After David had settled
down in his reign as king of Israel and built his
own home, he had the desire to build a permanent
dwelling place for the LORD God. Until this time in
the history of Israel Yahweh dwelt among His people
in the tent of meeting called the Tabernacle. David
was ultimately forbidden the opportunity to build
the Temple because he was "a man of war, and had
shed blood" (1 Chronicles 22:8; 28:3). However,
David built the Temple through his son Solomon. He
is the only man in the Scriptures who is called "a
man after God's own heart."
God made a covenant with
David that when he died his descendants shall occupy
the throne and be established in the kingdom (2
Samuel 7:12). Note how closely the Temple and the
kingdom are related to one another (vv. 13-14). The
building of the Temple goes hand in hand with the
eternity of the kingdom. Moreover, the kingdom of
God and the kingdom of David are inseparably linked.
Here is the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel
7:12-16).
When your days are
complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will
raise up your descendant after you, who will come
forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He
shall build a house for My name, and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will
be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when
he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod
of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My
lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took
it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me
forever; your throne shall be established forever.
God's covenant with David
is "forever." It is a promise that the establishment
of the kingdom and the throne of David are
"forever." It points beyond the time of his son
Solomon and to the eternal continuance of the
David's descendants. The word "seed" refers to the
posterity of a person, or line of persons of
successive generations. The promise includes a
number of descendants who would be transmitted from
father to son over many generations.
Moreover, the promise was
that the throne of the kingdom of David would
continue "to eternity." The house and the kingdom
exist side by side for an eternal duration. The word
"eternity" must be taken in its absolute sense. This
is the way the Psalmist understood it in the royal
Psalm 89:28-29. "My lovingkindness I will keep for
him forever, and My covenant shall be confirmed to
him. So I will establish his descendants forever and
his throne as the days of heaven."
The prophet Isaiah saw
the coming of a child with four names who would rule
as Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:7). He said,
"There will be no end to
the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to
uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and
forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of
hosts will accomplish this."
Other Hebrew prophets at
various times prophesied of the coming of this same
person (cf. Daniel 2:44; 4:3, 34; 6:26; 7:13-14).
Ezekiel wrote, "My servant David will be king over
them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they
will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and
observe them. They will live on the land that I gave
to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived;
and they will live on it, they, and their sons and
their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will
be their prince forever" (Ezekiel 37:24-25; cf.
34:23-24).
It is obvious that no
earthly kingdom has eternal duration. Earthly
kingdoms perish, one by one, and other kingdoms take
their place. This was true in Israel. After 350
years, the kingdom of David came to a physical end.
Once the dynasty had fallen in 586 BC, devout Jews
continued to treasure the divine promises made to
David. They were confident that Yahweh would again
fulfil them in a very special son of David they
called the Messiah (translated "Christ"). So how
then could it last for eternity?
The Old Testament
scholars Keil and Delitzsch have an excellent
observation on this passage.
The posterity of David,
therefore, could only last forever by running out in
a person who lives forever; i.e. by culminating in
the Messiah, who lives forever, and of whose kingdom
there is no end. The promise consequently refers to
the posterity of David, commencing with Solomon and
closing with Christ . . . "
The promise to Solomon
and his descendants is not fully exhausted in them.
The promise that the "seed" of David should endure
forever is attained only in the ultimate fulfillment
in Christ.
Just as the promise of
building the house of God finds its ultimate
fulfillment in Christ, the promise, "I will be a
father to him and he will be a son to Me" (v. 14a)
is fully realized in Jesus Christ, the only begotten
Son of the heavenly Father (Hebrews 1:5). In the Old
Testament, the relationship between the father and
son signifies the "deepest intimacy of love." Jesus
experienced this intimacy with His Father in heaven.
He said, "The Father loves the Son and has given all
things into His hand" (John 3:35). Of course, Jesus
did not disobey His Father and was never in any need
of chastisement.
We know from history that
David's son Solomon built the Temple (1 Kings 5:19;
8:15ff), but later sinned against the Lord by
serving other gods. Because of his sin the kingdom
was divided by civil war when his son became king.
The southern kingdom remained loyal to David's
dynasty (1 Kings 11:9ff). The LORD did just as He
had promised and chastised Solomon with the rods of
men, but He did not withdraw His hesed,
steadfast love.
The seed of David turned
against the Lord and the kingdom was taken away from
its earthly descendants. Jesus was born of the seed
of David according to the flesh, after the house of
David had fallen into decay. Jesus raised up the
throne of His father David again to reign forever as
its king. Dr. Luke carefully observed this when he
documented this fact in Luke 1:32-33:
He will be great and will
be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God
will give Him the throne of His father David; and He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His
kingdom will have no end."
Literally, "of His
kingdom there will be no end." We must take those
words at face value.
In fulfillment of this
prophecy in 2 Samuel 7:11-13 the Lord God will give
Jesus "the throne of His father David." The promise
Yahweh gave to King David found its ultimate
fulfillment in Jesus Christ. His descent from David,
according to human nature, is definitely confirmed.
The official genealogy of the Jewish people was
carefully kept until the destruction of the
Jerusalem in AD 70. Matthew presents the legal
pedigree, according to Jewish custom, and quotes the
genealogy table of Jesus Christ. He wrote, "The book
of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1). Then he goes on
to trace Jesus' descent through the line of the
kings of the house of David, who alone are
recognized as legitimate sovereigns of Israel.
The Jewish rabbi Paul
wrote of Jesus after believing the evidence he had
gathered. He described Him as one, "who was born of
the seed of David according to the flesh, who was
declared with power to be the Son of God by the
resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit
of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:3-4).
The common people, like the blind man, acknowledge
who He was saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy
on me!" (Luke 18:38). The priest Zacharias was
filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied saying,
God "has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the
house of David His servant" (Luke 1:69).
This descendent of David
will last forever. He will reign over the house of
Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end. It is not
an earthly or political kingdom that is in view
here, but the kingdom or rule of grace and truth
established in the heart and lives of all who
believe on Him as their savior. Jesus said to Pilate
at His trial,
"My kingdom is not of
this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then
My servants would be fighting so that I would not be
handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is
not of this realm." Therefore, Pilate said to Him,
"So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say
correctly that I am a king. For this I have been
born, and for this I have come into the world, to
testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth
hears My voice" (John 18:36-37).
The kingdom of the
Messiah, Jesus Christ, the son of David, is a
kingdom of "righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
If you need help in
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Title: 2 Samuel
7:1-17 Luke 1:31-33 Messiah ben David
Series:
Christ in the Old Testament
