5 – Promise of a Coming King

CHAPTER 5

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PROMISE OF A COMING KING:

The Davidic Covenant

2 Samuel 7; 1Chronicles 17

•     What God promised King David (2 Samuel 7:16)

•     Promises God has kept

•     Prophecies of the coming King (Isaiah 9)

•     Isaiah’s vision of the coming King (Isaiah 11)

•     The King and God’s promises to Abraham (Ezekiel 37:22–37)

•     Is Jesus the promised King? (Matthew 1:1)

 

The first generation of Israelites to live under the Mosaic Law was rebellious. All but two adults who had heard and seen God thundering from Mt. Sinai died in the wilderness during the next 38 years! But their sons and daughters trusted and obeyed God, and it was the second generation that successfully fought its way into Canaan.

The first two generations to live under God’s Law illustrated its impact on the Hebrew people. Law brought a curse to the disobedient generation, blessing to the obedient.

The history of Israel in Canaan over the next several hundred years was marked by similar cycles of experience. The book of Judges recorded seven cycles of apostasy and repentance. Again and again, the Israelites turned away from God to idolatry, and were then dominated by foreign enemies until they repented and prayed to God for help. In response, God raised up a judge, a political/religious chieftain, who led the Israelites to victory over their enemy. The people remained faithful to God during the judgelifetime, but after his or her death the tragic cycle was repeated again.

Keeping God’s Law did bring national blessing. And turning away from the Lord and His Law brought Israel national disaster.

But history is more than an endless cycle of repeated experience. History has a goal and purpose: a goal expressed in wonderful cove-nant promises which God gave to Abraham. God chose Abraham and his descendants not only to be blessed, but to be a blessing to all. As sacred history moved on toward its intended end, more and more of how God intended to bless Israel and the world was unveiled.

At last, the time of the judges came to an end. In two generations the Israelites made the transition from a loose confederation of Hebrew tribes to a monarchy. Under its second and greatest king, David, Israel became the dominant power in the Middle East!

It was at this point that God, through a covenant made with King David, revealed more of His plan.

 

THE CONTEXT OF THE DAVIDIC COVENANT

David came to the throne of Israel about 1000 b.c. A true genius as well as a deeply spiritual man, David united the tribes of Israel and expanded the territory they controlled some ten-fold. He established Jerusalem as the political and religious capital of the nation, redesigned the worship system that had originally been set for wilderness travel, and personally contributed many of the praise songs used in public worship. David trained and organized a powerful military machine and structured a centralized government for the nation.

When David grew old, his greatest desire was to build a temple to honor God, the source of his success and of Israel’s resurgence. But through the prophet Nathan, God refused to let David build a temple. That privilege was to be reserved for Solomon, David’s son. Instead, God told David that He would build David a house. The “house” that God would build David was his family line. David would never lack a descendant qualified by birth to sit on Israel’s throne.

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The line of David would eventually culminate in a ruler who would establish and govern a kingdom that would never end!

The original covenant promises to David are stated in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17. God spoke to David and said:

I took you from the sheepfold; from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house.

When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.

If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever (2 Sam. 7:8–16).

Scripture gives the status of a covenant, a legally binding agreement, to the promises incorporated in these verses. Psalm 89:3 quotes the Lord as saying, “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David.”

Also God’s words to David follow the “I will” pattern set in the Abraham covenant, and this too marks them off as a covenant. Psalm 132:11 reminds the reader, “The Lord has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: ‘I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body.’”

While we are to understand God’s statement of His intentions to David as a covenant, the passage does not make perfectly clear what God’s promises imply. There are, in fact, three aspects to the covenant promise. (1) There is an immediate aspect, fulfilled in the ascension of David’s son, Solomon. (2) There is an intermediate aspect, fulfilled in the fact that throughout its history, Judah was ruled by descendants of David. And (3) there is an eschatological aspect, fulfilled in David’s descendant, Jesus Christ.

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David, a man after God’s own heart

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IMMEDIATE AND INTERMEDIATE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISE TO DAVID

One of the promises God made to David began to be fulfilled within a few years. “I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name” (2 Sam. 7:12).

