On the Road to Bethlehem #9: Looking for a Dynasty

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, 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 to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but My steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before Me. Your throne shall be established forever.'"

—2 Samuel 7:12-16

The coming Messiah would crush Satan (Genesis 3:15), dwell among men (Genesis 9:27), would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-12), a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19), and a faithful priest (1 Samuel 2:35). The clues for God’s Messiah are sprinkled throughout the Old Testament and one of the most crucial elements is found in God’s words to David in 2 Samuel 7.

David came to reign after King Saul and after the short and only partially recognized reign of Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth. Saul was the first king in the Israelite monarchy, but due to his foolishness and breaking faith, he died quickly (1 Chronicles 10:13-14). God then sought a king after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and David was appointed to take Saul’s place (1 Samuel 16:1).

David was the warrior-poet-king and the sweet psalmist of Israel with a heart solely focused on the Lord his God. After the Ark of the Covenant was successfully brought into Jerusalem under David’s leadership, he quickly sought to build a house for it. Up until that time, the Ark had only been in the Tabernacle, a portable tent-like structure. While David’s intentions were admirable, he was known as a man of bloodshed, and God wouldn’t have such a one to build His Holy Temple. Nevertheless, because of David’s heart for God, God made a covenant with him.

God promised David seven things: #1. He would make his name great (2 Samuel 7:9). #2. He would provide a place for His people Israel and would plant them (2 Samuel 7:10). #3. He would give him rest from all his enemies (2 Samuel 7:11). #4. He would raise up his offspring to succeed him (2 Samuel 7:12). #5. David’s seed would build a house for God (2 Samuel 7:13). #6. God would be a father to David’s seed (2 Samuel 7:14). #7. And David’s dynasty, kingdom, and authority will endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16).

By looking at David’s response in 2 Samuel 7:18-28, we can see that he understood the significance of the promise:  

“You have spoken also of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD!”—2 Samuel 7:19. 

God was doing something unfathomable through David. By promising to establish the kingdom through David’s descendant forever, God was promising something way beyond a localized reign. While Solomon became the one who constructed a house for God’s name (1 Kings 5:5), he wasn’t the one for whom God would establish the throne forever. One particularly fascinating detail is that Solomon attributed to himself the fulfillment of the first part of the promise made in 2 Kings 7:13 (that he would build God’s house), but he didn’t the second (the kingdom would endure forever). No mere earthly king would be able to fulfill such a lofty promise, for no earthly king could endure forever—that is, save Jesus.

Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. According to Hebrews 1:5, Jesus was David’s descendant referred to in 2 Samuel 7:14. The Bible describes Jesus as David’s descendant time and time again (Luke 1:27, 32, 69; 2:4) and Jesus Himself identified the Davidic conundrum of ancestry present in the Psalms by asking the Pharisees how David could call his descendant “Lord” while at the same time being his physical ancestor (Matthew 22:41-45). When one understands that Jesus is the physical descendant of David and incarnate Son of God, one understands why David called him “Lord”!

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to David (Luke 1:32; 2 Corinthians 1:20) and He is the one to whom God has entrusted universal rule. He is the one whose coming we look to during the Advent season and He is the one through whom God will banish evil, destroy the wicked, and reward the righteous. He is the Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings and the one for whom we long and wait. May we all respond in a wonderful song of praise with the words from the great Christmas song, “O Holy Night:”

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Amen.