The issue of this proposition is simple, emphatic, and clear-cut. It seems that no one could misunderstand it. Christ is either now on what the Bible calls David's throne or he is not on it now. No multiplicity of words can obscure it; no irrelevant matter can cover or hide the issue; it cannot be evaded or explained away. The affirmative is contending that the Scriptures teach that Christ is now on David's throne; the negative is denying that Christ is now reigning on David's throne.

      Definitions of the terms of the proposition have been given. The negative thinks these definitions were not clear enough and asks that "the throne of David" and "sitting on it" be defined more fully. Of course, the term "sitting on it" is not used in the proposition. "David's throne" means "the throne of the Majesty," "the throne of his glory," "the throne of God," "the throne of Jehovah," "Christ's throne;" it means the authority of God to rule over the Lord's people (2 Sam. 3:10); it means that Christ is now exercising "the rule and government allotted by God to David" over the Lord's people. The "New Standard Bible Dictionary," defines "David's throne" as follows: "Jesus the Messiah is the true Davidic King, and his 'throne,' i. e., his power, etc.--sometimes his seat at the right hand of the Father--is the realized ideal of the Davidic throne of the Old Testament." The "Dictionary of the Bible," edited by James Hastings, defines it as follows: "Frequently 'throne' is used metaphorically for dignity, royal honor, and power. Thus 'the throne of David' often stands for the royal honor of David's house." (2 Sam. 7:16.) Smith's Bible Dictionary says: "The throne was the symbol of supreme power and dignity. . . . Similarly 'to sit upon the throne' implied the exercise of regal power; and 'to sit [246] upon the throne of another person,' succession to the royal dignity." Hence, when we say that Christ is now on David's throne, we mean that Christ now has "the royal honor of David's house," and that Christ is now in actual possession of "the exercise of regal power."

      But as Brother Boll is inclined to reject scholarship, we give him the Bible definition of "David's throne." The Bible says: "And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father." (1 Kings 2:12.) Again, the Bible says, speaking of the same thing: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father." (1 Chron. 29:23.) And again: "Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for Jehovah thy God." (2 Chron. 9:8.) So that which is called "David's throne" is called also "the throne of Jehovah." David was "king for Jehovah"--that is, he was reigning over the Lord's people by the authority of Jehovah and for Jehovah. Now, that is what is meant when we affirm that Christ is now on David's throne. It means that Christ now has "the actual exercise of the rule and government allotted by God to David." So the Holy Spirit says that "the throne of David" is "the throne of Jehovah." This is clear enough.

      The argument has been made that God promised David that he would "set up thy seed after thee, . . . and I will establish his kingdom. . . . and thy throne shall be established forever." (2 Sam. 7:11-16; 1 Chron. 17:10-14.) This same fact is emphasized in Ps. 110. Isaiah said concerning Christ, that "the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder." (Isa. 22:22.) Again, Isaiah said that God would put Christ "upon the throne of David." (Isa. 9:6, 7.) Jeremiah said concerning Christ: "I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely." (Jer. 23:5.) Another prophet said: "Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear unto Jehovah and to [247] his goodness in the latter days." (Hos. 3:5.) "David their king" has reference to Christ. Jehovah had said that Christ should have David's throne. The promise and prophecy of the Old Testament are clear that Christ should reign over the Lord's people, or have David's throne.

      The New Testament announced positively by the angel to Mary that "the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:30-33.) This has been fulfilled. Christ is called "the son of David;" he "was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." (Rom. 1:2, 3.) Again, it is declared of Christ: "For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah." (Heb. 7:14.) So Christ was of the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah. He is now King, having all authority "in heaven and on earth." We ask, Have the Old Testament prophecies and the New Testament announcements concerning Christ been fulfilled? Peter declared on the day of Pentecost, in proving the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, that God had fulfilled this in Christ. He said: "Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne; he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of Christ." (Acts 2:30, 31.) The Holy Spirit declares that God had kept his oath and fulfilled his promise to David and that Christ is now on David's throne. James makes the same claim. (Acts 15:15-17.) So the Scriptures teach that Christ is now on David's throne.

