The Covenant Made With David To Be Realised In The Re-Establishment of the Kingdom of Israel Under Christ, continued

Jesus, as we have seen in a previous lecture, was born without human paternity; his conception was due to the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary. " Therefore, " said the angel, " he shall be called the Son of God. " Thus, in a sense far transcending the case of Solomon, were the terms of the covenant realised - " I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son " . In fact, the divine sonship of Jesus is the crowning feature of his position as the Messiah. No man can Scripturally believe that he is the Christ, while denying that he is the Son of God. A scriptural confession of his name involves the recognition of the two facts expressed in the words of Nathaniel - " Thou art the Son of God; thou art THE KING OF ISRAEL " (John 1v 49). John says, " Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? " (I John 5v 5). The divine testimony to Jesus, uttered at his baptism, and again at his transfiguration, was couched in these words - " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him " (Matt. 17v 5). Hence, the most striking feature in the covenant made with David shines out in Jesus, who was both Son of God and Son of David; and in view of it it is easy to understand the language of David in the 110th Psalm, in reference to which Jesus confounded the Pharisees so that they could not answer again. He said:

" What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord how is he his Son? " (Matt. 22v 42-45).

This was a question which the Pharisees could not answer from their point of view, because, on the supposition that the Messiah was merely to be a natural son of David, on no principle admissible in Jewish practice could David have addressed him as Lord, for that would have been to accord to him a position and a deference which could never be recognised as proper to be yielded to a son by a father. But in view of the truth, the question admits of an easy solution: Christ is the son of David by the flesh of Mary; but he is also David's Lord, because of a higher parental origin than David; " God hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father " (John 5v 22, 23).

The next feature in the history of Christ corresponds to the next feature in the covenant made with David. He did not commit iniquity; but he was " chastened with the rod of men, " and with the stripes of the children of men. The original Hebrew of this part of the covenant, according to Dr. Adam Clarke, is more correctly translated as follows: - " Even in his suffering for iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. " This is intelligible as applied to the death of Christ:

" Surely he hath bourne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed....The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all " (Isa. 53v 4, 6).

But the mercy of God did not desert him as it did Saul, who was rejected, and as we might presume it did in the case of Solomon, whose last days, so far as we have any record, were spent in disobedience. Christ was forsaken on the cross; but it was only for a moment; God's favour returned with the morning which saw his deliverance from the grave of Joseph of Arimathea, and was to him an eternal river of joy. His relation to Deity in the whole transaction cannot be better expressed than in the words of the 16th Psalm, which Peter, on the day of Pentecost, applied to him:

" I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore " (Psa. 16v 8-11).

In Psalm lxxxix the covenant with David is repeated in substance, and here the following language is used, which could not be applied to Solomon:

" Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth my mercy will I keep for him for evermore.....his seed also will I make to endure for ever; and his throne as the days of heaven " (verses 27-29).

In no sense was Solomon Jehovah's firstborn; while of Jesus, the following statements are made:

" He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, THE FIRSTBORN from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence " (Col. 1v 18).

" For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be THE FIRSTBORN among many brethren " (Rom. 8v 29).

" Christ the FIRSTFRUITS " (I Cor. 15v 23).

In this respect, he fulfils a condition of the covenant made with David, which is in no sense satisfied in Solomon. And he is indeed " higher than the kings of the earth " , for Paul says: - " God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow " (Phil. 2v 9-10).

But when we pass on to consider other things said in the covenant of the son promised to David, we find that Jesus has not yet fulfilled them. The first item may be stated in the words of Peter, " That he should sit upon the throne of David. " In no sense can Jesus be said to have done this. The throne of David is in ruins. Its condition is described in the following language:

" Thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wrath with thine anointed. Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant, thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin. All that pass by the way spoil him; he is a reproach to his neighbours. Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries: Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle. Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground " (Psa lxxxix. 38-44).

This state of things was predicted by Ezekiel in the following terms:

" And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, UNTIL HE COMES WHOSE RIGHT IT IS, AND I WILL GIVE IT HIM " (Ezek. 21v 25-27).

This prediction was uttered in the reign of Zedekiah, the last Israelitish king in the line of David, B.C.593; and ever since that time the kingdom has been overturned. It was overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar in the lifetime of Zedekiah, and was afterwards trampled down by Greece and Rome. Since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, it has had no existence. The land is in the possession of the enemy, and the people are scattered as fugitives throughout the earth.

In view of this, what conclusion is to be drawn from the covenant made with David which expressly guarantees the perpetual continuance of David's throne and kingdom, under that son of his who was to be the firstborn of Jehovah? There is only one conclusion admissible in the premises, and that is, that at some future time, Jesus must return and reestablish the kingdom of David, and preside therein for God, as David did: and to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written: " After this I WILL RETURN, AND WILL BUILD AGAIN THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH IS FALLEN DOWN; and I will build again the ruins thereof and I will set it up " (Acts 15v 16). The testimony confirmatory of this conclusion is very express. There are the wellknown words of Isaiah:

" For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, AND UPON HIS KINGDOM, to order it and to establish it with judgment, and with justice, from henceforth even for ever " (Isa. 9v 6-7).

Then there are the words of the other prophets, of which the following are only a meagre sample:

" In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land " (Jer. 33v 15).

" Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict: so will l watch over them, TO BUILD AND TO PLANT, saith the Lord " (Jer. 31v 27, 28).

" For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them ALL THE GOOD THAT I HAVE PROMISED THEM " (Jer 32v 42).

" Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah " (Jer. 33v 14).

" In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted, a remnant, and her that was cast off, A STRONG NATION: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever " (Mic. 4v 6, 7).

" Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land: and I will make them ONE NATION in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and ONE KING shall be King to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all " (Ezek. 37v 21, 22).

" And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations " (Isa. 61v 4).