembly King David praised the LORD. He said, "LORD God of our ancestor Jacob, may you be praised forever and ever! ¹¹You are great and powerful, glorious, splendid, and majestic. Everything in heaven and earth is yours, and you are king, supreme ruler over all. ¹²All riches and wealth come from you; you rule everything by your strength and power; and you are able to make anyone great and strong. ¹³Now, our God, we give you thanks, and we praise your glorious name.
¹⁴"Yet my people and I cannot really give you anything, because everything is a gift from you, and we have only given back what is yours already. ¹⁵You know, O LORD, that we pass through life like exiles and strangers, as our ancestors did. Our days are like a passing shadow, and we cannot escape death. ¹⁶O LORD, our God, we have brought together all this wealth to build a temple to honor your holy name, but it all came from you and all belongs to you. ¹⁷I know that you test everyone's heart and are pleased with people of integrity. In honesty and sincerity I have willingly given all this to you, and I have seen how your people who are gathered here have been happy to bring offerings to you. ¹⁸LORD God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, keep such devotion forever strong in your people's hearts and keep them always faithful to you. ¹⁹Give my son Solomon a wholehearted desire to obey everything that you command and to build the Temple for which I have made these preparations."
²⁰Then David commanded the people, "Praise the LORD your God!" And the whole assembly praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and they bowed low and gave honor to the LORD and also to the king.
²¹The following day they killed animals as sacrifices, dedicating them to the LORD, and then gave them to the people to eat. In addition, they sacrificed a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, which they burned whole on the altar. They also brought the offerings of wine. ²²So that day they were very happy as they ate and drank in the presence of the LORD.
For a second time they proclaimed Solomon king. In the name of the LORD they anointed him as their ruler and Zadok as priest. ²³So Solomon succeeded his father David on the throne which the LORD had established. He was a successful king, and the whole nation of Israel obeyed him. ²⁴All the officials and soldiers, and even all of David's other sons, promised to be loyal to Solomon as king. ²⁵The LORD made the whole nation stand in awe of Solomon, and he made him more glorious than any other king that had ruled Israel.

Summary of David's Reign

²⁶David son of Jesse ruled over all Israel ²⁷for forty years. He ruled in Hebron for seven years and in Jerusalem for thirty-three. ²⁸He died at a ripe old age, wealthy and respected, and his son Solomon succeeded him as king. ²⁹The history of King David from beginning to end is recorded in the records of the three prophets, Samuel, Nathan, and Gad. ³⁰The records tell how he ruled, how powerful he was, and all the things that happened to him, to Israel, and to the surrounding kingdoms.

Zechariah 13 "When that time comes," says the LORD Almighty, "a fountain will be opened to purify the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem from their sin and idolatry. ²At that time I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and no one will remember them any more. I will get rid of anyone who claims to be a prophet and will take away the desire to worship idols. ³Then if anyone still insists on prophesying, his own father and mother will tell him that he must be put to death, because he claimed to speak the LORD's word, but spoke lies instead. When he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him to death. ⁴When that time comes, no prophet will be proud of his visions or act like a prophet or wear a prophet's coarse garment in order to deceive people. ⁵Instead, he will say, 'I am not a prophet. I am a farmer--I have farmed the land all my life.' ⁶Then if someone asks him, 'What are those wounds on your chest?' he will answer, 'I got them at a friend's house.'"

The Command to Kill God's Shepherd

⁷The LORD Almighty says, "Wake up, sword, and attack the shepherd who works for me! Kill him, and the sheep will be scattered. I will attack my people ⁸and throughout the land two-thirds of the people will die. ⁹And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire. I will test them as gold is tested. Then they will pray to me, and I will answer them. I will tell them that they are my people, and they will confess that I am their God."