03.05. David's Kingdom Over Israel to Be...
CHAPTER FIVE David’s Kingdom Over Israel to Be Restored Forever THERE ARE three great elements in all prophecies of the future.
They are:
- A land - The land is Palestine or Canaan.
- A people - the people, Israel - A throne or kingdom - the throne is the throne of David. In 2Sa 7:8-16 we are plainly told that all these elements will be combined when the nation Israel is brought back to their own land and established there forever under the kingdom of a Descendant of David on David’s throne. Nathan the prophet was sent by the Lord to tell David that the throne of his kingdom would be established forever over Israel in the future.
Read this passage with this in mind.
"Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2Sa 7:8-16).
Verse 2Sa 7:10 says a surprising thing! Israel was already in the land of promise, Palestine or Canaan, and David’s throne was already established there, and he was their king, yet the promise is "Moreover I WILL appoint a place for my people Israel, and WILL plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more."
Years after the death of David, Israel would be carried to Babylon, and later scattered all over the world. David’s kingdom, then established, would be temporarily discontinued in the captivity and afterward. In the time of Christ there was no king on the throne of David; even today there is none. There has been no descendant of David reigning on a throne at Jerusalem over a nation Israel now for these more than 2,000 years! So the Lord promised David that in the future, when Israel would be regathered, He would "appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime."
Verses 2Sa 7:11-15 make clear that God promised David He would establish David’s kingly line so that whatever should happen, David’s dynasty would not be broken up forever as was the dynasty of King Saul. When Solomon and other kings descended from David did sin against God, verses 2Sa 7:14-15 promise that the one sinning would be chastened and whipped, but that it would not break God’s covenant.
Then verse 2Sa 7:16 repeats, "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever." The dynasty of David, in the future, was to be established forever. There would come a time when a King of David’s line would rule on David’s throne forever. When will David’s kingdom be reestablished? When will this coming Son of David take up the throne? In this passage, the Lord plainly connects two great events: the return of Israel to their own land, and the reestablishment of the throne of David. In 2Sa 7:10, God said to David, "Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more," and then shows the promise of the unending reign of David’s dynasty. The two are inevitably connected. This is the same time as discussed in Deu 30:5, where the Lord promises, "And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it." The regathering of Israel, the reestablishment of David’s throne, and the conversion of Israel are three inseparably connected events.
1Ch 17:1-27, gives a very full and interesting account of this marvelous covenant of God with David, promising the eternal establishment of David’s throne and with a Descendant of David upon it. Much of it is given in the same words of this passage in 2Sa 7:10-16, but you should carefully read it. Line upon line God made sure His promises.
Psa 89:1-52 Repeats Covenant With David This covenant with David is referred to many times in the Bible. In the eighty-ninth Psalm are several plain statements about this covenant.
Verses Psa 89:3-4 say: "I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah." The seed of David and the throne of David are to be established and built up forever, even "to all generations." In the same eighty-ninth Psalm, verse Psa 89:27-37 say:
"Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then mil I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah"
Verse Psa 89:27 clearly teaches that the coming King, of the seed of David, is to be higher than all the kings of the earth. He is to be Ruler with worldwide sway and with an everlasting kingdom. Verses Psa 89:30-35 plainly say that however the kings of Israel and Judah following David were to sin, that God would not break His covenant or promise with David, would not cast off the Davidic dynasty under any circumstances.
There are no conditions to this promise. It is attested by the sworn oath of God Himself (v. Psa 89:36), that the Seed of David "shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me."
If we honestly accept these plain promises of God, we must believe that the throne upon which David sat at Jerusalem will be reestablished and will endure forever, and that on this throne at Jerusalem will sit this great Son of David, literally descended from his loins.
David’s Kingdom, a Tree Cut Down, to Grow Again More than once in the Bible an earthly and literal kingdom is pictured and symbolized by a tree. In Eze 31:3 the Assyrian king is pictured as a great cedar tree, and the symbol is carried out throughout the chapter. In verse 18 the same symbol is used to picture Pharaoh of Egypt. The cutting down of the tree there means the destruction of the kingdom. In Dan 4:10-27, we are told how God gave to Nebuchadnezzar the dream of a great tree which pictured his own rule as a world emperor. The tree, in the dream, was cut down, but the stump was left. The inspired interpretation is that Nebuchadnezzar would lose his kingdom for a time to dwell among the beasts of the field, but that when his heart was humble, God would restore his kingdom. The same image is used more than once in the Bible concerning the kingdom of David.
David’s kingdom was established and grew into a great tree. When Israel and Judah were carried into captivity, the kingdom was destroyed until only the stump remains. David’s kingly seed remains, but his throne at Jerusalem is vacant. But out of the stump of David’s once proud kingdom grows a Sprout, a Branch who will restore in multiplied glory the kingdom of David at Jerusalem, to reign over Israel. That is the theme of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Zechariah and other prophets. The Rod From the Stem of Jesse In Isa 11:1-12 the restoration of David’s kingdom is foretold.
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the falling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the OK. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Gush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth"
Jesse was the father of David, and Isa 11:1 means that from the "stem" or trunk of David’s line, a Rod or a Sprout should grow to restore David’s kingdom. "A Branch shall grow out of his roots." In the New Testament it is made clear that Jesus is the Son of David. Of that we will learn more later. But in this passage, Isaiah shows that the coming Saviour would restore the kingdom of David on earth. Not Fulfilled at Christ’s First Coming
If you read the passage you cannot help seeing that this did not occur at the first coming of Christ, and has not yet occurred. Verse Isa 11:4 says that He shall "smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." But Jesus did not slay the wicked. Nor does the gospel slay the wicked nor smite the earth today. This verse could not mean that Christ through the gospel ever smites the earth with various catastrophes and plagues, for that would be just as true of preceding centuries as during the present time. The poor are not judged in righteousness and the meek do not have their enemies reproved now, as verse Isa 11:4 says they will have. That would be a mere "private interpretation" of Scripture, which is forbidden in the Scriptures (2Pe 1:20), to explain away the plain intent of this passage, count it all figurative language, and so dismiss it.
Study verses Isa 11:6-8. The nature of wild animals has not been changed yet as is pictured in this passage. Lions do not now eat straw like oxen, a sucking child cannot safely play on the hole of the asp (one of the most poisonous of snakes), nor put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. Calves and lions and cows and bears do not lie down together nor feed together. Jesus did not change the nature of wild animals at His first coming, and the gospel has not done it yet. This Teaching, the Branch of David to Rule Over Israel, Repeated Several Times Jeremiah was inspired to tell the same story and we find it clearly stated in two passages.
"And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer 23:3-6).
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the BRANCH of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel" (Jer 33:14-17).
These passages tell of the righteous Branch of David, that He will be a King who "shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice IN THE EARTH." In these passages we are plainly told that that seed of David shall be called "the Lord our righteousness," really the Lord Jesus Christ, our present Saviour and our coming King. The regathering, yes, and the salvation of Israel is mentioned here again in connection with the kingdom of this Branch of David’s tree, once cut down, but to be restored again with greater glory under David’s greater Son. These passages discuss a kingdom, a reign "in the earth ." This is not in Heaven. The throne is not in Heaven, nor is the reign in Heaven. But this King shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and justice-in the earth, Jer 23:5 says, and "in the land," Jer 33:15 says. This is the same reign about which Isa 11:1-16 tells us when the nature of the wild animals shall be changed and the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth.
We may take it, then, as a well-defined doctrine in the Old Testament that there must appear a great Descendant of David who will reign on David’s throne at Jerusalem and that the monarchy of David in Palestine will be restored again in an everlasting kingdom on the earth. The Throne of David, the Nation Israel, the Land of Canaan In this chapter and the two preceding chapters, you have been impressed, I trust, with the truth that all the unfulfilled promises and prophecies of the Bible center around one land, one race and one throne.
These three, the throne of David, over the people Israel, in the land of Canaan, form the triple center of all prophecy. One who understands God’s covenant with Abraham about the land Canaan, His covenant with Israel about their restoration and conversion, and the covenant with David about his throne, has the heart and center of the prophecies. Almost as prominent in the prophecies as these three is the city Jerusalem. The wonderful promises to the holy city are dealt with more fully in chapter nine.
Meanwhile, in chapter six, we will see that Jesus is to be the Branch out o£ the root of Jesse, "the King of the Jews" who shall reign on David’s throne over the whole earth.