It is not our purpose in this volume to investigate the private life or public affairs of David, the son of Jesse, except as his career is entwined with the subject of the kingdom of God. Upon the death of Saul, the captain of his army, Abner, conspired to have Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, inaugurated as king over the major part of Israel. Judah recognized David as king, and he reigned in Hebron more than seven years, during which time a war was carried on between his forces and those of Ish-bosheth, until the latter was assassinated while taking a mid-day siesta in his own home. Upon the death of Ish-bosheth David was made king over all Israel, and reigned thus for thirty-three years more.
David became conscience-stricken over the fact that he resided in a new house of cedar while the ark of the covenant was yet housed in a tent when in its sacred repository. So he announced his intention of erecting a suitable temple for the service of God, but was restrained from doing so by Nathan the prophet, who nevertheless gave him great comfort and assurance, by conveying the promise of God in these words, "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your son after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will be his father, and he shall be my son...And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever" (2 Sam. 7:12-16).
1. This is a good example of a prediction with a two-fold meaning. It is possible for him who knows all things from the beginning to use a contiguous event to shadow a remote one, and so to phrase his message that the language can apply to either.
2. The immediate revelation concerned Solomon, whose rule was to be assured after the death of David, and the house he would build for the Lord was the temple in Jerusalem.
3. The establishment of the house and kingdom of David was a guarantee that there would be no superseding of the dynasty by another, as in the case of Saul.
4. That there is a deeper meaning to be derived from the prophecy, and that it relates to the reign of the Messiah is definitely shown by the Holy Spirit, so that it is not reckless assumption to state that the Lord, through Nathan, was giving a pre-view of his kingdom purpose.
5. The apostle Peter, upon the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, applies the prophecy directly to him. "I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of Christ" (Acts 2:29-31).
6. Upon the basis of the statement to David, the angel Gabriel, in the annunciation of the birth of Jesus, declared, "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32, 33).
7. That the prophecy reaches far beyond Solomon is affirmed by the writer of Hebrews, who definitely quotes "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son" (Heb. 1:5) as directly applicable to Jesus, as the Son of God.
A summary of the points set forth in this great prefiguration will show the following:
1. The Messiah was to be in the lineage, and a direct descendant of David.
2. The Messiah was to be raised up while David was still in his sepulcher. Thus the resurrection and exaltation of the Messiah was to be a special event prior to the general resurrection in which David would participate.
3. The kingdom of the Messiah was to be established on the throne of David, that is, it would be conditioned upon his succession as a member of the tribe of Judah and his relationship as an heir of David.
4. The Messiah would build a house for God in which God would dwell through the Spirit, even as he formerly dwelt in the tabernacle and temple through the Shekinah.
5. The kingdom of the Messiah was destined to continue for ever.
6. The Lord said to David, "He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." But he added, "Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure before me." Thus the kingdom of the Messiah was to be directly related to that of David. Inasmuch as David was the first of Judah to wield the scepter, and he thus sat as the regal representative of the theocracy upon earth, it remains that this theocracy, as a rule of God, was to be transferred at some future date, while the body of David was in the tomb, to a descendant of his after the flesh, who would also be a Son of God. "I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son." The theocracy vested in Judah would never be wholly supplanted "until he comes whose right it is."
The promise and purpose of God remained inviolate amidst the vicissitudes affecting the kingdom. The promise was repeated to Solomon, conditioned upon his fidelity (1 Kings 6:12), but when he became an idolater, the Lord told him, "I will surely tear the kingdom from you...However I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen" (1 Kings 11:11-13). This one tribe was to be given "that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem" (1 Kings 11:36). Even when succeeding kings became increasingly wicked, "the Lord would not destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons for ever" (2 Kings 8:19).
Ezekiel refers to the Messiah as David, and in his prophecy concerning the future welfare of Israel, declares, "I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them" (Ezek. 34:23, 24).
Again he quotes the word of the Lord, "My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall have one shepherd." God was to make a covenant of peace which was to be everlasting. He was to set his sanctuary in their midst for evermore, his dwelling place would be with them, he was to be their God, and they were to be his people (Ezek. 37:24-28). Surely this is a picture of Jesus and the church of God.
