Davidic Covenant
by Paul George
Scripture
2
Samuel 7:1-17; 1 Chronicles 17:11-14; 2 Chronicles 6:16
The Davidic Covenant refers to God’s promises to David
through Nathan the prophet. This is an unconditional
covenant made between God and David where God promises David
and Israel that the Messiah would come from the lineage of
David and the tribe of Judah and would establish a kingdom
that would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:10-13). It is
unconditional because God does not place any conditions of
obedience upon its fulfillment. The surety of the promises
made rests solely on God’s faithfulness and do not depend at
all on David or Israel’s obedience.
In this covenant, God reaffirms the promise of the land that
He made in the first two covenants with Israel, The
Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants. This promise is seen in 2
Samuel 7:10, “I will 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
anymore, as formerly.” In this covenant, God promises that
David’s descendent will succeed him as king of Israel and
that God will establish his kingdom, and he will build a
house, for God’s name and God will establish his throne.
God told David through Nathan, “Your house and your kingdom
shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be
established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). This is very important
because they show that the Messiah will come from the
lineage of David and that He will establish a kingdom from
which He will reign. The “house” refers to a dynasty;
“kingdom,” refers to a realm of political power and to a
people who are governed by a king; “throne,” refers to the
authority of the king’s rule; and “forever,” refers to the
eternal and unconditional nature of this promise to David
and Israel.
God's promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 is matched in
importance only by the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12
and later to all Israel and Judah in Jeremiah 31:31-34.
The nature and character of the covenant is a vital link in
the purpose and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God gave David this covenant promise at a time when David
was concerned over the Ark of the Covenant dwelling in a
tent and David wanted to build a temple at Jerusalem. The
Lord came to Nathan at night and told him to go to David and
tell him, 'Thus says the Lord, Are you the one who should
build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a
house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from
Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a
tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all
the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the
tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people
Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of
cedar?’ 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 to be ruler over My people
Israel. 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
lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away
from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and
your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne
shall be established forever’” (2 Samuel 7:5-16).
Five points concerning the throne:
1) David's throne was set up and established with Solomon,
David's son.
2) David's throne was established forever in Solomon (v13),
nowhere does it say that when Christ comes, God will
establish it in Him forever. It says it was to be
established forever in Solomon.
3) If Solomon, or the children of Israel disobey, their
disobedience would not cancel this covenant. Verses 14-15
plainly say that if they commit iniquity, God will chasten
them with the rod of men, but will not break this covenant.
The throne shall go on forever.
4) In case of disobedience, God will not take the throne
away as He took it from Saul. How did He take it from Saul?
Saul's dynasty ended. No son of Saul ever sat on the throne.
However, Solomon's dynasty would not end. The punishment for
disobedience would be chastening at the hands of men.
5) Since God firmly established this throne with David and
with Solomon, if David's throne ceased from existence, even
for the length of one generation, could we say it had been
established forever as God here promised? God made an
unconditional covenant with David, guaranteeing there would
never be a single generation from that time forward when
there would not be a descendant of David, sitting on David's
throne, ruling over children of Israel.
According to Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew’s Gospel, (the
genealogy of Jesus is posted on this site) from the
deportation to Jesus, no descendant of David occupied the
throne of David. There was no descendant of David’s on the
throne because Israel was under the yoke of the Gentiles.
The history of the Bible records a line of kings, all
descendants of David in continuous dynasty, down to King
Zedekiah. But in the year 585 B.C. this last recorded king
ever to sit on this throne was captured by the armies of
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his eyes were put out, he
was taken to Babylon, and there died in a dungeon, all his
sons were slain. There is no record of any king of the line
of David ruling over Judah from that day to this. However,
the line of Jehoiakin to Jesus survived the Babylonian
Captivity and returned to Judah and Jerusalem, so Jesus was
a descendant of David.
What about this present generation? Where is there a
descendant of David today who is to occupy the throne of
David and rule over the sons of Jacob and the world?
In a parable recorded in Luke 19:11-27, Jesus compares
Himself to a nobleman who has gone to a distant country to
receive a kingdom and then return. The distant country
represents heaven, after receiving the right to the Kingdom
will return. Jesus Christ, a descendant of David will not
sit upon the throne of David until His second coming to
earth.
Israel was not prepared to receive the Messiah when He came
to earth the first time. Will we be prepared when He comes
to earth the second time and establishes His Kingdom?
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