This immediate aspect of the Davidic covenant was fulfilled even before David’s death. David saw his son Solomon become king of Israel in 970 b.c. Solomon immediately set out to build the temple that David had designed, and for which David had set aside materials and a vast fortune. The temple was completed in seven years, and dedicated by Solomon. For the next 33 years, Solomon ruled a peaceful kingdom, safe from foreign enemies. God had established Solomon’s kingdom.

Yet in Solomon’s old age Solomon’s pagan wives drew him into idolatry. Upon Solomon’s death, the kingdom David had forged separated into two factions. While the south, Judah, was ruled by David’s descendants, the north, Israel, was ruled by a series of non-Davidic and short-lived dynasties.

Solomon’s failings, and the failings of other rulers of Judah over the next few centuries, were dealt with by God under conditions established in the Mosaic Covenant and restated in the Davidic Covenant. “If he [the descendant-king] commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:14–16).

God kept this promise. After Solomon’s apostasy, the Lord announced, “I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. … And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there” (1 Kings 11:34, 36).

Later still, Solomon’s grandson became king in Judah. Even though his heart was not loyal to God, “nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem” (1 Kin. 15:4).

The immediate and intermediate aspects of the covenant promise made to David guaranteed that a descendant of David would rule in Jerusalem as long as the kingdom of Judah survived. And Judah survived for almost 350 years before being crushed by the Babylonians. Its population was deported from the land God had promised to Abraham’s descendants.

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Three centuries after David, his people were carried away as captives to Babylon.

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THE ESCHATOLOGICAL FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S COVENANT WITH DAVID

God had told Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, and had precisely set the land’s boundaries. In making His promise to David, the Lord restated this aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. “I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more” (2 Sam. 7:10).

As noted earlier, the promise to Abraham implied that his descendants would become a nation; they would have a state and not simply exist as an ethnic group. That thought is also expressed in the Davidic Covenant, but with a new revelation. Israel would possess the promised land, and a descendant of David would rule it! God said, “I will establish his kingdom. … I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:12, 13).

God’s summary statement of the eschatological aspect of the Davidic Covenant is “your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16).

It is this “forever” dimension of the promise to David that raises questions. What does the promise imply? Surely the years from David to Judah’s fall do not constitute “forever.” And when the nation no longer existed, surely David’s “throne” no longer existed either.

The best place to seek an answer is in the writings of the prophets, who were given visions of the future. They spoke often of the king who would come from David’s line.

ISAIAH’S PROPHECIES CONCERNING DAVID’S ROYAL DESCENDANT

The book of Isaiah has been called the “Gospel of the Old Testament.” It is filled with references to God’s promised Messiah. Although Isaiah announced that severe judgments loomed because of Israel’s sins, the prophet also spoke glowingly of a Savior whom God would send to deliver His people. Many passages in Isaiah identified that Savior as the descendant promised in the Davidic Covenant.

Isaiah 9:6, 7: He is to be God the Son.

When we looked at the Abrahamic Covenant, we noted that it is essentially an eschatological covenant. It announces what God will accomplish by history’s end. When God’s plans and purposes are at last fulfilled, Abraham’s descendants will possess the land. When God’s plans and purposes have been fulfilled, every human family will be blessed.

As Isaiah explored this promised future he fit the promises made to David into the prophetic pattern. His message was that God would fulfill the Abrahamic promises through the agency of a person destined to be Israel’s promised Davidic king! Isaiah 9 is one of the most significant of these prophecies.

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon

His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this (Isa. 9:6, 7).

 

What does Isaiah say here about this king who is to come from David’s line and sit on David’s throne?

He is a Son, although born a child (Isaiah 9:6).

Hebrew poetry typically repeats thoughts in couplets. Yet there is something unique here. The coming ruler will be born a child. But at the same time, He is a gift—the Son of the Giver! These words might have meant little in Isaiah’s time. But today we recognize Jesus Christ in this couplet. Born as an infant in Bethlehem, Jesus was nevertheless the eternal Son of God, given to take away the sins of the world. And Isaiah declared that the government—all rule and authority—would one day rest on His shoulders.