No consideration of the relationship of the Messiah to David and his kingdom would be complete without reference to Isaiah, chapter 9. The prophecy of this chapter in its primary sense is related to the circumstances existing at the time of its pronouncement, and begins with chapter 7. At the time, Ahaz was king of Judah, and Rezin and Pekah were the kings of Syria and Israel to the north. Tiglath-Pileser was king of the Assyrian nation and was bent on subjugating all of western Asia. To resist his advance, Rezin and Pekah formed a coalition, and conspired to overthrow the dynasty of David and install the son of Tabeal as king in Judah, so they could have a man more favorable to their purposes.
At this time, Isaiah was instructed to meet Ahaz at the conduit of the upper field on the highway to Fuller's Field, and encourage him to have no fear of the conspiracy. When Ahaz was requested to ask a sign from God, but refused, the prophet said a sign would be given anyway. A young woman would conceive and bear a son, and before the child reached the age of accountability, the land whose two kings were dreaded would be divested of any power to threaten. The immediate fulfillment was in the birth of Isaiah's own son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, about whose birth, Isaiah was told to take a large tablet and write the facts, then seal up the testimony of his writing as a witness. When in dire distress, others would consult wizards and fortune-tellers, the faithful were to consult this teaching and testimony.
The introduction of chapter 9 portrays the fact that the land of Zebulun and Naphtali which lay far toward the north, adjacent to Syria, would be first overrun by Tiglath-Pileser, but in a brighter day would be restored. In a larger and spiritual sense this was applied to the personal ministry of our Lord in Galilee. "Leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned" (Matt. 4:13-16).
To assure Ahaz of the permanency of the rule of David, and thus to offset the fear of the conspirators to unseat him in favor of the son of Tabeal, a remarkable prophecy is provided:
"For to us a child is born, to us a child is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulders,
and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God;
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom,
to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and for evermore."
Thus the reign of the Messiah in a golden future age is depicted, when justice and righteousness shall govern for ever, when the expansion of benign rule and the growth of peace will be boundless, through the ministration of him who sits upon the throne of David.
"When the oppressor is no more,
and the destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples under foot
has vanished from the land,
then a throne will be established
in steadfast love
and on it will sit in faithfulness
in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
and is swift to do righteousness"
(Isa. 16:4, 5).
Despite the years of exile, spiritual destitution, and subservience to foreign powers, the hope was held aloft that regardless of the low estate into which the kingdom fell, there would be a glorious revival, and the dawning of a better and brighter day of peace, reclamation and restitution.
"In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair the breaches,
and raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old"
(Amos 9:11).
Because of the prophecy related to this "that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name," the apostle James, at Jerusalem, directly applied this to the church and successfully squelched the attempt to bind circumcision upon Gentile converts to the Christ (Acts 15:16-18). The tent of David which sagged through neglect and indifference, which was breached by idolatry and ruined by sin, has been rebuilt upon a far better scale, by the one who is "a minister in the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord" (Heb. 8:2).
It is no wonder, in view of all that we have thus learned, that the Messiah personally refers to himself as "the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David" (Rev. 3:7). The word "key" in prophetic symbolism signifies "authority," especially in granting or barring entrance, that is, in opening and closing. At some juncture between the time when the Lord promised David a son to sit upon his throne and the time when the apocalyptic vision revealed the Son of God with the keys, the kingdom of the Messiah became a reality, and the authority was transferred unto him "whose right it is." He is the "Lion of the tribe of Judah," and "the root and offspring of David" (Rev. 5:5; 22; 16).
One of the most interesting of the psalms of this nature is the second. In verses I and 2, kings, princes, Gentiles and the people, are pictured in conspiracy and tumultuous assembly for the specific purpose of thwarting the design of God and His Messiah. In verse 3 this motley horde of insurrectionists exclaim, "Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us." It is as if the nations resented the restraints imposed by God, and realized that the ascension of the Son to the throne would install him as a judge over the nations. To forestall this they attempt to prevent the coronation.