      Again, the Bible declares: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this." (Amos 9:11.) In Acts 15:16, 17, James declares that this prophecy has been fulfilled in Christ. [248] He says that David's "tabernacle" has been rebuilt and it set up" and "the residue of men" and "all the Gentiles" upon whom God's name has been called are seeking after the Lord. James shows how and when God set up "the tabernacle of David" and placed Christ "upon his throne." Peter said, "That of the fruit of his loins he would set up one upon his throne," was fulfilled in the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus as the Christ at the right hand of God. Peter and James use almost the same expressions. Of "the tabernacle of David," James said God would "set it up;" and of "the throne of David," Peter said God would "set one upon" it. "David's throne" and "the tabernacle of David" are one and the same. When one is "set up," the other is also "set up." God "set one upon" David's throne at the same time and in the same way that he "set up" David's tabernacle.

      The prophet had said: "And a throne shall be established in loving-kindness; and one shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness." (Isa. 16:5.) This shows that "the tabernacle of David" and "the throne of David" and "the tent of David" all mean the same. "The tabernacle of David" and "the tent of David" could not be in existence several thousand years before "the throne of David" was in existence. The kingdom of God to-day is "righteousness and joy and peace in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17), and Jesus has established his throne "in loving-kindness," and sits "thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness." Paul declares concerning David and Christ, that "of this man's seed hath God according to promise brought unto Israel a Savior, Jesus." (Acts 13:23.) Paul further says that "the promise made unto the fathers" God has fulfilled in raising Jesus from the dead, and in so doing not only proving him to be the Son of God, but fulfilling the promise: "I will give [249] you the holy and sure blessings of David." (Acts 13:34.) Whatever was included in "the holy and sure blessings of David" has already been bestowed. Who is bold enough to deny that "the throne of David," "the tabernacle of David," and "the tent of David" are not included in "the holy and sure blessings of David?" Again our proposition is proved that Christ is now on David's throne.

      The Scriptures do not teach that "the kingdom of heaven," "the kingdom of God," "the kingdom of Christ," "the holy and sure blessings of David," "the tabernacle of David," "the tent of David," "the throne of David," and "the commonwealth of Israel" (Eph. 2:12), in which Jews and Gentiles are all fellow citizens, are different kingdoms with as many different thrones; neither are they different kingdoms over which Jesus at different times is King; neither are they different thrones which at different times Jesus will occupy; neither are they different stages or phases of the same kingdom, but they are all one and the same, over which Christ is now reigning by the authority of the Father, and hence he is on David's throne now. There is no Scripture which teaches that Christ is now King over "the kingdom of heaven" and that he is now "at the right hand of God," but that later and finally he will occupy "the throne of David." The Scriptures declare that Christ would occupy an everlasting throne (2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Chron. 17:11); that Christ would occupy this throne after David's death; that he would reign on David's throne, not just for a thousand years, but forever. This also shows that the reign of Christ on David's throne would take place after David's death and while he slept with his fathers, or before his resurrection. The reign of Christ on David's throne is thus limited by Peter in Acts 2:29-31 as being after the death of David and before his resurrection--that is, the reign of Christ on David's throne, as Peter says, began on Pentecost and will continue until the final resurrection. This makes the reign of Christ on David's throne continue [250] from the beginning of the church or kingdom of God on earth to the end, when Christ shall have put the last enemy under his feet. "For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet." "Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father." (1 Cor. 15:24, 25.) We now see that the reign of Christ on David's throne began when the kingdom of Dan. 2:44 was set up, or when the church was established on Pentecost, and that it will continue until Christ delivers up the kingdom to the Father, which is the end.

      All Christians, or saints, both Jews and Gentiles, now constitute "the Israel of God." (Gal. 6:16; Phil. 3:3.) Again: "Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham." (Gal. 3:7.) "And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise." (Verse 29.) The true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man (Heb. 8:2), includes God's people to-day. "The house of God" (1 Tim. 3:15) "the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10) "God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9); "the temple of God" (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20); "an elect race," "a royal priesthood," "a holy nation," "a people for God's own possession" (1 Pet. 2:5, 9, 10); "a kingdom" (Phil. 3:20)--these all mean the same thing and include the people of God to-day. They are "a spiritual house" (1 Pet. 2:5), not one of flesh. "The tabernacle of David" in the prophecies of the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament and includes not fleshly Israel, but all Gentile Christians as well as Jewish Christians. God's "holy nation," his "peculiar people," his "royal priesthood," and his "kingdom" embrace and include "the Israel of God" in Christ to-day. The Israel of God "includes" the seed of Abraham" now. The prophecies concerning the establishment of "the tabernacle of David" and "the holy and sure blessings of David" are fulfilled in the restoration [251] of God's people and are included in "the Israel of God" and "the seed of Abraham" to-day.

      Jehovah promised to make Abraham "a father of many nations," "a multitude of nations." (Gen. 17:5, 6.) Paul declares that this promise is fulfilled as follows: "For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel [born of Israel after the flesh]; neither, because they are Abraham's seed [after the flesh], are they all children. . . . That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed." (Rom. 9:6-8.) All now who are Christ's are Abraham's seed, "and heirs according to the promise." (Gal. 3:28, 29.) Paul thus shows that the promise to make Abraham "the father of a multitude of nations" is fulfilled when people from all nations become Christians by faith in Christ, and that the seed of Abraham, "the Israel of God," are the children of God to-day. The promises which were "sure to all the seed," or to all "the Israel of God," are fulfilled in Christ. Only as people from all nations become Christians, or Abraham's seed in Christ, do they constitute "the Israel of God," and only such Jews, or David's seed after the flesh, or fleshly Israel, now become "the true Israel," "the Israel of God," and "heirs of the promise," as those who accept Christ and submit to his reign. So "Christ is now ruling the realm of David's sovereignty," "the Israel of God." This is what Brother Boll says "the affirmative ought to prove," and it is what the affirmative has proved.

      Brother Boll's theory is purely Judaistic. It is the position of the Judaizing teachers which the Holy Spirit condemned frequently through Paul. It is based on the false Jewish interpretations of prophecy and their false interpretation of Christianity. This is the theory in a nutshell. Fleshly Israel is to be gathered up and restored to Palestine; the Jewish kingdom is to be restored; Jerusalem is to be the capital city; the temple is to be rebuilt and the temple worship restored; Christ is to come in [252] person with his Jewish nationality prominent and sit on David's throne and rule over fleshly Israel just as David did anciently; that the kingdom has not been set up in its fullness, but that it will be when Christ comes. This is no new theory. Christ and the apostles met it and refuted it. The early Christians had to contend against it. This theory has been met and confuted in every age. At first it was found only among the Jews, but now it is found among the Gentiles. Brother Boll has espoused it with some modification and with others he has redressed it. But it is the same old theory. It is wrong for brethren to charge Brother Boll with the origin of it. He did not discover it by a profound study of the Bible; he adopted it from others. There is a faction in the Baptist Church, in the Methodist, Presbyterian, and many other denominational churches, which has adopted this theory. Of course, each one of these has modified the theory according to his own notion; even they have changed positions on it. Philip Mauro is a modern apostle of this Judaistic and literalistic theory. In 1918 he published a book, called "After This," or, "The Church, the Kingdom, and the Glory," in which he sets forth phases of this theory. Brother Boll, in "Word and Work," 1919, page 181, indorses this book with slight exceptions and commends it to the public. He mentions but one mistake in that book, and says that he "thinks that this point detracts but little from the general excellence of the work." Now, late in the year 1919, Philip Mauro published another book, entitled "God's Present Kingdom," and in this book he says that he has restudied the question and that "the result has been that he has had to modify, in some important particulars, the views previously held." (Page 14.) This is mentioned because about the same time Brother Boll seems to have modified his own views on this theory. Be it said to his credit that his modifications are approaching nearer the truth.

      The negative speaks of Christ's inheriting the throne [253] of David. The throne of David cannot be inherited. Even David's son, Solomon, did not inherit it. God gave the rule over his people to Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, and because of Saul's disobedience God took it from him. (1 Sam. 13:14; 15:23, 28.) When God took the throne from Saul, he gave it to David, who was of the tribe of Judah. (2 Sam. 6:21.) Solomon did not inherit the throne of David; Jehovah gave it to him. (1 Kings 5:5; 8:20.) Adonijah, David's son, tried to take the throne, but could not.

      According to Brother Boll, Christ must be on David's throne when Israel is converted and restored to Palestine as a righteous nation. If Christ is to reign over fleshly Israel as David did, then the old law must be reënacted and the temple worship restored, for Christ as David's successor must reign in Jerusalem over fleshly Israel as David reigned over fleshly Israel in Jerusalem. Not a single Scripture can be given which sustains such a theory.

      This position virtually denies the fact that Christ is King in fact now over God's people, as David was king over God's people. This Judaistic theory generally denies that Christ is a King now or that he has a kingdom now. It postpones the Kingship of Christ and defers the establishment of his kingdom until he shall come the second time. This position is modified some by Brother Boll, as he wants Christ to be a King in some sense, but not in the fullness until he sits on David's throne. Every reader who has closely followed Brother Boll in this discussion remembers that he has affirmed that the Scriptures teach that fleshly Israel will be converted nationally and then as a righteous nation restored to Palestine. He has also affirmed that Christ is only reigning in a certain limited sense now, but that he will reign with his saints over all the earth when he comes again. These affirmations of Brother Boll show that he does not believe that Christ actually now has and is exercising full and complete [254] sovereignty over the Lord's people as the Old Testament prophecies show that he would have such authority.

      This position robs Christ of honor and glory and power; it destroys one of the fundamental principles of the Christian religion. This position postpones the fulfillment of the prophecies until Christ comes. It is vital; for if Christ is not now reigning over the Lord's people with all power and authority as God said he would, then the Christian religion rests upon a sandy foundation.

      There is an inconsistency in Brother Boll's position which I am sure the reader sees. In one proposition he has affirmed that when Christ comes he will reign with his saints over all the earth. In the discussion of this proposition it was pointed out to Brother Boll--and he admitted it--that if Christ "reigns with his saints," then he does not "reign over his saints." Now he claims that when Christ comes he will then sit on David's throne and will reign just as David did only over fleshly Israel. But in his first proposition he said that fleshly Israel was to be converted and as a righteous nation restored to Palestine before Christ came. If the Jews are to be converted, then they become saints; and if they are restored as a righteous nation to Palestine, they are restored as saints; and if they are saints, Christ is not to "reign over them," but they are to reign with him. Now let him tell us how Christ can sit on David's throne and rule over fleshly Israel as David did. Surely he can see such an inconsistency.

      Ezek. 21:27, as quoted by Brother Boll, says that Israel will be overturned and "shall be no more until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it him." The kingdom of Israel was overturned. God took the authority to rule his people from the line of David and left them without any ruler for centuries. Amos 9:11 says: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." James [255] says in Acts 15:15-18 that this has been rebuilt in Christ and the tabernacle of David has been reëstablished, which means that the right and authority to rule over God's people has been restored to the house of David in Christ. Nothing could be plainer than that the church and Christianity are the fulfillment of this Scripture and that God has restored the tabernacle of David, but at this time God has so enlarged it that it includes the Gentiles who accept Christ.