His name (Isaiah 9:6).

Isaiah gave the promised Son a series of titles which reflect His deity. Among them the title “Everlasting Father” should be read, “the Father [source] of Eternity.” Before the worlds were, the Son existed as the mighty God and He is the source of all that is.

“Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom” (Isaiah 9:7).

It is this verse that provides the stunning information that the Son of God, born among us as a human being, is to be the promised Davidic king. Because this descendant of David is God the Son, His kingdom will be without end, existing “forever.”

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Isaiah foresaw the birth of Jesus, God’s Son.

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Isaiah 11: David’s descendant will bless all.In chapter 11 of his prophecy, Isaiah identified the promised Davidic king as a “Rod from the stem of Jesse” (Isa. 11:1, 2). Jesse was David’s father, and “rod” or “branch” becomes a title used here and elsewhere of the promised Davidic king.

The chapter describes this king’s righteous rule (Isa. 11:3–5), and the peace He will bring to nature itself (Isa. 11:6–9). The chapter includes an image of the blessing that His appearance will bring to Gentiles as well as Jews.

And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day

That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left (Isa. 11:10, 11).

 

The descendant promised to David is the key to the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth through him (Gen. 12:3).

Again and again in this great book the prophet shares visions of a future in which the covenant promises made to Abraham are kept through the agency of the Anointed One—the Messiah whose coming means the blessing of Israel and all humankind.

 

JEREMIAH’S PROPHECIES CONCERNING DAVID’S DESCENDANT

When Jeremiah wrote, Babylonian armies were about to destroy Jerusalem and raze the great temple which Solomon built. With that event, the nation of Judah would no longer exist. The Jews would remain a people—but a people without homeland or national identity.

Yet in these dark days, Jeremiah had a word of hope to offer God’s people. One day God would keep His promise to David and raise up a ruler from his line. In that ruler’s day, the ancient promises made to Abraham would finally be fulfilled.

Jeremiah 23:5–8. David’s descendant would fulfill the ancient promises to Abraham.

The promises that Jeremiah recorded clearly linked the coming Messianic King and God’s promises to Abraham.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;

A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called:  THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

 

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land” (Jer. 23:5–8).

The prophecy predicted the coming exile of the Jewish people from their land. But it also stated that one day God would bring them back from “all the countries where I had driven them,” to reestablish His people as a nation.

Jeremiah 30:3, 8, 9: David’s descendant will rule a restored Israel.

Jeremiah’s message of hope continued to link a return of God’s people to their land with the rule of a restored nation ruled by David’s descendant.

“Behold the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,” says the Lord. “And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. … Foreigners shall no more enslave them, but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them” (Jer. 30:3, 8, 9).

How certain is it that God will keep the covenant promise He made to David? Jeremiah answered with a “thus says the Lord.” God says:

“If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne” (Jer. 33:20, 21).

This verse helps us understand an important aspect of the Davidic Covenant. As long as there was a nation Judah, one of David’s descendants did sit on its throne. When the nation no longer existed, David would still have a descendant qualified to take the throne when the nation was restored! Jeremiah 33:17 stated it even more clearly: “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.”

 

EZEKIEL’S PROPHECIES CONCERNING DAVID’S DESCENDANT

The Babylonians made Judah a vassal state in 605 b.c., taking a number of captives to Babylon. Ezekiel was one of these captives. Later Judah rebelled against the Babylonians, and was finally destroyed in 586 b.c. Between 593 b.c. and 586 b.c. Ezekiel, like Jeremiah back in Judah, warned of the coming destruction of Judah and its capital city. Jerusalem was destroyed, and its people were sent into exile.

Then, after a dozen years of silence, Ezekiel began to prophesy again. This time his message was one of hope. Ezekiel announced that God intended to restore His people to their land and to establish a glorious kingdom ruled by the Messiah, a descendant of David!

