The Promise To David

 

3.5 The Promise To David

David, like Abraham and many other recipients of God's promises, did not have an easy life. He grew up as the youngest son in a large family which, in the Israel of 1000 B.C., meant looking after the sheep and running errands to his rather bossy older brothers (1 Sam. 15-17). During this time he learnt a level of faith in God which few men have since approached.

The day came when Israel were faced with the ultimate challenge from their aggressive neighbours, the Philistines; they were challenged to let one of their men fight the giant Goliath, the Philistine champion, on the understanding that whoever won that fight would rule over the losers. With God's help David defeated Goliath by using a sling, which earned him even greater popularity than their king (Saul). "Jealousy is cruel as the grave" (Song. 8:6), words which were proved true by Saul's persecution of David for the next 20 years, chasing him as a rat around the wilderness of southern Israel.

Eventually David became king, and to show his appreciation of God's love toward him during the wilderness of his life, he decided to build God a temple. The reply from God was that David's son, Solomon, would build the temple and that God wanted to build David a house (2 Sam. 7:4-13). Then followed a detailed promise which repeats much of what was told Abraham, and which also filled in some other details:-

"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 stablish 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" (v.12-16).

From our previous studies we would expect the "seed" to be Jesus. His description as the son of God (2 Sam. 7:14) confirms this, as do many other references in other parts of the Bible:-

- "I am the...offspring of David", Jesus said (Rev. 22:16).

- "(Jesus), made of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:3).

- "Of this man's seed (David's) hath God, according to His promise, raised unto Israel a saviour, Jesus" (Acts 13:23).

- The angel told the virgin Mary concerning her son, Jesus: "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father (ancestor) David...and of his Kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32,33). This is applying the promise of David's seed, in 2 Sam. 7:13, to Jesus.

With the seed firmly identified as Jesus, a number of details now become significant:-

-1) The Seed

"Thy seed...which shall proceed out of thy bowels...I will be his father, and he shall be my son." "...of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne" (2 Sam. 7:12,14; Ps. 132:10,11). Jesus, the seed, was to be a literal, bodily descendant of David, and yet have God as his Father. This could only be achieved by the virgin birth as described in the New Testament; Jesus' mother was Mary, a descendant of David (Luke 1:32), but he had no human father. God acted miraculously upon Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit in order to make her conceive Jesus, and so the Angel commented, "therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God" (Luke 1:35). The"virgin birth" was the only way in which this promise to David could be properly fulfilled.

-2) The House

"He shall build an house for my name" (2 Sam. 7:13) shows that Jesus will build a temple for God - both literal and spiritual. Ezekiel 40-48 describes how that in the Millennium (the first 1000 years of God's Kingdom after Jesus returns to the earth) a temple will be built in Jerusalem. God's "house" is where He is willing to live, and Isa. 66:1,2 tells us that He will come to live in the hearts of men who are humble to His word. Jesus is therefore building a spiritual temple for God to dwell in, made up of the true believers. Descriptions of Jesus as the foundation stone of God's temple (1 Peter 2:4-8) and of Christians as the temple stones (1 Peter 2:5) now slot into place.

-3) The Throne

"I will stablish the throne of his (Christ's) kingdom for ever...thine (David's) house and thy kingdom...thy throne shall be established for ever (2 Sam. 7:13,16 cp. Isa. 9:6,7)". Christ's kingdom will therefore be based on David's kingdom of Israel; this means that the coming kingdom of God will be a re-establishment of the kingdom of Israel - see Study 5.3 for more on this. To fulfil this promise, Christ must reign on David's "throne", or place of rulership. This was literally in Jerusalem. This is another proof that the kingdom must be established here on earth in order to fulfil these promises.

-4) The Kingdom

"Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee" (2 Sam. 7:16) suggests that David would witness the establishment of Christ's eternal kingdom. This was therefore an indirect promise that he would be resurrected at Christ's return so that he could see with his own eyes the kingdom being set up world-wide, with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem.

These things which were promised to David are absolutely vital to understand. David joyfully spoke of these things as "an everlasting covenant...this is all my salvation and all my desire" (2 Sam. 23:5). These things relate to our salvation too; rejoicing in them should likewise be all our desire. So again the point is made that these doctrines are important. It is a tragedy that Christendom teaches doctrines which flatly contradict these marvellous truths:-

- If Jesus physically "pre-existed", i.e. he existed as a person before he was born, then this makes nonsense of these promises that Jesus would be David's "seed", or descendant.

- If the kingdom of God will be in heaven, then Jesus cannot re-establish David's kingdom of Israel, nor can he reign from David's "throne" or place of rulership. These things were literally on the earth, and so their re-establishment must be in the same place.

Fulfilment In Solomon?

David's literal son, Solomon, fulfilled some part of the promises to David. He built a literal temple for God (1 Kings 5-8), and he had a very prosperous kingdom. Nations from all around sent representatives to pay respect to Solomon (1 Kings 10), and there was great spiritual blessing from the use of the temple. Solomon's reign therefore pointed forward to the much greater fulfilment of the promises to David which will be seen in the kingdom of Christ.

Some have claimed that the promises to David were completely fulfilled in Solomon, but this is disallowed by the following:--

- Abundant New Testament evidence shows that the "seed" was Christ, not Solomon.

- David seems to have connected the promises God made to him with those to Abraham (1 Chron. 17:27 = Gen. 22:17,18).

- The kingdom of the "seed" was to be everlasting - which Solomon's was not.

- David recognized that the promises were concerning eternal life, which precluded any reference to his immediate family: "Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant" (2 Sam. 23:5).

- The seed of David is the Messiah, the Saviour from sin (Isa. 9:6,7; 22:22; Jer. 33:5,6,15; Jn. 7:42). But Solomon later turned away from God (1 Kings 11:1-13; Neh. 13:26) due to his marriage with those outside the hope of Israel.

The Promises of God

 

Promises of God, the

The true hope of salvation in Jesus Christ, the hope of the gospel, is founded upon promises made by God in the Bible. These are described by the Apostle Peter as "great and precious promises", by which we may share "the divine nature", that is, eternal life (2Pe 1:4).

A promise is an undertaking from one person to another, guaranteeing to do or give something in the future. The promises of God are concerned with the future, both of mankind and of the world He has created. Unlike men's promises, which can be and often are broken, God's promises cannot fail. But to become effective for any individual, they must be believed; in Biblical terms, faith is the belief of God's promises, centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The phrase 'to give one's word' has the same sense as 'to promise'. In the Scriptures, God gives His word concerning the future, with all the force of a promise. All of the prophecies in the Bible concerning the future are therefore, in a sense, promises. But those principal promises that constitute the gospel are linked to covenants, or binding agreements.

It is remarkable that the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, should be prepared to enter into covenants with mortal men and women, and to affirm them by solemn oaths, but this is what the Bible records.

The beginning of the promises

The expression of God's gracious intention to save sinful men and women begins in Scripture immediately after the Fall of Adam and Eve, in this pronouncement: "I will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen 3:15). Although enigmatic, these words foretell a conflict between good and evil that would be resolved by the victory of a Saviour provided by God, the promised seed (or descendant) of Eve. In the course of time, man's wickedness drove God to bring the judgement of the Flood upon the earth. But in the aftermath, He made a second great promise to faithful Noah: "I will not again curse the ground any more... While the earth remaineth... summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Gen 8:21,22). This promise of the permanence of the earth was confirmed by a covenant, made by God with all flesh, and symbolized in the rainbow (Gen 9:11-13).

God's promises to Abraham

The next great development in the unfolding of God's promises for the future was made to Abraham (originally Abram). He was called by God, about 2000 BC, to leave his home in Mesopotamia to journey to Canaan, which was to become known as the Promised Land.

The promises God made to him were amazingly wide in scope:

"I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen 12:2,3);

"Lift up now thine eyes, and look... for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Gen 13:14,15);

"Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be" (Gen 15:5).

Abraham's belief in the last of these promises from God was "counted... to him for righteousness", in other words, his sins were forgiven because of his faith (v 6; cf Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; Jam 2:23).

These promises once again focused on the promised seed, descended from Abraham, eventually revealed as the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16). The multiplication of that seed "as the stars of heaven" refers to the multitude of people of all ages who would gain salvation through Jesus, by believing the same promises (Dan 12:3; Heb 11:12,13). God endorsed His promises to Abraham by covenants, first a covenant for the land of Israel (Gen 15:18) and then one with his seed, that He would be their God. This was marked in Abraham's natural descendants, the nation of Israel, by the rite of circumcision (Gen 17:1-14). Finally God sealed all of His promises and covenants with a solemn oath: "By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD... that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven... and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen 22:16-18). These promises, subsequently reiterated to Isaac and Jacob (Israel), are the very foundation of the gospel of salvation (Gal 3:8,9). They require that Abraham and all the faithful must rise from the dead, as Jesus did, in order to enjoy them (Acts 24:14,15; 26:6-8).

God's promises to David

Nearly 1,000 years after Abraham, when his descendants, the nation of Israel, had become a kingdom in the land of promise, God made further momentous promises to David the king: "I will set up thy seed after thee... and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son" (2Sa 7:12-14). These promises too were affirmed by God by covenant and oath (Psa 89:3,4), and were reiterated by the angel Gabriel at the annunciation of Jesus' birth (Luk 1:32,33).

God's promises to Jesus

All of these promises are centered in Jesus, the Son of God (Acts 13:32,33; Rom 15:8,9; 2Co 1:19,20), and so the New Testament begins with the words: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Mat 1:1). But there are other promises in the Old Testament directed personally to him. For example, Jesus is personally promised rulership of God's Kingdom: "Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psa 2:8). Exalted to God's throne in heaven, Jesus is affirmed by an oath to be a priest or mediator for all believers: "Sit thou at My right hand... The LORD hath sworn... Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psa 110:1,4; 1Ti 2:5; Heb 5:5-10).

God's promises to us

While God's promises cannot fail to be fulfilled, for us as individuals they are conditional upon our faith, our covenant with Jesus the Saviour through baptism, and a patient seeking for godliness: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ... And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal 3:27-29). By believing and acting upon God's promises, we can obtain eternal life and share in the marvellous blessings of God's Kingdom which is to come on this earth.

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The lion, the bear, the leopard, the beast

The opening words of this chapter take us back to the first year of Belshazzar's reign. This chapter must have been 62 years after Nebuchadnezzar had his dream of the "Golden Headed Image."

The scene of this vision was on the shore of the "Great Sea". This is an important statement. For In the Bible the term "Great Sea" stands for the Mediterranean Sea. To note further the "sea" In the scriptures is a type of the nations. (Rev. 17:15, Isa. 17:12,13).

All commentators agree that the beast of (Dan. 7) relate to and are associated with the Image of Dan. 2. The only difficulty that is presented is: In what order do they relate? Most line up the lion with Babylon and then go straight down in a chronological order. The problem then is which one do you leave out? For there are only 4 beast in (Dan. 7) but 5 parts to the image in (Dan. 2).

We need to keep in mind that (Dan. 7) takes place at the conclusion of the Babylonian Empire and the visions are future In consideration (Dan. 7:17). Therefore the proper order would be to align the lion with Persia and then start downward. There seems to be a double application given to each one of the beasts that would extend into the church age, notice the vision Is seen by night, which Is a picture of the church age.



The lion with eagle's wings

Daniel 7:3-4 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

Daniel 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Many have attempted to line this first beast as pertaining to the Babylonian Kingdom. That appears to be highly unlikely because of Daniel 7:17 – “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” The person that Daniel is speaking to is King Belshazzar. Chronologically speaking, Daniel chapters seven and eight occur before chapter six. King Belshazzar is the last king reigning in Babylon before being overthrown by the Medes and Persians. The beasts of chapter seven that shall arise must point to other kingdoms that occur after Babylon is fallen. I believe that this lion represents two different kingdoms. One spiritually before the first coming of Jesus Christ and a literal kingdom before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The four kingdoms can be spiritualized to be the kingdoms before the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and literal kingdoms before the second advent. Daniel chapter seven deals with kingdoms leading up to the Antichrist, his defeat, the White Throne Judgment and the saints reigning with Jesus Christ in eternity.

The kingdom that the lion with eagle’s wings spiritualizes would be the Medes and the Persians. This kingdom lines up with the chest and arms of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The winged lion creature can be found in Babylon and Persia as well. Archaeologists have found numerous carvings and sculptures of winged lion creatures that were throughout the Medes and Persian empire around 600 to 300 B.C. The Medes and Persians are the first empire after the Babylonian Empire and therefore the lion with eagle’s wings must pertain to the Medes and Persian Empire prior to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.



The bear with three ribs

Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Many have attempted to line this second beast in Daniel 7 as pertaining to the Medo-Persian empire that overthrew Babylon. I have already shown the Medo-Persian empire to be the Lion and therefore is not represented by the Bear with three ribs. The bear, like the lion, represents two different kingdoms.

The kingdom that the bear spiritualizes would be the kingdom under Alexander the Great. This kingdom lines up with the belly and thighs of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The grizzly bear is one of the most ferocious of bears. He has no fear of man and will attack whenever he feels like it. He is able to kill by his weight alone. Alexander the Great was victorious over King Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela on the Persian plains. King Darius III was prepared for this battle after being defeated in a previous conquest at Issus two years earlier. He chose the location of the flat plains so his chariots would give him the advantage over the Alexandrian army. The Persians also vastly outnumbered the Greeks. However at the end of the battle it was Alexander who was victorious with King Darius III again fleeing for his life. The bear even though outnumbered in the wilderness is able to overcome its prey by its power and strength. This was the case at Gaugamela. While we know the bear is Alexander the Great, we do not know who the ribs are. It is matter of historical fact that after the death of Alexander the Great, his kingdom was broken up into territories ruled by the generals of Alexander’s armies. They all claimed to be successors in their territories. The main three areas that were split up encompassed the areas of Egypt in Africa, The Middle East all the way to India, and the European branch of Macedonia and Thrace. So the ribs could very well represent the rulers of these three regions. The devour much flesh would be the wars and conflicts between them.



The leopard with four wings and four heads

Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

This leopard is a special character. It has four wings of a fowl, it also has four heads. Scholars have attributed this beast to Alexander the Great and mention the four generals who took over after his death. The next Empire on the scene is Rome making the Leopard with four heads and four wings a spiritualized representation of Rome.

Rome was in power at the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was in power after the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rome has many attributes to it. Rome was ruled by Caesar who was the head of the Senate. So the dominate political force of Rome was the senate itself. One became a senator of Rome by being elected or appointed to one of four offices. These offices consisted of the quaestorship, the praetorship, the consulship and the censorship. So one was not voted to the senate. He became part of the senate by becoming part of one of the four offices. These four offices could represent the four heads of Rome. The four wings could represent the influence that Rome had throughout Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, and The British Isles. Simply put Rome influenced areas to the North, South, East, and West. The leopard would represent the mixture of the peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, coming together to form a vast empire.






The fourth beast, dreadful and terrible

Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

This fourth beast has ten horns. It lines up with the toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image. A little horn appears, and three previous horns are plucked up. This little horn that comes up will be the Antichrist. This little horn has eyes like the eyes of man and has a mouth speaking great things. His kingdom will be diverse from the other kingdoms. He will rule with ten kings. Things are unfolding today that show the arrival of the Antichrist is near. The Antichrist will desecrate the temple in the middle of the tribulation and go after the Jews the last three and one half years of the tribulation.




IV. The Beast

This beast seems to be a combination of all the above. (Rev. 13:1,2; Hos. 13:7). This last beast will then be an integrated power, move In dominion like a bear, and speak English. The ten horns parallel the ten toes of (Dan. 2) and the horns of (Rev. 17:10-12).