"The Davidic Covenant"
2 Samuel 7:8-17
"Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. "'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'" Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
Introduction: Prophesies Concerning the Davidic Kingdom
God made many promise to Israel. Among them are prophecies concerning the land and prophecies concerning the Kingdonm of David. God's promise of a "Davidic Kingdom" is very important because it goes a long way in explaining the history of this kingdom in it starred past , as well as in its bright future. In addition to this, at stake was the burning qiestion as taught by those who are "pre-millienalist" by belief: If there is to be a future kingdom of David that coincides with the second coming of Jesus Christ on earth?
If the answer is "yes", then, the Davidic Covenant is "dualistic", that is, it is a covenant that applies to David's actual reign as king after Saul, the first king of Israel was detroned by Jehovah, as well as applies to a "future kingdom" when Jesus Christ will rule on earth as king for "1000 years" in Jerusalem and David will rule as "co-regent", thus making it true that David will play a major role in the kingdom of God on earth and it will be a "kingdom in which there will be no end!
In Genesis 17:6-7, we get the initial basis on the fact that there would be kingdoms. Listen to what God said to Abraham: "I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you". God then reinterated the same promise in reference to Sarah in verses 15 and 16: God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." (NIV) God spoke this same promise in the lives of Isaac , in Genesis 26:2-5, and to Jacob, Isaac's younger son in Genesis 28:13-15. God then in the lineage of Jacob's 12 sons "narrowed" the promise to Judah and made the following promise to concerning Judah in Genesis 49:10: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be". (KJV)
Promise of the Kingdom Revealed to David:
All of the provisions concerning the future kingdom promised to David by God are found in both 2 Samuel 7:4-17 and 1 Chronicles 17. David desired to build a temple of the Lord and replace the tent structure that housed the Ark of the Covenant that God had given Moses instructions to build in the wilderness. David contacted Nathan, a young prophet to enquire to God concerning this matter. Nathan, without consulting God gave David the go ahead to build the temple. Afterwards, God instructed Nathan to go back to David with a revised outline concerning the temple and the overall purpose God had for his life. Nathan in this revision revealed "God's larger plan" for the remainder of David's life, a plan that included the role his "yet unborn son" would play in the fulfillment of the building of this temple David desired to buld. Nathan told David that his yet unborn son (Solomon) would build the temple instead . But as for the future of David's life as king, God would raise up for David a "house". This meant that God would bless David's descendants and they through the Southern Kingdom would always have a relative sit on the throne as king and fulfill the promise of Genesis 49:10 through David's lineage.
Breaking Down the Davidic Covenant:
The covenant was revealed to David at Jerusalem by Nathan the Prophet. It represented a "dispensational change" from the "Dispensation of Law" to the "Dispensation of Grace". This covenant came with one condition: based on "disobenience". "Disobedience" would lead to both "chastisment" and would cause "postponement" of the promise, but would not "annul" the Covenant.
This Covenant is based on "4 Promises":
1. There would be a "House of David":
"'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'" 2 Samuel 7:11-16 ((NIV)
According to 2 samuel, this is what God told Nathan to say to David: "I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leadersa over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies".
God makes this "important" point that pertains to everybody HE chooses to elevate in state and stature that "HE" must first of all build a man's house (spiritually), before the man can build God's house (literally), and applies it especially to the kingdom of God in Israel. As long as the quiet and full possession of the land of Canaan, which had been promised by the Lord to the people of God for their inheritance, was disputed by their enemies round about, even the dwelling place of their God could not assume any other form than that of "a wanderer's tent".
Note: Once the kingdom of God in Israel acquires its rest and consolation through the efforts of David (the Warrior), as God through his efforts will have made all his foes (Israel's) subject to him and established his throne firmly, this would bring the assurrance that his descendants would possess the rule of the kingdom for all future time, then God would make it so and build David a house, and then his seed should build the house of the Lord.
This was a "future" prophecy to be fulfilled in Solomon, David's yet unborn son. He would build God's temple, not David, because David, being a "man of war" had much blood from the fighting of many wars on his hands. The temple would be built during a time of peace between the Southern Kingdom and her "would be" enemies.
2. There will be a "Continual Throne" of "David":
"I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever"
According to verse 13, the Kingdon of David would be "pepetual" and never be destroyed. In order for this to take place, this prophecy had to have a "dual" meaning.
First, it meant that starting from the reign of Solomon and his ancestry, a "descendant" of David regardless of their state and status, would reign as king and God intimated in refeerence to what he said concerning Solomon the possibility that there could be possible breaks in the succession because of the behavior and style of rule of Solomon and those who would suceed him generationally in th future. but even with that, no other tribal family would ever have a king out of their loins hold reign to the throne.
