The Davidic Covenant

July 7

I Chronicles 16-17

Psalm 78:40-55

Proverbs 17:12-13

Romans 4

The Davidic Covenant

“And it will be that when your days are fulfilled to go to be with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build for Me a house and I will establish his throne forever.  I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; and I will not remove My lovingkindness from him, as I removed it from him who was before you.  But I will cause him to stand in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”  I Chronicles 17:11-14  LSB

David had been established as the king of Israel.  He had conquered Jerusalem, brought the Ark of the Covenant there, built a palace for himself and God had given him peace from his enemies. Life was good for David.  As he looked around at all that God had given him, he realized that there was no permanent dwelling place for God in the land.  He wanted to build a beautiful temple to house the ark of the covenant and to worship the Lord.  He explained his plan to Nathan the prophet and he thought it was a good idea, but that night God came to Nathan and told him that David was not to build the temple.  David was a warrior and had shed much blood.  David had faithfully followed the Lord so this was not a rebuke or a punishment, it just wasn’t God’s plan.  Solomon, David’s son, would be the one to oversee the building of the temple. God used this opportunity to establish a covenant with David.  Through Nathan, God gave David a promise that He would establish his kingdom forever.  It is important to note that this is an unconditional covenant.  Some covenants in the Bible are conditional on both parties.  If they obey God and do as He says, then He will bless them.  This covenant was not conditional on any actions by David or the Israelites.  It was solely based on God’s faithfulness and love. 

There were several promises in the covenant.  First, God promised to provide a place for his people so that they could have a home of their own.  This is the land that God promised to Abraham so it is an extension of the covenant God made with Abraham.  Israel is currently occupying part of that land, but one day we can be assured that God will return every square foot to them as He promised.  He then promised that his son would succeed him as king and that he would be the one to build the temple.  But God wasn’t finished.  He expanded the promise saying, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”  From a historical perspective, this doesn’t appear to have come to pass.  We know that after Solomon died the kingdom was divided.  In 722 BC the Northern Kingdom, Israel, fell to the Assyrians.  In 587 BC the Southern Kingdom, Judah, fell to the Babylonians.  So did God fail to keep His covenant with David?  This is actually a Messianic promise.  In Matthew and Luke, the lineage of Jesus is traced back to David.  God was promising David that He was going to send a Savior to Israel and that He would establish His kingdom forever.  The final fulfillment of this promise will come during the Millennial reign of Jesus when He will sit on a throne in Jerusalem and will rule for 1,000 years.  God does not go back on His promises.