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him a perpetua! covenant, uncondi–
tionally, which God cannot and will
not break! This covenant is even
more amazing, and less understood,
than the unconditional covenant
with Abraham!
"1
want you now to plant firmly
in mind the specific nature and
character of the covenant the
Almighty made with David. For it
is a vital link in the purpose and
mission of Christ- an important
KEY
to Bible understanding!
"In
Il
Samuel 23:1, 5, we find:
'Now these be the last words of
David.... God ... hath made with
me
an everlasting covenant,
or–
dered in all things, and
sure.'
In
other words, a covenant that shall
endure forever and
cannot fail!
"Turn back to the seventh chap–
ter of
H
Samuel for more specific
details. God gave David this cove–
nant promise at a time when David
':Vas much concerned over the Ark
of the Covenant dwelling in a tent.
David wanted to build a great tem–
ple at Jerusalem.
"'And it carne to pass that
night, that the word of the Lord
carne unto Nathan, saying, Go
and tell my servant David, Thus
saith the Lord, Shalt thou build
me an house for me to dwell
in? . . . When thy days be ful–
filled, and thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers,
J
will set up thy seed
after thee, which shall proceed out
of thy bowels [Solomon], and I
will establish his kingdom. He
shall build an house for my name,
and 1 will stablish the throne of
his kingdom for ever.
I will be his
father, and he shall be my son. lf
he commit iniquity, I will chasten
him with the rod of men, and with
the stripes of the children of men:
But my merey shall not depart
away from him, as
1
took it from
Saul, whom I put away before
thee.
And thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established for
ever
before thee:
THY THRONE
SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOR EVER'
(IJ
Samuel 7:4-5, 12-16).
Points to Notice
"Notice carefully these points:
l) David's throne was set up and
established with Solomon, David's
son.
4
2) The throne- David's throne
(verse 16)- was established
FOR–
EVER
in Solomon (verse 13).
Observe that this nowhere sáys that
when Christ comes, God will estab–
lish it in
Him
forever. It says it was
to be established forever
in Solo–
mon.
3) What if Solomon, or the
children of Israel, disobey? Would
that cancel this covenant? Verses
14-15 plainly say that if they com–
mit iniquity, God will chasten
them
with the rod of men,
but
will
NOT
break this covenant. The
throne shall go on forever just the
same!
4) Notice particularly, in case of
disobedience, God will
not
take the
throne away as He took it from
Saul. How did He take it from
Saul? Saul's dynasty ended! No son
of Saul ever sat on the throne. But
Solomon's dynasty would not end.
The punishment for disobedience
would be chastening at the hands of
men.
5) Since God did firmly estab–
lish this throne with David and
with Solomon, if David's throne
ceased from existence, even for the
length of one generation, could we
say it had been established
forever
as God here promised?
"Here is the fact as little realized
as any in the Bible! Almighty God
made an absolutely binding- just
how
binding we shall see!- cove–
nant with David,
unconditionally
guaranteeing that there should nev–
er be a single generation from that
time forward when there would not
be a descendant of David, in
UNBROKEN OYNASTY
sitting On
David's throne, ruling over children
of Israel!
lt
was the promise of a
continuous, unbroken dynasty-all
generations
forever-that
was
guaranteed.
"This is hard to believe! Yet God
promised and
una/terably guaran–
teed
just that! There were no condi–
tions. Nothing that would happen
could prevent it. The sins of the
people were not to change it. The
promise stood immutable!
The End of the Record
"But where is that throne today?
..The history of the Bible
records a line of kings, all deseen-
dants of David in continuous
dynasty, down to King Zedekiah.
But in the year 585
B.c.
this last
recorded king ever to sit on this
throne was captured by the armies
of King Nebuchadnezzar of Bab–
ylon, his eyes were put out, he
was taken to Babylon, and there
died in a dungeon!
·
"Moreover, all his sons were
slain! All the nobles of Judah who
were not already imprisoned or
enslaved at Babylon at that time
were killed, so that none could
remain to sit on the throne of
David! The Chaldeans destroyed
Jerusalem, burned the Temple and
the king's houses, took the Jews, a
captive, slave people to Babylon.
There is certainly no record of any
king of the line of David ruling
over Judah from that day to this.
However, the line of Jehoiakin to
Jesus survived in Babylonish cap–
tivity-so Jesus was a descendant
of David.
"Sorne will say, however, that
this throne is established today in
Christ. But Christ has not yet tak–
en over this throne! He pictured
Himself as the nobleman (Luke
19:12) who went to a far country
(heaven) to get for Himself a King–
dom, and, who, after receiving the
right to the Kingdom,
would
return.
Jesus Christ will not sit
upon the throne of David until His
second coming to earth, yet in the
future!
"But what of the nearly 600
years between King Zedekiah and
the birth of Christ?
Who
was
reigning over the Israelites and sit–
ting on David's throne during those
generations? If no one, then we
must conclude God broke His
Word, or the Scripture has been
broken!
"The answer is a mystery more
astounding than any tale of fiction!
The Bible reveals it, step by step.
"But, then again, sorne will point
to the expression 'I
will
stablish'
(11
Samuel 7:13) and conclude that
possibly God meant
at the second
coming of Christ
He would estab–
lish that throne forever. And still
that will not do. From whom would
Christ take over David's throne if
that throne has ceased these centu-
(Continued on page 44)
The
PLAIN TRUTH