The Davidic Covenant
 A
study of the biblical covenants can be as detailed as
the student would like it to be. This would include
an examination of the Hebrew word berith (“to
fetter” or “eat with” both of which
have the idea of a mutual agreement; or “to allot”
which has to do with a gracious settlement of a problem
or need). In the New Testament we often equate the term
with a bequest which leaves something to someone by
way of a will upon the death of the covenanter. In the
context of this article, however, we will consider the
term as an agreement between two parties.
The Bible records God’s establishment
of several covenants including the Edenic, Noachian,
Abrahamic, Sinaitic, Levitical, Davidic, the new covenant
in Christ, etc. Further, covenants can be divided into
two very basic types: the conditional covenant which
requires the fulfillment of certain agreements by both
parties, and the unconditional covenant which is a promise
one party makes to another without regard to the conduct
of the other party. An example of a conditional covenant
is the new covenant in Christ whereby God will save
sinners contingent upon their accepting Jesus as both
Lord and Master. An example of an unconditional covenant
is the Noachian, where God promised to never destroy
the world again with water, no matter the conduct of
His creation,
Then God spoke to Noah and to his
sons with him, saying, "Now behold, I Myself
do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants
after you; and with every living creature that is
with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of
the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark,
even every beast of the earth. And I establish My
covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again
be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall
there again be a flood to destroy the earth."
(Genesis 9:8-11 NASBu)
The covenant God made with David is
an unconditional covenant. That is, no matter what David
did or did not do, God’s covenant promises to
him and his house were going to be kept (2 Samuel 7:8-16).
As David was dying his final thoughts turned to the
great promise God made to him years earlier and reminded
himself that, though he was about to depart this life,
the covenant was not only unconditional, but everlasting
(2 Samuel 23:1-5). By faith he looked to the distant
future when everything God had promised would come to
pass through his greatest Son, Jesus the Messiah. The
angel Gabriel renewed this promise to Mary (Luke 1:31-33),
and James, the half-brother of Jesus, referred to it
in Acts 15:15-18 during the Jerusalem council meeting.
The covenant is found in 2 Samuel 7:8-16...
Now therefore, thus you shall say
to My servant David, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts,"
I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep,
that you should be ruler over My people Israel. And
I have been with you wherever you have gone and have
cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will
make you a great name, like the names of the great
men who are on the earth. I will also appoint a place
for My people Israel and will plant them, that they
may live in their own place and not be disturbed again,
nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly,
even from the day that I commanded judges to be over
My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all
your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the
Lord will make a house for you. 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 loving kindness
shall not depart from him, as I took it away from
Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house
and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your
throne shall be established forever."' "
That God would do for David what He
promised is nothing less than amazing considering David’s
sin and the terribly dysfunctional family he led. Not
only did he commit adultery with Bathsheba, but he killed
her husband. And because he was such a poor father his
children committed everything from incestuous rape and
murder to insurrection. It must be clearly understood
God was not pleased with David and his family, and their
conduct was not what He desired. And, the truth is they
suffered the horrible consequences of their sin without
regard to who they were as a family and that God had
made a special covenant with their father David.
Yet, it is also true God did, and will
do, for David what He promised. And this leads to the
obvious and glaring question, why?! Was it because David
deserved the covenant blessings? No. Did God somehow
make a mistake in making the covenant to begin with?
Again, the answer is no. Had the Davidic covenant been
a conditional covenant based upon David’s consistent
godly conduct it would have been scrapped long ago.
So, the answer must be found elsewhere. And it lies
rooted in the character of God Himself.
God will keep the Davidic covenant
simply because He said He would. This is not easy for
the finite human mind to comprehend, but since when
can any mortal fully comprehend the character, mind
and will of God? At times what God says and does simply
does not conform to what we would call normal or even
right. God’s promise to never destroy the earth
again by water is duly noted each time a rainbow is
seen, and the wicked conduct of the human race is not
a factor. When a Bible student reads about the sin and
corruption found in the Corinthian church he might wonder
how in the world could God through Paul refer to them
as being “...sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints
by calling…” In order to better understand
the Davidic covenant one of the first things we must
do is get rid of our own view of the way God should
be and simply allow Him to be God — grace and
all. What we sometimes have trouble understanding is
that sin is our choice (1 Corinthians 10:13), and grace
is His choice (John 3:16). And for that we shall be
eternally grateful!
Further, God made and will keep the
Davidic covenant because His name is associated with
it. That God will keep His unconditional promises to
His people for the sake of His name has great precedent
in the Old Testament (note Numbers 14:13-19 and Ezekiel
36:22ff). In both instances God does what He does because
His character will not allow Him to give the nations
the opportunity to blaspheme His name by saying, “God
promised to do something for His people, but in the
end was unable to keep His promise.” That will
never happen!
Well, what does the Davidic covenant
contain (2 Samuel 7:8ff)? Basically, it can be broken
down into four major parts. 1) David will have a great
name (vs# 9); 2) Israel will have her own land (vs#
10); 3) David will have a dynasty (house) (vs# 11-15);
4) David’s dynasty will be everlasting (vs# 16)
Should there be any question regarding
the interpretation of the Davidic covenant simply look
at David’s reply to God after Nathan told him
what God was going to do. Read carefully vss# 18-29
where David himself interprets the basic tenets of the
covenant. In those words he acknowledges the complete
fulfillment of the covenant promises will be in the
distant future, and that God’s word is the guarantee.
Also note David confirms the uniqueness of Israel through
whom God would do great things for Himself and for His
land (note the term His land). And,
finally David asked God to confirm His word about this
covenant for the express purpose of having His name
glorified forever.
During Jesus’ day the Jewish
people well understood the Davidic covenant and its
implications. In fact, Gabriel made sure Mary knew her
Baby would fulfill some aspects of the covenant when
he told her Jesus would sit on David’s throne
(Luke 1:30ff). David’s throne has never been,
is not today and never will be in heaven. It is in Jerusalem
(Jeremiah 22:1-4). Jesus promised the church in Laodicea
that those who overcome will “sit down with Me
on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21 NASBu).
Two different thrones, two different places, two different
times.
A careful study will show each aspect
of the Davidic covenant has applications to the future.
Applications such as Jesus reigning from the Davidic
dynasty throne, and David himself being resurrected
for the purpose of being the chief prince over his own
ancient people (Ezekiel 34:23,24; 37:24-28, etc.).
Throughout the history of David’s
dynasty unfaithfulness and corruption were present,
and God warned He would bring judgment for their sin.
Jeremiah 22: 1-5 not only shows the throne of David
is in Jerusalem, but also issues a warning about the
Davidic dynasty becoming desolate for its sin. And,
that is exactly what happened. When Zedekiah was deported
to Babylon in 586 BC the throne of David was without
a Davidic descendant, and has been for almost 2600 years.
But, desolation does not equal destruction. God promised
David a descendant for his throne; One that is called
the “greater than Solomon”, even our Lord
Jesus Christ. At the return of Jesus as described in
Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19 we will not only witness
the greatest coronation the universe has ever known,
but we will be participants in all the regal grandeur
and glory. Such has God stored up for those whose hope
is in Him.
The full implications of the Davidic
covenant are awesome beyond imagination, but a problem
exists there for some Christians. Unfortunately, many
are very unfamiliar with the covenant and related aspects
of Bible prophecy thus they look upon it as some sort
of heavenly fantasy that must be spiritually interpreted.
This is an inconsistent means of interpretation. On
one hand Christians who interpret prophecy in this way
believe some aspects of the covenant because they believe
in a literal, historical King David, but on the other
hand when it comes to promises having to do with the
future they suddenly switch to an allegorical interpretation.
The problems of inconsistent interpretation, however,
can be easily dismissed by simply taking the covenant
in its historical and grammatical contexts, and allowing
the Bible to interpret itself.
God is a covenant-keeping God, and
we are to be covenant-believing people. When those two
facts are fused together in our hearts we can rest well
without fear of current circumstances or impending events.
For the sake of His name and His glory God will do for
His people exactly what He said He would do. And that
includes King David. Psalm 121. DLM |