In the succession of rulers that actually served as king in the Southern Kingdom, all were descendants of David. There were 20 rulers in all over a pereiod of about 326 years, out of which there were only 8 of David's descendants ruled in the righteousness of God. The 20th and last reigning king "Zedekiah" was so wicked that God declared that none of his sons would ever sit on the throne and become king and none did. Every one of Zedekiah's sons died during the final Babylonian seige that put the entire Southern Kingdom in Babylonian captivity at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. This created a temporary break in the house of David and postpone a "sitting" king on the throne to rule over the house of Israel.
Second: God's Proclamation Concerning the Throne to Jeremiah 22:24-30
"As surely as I live," declares the Lord , "even if you, Jehoiachinc son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear — to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians.I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to." Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants? Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know? O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord ! This is what the Lord says: "Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah."
According to the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremaih 22: 24-30, the actions and behavior of Jechonias (Jehochin or Zedekiah) caused God's anger to become so fierce that God declared through the Prophet Jeremiah that none of Zedekiah's sons would ever sit on Judah's throne and none ever did.This cause the throne to become vacant and for over 700 years, neither Israel (Northern Kingdom) or Judah (Southern Kingdom) had a sitting monarch on the throne. Both were now in captivity by Gentile nations. Until Jesus came, there was no descendant of David that could satisfy God's prophetic declaration for a pepetual ruler out of the house od David.
Jehovah in his infinite wisdom and to set up his rule on earth the first time, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14 concerning Israel's need for a "Messiah" , and the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6-7 one who would deliver them out of the hands of the Roman Empire and would sit on the throne of David and rule with righteousness. God safeguarded the prophecy of Genesis 49:10 and after the fall of Zedekiah (Jechonias) had postponed the rule of kings over his people because Israel was '"scattered" nation among the Gentile nations by both the Assyrian and Bablylonian Empires respectively.
In order for Jesus Christ to become legal "that King and ruler," Jehovah God had destined to sit on the "throne of David, "2 extremely important events" has to take place and "the 2 people chosen" had to submit to the will of God and agree to God's "announcement".
First, Mary, who was a descendant of the house of David, through Nathan, the second son of Bathsheba and "represenative" of the "legal" line of house of David submitted to the anouncement of God's "highly favored status" and agreed to "motherhood of and "impregnation with" the "Son of God" by the Holy Ghost. Luke in St.Luke 3:23-38 traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to Adam the "origin" of the "legal" line.
Second, Joseph, also a descendant of the Davidic line through Solomon, the first son of Bathsheba who represented the "royal line" consented to the marriage to Mary, after a visit by an Angel as he contemplated divorcing her privately. Joseph because he was a descendant of Salantiel (Jehoachin's son born while in exile in babylon) was forbidden from sitting on the throne.
Note: Even though Mary was a descendant of David through the legal line of Nathan, Jesus could not legally occupy the throne through her side of the lineage.
To safe guard the "Virgin Birth",Joseph could not be the "biological father" of Jesus, because that would have both disannuled the "virgin birth" and prevented Jesus from occupying the throne because of the prophetic sentence God place on the lineage of Jechonias. Even though Joseph was a descendant of David through the Royal line . Jesus was made the "legal heir" to the throne of David when Joseph consented to marry Mary "after" she had conceived, a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The sentence pronounced on the royal lineage therfore was never biologically compromised and no son of Jeconias lineage ever sat upon the throne.
How the Millenial Kingdom will be a Davidic Throne:
If the Jews in Biblical history had accepted Jesus as "Messiah", His "Messianic" rule on earth would have been "immediate" and the Roman Empire would have been destroyed at "that moment". fulfilling "the revelation" of the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:44-46. Of course, God knew that Jesus would be "rejected" by the Jews. God also knew that Jesus' "occupation" of the Davidic throne was to be postponed until the "Milennial reign" of Jesus Christ at his "Second coming". Jesus, being rejected was not given the crown of the "Royal Diadem" of Israel. According to Matthew 27:29, Jesus was crowned with a crown of "many thorns", put on a purple robe by the Roman soildiers, and mocked as they bowed in derision in front of him and said "Hail, king of the Jews."
But, one day, HE will receive the crown and the kingdom after the 7-year Tribulation Period is over and Israel has been punished because of their unbelief in him as "Messiah". At that time , the Kingdon of David will be restored and Jesus will rule with a "rod of righteousness" and David will sit at his "right hand" and co-rule" as a Regent.
