Day #109 | "The Son of David's Eternal Throne"

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17, and Psalm 110

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

A Messiah from the House of David. Looked at a certain way, the entire narrative of the Old Testament is just Creation (Genesis 1-2) and the Fall (Genesis 3) followed by one long genealogy leading up to the Messiah. God tells the Serpent in Genesis 3 that the seed of the woman (but interestingly, not of the man) will crush his head, and that in that moment the Serpent will deal him a mortal death blow. Then humanity is removed from Paradise, and the question hanging over the Old Testament from that point on is how we will get back. From that point in Genesis 3 and onwards, we are on the lookout for who this "seed of the woman" will be. Genesis 4-5 shows us that this descendant will come through Adam and Seth; Genesis 6-11 begins with the Messianic expectations of Noah's father, and shows us that the Messiah will come from Noah and Shem; Genesis 12-16 shows us he will come from the line of Abraham; Genesis 17-26 shows us he will come from Isaac's line rather than Ishmael's; Genesis 27-48 shows us that God will bring his deliverer through Jacob rather than Esau; and in Genesis 49 we find that this figure, though he will be dealt a death blow, will reign forever and come from the kingly line of Judah rather than the line of Joseph. The descendants of Judah don't seem to do much throughout Exodus-Judges, and a Canaanite man named Caleb actually leads the tribe for a brief period, though the backstory of how that happened is now lost to history. But after a long stretch, we then see that God is still working in the line of Judah in the book of Ruth, as Boaz and Ruth are married. Years afterwards, 1 Samuel sees David -the great grandson of Boaz and Ruth- anointed as the future king over his brothers. Finally, here in 2 Samuel 7 we see that God will establish the throne of David forever, and that the Messiah will come from David's line.

Is this really about the Messiah? This passage is the first major development in God's rescue plan since almost the book of Genesis, or maybe Exodus. From those books we already saw that we should be waiting for a Promised Deliverer. Now, though we know that David is not this deliverer, we are told that his family line will be preserved after his death, and that his throne will be established forever (2 Samuel 7:13). Solomon is to be the first of this kingly line of David, and so this passage has him directly in view, but to focus too much on Solomon would be to bury the lead, here: God just told David that his throne would be eternal. In the words of Dale David, "death would not annul it [7:12-13], sin could not destroy it [7:14-15], and time would not exhaust it [7:16]" (quoted from Walter Kaiser Jr., "2 Samuel 7: The Davidic Covenant" in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, which I am pointing out here because I recommend the book). Although our reading plan pairs this with Psalm 110, a relevant "commentary" on 2 Samuel 7 comes from Psalm 132, which says:

The LORD swore an oath to David,

a promise He will not abandon:

"I will set one of your descendants

on your throne." [...]

There I will make a horn grow for David;

I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.

I will clothe his enemies with shame,

But the crown he wears will be glorious. (Psalm 132:11, 17-18). 

From this passage on, we are to watch and wait for God's chosen, anointed (this word translates as Messiah or Christ), future King who will come from the line of Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah--and David. When the Gospel of Matthew opens up the New Testament, he will arrange his genealogy of Jesus into three neat groups of 14: the value of the name of David. It's Matthew's way of pointing at Jesus with three big arrows marked "David" as if to say, this is the one. And that is who he is.

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? IN OUR WORSHIP I think we can marvel at how God planned all of this out and brought it to fruition. IN OUR ATTITUDES we could take a page from those who watched and waited for the Messiah all the way from the time of Adam and Eve, and we can patiently wait for God to bring about what he has spoken--while paying attention to the ways that God is showing us that he is also active here and now.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean