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The Continuity of the Bible

Adult Class

Winter 2005/2006

Lesson 7: David and the Promises

            To this point in our study, we have seen that God has a plan for the redemption of the world and He is actively working it out. We have seen a succession of covenants as God puts in place the framework from which He will bring the Messiah:

• The covenant with Noah pictured salvation as a few were rescued by the grace of God, and through their obedience preserved life on the entire world.
• The covenant with Abraham prefigured the kingdom of God as He chose a particular people to bear His name and launch salvation.
• The covenant with Moses typified the holiness of God's people and brought them into a land of their own in order to worship and serve God in peace.

            God has engineered these elements of His plan for the redemption of humanity in Christ and is now ready for the next phase of His plan-a ruling family to provide a dynasty through which the King of all the earth will come. This is part of the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham (Genesis 17:6).

            Once the Israelites had entered and subdued the Promised Land, they were to be independent tribes ordered around a common place of worship and the unwavering service of God. They were unfaithful to the covenant both in manner of life and observance of ritual, and suffered at the hands of their enemies. They asked God to appoint for them a king (in fulfillment of a plain prediction in Deuteronomy 28:36) and He gave them Saul. This was a period of adjustment for the people and not the final fulfillment of God's plan. After Saul, God selected David, through whom would come the next major phase of God's plan.

            The covenant instituted with David is related in 2 Samuel 7, especially verses 8-16 for our purposes. The features of the covenant promises are clearly an expansion of the earlier covenant with Abraham:

• David's name is to be great (v.9)
• God will provide a place for His people (v.10)
• David and the nation will gain rest from all enemies (v.11)

            But from these provisions, God adds yet more blessings for the family of David in three very important promises:

• God will establish a house for David (v.11)
• God will provide a son to reign (v.12)
• God will establish the throne forever (v.13)

            The immediate fulfillment of two of these promises is found in Solomon. The ultimate fulfillment is found in Jesus Christ as He fulfills all three elements. Solomon serves as the picture of the Spiritual King who is to come. This makes his later failure all the more tragic as it actually obscures the promises of God.

            Clearly, Jesus is the fulfillment of all these promises to David:

• Jesus is the Son of David (Matthew 1:1)
• Jesus is King forever (Matthew 27:11; Revelation 19:16)
• Jesus' kingdom will last until the end (1 Corinthians 15:22-28).

            King David introduced another important step in God's eternal plan for the redemption of humanity. In addition to the functions we've already listed, he also had certain characteristics of a prophet and was able to know something of future events. This enabled him to incorporate into his psalms certain elements of the unfolding plan of God, even if they were not well understood at the time. Examples include:

• Psalm 22 is a graphic description of crucifixion-from the viewpoint of the victim. Specific elements of Jesus' ordeal are noted in verses 16, 17 and 18. This is all the more startling since crucifixion was unknown in Palestine during the days of David and was only introduced in the century before Jesus.
• Psalm 16 shows a hope of resurrection and is certainly used to illuminate that teaching in Acts 2:25-28.
• Psalm 110 mentions a king greater than David, specially selected by God. This was especially puzzling because descendants were always considered inferior to their ancestors (hence Jesus' question that baffled His opponents in Matthew 23:43-44).

            The promises of God have stacked up and drawn a clearer picture of the coming Messiah who will provide final redemption and a reversal of the effects of sin and death. All the books of the Bible are tied together by their revelation of God's plan and His promises to bring about that restoration.