THE ETERNAL DAVIDIC COVENANT: Initiated by The LORD
(2 Samuel 7:12-16; I Chron. 17:7-15; Psalm 89:3-4, 28-37; Luke 1:31-33)
In 2 Sam. 7:1-7 David is thinking of building God a house. He wants to be a blessing to God. The man who sincerely wants to build God’s house is told that “the LORD will build thee an house” (I Chron. 17:10). David is guaranteed that his “house & kingdom & throne shall be established forever!” (2 Sam. 7:16). Do you love God? Are you trying to build God’s house? Then expect God’s blessing on your home over time (I Chron. 17:23-27).
THE COVENANT PROMISES WITH THE SCRIPTURE AND THE FULFILLMENT
1 David’s name will be great (I Chron. 17:8) & will have a son, who will succeed him as king & establish his
kingdom. (2 Samuel 7:12; I Chronicles 17:11). Literally fulfilled in King Solomon (I Kings 2:46; 4:25)
2 David’s son (Solomon) shall build the Temple instead of David [Parts of the covenant were conditional for
Solomon] (2 Sam 7:13; I Chron 17:12 [I King 9:2-9; 11:11-12]). Literally fulfilled in (I Kings 5 thru 8; 2 Chron. 2
thru 7)
3 The throne will not be taken away from Solomon even though his sins justify it. But he will be chastised for
disobedience (2 Sam. 7:14-15; I Chron. 17:13). Literally fulfilled in (I Kings 11; see verses 9-12, 14, 23)
4 David’s HOUSE (seed) shall abide forever. This refers to his physical descendants (2 Chron 6:14-16)
(2 Sam. 7:16; Ps. 89:3-4; Jer. 23:5; 33:22, 25-26). Will be fulfilled in Christ (Rom. 1:3-4; Rev. 22:16)
5 David’s THRONE will be established forever [there were conditions for David’s seed to sit on the Throne
forever & only Jesus has met them!] (2 Sam. 7:16; Ps. 89:3-4, 36; Ps. 2:6; [Ps. 132:11-12]
Will be fulfilled in Christ: (Lk. 1:31-33; Rev. 19:11-16; Act 2:30; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 9:9)
6 David’s KINGDOM will be established forever. The right to rule in Israel will never be taken away from David’s
posterity & given to another family (2 Sam. 7:16; Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1). Will be fulfilled in Christ:
(Micah 5:2; Lk. 1:31-33; 3:23, 31; Matt. 1:1; Act 13:22-23, 34)
7 The Davidic covenant is eternal: (2Sam. 7:13,16, 24-25, 29; 23:5; I Chron. 17:22-27; Isa. 55:3; Ezek. 37:25; Ps.
89:34-37; Act 13:34). The LORD confirms it with an oath (Ps. 132:11-14; 89:3, 4, 33). Study the binding power
of covenant oaths in Heb. 6:13-18!
The Davidic covenant is confirmed in many Scriptures: (2 Sam. 23:5; Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 30:8-18; 33:14-17, 20-21; Dan. 7:13-14; Hosea 3:4-5; Amos 9:11; Zech. 14:4, 9). 16 times in the Gospels Jesus is identified as the Son of David. It is crucial that we understand the Abrahamic & Davidic Covenants to properly interpret biblical prophecy & World History!
The Eschatological implications of the Davidic Covenant are:
1. Israel must be preserved as a nation (Jer. 31:35-37). 2. The Nation of Israel must dwell in the Promised Land
securely and move no more (2 Sam. 7:10; I Chron. 17:9) (Ezek. 37; Isa. 11:11-12).
3. David’s son, according to the flesh (Jesus Christ) must return to the earth, bodily & literally, to reign over
David’s Kingdom (Act 2:25-35).
4. A literal earthly kingdom must exist over which the Messiah reigns (Rev. 20:1-6).
5. The Kingdom must be Eternal (2 Sam. 7:12; I Chron. 17:14; I Cor. 15:24-28; Isa. 9:6-7).
The following Scriptures explain why some of the Davidic Covenant Promises were fulfilled in Solomon, but the eternal HOUSE, eternal THRONE & eternal KINGDOM could only be fulfilled through our eternal LORD Jesus Christ. We must study God’s word carefully!
In I Chronicles 28:6 God said: “I have chosen Solomon to be my son, and I will be his father.” [But there were conditions for Solomon to maintain that relationship (I Chron. 28:7-9): he must keep God’s commandments. He disobeyed God & thus terminated this special blessing]
And God said to David: “Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments & my judgments, as at this day” (28:6-7).