Ezekiel 34:23, 24: David was to shepherd [rule] God’s people.Through Ezekiel God announced,

I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them; My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken (Ezek. 34:23, 24).

It would be easy to assume from this prophecy that God intended a resurrected David to rule. However, the language is idiomatic. It speaks of the promised descendant of David, a person whom Isaiah called the “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).

Ezekiel 37:22–27: The Abrahamic Covenant would be fulfilled when David’s descendant ruled.

One of the most striking of these prophecies linked several key elements of the Abrahamic Covenant to the coming reign of David’s descendant.

I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.

Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezek. 37:22–27).

What features of the Abrahamic Covenant would be fulfilled when David’s descendant ruled as King? The chart below shows.

When the promised descendant of David finally ruled, all the promises made to Abraham would at last be fulfilled.

 

OTHER PROPHECIES ABOUT DAVID’S DESCENDANT

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel are known as “major prophets.” The name comes from the length of their books. Each of them pictured a future in which God’s promises to Israel would be fulfilled through the appearance of the descendant promised to David—a person who would rule a restored Jewish nation, according to God’s promise.

The same theme appears in the writings of the “minor prophets,” whose shorter books are also found in the Old Testament. They also spoke with confidence of the future promised by God, and they linked that future with the promised Davidic king.

 

Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:2–3, 7)	Ezekiel’s prophecy of Messiah’s rule (Ezek. 37)
Make you a great nation	Be one nation, with one  king (v. 22). David will  rule over you (v. 24).
I will bless you	Shall be My people, I  will be their God (v. 23).  David will rule forever  (v. 25). Everlasting  peace (v. 26).
All families on earth to  be blessed	The nations to know that  the Lord is God (v. 23).
To your descendants  I will give this land.	Will dwell in the land  God gave the fathers  (v. 25).

 

Hosea foresaw a return to God (Hosea 3:4, 5).

In a striking passage which pictured Israel without ruler or temple, Hosea predicted a return of Israel to the Lord. He wrote, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days” (Hos. 3:4–5).

Amos looked forward to future blessings (Amos 9:11, 13–15).

Amos was called to warn the Northern Kingdom, Israel, of impending judgment. Yet as his prophecy came to a close, Amos like the other prophets looked ahead and foresaw a time of blessing, associated with a the rise of the “tabernacle [house, dynasty] of David.”

“On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages;

I will raise up its ruins. And rebuild it as in the days of old;

…

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.

I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up

From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God (Amos 9:11, 13–15).

 

There are many other prophecies like these woven throughout the writings of the Old Testament prophets. Here we have looked at only a few, and only predictions which specifically linked a Davidic king to the future blessings for Israel.

It is clear that the prophecies quoted have not yet been fulfilled. Even though the promised descendant of David has come, He has not yet established His rule here on earth. Nor does He rule a redeemed Israel in the Holy Land.

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Rebuilding the temple was a key part of the restoration promised by the prophets.

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THE BIBLE IDENTIFIED JESUS AS THE PROMISED DAVIDIC KING

The Gospels presented Jesus Christ as the descendant who fulfilled God’s promise of a ruler to come from David’s line. In biblical times this ruler was known as the Messiah.

The word Messiah is Hebrew for “anointed one.” It reflects the Old Testament practice of pouring olive oil on the head of a person being ordained to a royal or priestly ministry. In the Greek language, the word for “anointed one” is “Christ.” Thus, every time we refer to Jesus as “Jesus Christ,” we are actually saying “Jesus the Messiah,” or “Jesus, the promised descendant of David.”

The identity of Jesus as the one who fulfilled God’s promise to David of a descendant who would rule on his throne “forever” is critical to our understanding of Jesus and His mission.

 

JESUS’ GENEALOGY ESTABLISHED HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS DAVIDIC KING

The Jewish people kept careful records of their family line. Pure descent was particularly important in the case of priests and Levites. It was also vital in the case of David’s descendants, for God had promised that there would always be a descendant of David qualified to occupy Israel’s throne.