2 Samuel 7:8-17
"Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. "'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'" Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
Introduction: Prophesies Concerning the Davidic Kingdom
God made many promise to Israel. Among them are prophecies concerning the land and prophecies concerning the Kingdonm of David. God's promise of a "Davidic Kingdom" is very important because it goes a long way in explaining the history of this kingdom in it starred past , as well as in its bright future. In addition to this, at stake was the burning qiestion as taught by those who are "pre-millienalist" by belief: If there is to be a future kingdom of David that coincides with the second coming of Jesus Christ on earth?
If the answer is "yes", then, the Davidic Covenant is "dualistic", that is, it is a covenant that applies to David's actual reign as king after Saul, the first king of Israel was detroned by Jehovah, as well as applies to a "future kingdom" when Jesus Christ will rule on earth as king for "1000 years" in Jerusalem and David will rule as "co-regent", thus making it true that David will play a major role in the kingdom of God on earth and it will be a "kingdom in which there will be no end!
In Genesis 17:6-7, we get the initial basis on the fact that there would be kingdoms. Listen to what God said to Abraham: "I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you". God then reinterated the same promise in reference to Sarah in verses 15 and 16: God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." (NIV) God spoke this same promise in the lives of Isaac , in Genesis 26:2-5, and to Jacob, Isaac's younger son in Genesis 28:13-15. God then in the lineage of Jacob's 12 sons "narrowed" the promise to Judah and made the following promise to concerning Judah in Genesis 49:10: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be". (KJV)
Promise of the Kingdom Revealed to David:
All of the provisions concerning the future kingdom promised to David by God are found in both 2 Samuel 7:4-17 and 1 Chronicles 17. David desired to build a temple of the Lord and replace the tent structure that housed the Ark of the Covenant that God had given Moses instructions to build in the wilderness. David contacted Nathan, a young prophet to enquire to God concerning this matter. Nathan, without consulting God gave David the go ahead to build the temple. Afterwards, God instructed Nathan to go back to David with a revised outline concerning the temple and the overall purpose God had for his life. Nathan in this revision revealed "God's larger plan" for the remainder of David's life, a plan that included the role his "yet unborn son" would play in the fulfillment of the building of this temple David desired to buld. Nathan told David that his yet unborn son (Solomon) would build the temple instead . But as for the future of David's life as king, God would raise up for David a "house". This meant that God would bless David's descendants and they through the Southern Kingdom would always have a relative sit on the throne as king and fulfill the promise of Genesis 49:10 through David's lineage.
Breaking Down the Davidic Covenant:
The covenant was revealed to David at Jerusalem by Nathan the Prophet. It represented a "dispensational change" from the "Dispensation of Law" to the "Dispensation of Grace". This covenant came with one condition: based on "disobenience". "Disobedience" would lead to both "chastisment" and would cause "postponement" of the promise, but would not "annul" the Covenant.
This Covenant is based on "4 Promises":
1. There would be a "House of David":
"'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'" 2 Samuel 7:11-16 ((NIV)
According to 2 samuel, this is what God told Nathan to say to David: "I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leadersa over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies".
God makes this "important" point that pertains to everybody HE chooses to elevate in state and stature that "HE" must first of all build a man's house (spiritually), before the man can build God's house (literally), and applies it especially to the kingdom of God in Israel. As long as the quiet and full possession of the land of Canaan, which had been promised by the Lord to the people of God for their inheritance, was disputed by their enemies round about, even the dwelling place of their God could not assume any other form than that of "a wanderer's tent".
Note: Once the kingdom of God in Israel acquires its rest and consolation through the efforts of David (the Warrior), as God through his efforts will have made all his foes (Israel's) subject to him and established his throne firmly, this would bring the assurrance that his descendants would possess the rule of the kingdom for all future time, then God would make it so and build David a house, and then his seed should build the house of the Lord.
This was a "future" prophecy to be fulfilled in Solomon, David's yet unborn son. He would build God's temple, not David, because David, being a "man of war" had much blood from the fighting of many wars on his hands. The temple would be built during a time of peace between the Southern Kingdom and her "would be" enemies.
2. There will be a "Continual Throne" of "David":
"I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever"
According to verse 13, the Kingdon of David would be "pepetual" and never be destroyed. In order for this to take place, this prophecy had to have a "dual" meaning.
First, it meant that starting from the reign of Solomon and his ancestry, a "descendant" of David regardless of their state and status, would reign as king and God intimated in refeerence to what he said concerning Solomon the possibility that there could be possible breaks in the succession because of the behavior and style of rule of Solomon and those who would suceed him generationally in th future. but even with that, no other tribal family would ever have a king out of their loins hold reign to the throne.
