The LORD God promises to make one family, a descendant of David, the representative of God's people forever. The verses above are often described as the "Davidic Covenant" even though the term "covenant" does not appear there.
But in Psalm 89:3 this promise is described using these words: "I have made a covenant with my chosen one. I have sorn to David my servant."
David expresses his desire to build a house for the LORD, but the LORD does not approve because his hands have killed in wars, and instead the LORD says that He will establish David's house, his dynasty, forever. The LORD will give David an eternal throne.
This covenant is an unconditional unilateral covenant that the LORD God makes with David. That means that the promises that God makes depends solely on His Sovereign choice and grace to bless the line of David. It does not depend on the actions of David. This promise is recorded again in 1 Chronicles, chapter 17, by Ezra, the scribe. The theme in Ezra's writings is about the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant and the hope for a future King who will rule over Israel. Ezra traces the seed promise that God made with Adam (Genesis 3:15) to David, through the line of Judah, son of Jacob (1 Chron. 1-4). The intention of Ezra was to provide Israel with hope after the Babylonian captivity as they return to their lands. Ezra records seven "I will" statements in 1 Chronicles 17:11-14):
1. I will subdue all your enemies.
2. The LORD will build you a house.
3. I will raise up your offspring after you.
4. I will establish his kingdom.
5. I will establish his throne forever.
6. I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.
7. I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever and his throne shall be established forever.
In summary, the reference in 2 Samuel contains a 4-fold promise that will bless all nations, through a seed from the tribe of Judah; it provides:
1. A land.
2. A people.
3. An offspring from the line of David.
4. An everlasting kingdom over all nations.
This people is the nation of Israel. This land is the land of Israel.
Why Israel?
The name "Israel" appears 2500 times in the Old Testament and 79 times in the New Testament.
1 Chron. 17:20 There is none like you, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.
1 Chron. 17:21 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt?
1 Chron. 17:22 And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.
The Davidic covenant provides deliverance for all mankind, Jews and Gentiles. The nation will receive the Word breathed by God (Torah and New Testament) and that nation will provide a God/man as His beloved Son who will save all mankind from their sins because Jesus Christ becomes the atonement sacrifice for our sins on the mercy seat of the tabernacle of God in heaven. That is why Israel was chosen.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
It is about the covenant that God made with Himself in the Garden of Eden to save humanity from sin.
It is the nation of Israel who provided a child from the lineage of David, from the tribe of Judah, his name is Jesus, he was the seed promise in the first announcement of the gospel:
Genesis 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
This verse has been labelled the "Protoevangelium" because it announces the good news to the chaos that has been made by disobedience. The motif of the offspring of the woman is picked up in Gen. 4:25: "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." With the birth of Seth; subsequently, the rest of Genesis traces a single line of Seth's descendant, observing that it will eventually produce a king through whom all nations of the earth will be blessed.
Within the Biblical framework, this hope comes to fulfilment in Jesus Christ, who is clearly presented in the NT as overcoming Satan:
Heb. 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he (Jesus) might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil.
1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
The birth of Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant.
Matthew writes to a Jewish audience:
Matt. 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Jews kept extensive genealogies to establish a person's heritage, inheritance, legitimacy, and rights.
Matthew demonstrates Jesus' legal claim to the throne of David, from His adoptive father, Joseph, emphasizing Jesus legal descent from David and Abraham.
Matt. 1:18 When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was born of a virgin Jewish woman. Both the adopted father of Jesus, Joseph, and His mother came from the line of David:
Luke's genealogical record (Luke 3:23-38) emphasizes Jesus' biological descent, being the son of Mary, from David and Adam.
Christ is the fulfilment of the Davidic Covenant. The Jews anticipated the coming Messiah as the Son of David who will reign over them.
In the gospel of Matthew, the records show that the miracles that Jesus did was messianic; miraculous: raising the dead, blind sees, mute demon possessed healed, lepers healed, etc... and consequently Jesus was called the Son of David by the general people:
Matt. 9:27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David."
Matt. 12:23 And the people were amazed (Jesus healed a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute), and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"
Matt. 15:22 And behold a Canaanite woman from that region came out and crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."
Matt. 20:30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"
Matt. 21:15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant.
While the general public praised Jesus and acclaimed He is the Son of David, the Messiah, the religious leaders (check my blog on the religious leaders for more details) misjudged Him. Jesus was born during the Roman occupation, and the Jews thought that the Son of David will come as a warrior and king to deliver them from the oppression of Rome. The religious leaders questioned the humbled appearance of Jesus. While his humble appearance was foretold by prophet Isaiah, they failed to see the Word of the prophets as they were intended. Jesus was to come as a servant during His first coming:
Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Isaiah 42:2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
Isaiah 42:3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isaiah 42:4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for His law.
and also in
Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Pride and fear blinded the religious Jews and they did not reconcile the gentle healer to David's promised Son, and they questioned the miracles and even accused Jesus to cast demons out by Beelzebul (Matt. 12:23-24).
