The Davidic Covenant

 

We have previously looked at the unconditional Abrahamic and the conditional Mosaic Covenants. Now we will turn our attention to the Davidic Covenant. The Davidic Covenant has both the condition and unconditional tenets of both covenants. It is unconditional as it concerns David’s posterity as is the Abrahamic Covenant, yet it is conditional as it relates to the holy character that will be enthroned. In 2 Samuel 7, David is promise by God that his son will succeed him as king. This no doubt is as opposed to what happened to the previous monarch, where there was a dynastic change. David’s heart is to build a temple for God, however God said to David through the prophet, Nathan, he did not want David to build a temple, do to his bloody hands. However God promise that the dynasty of David would last forever, and his desire for a temple to be built would be carried out by his successive son, Solomon. God promises that even the sin of Solomon would not result in the removal of the Davidic Dynasty. David is assured that his physical seed or house would remain enthroned and reign over the Kingdom of Israel forever. This has very important eschatological implications, 1) There must be a physical person, seed of David that reigns as King, 2) on what is today a non-existent throne, and 3) in a country that is currently not governed as a monarchy but a democracy. Thus if the promise of the Davidic Covenant is to stand, we can only expect it to happen by the invisible hand of divine providence. While the land, seed, and blessing in the overarching Covenant of Abraham cannot be detached from the throne, we must note that the narrow scope of the Davidic Covenant is that of the seed portion of the covenant. In Ps. 89:3-4, the Abrahamic Covenant is extended through the posterity of David in the promise of a perpetual enthronement. This is connected directly to the Abrahamic Covenant in understanding that Israel is to be a blessing to all nations (the Messiah,) and the Mosaic Covenant in that there obedience is to be an example to all nations. The nation’s obedience will be a result of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of David. The seed, now reckoned through David literally becomes the key to both the possession of the land and worldwide blessing promise to and through Abraham,             The character of the covenant again has both condition and unconditional tenets. That is the promise has no contingency on David’s obedience, however it is contingent on an obedient seed, yet the contingency to provide the obedient seed that will not be in need of chastening ultimately rest with God.             Given the nature of the Davidic Covenant, we can only conclude that Israel must be preserved as a people if there is to be a kingdom where the seed of David will be enthroned. Israel must be restored to the land since the covenant to David is only an extension of the previous Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants.             The seed of David is literally the contingency of all covenants in the bible. We have said much of the Mosaic and Abrahamic Covenants, however there are even more ancient covenants than these that the seed of David becomes key to God’s fulfillment without violation of His own holiness. Such is the Noahic Covenant, where God promise never to destroy the world again as He did in Noah’s day. However, the wickedness of men and the justice of God would not allow for this were it not for the intervening seed of David. Unlike in the day of Noah where only he and his family were saved, many will be saved from the coming destruction through the seed of David and future revelation of the wrath of God will not be liken unto that of the day of Noah.             Another Covenant is the natural covenant of creation. That is that the creature by nature owes unwavering service, honor, and glory to the creator. In this right the seed of David’s role is greatly expanded to the point of the title “the Second Adam.”  As the first Adam was to govern all creation as viceroy, the seed of David shall perfectly do so from the center of the earth, enthroned in Israel. He shall literally be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In that day we shall see the Kingdom of Israel’s boarders expanded not merely from the Nile to the Euphrates, but throughout the entire world. We must distinguish between Israel proper or the nation of Israel as promise to Abraham and the Kingdom of Israel as promise to David. A kingdom is not restricted to nation’s boarders, but is as broad as the King’s authority. We will in, that time see, the Kingdom of Israel, who has been subject to the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman kingdoms now become the worldwide reigning kingdom. The particular outstanding future will be that the complete worldwide domination that their predecessors failed to achieve will be achieved by the seed of David, finally and forever.     December 8, 2003 Yuri Solomon