In the succession of rulers that actually served as king in the Southern Kingdom, all were descendants of David. There were 20 rulers in all over a pereiod of about 326 years, out of which there were only 8 of David's descendants ruled in the righteousness of God. The 20th and last reigning king "Zedekiah" was so wicked that God declared that none of his sons would ever sit on the throne and become king and none did. Every one of Zedekiah's sons died during the final Babylonian seige that put the entire Southern Kingdom in Babylonian captivity at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. This created a temporary break in the house of David and postpone a "sitting" king on the throne to rule over the house of Israel.
Second: God's Proclamation Concerning the Throne to Jeremiah 22:24-30
"As surely as I live," declares the Lord , "even if you, Jehoiachinc son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear — to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians.I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to." Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants? Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know? O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord ! This is what the Lord says: "Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah."
According to the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremaih 22: 24-30, the actions and behavior of Jechonias (Jehochin or Zedekiah) caused God's anger to become so fierce that God declared through the Prophet Jeremiah that none of Zedekiah's sons would ever sit on Judah's throne and none ever did.This cause the throne to become vacant and for over 700 years, neither Israel (Northern Kingdom) or Judah (Southern Kingdom) had a sitting monarch on the throne. Both were now in captivity by Gentile nations. Until Jesus came, there was no descendant of David that could satisfy God's prophetic declaration for a pepetual ruler out of the house od David.
Jehovah in his infinite wisdom and to set up his rule on earth the first time, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14 concerning Israel's need for a "Messiah" , and the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6-7 one who would deliver them out of the hands of the Roman Empire and would sit on the throne of David and rule with righteousness. God safeguarded the prophecy of Genesis 49:10 and after the fall of Zedekiah (Jechonias) had postponed the rule of kings over his people because Israel was '"scattered" nation among the Gentile nations by both the Assyrian and Bablylonian Empires respectively.
In order for Jesus Christ to become legal "that King and ruler," Jehovah God had destined to sit on the "throne of David, "2 extremely important events" has to take place and "the 2 people chosen" had to submit to the will of God and agree to God's "announcement".
First, Mary, who was a descendant of the house of David, through Nathan, the second son of Bathsheba and "represenative" of the "legal" line of house of David submitted to the anouncement of God's "highly favored status" and agreed to "motherhood of and "impregnation with" the "Son of God" by the Holy Ghost. Luke in St.Luke 3:23-38 traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to Adam the "origin" of the "legal" line.
Second, Joseph, also a descendant of the Davidic line through Solomon, the first son of Bathsheba who represented the "royal line" consented to the marriage to Mary, after a visit by an Angel as he contemplated divorcing her privately. Joseph because he was a descendant of Salantiel (Jehoachin's son born while in exile in babylon) was forbidden from sitting on the throne.
Note: Even though Mary was a descendant of David through the legal line of Nathan, Jesus could not legally occupy the throne through her side of the lineage.
To safe guard the "Virgin Birth",Joseph could not be the "biological father" of Jesus, because that would have both disannuled the "virgin birth" and prevented Jesus from occupying the throne because of the prophetic sentence God place on the lineage of Jechonias. Even though Joseph was a descendant of David through the Royal line . Jesus was made the "legal heir" to the throne of David when Joseph consented to marry Mary "after" she had conceived, a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The sentence pronounced on the royal lineage therfore was never biologically compromised and no son of Jeconias lineage ever sat upon the throne.
How the Millenial Kingdom will be a Davidic Throne:
If the Jews in Biblical history had accepted Jesus as "Messiah", His "Messianic" rule on earth would have been "immediate" and the Roman Empire would have been destroyed at "that moment". fulfilling "the revelation" of the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:44-46. Of course, God knew that Jesus would be "rejected" by the Jews. God also knew that Jesus' "occupation" of the Davidic throne was to be postponed until the "Milennial reign" of Jesus Christ at his "Second coming". Jesus, being rejected was not given the crown of the "Royal Diadem" of Israel. According to Matthew 27:29, Jesus was crowned with a crown of "many thorns", put on a purple robe by the Roman soildiers, and mocked as they bowed in derision in front of him and said "Hail, king of the Jews."
But, one day, HE will receive the crown and the kingdom after the 7-year Tribulation Period is over and Israel has been punished because of their unbelief in him as "Messiah". At that time , the Kingdon of David will be restored and Jesus will rule with a "rod of righteousness" and David will sit at his "right hand" and co-rule" as a Regent.
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