In verses 4-6, Jehovah is pictured as laughing in derision at the vain attempt of men to mock him and overthrow his eternal decrees. He then speaks out of his wrath, and terrifies them with his fury, "I have set my king in Zion, my holy hill." That the transactions here referred to are applicable to the plan of God relative to the Messiah is plainly demonstrated in the words of the Jerusalem congregation assembled for prayer. After quoting the first two verses of the psalm, they say, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever thy hand and thy plan had predestined to take place" (Acts 4:27,28).
In verses 7-9 of the psalm, the Messiah personally speaks, reciting the decree of the Lord, as spoken unto him. "You are my son, today have I begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The language of verse 7 is quoted in Hebrews 1:5 as evidence of the superiority of Jesus to angels; and in Hebrews 5:5 as proof of his divine appointment to the priesthood of Melchizedek. The student should observe that "the day" in which he was begotten was not the date of his advent into the world, but of his resurrection from the dead. Paul declared in the Antiochan synagogue, "We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, 'Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee'" (Acts 13:32, 33).
The fact of the rule of iron, symbolizing firmness is attested to in Rev. 19:15, where a vision of Christ as "the Word of God" declares, "From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the winepress of the fury and the wrath of God the Almighty."
In view of this positive teaching that the Messiah was to be both the Son of God and His king, on what grounds do the Jews now reject him? Most of them seek to make the language of the psalm applicable only to David. This explanation fails upon several counts. First, there was no such general conspiracy or plot to keep David from becoming king as would warrant the language of the first two verses. Secondly, it was never the intent of God to make the nations the heritage of David, nor give him the remotest bounds of the earth for a possession. It is true that David defeated the nations adjacent to Palestine, and carried off gold and silver from Moab, Edom, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. It is also true that "The Lord gave the victory to David wherever he went." But "David reigned over all Israel; and he administered justice and equity to all his people" (1 Chron. 18:11-14). The second psalm has reference to a greater and nobler king on the holy hill of Zion.
In its remote sense, the psalm is a prediction of the triumphal resurrection of Christ, looking to his coronation. Peter quotes it on Pentecost to substantiate the fact that God had raised up Christ, "having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." This is predicated upon the statement of David, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be moved; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will dwell in hope. For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption" (Acts 2:24-27). Peter declares that David was a prophet and "foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption" (verse 31).
Paul in his synagogue speech at Antioch, in Pisidia, quotes from both the psalms and the prophets (Psalm 2; Psalm 16; Isa. 55:3; Hab. 1:5). Speaking of Jesus, he says, "And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke in this way, 'I will give you the holy and sure mercies of David.' Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.' For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up saw no corruption" (Acts 13:34-36). Surely Psalm 16 is Messianic in nature.
In verses 2-9, is a special ode to the bridegroom who "rides forth victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right." Verses 10-12 contain an address to the bride with the admonition that if "you will forget your people, and your father's house, the king will desire your beauty." A description of the pageantry in the bridal procession is furnished in verses 13-15, and a final address to the king culminates the song, so filled with beautiful Oriental imagery.
The psalm is of special interest in our investigation because it affirms to the king, "Your divine throne endures for ever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows" (verses 6, 7). The writer of the Hebrews appropriates through the Holy Spirit, this statement to advance his argument for the supremacy of the Messiah over the angels. After setting forth the idea that the Christ was superior because he had obtained a more excellent name than theirs, because angels were commanded to worship him, and because of the nature and mission of these celestial servants, he proceeds to establish it further by showing that Christ occupies the throne and wields the scepter in the kingdom. He clinches the argument with the citation that the anointing of the Messiah was beyond that of his comrades, i.e., his angelic associates in heaven. Of course, the character of the reign is shown in the fact that the scepter is one of righteousness, and its possessor one who loved righteouness, while detesting lawlessness.
In prophetical symbolism, the "right hand" signifies a place of authority and power. The invitation is for Christ to occupy that place of authority. This indicates that the rule had previously belonged to God, else he could not transfer it. The theocracy is to give way to a Christocracy, a rule of God's anointed.