So Matthew began his Gospel with the words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). He then traced Christ’s line back to David and Abraham through Joseph, Mary’s husband. As the legal son of Joseph, through whom the official Davidic line ran, Jesus was thus eligible to take David’s throne.

But the Gospel of Luke also has a genealogy, which also traced the ancestry of Mary back to David. Through Mary, Jesus was the biological descendant of David. In both senses, biologically and legally, Jesus was qualified by birth to ascend David’s throne.

 

JESUS’ MIRACLES ESTABLISHED HIS IDENTITY AS THE PROMISED MESSIAH

While the Old Testament records a number of miracles, certain kinds of miracles that Jesus performed were without precedent in earlier ages. The majority of the miraculous signs Jesus performed involved healing. Jesus made the lame walk and the blind see. Jesus cast out demons, opened the ears of the deaf, and restored withered limbs.

What is striking about these miracles is that these specific wonders are linked in Bible prophecy with the appearance of the Messiah and the coming of the messianic age. Isaiah wrote that when God comes to save His people,

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing (Isa. 35:5, 6).

 

This line of prophecy was clearly linked to the appearance of the Messiah. When John the Baptist became discouraged after a long imprisonment, he sent disciples to ask Jesus if He truly were the Christ. Jesus had a simple response. He told John’s disciples to tell the Baptist what they had heard and seen: “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (John 11:5).

The miracles Jesus performed were proof that He was the promised descendant of David, destined to restore Israel and sit on David’s throne.

It is no wonder, then, that many who came to Jesus for healing cried out to Him, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matt. 9:27). Those in need knew that the hope of Israel had arrived at last!

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Healing was one mark of the Messiah.

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OTHER SCRIPTURES SUPPORT JESUS’ IDENTIFICATION AS THE PROMISED MESSIAH

A number of scriptural references are cited by the writers of the Gospels and Acts to support the identification of Jesus as the Christ, the promised descendant of David.

How was Jesus David’s son? (Matthew 22:42–45).

In a challenge repeated in Mark and Luke, Jesus asked the religious leaders whose son the Messiah was to be. They answered, “The son [descendant] of David.” Jesus then quoted Psalm 110:1 in which David referred to the Messiah as “my Lord.” In the biblical world, a descendant was always considered to be inferior to his ancestor. But in this psalm, David called the Christ “Lord.” How then, Jesus asked, “is He his Son?”

The question stunned His listeners, for they had no answer. Yet, there is an answer. David’s descendant through Mary was also God the Son, incarnate as a human being. Thus, the very words of David about the one destined to fulfill the promise God made to him showed that the Messiah must be God Himself!

An angel announced Jesus’ identity to Mary (Luke 1:31–33).

Before Jesus was conceived, the angel Gabriel told Mary what would occur. He clearly identified Jesus not only as the Son of God, but also as the promised Messiah who would inherit David’s throne and fulfill the covenant promises. The angel revealed,

You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father [ancestor] David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:31–33).

Jesus’ resurrection showed He was the Messiah of the Old Testament (Acts 2:23–35).

The resurrection of Jesus was a keystone of apostolic preaching. In Peter’s first sermon in Acts, the apostle argued that the resurrection is proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Peter quoted Psalm 16 in which David said, “You will [not] allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Acts 2:27). Peter pointed out that David is still in his tomb, so the passage cannot apply to him. Instead David, “knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne” (v. 30), looked ahead and predicted Messiah’s resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus, then, to which all the disciples gave witness, showed conclusively that He was the Messiah of the Old Testament. As resurrected Lord, Jesus lives forever. Only He can fulfill the promise of an endless rule for David’s seed.

 

JESUS WILL COME AGAIN TO RULE

After His resurrection, Jesus did not establish the kind of kingdom envisioned in the Old Testament. But history did not come to a close with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Some 2,000 years have passed since the events recorded in the New Testment took place. An appropriate question, then, is, What happened to the covenant promises made to Abraham and David?