King David warned Solomon:
(1Chron. 28:9) “Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, & serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever” (I Chron. 28:6-9; I King 9:4-9). Psalm 89:28-37 confirms this!
As we all know Solomon sinned away this Promise & blessing! (I Kings 11:1-13)
“And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, (11:10) And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. (11:11) Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee…” (I Kings 11:9-11). [I Chronicles 22:8-12 repeats God’s plan for Solomon “if” he would keep the LORD’s commands – which he did not!]
The omniscient LORD God knew Solomon would fail to keep these conditional parts of the Davidic covenant and thus included in one of the prophesies of the Kingdom “a greater than Solomon;” an eternal seed of David Who would also be the LORD’s Son! In I Chronicles 17:11-14 God revealed to David through the Prophet Nathan:
“…Furthermore, I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house. (17:11) And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom (17:12). He shall build me a house, and I will stablish his throne forever (17:13). I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: (17:14) But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established for evermore” (I Chron. 17:11-14). [2 Samuel 7:11-17 repeats the prophecy of a future seed of David who would also be the LORD’s Son. A Divine Son from Whom God’s mercy would never depart. He would be far greater than Solomon for he would never sin and thus establish the Kingdom forever!]
OUR SOVEREIGN LORD INSPIRED DETAILS OF THE LAW & CONTROLED HISTORY SO AS TO POINT ALL MANKIND TO JESUS AS LORD & SAVIOR.
The Scriptures explain why the supernatural miraculous virgin birth was necessary:
Jeconias (Matt. 1:11) is the N.T. form of the Hebrew Jeconiah (Esther 2:6) who is also called Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:6-15). He was king of Judah, and was taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. Jeremiah contracted the name of “Jeconiah” to “Coniah” (Jer. 22:24, 28; 37:1). Because of his evil heart & deeds, a curse was pronounced on Coniah that none of his descendants would prosper sitting on the throne of David.
“Thus saith the Lord, write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah” (Jer. 22:30).
This curse created a perplexing paradox: the Messiah had to come from David’s royal line, yet now there was a “curse” on that very line of descent! Had our LORD been the natural son of Joseph, He could not be successful on the throne of David because of this curse. This is further confirmation that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23).
Mary was a direct descendant of King David, but not a descendant who would be under the curse on Jeconiah. So, when the angel Gabriel announced Mary’s pregnancy to her, he identified the child to be born as “the Son of the Most High.” He also said that this child would be given the throne of His father David and rule over the house of Jacob in an eternal kingdom (Lk. 1:32). Sixteen times in the Gospel Jesus is identified as the Son of David.
The LORD God had laid the foundation for resolving the curse upon Jeconiah, 1400 years earlier in the Book of Numbers. The daughters of Zelophehad petitioned Moses for a special exception to the law of inheritance that would allow daughters to receive the inheritance of their father if he had no sons. Their petition was approved by the LORD Himself & they received their inheritance upon entering the Promised Land under Joshua. Christ’s right to the throne of David, apart from the curse on Jeconiah, relies upon this peculiar exception to a Father’s inheritance first made Law under Moses for the family of Zelophehad.
(Numbers 26:33) "And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: & the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, & Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, & Tirzah. (Num. 27:1) Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, (27:2) And they stood before Moses… saying, (3) Our father died in the wilderness… and had no sons. (4) Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father. (5) Moses brought their cause before the LORD. (6) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (7) The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them. (8) And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.” (Num. 27:1-8; 36:2-12; Josh. 17:3-6)
Thus we learn the importance of God recording the 2 slightly different Genealogies in Matthew & Luke:
Matthew traces the legal line from Abraham through David, then through Solomon (the royal line) to Joseph, the legal father of Jesus (Matt. 1:1, 6, 16). Luke traces the blood line from Adam through to David. Both genealogies from Abraham through David are identical. But after David, Luke traces the family tree through another son of David (second surviving son of Bathsheba), Nathan, down through Heli, the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Lk. 3:23, 31).
Heli, Mary’s father, apparently had no sons, and Mary married within the tribe of Judah. Jesus was thus born of the virgin Mary, of the house and lineage of David and received the legal title to the Davidic Covenant Promises, but without the blood curse of Jeconiah. [we learn every detail in the Books of Moses eventually has a link to Jesus Christ]! (read 2 Samuel 23:3-5!)
Accurate understanding of the Eternal Unconditional Abrahamic, Davidic, Palestinian, & New Covenant provides the indispensable framework for a profound understanding of Scripture & History. Over all the evil, destruction & death that people brought into this World we discern a Divine direction, purpose, & resolution to it all. We can find meaning, value, purpose, and eternal Life through faith in God’s Word & a personal relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.