As prophet Isaiah foretold, Jesus, the Son of David, will come the first time to free Israel and all nations from spiritual death, the sin mortal virus and He will come the second time to rule with those who have been cleansed from sin and the throne of David will be established forever for a thousand years. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, will annihilate the enemy of God for good because He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
The promise of God is guaranteed by the character of God:
Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.
The seven "I will" statements of the Davidic Covenant has not all been fulfilled. It was inaugurated with the birth of Christ and His atoning sacrifice was the means to enter that kingdom. To those who believe, they will receive salvation. The final restoration of Israel is the re-establishment of the Davidic throne in the Millennium kingdom where Christ will reign as our King with all other nations. Then Israel will be restored together with all the Gentiles who will believe in Christ:
Isaiah 66:20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
Isaiah 66:21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
How amazing that in the new Millennium Kingdom, all nations will have access to the temple. It will not be restricted to the tribe of Levi of the nation of Israel. Israel was a shadow of things to come. They acted as the ambassy for the LORD God.
The Davidic Covenant is expressed in two institutions: the monarchy and the temple. It is pronounced by the LORD God, and it is God who will build a house for the Son of David in the form of a perpetual kingdom. Gods mercy (Heb. "Khehsed") and God's favour will never depart from the Son of David because Jesus Christ is a man without sin because He is the Son of God. He will restore worship of God His Father:
Heb. 1:8 But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom.
Heb. 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
Jesus is shown to be the eternal high priest, ministering from heaven in the true tabernacle and enacting the better promises of the new covenant.
Heb. 8:1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty of Heaven,
Heb. 8:2 a minister in the holy place, in the true tent that the LORD set up, not man.
Heb. 8:6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
Heb. 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
The Christian Hope
The author of Hebrews reminds readers of the main point of the letter: Christians have a high priest who has brought full forgiveness to sins, and this is evident by Him being seated at God's right hand.
This is where Christ is now a minister. The true tent refers to heaven, God's very presence. Jesus, the Son of David, came for the first time to be the High Priest of a Better Covenant, as the writer of Hebrews says.
While the Davidic Covenant is related to Israel, was inaugurated in the land of Israel, at the resurrection of Christ, it has become the hope for all who believe in Christ as their LORD and Saviour. Israel was the conduit for a messiah to be born. Israel became the recipient for the Word of God through the prophets.
The redemptive story centres around one pivotal event: the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The death, burial, resurrection, glorification of Christ is the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant because forgiveness is the greatest need for mankind, and it is God's greatest accomplishment. It provides an opportunity for God to forgive. That is why the covenant is unilateral and depends only on the sovereign choice and grace of God.
Atonement is everywhere in the Bible. It was either predicted, or anticipated, or acknowledged, or celebrated. It is a monumental event, and it was in the mind of God before He even created the world. Jesus was the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world:
Rev. 13:8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who was slain.
God knew before He placed the foundation of the earth that chaos will ensue. In Genesis 3:15, God promised that the seed of the woman will destroy Satan and Jesus Christ followed the bloodline, from Adam to David and then to His mother Mary, through the line of David.
Scripture invites us to have the heart of David who was willing, against all odds, to fulfil the purpose of God in his life. He repented when he sinned. God sees David to be something other than the man himself. David was someone totally devoted to the LORD.
The Holy Spirit is the divine author of history. God takes our story and weaves it so that no matter how dark our present is, our future can be bright as He gets hold of our life. In Chronicles, Ezra calls the people of Israel to a heart of worship.
We will not understand the New Testament unless we understand the Davidic Covenant because the New Testament plays off these Old Testament promises and show that Jesus is the fulfilment of those promises. Peter declares the fulfilment of those promises at Pentecost. He draws upon the history of the OT (Acts 2:14-41).
The attitude of a born-again Christian must be like David: a man after God's own heart. What does that mean when history tells us how David failed and sinned on so many levels in his life (adultery, murder, lack of parental authority in his household). God chooses David and He put David in the best light as a man after God's own heart. David was willing and obedient and he surrendered to the will of the LORD God.
The Christian hope is to hope and pray like David prayed:
Psalm 139: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
Psalm 139: 24 And see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
As long as we have a repenting heart, and we put to death the deed of the body and allow the Spirit of Christ to lead us, we will be sons and daughters of God, fellow heirs with Christ and we will then be able to cry to our LORD God:
Rom. 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Rom. 8:15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Rom. 8:17 and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The main character of the God of David is His compassion. When we hear the call for repentance, let us draw near and surrender to the will of the Father God who created us and believe.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
Isaiah 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteousness man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Amen
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