The best answer is not to assume that the covenant promises given to Abraham and David were symbolic, and have been fulfilled “spiritually” in the blessings Christians now enjoy. The Old Testament prophecies are far too specific for that. The best answer is to link the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant promises to Christ’s return and the end of history.

Jesus promised to return (Matthew 24).

This chapter of Matthew is eschatological. It describes events which will take place at history’s end. The Gospels speak of a time of terrible tribulation here on earth. Jesus speaks of His own return to earth in great power. Matthew wrote, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:30–31).

Revelation 19describes Jesus’ return in power to rule.

This chapter of the book of Revelation depicts Jesus’ return and His victory over God’s enemies. Jesus is called KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:16).

When Christ returns, He will not appear as suffering Savior but as King of kings. He will take the throne not only of Israel but of the whole world.

The early Christians expected the promises to David to be fulfilled at Jesus’ return.

Today many Christians have concluded that the ancient covenant promises given to Israel were set aside by Jesus, and that the commitments given to Abraham and his descendants have been fulfilled symbolically in the church.

This view was not held in the early church. The early Christians expected the covenant promises made to Israel to be fulfilled when Jesus returns. About a.d. 150 Justin Martyr wrote, “I and as many as are orthodox Christians, do acknowledge that there shall be a resurrection of the body, and a residence of a thousand years in Jerusalem, adorned and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, and others do unanimously attest” (2Vol. I, p. 239). Martyr expected God to fulfill literally the promises of a Davidic kingdom that we have reviewed in this chapter.

Similarly, Irenaeus, a great missionary as well as a church father (died a.d. 202), wrote:

The Lord shall come from heaven in clouds, in the glory of the Father … bringing for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed seventh day; and restoring to Abraham the promised inheritance; in which the kingdom the Lord declared that “many coming from the east and the west should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (2Vol. 1, p. 560).

The early church fathers integrated the teaching of Revelation with Old Testament prophecy and with Jesus’ own statements about the future found in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. Before the world came to an end, the church fathers expected Jesus to return and to institute the age of blessing spoken of in the Old Testament.

 

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM THE DAVIDIC COVENANT

God promised David that his descendants would occupy the throne of Israel perpetually. As we trace this covenant promise through the Old and New Testaments, we begin to realize that in making this covenant God has begun to reveal how He will fulfill the covenant made a thousand years before to Abraham.

 

THE DAVIDIC COVENANT HAD AN IMMEDIATE APPLICATION 
David was told that his son Solomon would succeed him on the throne.

THE DAVIDIC COVENANT HAD AN INTERMEDIATE APPLICATION
As the histories of the united and divided Hebrew kingdoms are traced, we see that there was always a descendant of David on the throne of Judah.

THE DAVIDIC COVENANT HAD AN ESCHATOLOGICAL APPLICATION
     As we move into the prophets, we begin to see an additional dimension of the Davidic Covenant. David is always to have a descendant qualified to sit on his throne—until the promise to David is fulfilled in a ruler who will establish an endless kingdom.

In addition, the Old Testament prophets linked the coming ruler, called the Messiah, or Anointed One, with specific promises made to Abraham. David’s descendant will rule over a restored Hebrew kingdom, reestablished on the land promised to Abraham. God will bless His people then by being their God. And the Davidic King will be a banner to which even the Gentiles rally. So all families on earth will be blessed through Him.

 

JESUS CHRIST IS THE PROPHESIED DAVIDIC KING

The Gospels clearly identify Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Jesus was from David’s line, biologically through His mother Mary and legally through His stepfather Joseph. Jesus’ miracles were associated in prophecy with the coming messianic age. The angel who announced His birth predicted He would take the throne of His ancestor David. And Jesus’ resurrection fulfilled prophecies made by David that his descendant and Lord would be raised from the dead.

The New Testament predicts a return of Jesus before the world ends. And it is as history draws to its close that the promises given Abraham are to be fulfilled by Jesus as God’s agent and as David’s great Son.

When we turn to the next great covenant—the New Covenant—we find even more wonderful truths about Jesus’ role in carrying out God’s eternal plan.^[1]