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 Ger, continues his five-part series on Messianic prophecy in the writings. This is Chris Rodriguez, and I'll have some important information for you at the end of our program, so be sure to have a pencil and paper ready. And now, with today's teaching, here's Stephen Ger.

Stephen Ger: Shalom, this is Stephen Ger. Welcome back to our study of Messianic prophecy found within the Hebrew scriptures, and there's no shortage of them. The Davidic Covenant, which was found of course in two parallel corresponding passages, one of which is 2 Samuel 7:11-16, the other 1 Chronicles 17:10-14.

We have interpreted the covenant, we have deconstructed it and seen that it contains three promises: perpetual dynasty, unshakable kingdom, and an eternal throne. We have seen the eight components of the Davidic Covenant: that God would build a royal dynasty, that his son would reign securely, and that David's heir would indeed not only be secure but would build a temple for the Lord.

But that the ultimate son, the ultimate heir, would have a throne that would be established forever, not just enduring, but eternal. That God would make David's name great, indeed renowned and famous, respected. That someday in the unspecified future, as a result of this Davidic king, Israel will experience an unprecedented era of permanent tranquility, peace, security, and justice.

We've seen that David's dynasty will never be abolished and would continue in perpetuity forever. And we saw finally that the Davidic Covenant contains a promise of an undying son, of an eternal king, which will permanently guarantee the perpetual dynasty, the unshakable kingdom, the eternal throne. All the other components are guaranteed or predicated upon an undying eternal son to rule over the nation of Israel.

We saw last time that even today within the synagogue, three times a day, a prayer is recited, the 15th of the 18 benedictions contained in the Amidah. The prayer reads, "Speedily cause the branch of your servant David to flourish, exalt his horn by your salvation, because we hope for your salvation all the day. Blessed are you, O Lord, who causes the horn of salvation to flourish." So even now, the Davidic Covenant informs the Messianic hope of the Jewish people.

We saw last time that the New Testament is absolutely rife with references to Jesus being the royal fulfillment, the living embodiment of the Davidic Covenant, beginning with the very first verse in the Gospel of Matthew and the very first chapter within the Book of Luke, with the angelic announcement to Mary that the child she carries will receive the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Israel forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.

You see, in first-century Israel, the title Son of David, Ben David, conveyed a potent political punch. It was not just theological; it was political as well. And what the Jewish people widely understood this Ben David to refer to was an idealized political revolutionary who would cast off the shackles of Roman oppression. Remember, they were occupied by Rome.

This figure would not only cast off the shackles of Roman oppression, he would judge the wicked and purge evil from the midst of Israel. He would create a righteous reign and a righteous land in which to live. And Israel enthusiastically anticipated that the dynasty of David would be restored and the kingdom of Israel once again made glorious, in fact, more glorious than it had ever been in the past.

And this expectation is based, of course, not only on the Davidic Covenant, but on the Hebrew prophets. For example, I'll just quote Jeremiah 23, just as one small example and I could go on and on, which reads, "Behold the days are coming when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land." That's Jeremiah 23. There's also Isaiah 11, and there are so many other passages.

That expectation of the Messianic king coming, purging evil, breaking off shackles of oppression, providing a righteous atmosphere in which to serve God, is widely espoused throughout not only the Bible, the Hebrew prophets, but throughout first-century Jewish literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. And Jesus, when he came, his first advent, he conducted his ministry amidst this crazy whirlwind of amplified Davidic anticipation.

You know that one of the most important Messianic titles that is given to Jesus in the New Testament is Ben David, Son of David. And this title, I don't want you to miss it, this is not just a genealogical designation linking Jesus to David. This is a theological and political statement. Son of David designates Jesus as the recipient of all the promises that God made to David. Not a few of the promises, not a couple of the promises, but all of the promises that God had made to David concerning the future and eternal government of one of his descendants.

He was the descendant who was going to maintain not only the future but the eternal government. And the Son of David term specifies Jesus to be the royal majestic Messiah who is entitled by his birthright to rule and reign over all Israel. During Jesus' earthly ministry, Jesus accepted this title as applicable to himself. For example, Matthew 9:28, Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him crying out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." Does he keep on walking? No, the title gets his attention.

Later on in Matthew 20:31, the crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David, Ben David, have mercy on us." Once again, does Jesus keep walking, say nothing to see here, have no idea what they're talking about? The term Son of David always gets Jesus' attention.

And again, Mark 10:49, many were sternly telling them to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me." While he recognized the term and while he did not tell them that it doesn't apply to him at all, and received it as applying to him as directly applicable, Jesus nonetheless abjectly refused to be drawn into the political intrigue that was associated with this name and certainly refused to be sucked into any kind of revolutionary activity.

We can see the political aspect of this title because, for example, even the Christmas story that we're so familiar with, right at the beginning of Matthew 2:2, Herod the Great feared the one who was born King of the Jews. And we know that it's also a political title because not only does Herod the Great fear the baby who was born King of the Jews, but when Jesus was crucified, he was crucified with a sign on the cross that said, "King of the Jews," Luke 23:38.

Nonetheless, when he was asked about this by Pilate, John 18:36, Jesus forcefully proclaimed that his kingdom, well, at least for the present time, was not of this world, was not of this age. According to the teachings of the apostles, the Son of David concept is primarily applicable to Jesus' future function as King of the earth as he reigns from his father's throne in Jerusalem, Father David's throne in Jerusalem.

That's where the Son of David packs the most potent punch in the Messianic age. And it is in this fashion that the Son of David concept is linked to Jesus specifically by Peter in Acts 2; that is his sermon at Pentecost to the temple audience, in the temple courts. He says in Acts 2:30-31, "And so because he was a prophet, this is David, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, the abode of the dead, nor did his flesh suffer decay."

Peter's quoting Psalm 16 and saying Psalm 16, there's no question that David is prophetically looking forward to the Messiah because you need a resurrected Messiah, you need a resurrected king, in order to fulfill all the promises of the Davidic Covenant. This also was a very important theological component within the presentation of Paul addressing the Jewish audience of Pisidian Antioch in his sermon in Acts 13.

The Son of David concept is critical to understanding the teaching of the apostles and the underlying expectation that the New Testament is built upon. As Paul says in the synagogue, "From the descendants of David, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus." And Paul is arguing that Jesus, the promised Son of God, is the ultimate Davidic King, the prophesied Branch, the Root of Jesse of Isaiah 11, the Savior of Israel because God's promise to David had entailed an eternal throne.

The eternal Davidic dynasty requires, necessarily, an eternal Davidic descendant. Let me say that again because that is so true, it bears repeating: the eternal Davidic dynasty requires an eternal Davidic descendant. And through the establishment of the Davidic Covenant, God prepared Israel for Messiah's coming.

In fact, the Davidic Covenant is so important and so prominent in the New Testament and so foundational to our understanding of just who Jesus is and who the apostles argue that Jesus is, that I myself, Stephen Ger, today cannot finish the subject in this episode. I'm actually going to need to stretch it to our next episode. So, what does the rest of scripture have to say regarding the Son of David and the New Testament? How does Jesus himself use the term within his own teaching? I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep you in suspense until next time. Until then, Shalom.

Chris Rodriguez: Thank you, Stephen, and thank you, listening friend, for joining us today. It's always good to have you with us. If you missed part of this series or would like to share it with a friend, you'll be glad to know that it's 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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