Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Today's Scripture readings for the Saturday in the Fourth Week of Advent have so much to unpack:

• Nathan's Admonition to David about the Temple in 2nd Samuel 7:1-6
• The Psalmist on the Davidic Covenant in Psalm 89:2-29
• The Canticle of Zechariah on the Birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1:67-79

ASIDE: Having read the notes in the Navarre Study Bible for each of these Scripture passages, I highly recommend the acquisition of such a study bible. It is expensive but well worth every penny.

Due to time and space limitations, I cannot repeat here everything I learned this morning. But one important thing did occur to me. King David wanted to build a Temple of marble and gold to replace the Tent of the Meeting which the Hebrews used for their worship in the Exodus from Egypt, and to house the Ark of the Old Covenant.

The Mosaic Tabernacle Tent
ESV Study Bible

The Mosaic Tabernacle and Court
ESV Study Bible

Nathan told David, "Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?" While David's immediate son Solomon did build a Temple, the house in which the Lord would dwell would not be in a physical building made by man, but in the hearts of the Believers comprising the Body of Christ, the Una Sancta Catholica et Apostolica Ecclesia.

King Solomon's Temple
ESV Study Bible

Canticle of Zechariah in Greek

Thus Zechariah declares the following about his son:

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

That dawn is shown in Revelation 12:1 in the Ark of the New Covenant:

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Virgo Maria Regina Caeli

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and from Him came the Church - the Body of Believers - in whom the Lord dwells. Thus is fulfilled 2nd Samuel 7:16:

Your house and your Kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever