Messianic Perspectives

Chris Rodriguez: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. Today our Bible teacher, Stephen Gere, continues his five-part series on Messianic prophecy in the writings. This is Chris Rodriguez. Please stay tuned after the message for some important information you will not want to miss. And now with today's teaching, here is Stephen Gere.

Stephen Gere: Shalom, this is Stephen Gere. Welcome to our series on the Messianic prophecies contained within the Hebrew Bible. Today we have in our session, and I am not going to finish in this particular episode, it is going to carry over into another one. It is actually not even just one passage; it is two parallel corresponding passages. I am speaking of 2 Samuel 7:11-16 and 1 Chronicles 17:10-14.

What are these passages, these parallel corresponding passages? Well, it is here that we find the establishment of what is called the Davidic Covenant. In the Davidic Covenant, we will see three unconditional promises that God made to David. Those consist of: one, a perpetual dynasty; two, an unshakable kingdom; and three, an eternal throne.

God established this indissoluble covenant with David. By indissoluble, I mean you cannot dilute it, you cannot water it down, you cannot break it, you cannot get rid of it, and you cannot ignore it. It is a permanent, full-strength covenant that God made unconditionally with David, in which David is promised that one of his descendants, somehow, is going to forever rule over Israel.

This ultimate son of both David and God—and the importance of the Davidic Covenant to a correct interpretation of subsequent Messianic prophecies cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, we should take some time and expend some energy together and deconstruct this covenant and see exactly what this covenant is saying and exactly what this covenant promises.

Because all other Messianic prophecies that flow subsequent from this have the Davidic Covenant as its source. It is the foundational source for every other Messianic promise and Messianic hope throughout the remainder of the Hebrew Scripture. It is impossible really to comprehend the basis of the Hebrew Scripture's numerous Messianic prophecies, multiple Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah, etc., without the foundational expectations relayed within the Davidic Covenant.

The Davidic Covenant really sets the stage, sets the pace, and provides the basis of the expectations of the Jewish Messianic hope. As it is laid out in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17, the Davidic Covenant consists of eight related components which really deconstruct or provide the basis of the three major promises: promises of perpetual dynasty, unshakable kingdom, and eternal throne.

Before we get into deconstructing the covenant and discussing the eight related components, it would be helpful to actually read the passage and see what it has to say. Because 1 Chronicles 17 and 2 Samuel 7 are so similar—they really are parallel with very few differences between the two, mostly the same with slightly different emphasis from one passage to another—we will simply take the time now to read the 1 Chronicles passage.

Again, I am reading from 1 Chronicles 17 and I am starting right in the middle of verse 10, which is where this covenant begins. Setting the contextual stage, you will remember David wants to build a temple for the Lord. He has been firmly established as king. He wants to build a temple, a house for the Lord, a "bayit." But the Lord says, "No, I have other plans. Let me unveil them to you as follows."

"Moreover, I tell you the Lord will build a house for you." So, David wants to build a house for the Lord, but the Lord articulates a very clever reversal. Rather than David building a house for the Lord in the sense of a temple, God says, "No, no, no, I will build a house for you," in the sense of a royal dynasty. So, God is building David a house, a royal house, a dynasty. You have to love the wordplays in God's linguistic style; it is really eloquent.

Verse 11: "When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son, and I will not take away my loving-kindness from him as I took it from him who was before you, but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever."

So, that first component is that God Himself will build a house for David, a royal dynasty. Secondly, upon David's death, the son who is yet to be born at this point would serve as his successor and heir and will reign securely. As scripture unfolds, it is revealed that this particular component is fulfilled through the rule of David's son, Solomon, as revealed in Kings and 1 Chronicles 22:8-10, etc.

The third component: the immediate heir of David, Solomon, would be the one permitted to build a temple for the Lord. Solomon does indeed build the temple and fulfills this prophecy. 1 Kings 6 and 2 Chronicles 3 really fulfill also Moses' expressed prophetic expectation of a central permanent location of Israelite worship which we find studied throughout the book of Deuteronomy, this future expectation that Moses has.

Fourth—and this is where it gets interesting, this is where your perspective really has to be stretched somewhat because this could not possibly be talking about Solomon—the throne of this son's kingdom is established forever. The royal dynasty here is portrayed not merely as possessing an enduring nature—in other words, Solomon is going to rule a very long time and his sons after them will rule a very, very long time for generations to come, etc., etc.—but that is not the language here. This royal dynasty is not merely possessing an enduring nature; it possesses an eternal one.

Furthermore, it is only going to be the Davidic dynasty, the Davidic line, lineage if you will, that will possess the exclusive divinely authorized authority to rule over the nation of Israel. You might try to stick someone who is not of the Davidic line within the Davidic dynasty on the throne or to have in charge of Israel someone who is not of the Davidic line, but this won't fly according to the Lord. That person would be a pretender. The only divinely authorized authority, the exclusive possessor of this right, is the son of David.

I want to again emphasize this fourth component: the throne of the son's kingdom is established forever. You have an eternal throne here. So again, let's just go over the first four. One: God will build David a house, a royal dynasty. Two: David's immediate successor will reign securely. Three: this immediate successor, this immediate heir, will build the temple, will build a house for the Lord. And four: the throne on which he sits will be established forever.

Now let's continue. Fifth: as God had long ago promised His servant Abraham in Genesis 12:2, part of the Abrahamic Covenant, God likewise promises David that he will have a great name. His name will be renowned; it will be respected. That is 2 Samuel 7:9 emphasized in that passage. Was David's name renowned, respected? Was his name great? Even in his lifetime, that was accomplished. And even now, 3,000 years later, three millennia afterwards, he is still both beloved and revered.

The sixth component: God pronounced at some unspecified future time, Israel, which is planted securely within her land, is going to experience an unprecedented era of permanent tranquility, peace, security, and justice that will have as its basis the Davidic Covenant. For that, I want to read you directly the passage from 2 Samuel 7:10 which makes a big point regarding this feature. "I will appoint a place for my people Israel. I will plant them. They will live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them anymore as formerly."

Let me say again, the sixth promise is an unprecedented era—so it has never happened before—of permanent tranquility, peace, security, and justice. So, it is permanent; you never need to worry about it again. It never happened before like this, and you will never have to worry about it again. The basis of this is the Davidic Covenant. What are we talking about? That is the Messianic age. That is the millennial kingdom. That is the often mentioned, fervently anticipated hope of the Hebrew prophets who write in the centuries-wide wake of this covenant.

Seventh: there is unconditional divine commitment to this covenant. It is expressed in the promise never to remove the Lord's covenant love, His mercy, his—the Hebrew word is "chesed"—His covenant love, His faithfulness, His loving loyalty from the dynasty as it had been previously removed from David's royal predecessor, Saul. Remember what happened to him? His dynasty was subsequently cut off. That was the end of Saul's line. It is not going to happen with David's line.

Although divine discipline is going to be meted out if individual kings sin, the dynasty itself of David will never be abolished and will continue in perpetuity. Now certainly Solomon, let us be honest here, certainly did sin according to the biblical record, and he required and received the Lord's discipline indeed. But nonetheless, the Davidic dynasty was not removed; it continued. Although Solomon's kingdom did split almost immediately subsequent to his death, there were consequences, but the Davidic dynasty continues.

The final component of the Davidic Covenant that is found here—only, not in the Samuel passage, but in the 1 Chronicles account—is the promise of a unique future descendant, an undying son who would be established forever. This figure will permanently guarantee all the previous promises. What that means, how it all works, I am afraid I am going to have to leave you in suspense. We will carry on the conversation next time.

Chris Rodriguez: Thank you, Stephen. If you missed part of this series or would like to share it with a friend, you will be glad to know that it is available on one convenient compact disc for the suggested gift of just $6. Just point your web browser to our online store at messianicspecialties.com and search for "Writings" and place your order with our secure server.

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This is Chris Rodriguez. Join us tomorrow for another edition of Messianic Prophecy in the Writings right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries in San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the free-will contributions of our listeners in this area.