      Brother Boll says that this Scripture does not prove that Christ is now on David's throne. He says that it only declares that Christ was raised up from the grave in order that God might set him on David's throne. It is true that Christ was raised from the dead for that purpose. But Brother Boll says that this Scripture does not state "when God would do that." If God did not do it when he raised Christ from the dead, then he did not do what he raised Christ from the dead to do. If he did not do this when he raised him from the dead, he has not yet given him all authority and power. Brother Boll's position is that after several thousand years, or when Christ comes, then God will do for Christ that which he raised him from the dead to do. This position is out of harmony with the Scripture and with the scholarship of Bible students.

      J. W. McGarvey says, in commenting on this Scripture:

      He had made him Lord by causing him to sit on God's own throne, to rule over angels and men; and he had made him Christ by causing him to sit on the throne of David according to the promise. It was God's throne, because it was the throne of universal dominion; and it was David's throne, because it was the lineal descent from David which made Jesus the rightful King. From this conclusion the Jewish hearers of Peter learned that, contrary to their previous conception, the promised Christ was to sit, not on an earthly throne, however glorious, but on the throne of the universe. ("Commentary on Acts.") [256]

      Dr. Henry J. Ridley, in commenting on the same Scripture says:

      The Messiah, who was to descend from him, was in like manner to be King of the Lord's people--namely, his spiritual people, of whom the nation of the Hebrews was only an emblem. . . . Christ, then, or the Messiah, was to sit on David's throne, or to be his successor, by becoming the King of God's spiritual people. . . . When we think of David's government, being a divinely instituted one, as emblematic of the Messiah's administration, and preparatory to it, we see how Christ, having established the new dispensation of religion, or laid the foundation of the Christian church, is said to sit on David's throne. ("Notes on Acts of the Apostles.")

      In commenting upon the same Scripture, D. Lipscomb says:

      The worldly throne of David typified the spiritual throne of Jesus, in which all the prophecies concerning the throne of David found their perfect and highest fulfillment. ("Commentary on Acts.")

      The Old Testament Scriptures teach that Christ was to receive the throne of David. This was declared by a number of the prophets. He was to be a King, to have a kingdom, and in this kingdom to sit on David's throne.

      The New Testament declares that Christ was of the tribe of Judah and lineage of David. The angel announced to Mary that Jesus would sit on the throne of David, his father; that Christ is called the Son of David; that he should reign over the house of Jacob forever; and that his kingdom should be an everlasting one. Peter declares that this has been fulfilled and that God had raised him from the dead for that purpose. James emphasizes the same fact. Paul declares that "the Israel of God" to-day are the people of God, and that "the seed of Abraham" are all who believe in Jesus Christ; that Christ is reigning now over God's people; and that [257] as God's people, or Christians, to-day are "the Israel of God," Christ is on David's throne.

      Nowhere in the Scriptures are we taught that Christ is to have two or more thrones. A throne is an emblem of authority and rule in a kingdom. If there are to be two or more thrones, then there must be two or more kingdoms. There must be a kingdom for each throne and a throne for each kingdom. If Christ is not now on David's throne, then he is to occupy it later; but if he is now on the throne of God, he is on his own throne in his kingdom--he is on the throne of David. Brother Boll cannot show that Christ was promised two or more thrones. Since the Scriptures teach that Christ will have only one kingdom, and therefore only one throne, we conclude again that he is now on David's throne.

      Brother Boll's position is self-contradictory. It makes Christ as a Jew sit on the throne of David and reign over fleshly Israel in Jerusalem, and only over the Jews. Such a position is Judaistic and literalistic and materialistic. It contradicts all the Scriptures which teach that God's people to-day constitute the "Israel of God," "the elect race," "the seed of Abraham," "a spiritual house." The Scriptures do teach that as David ruled over fleshly Israel, Jehovah's people, then, by the authority of God, so Christ rules over the Lord's people, "the Israel of God," by divine authority, and is thus on David's throne, which was to be proved. [258]

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