The transfer of power is to be for a specific time and a specific purpose. It is to be a rule of conquest. The enemies of God are to be conquered and subjugated. The authority is to be invested in Christ until that is accomplished. When the last foe has been rendered helpless and destroyed, the reign will cease. The term "footstool" as applied to an enemy comes from the ancient custom of a conquering chieftain forcing his vanquished foes to bow down while he placed his foot upon the prostrate forms and proclaimed his victory over them. You may read about this custom in Joshua 10:24.
It was this first verse of Psalm 110 which Jesus employed with such devastating effect against the Pharisees, after asking them, "What think you of Christ, whose son is he?" After the question and quotation "no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did any one dare to ask him any more questions" (Matt. 22:42-46; Mark 12:36).
Verse 2 says, "The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes." The former verse constitutes a report of a conversation or statement of God to His Son, but in this verse the Son is directly addressed. Again in verse 1, we read of the extension, nature, power and duration of the kingdom, but in this verse we learn of the place where the power will first be manifest, and from which it will go forth in universal dominion. It is for that reason loyal citizens of the heavenly regime are said to have "come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. 12:22). Here it is that the mighty scepter is wielded so effectively.
Verse 3 of the psalm affirms that the reign of the Messiah will not be manifested in an autocratic or despotic fashion. There will be no involuntary subjugation to the divine sway, upon the part of the subjects of the kingdom. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power" is but an expression of voluntary submission to One who loved them and gave Himself for them. Contrary to the system under the old covenant which enrolled those who were infants and needed to be taught to know the Lord after enrollment, the arrangement under the Messiah requires that men first be taught to know the Lord, and then come to him by choice (Heb. 8:10,11).
Verse 4 is one of great moment in the consideration of the divine purpose relating to the kingdom. It demonstrates that the Messiah was to occupy a two-fold position, being a priest as well as a king. "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Let us notice some of the points involved in this prediction.
1. It was so important in the divine plan that it was confirmed with a sacred oath. The Levitical priests were not inducted into office by oath, and the fact that the oath was a part of the inaugural ceremony of the Christ is urged as a proof of the superiority of his priesthood (Heb. 7:20-22).
2. The unchangeable and immutable nature of the prediction was manifest in the assertion that the Lord would not repent. This indicates an inflexible purpose, not subject to any alteration by virtue of condition or circumstance.
3. The promise here made implies a change of law. The Messiah was to be of the tribe of Judah "of which Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood" (Heb. 7:14). The Mosaic economy was to be superseded and abrogated. "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Heb. 7:12).
4. The priesthood of the Messiah would not be subject to change or be affected by law of succession. He was to be a priest "for ever." The Levitical priesthood was altered repeatedly by the demise of its occupants. "And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death; but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood" (Heb. 7:23,24).
5. The priesthood of Aaron's sons was to be supplanted by that of the order of Melchizedek, who was so great that the patriarch Abraham honored him by presentation of tithes, and was blessed by him in turn (Heb. 7:4-6). Thus the Messiah was to be both king and priest upon his throne.
6. This fact is further predicted by Zechariah in his prophecy regarding the man whose name is The Branch (the Nazarene). It was declared that "He shall build the temple of the Lord; and shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne" (Zech. 6:13). Three facts are affirmed about his throne as follows: (1) He will sit on it; (2) He will rule on it; (3) He will be a priest upon it. When we find the Messiah sitting at the right hand of God, and acting in the capacity of a priest, we shall know he is upon his throne and ruling in his kingdom. One passage alone should be sufficient proof that the Messiah is now king and that the kingdom has come. "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1).
The temple of God has been erected. The tabernacle of David has been repaired and re-built. The scepter of Judah is even now in the hand of "him whose right it is." The reign of heaven is here. "The Branch" is sitting upon the throne of his father David. He is king and priest, mediator and intercessor, author and finisher of the faith, Alpha and Omega of our Hope. In him prophecy and history meet, and their united testimony confirms the eternal purpose.