David in prophecy

David, in Scripture, is the model of the royal family to which God, under oath, has committed Himself, for all times (Ps.89:29; Ps.132:11; Isa.9:7). The Messiah will sit “on the throne of his father David”, as also the messenger said to Mary (Luke 1:32). Not David himself, but the Son of David is the final and rightful claimant of “the throne of David,” and in “the city of David” (2Chron.5:2), i.e. in Jerusalem. However, there are a number of prophetic passages that seem to say that it will be David, himself, who will reign in the Messianic kingdom. In Jeremiah 30 verse 9 is written:

But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

And Ezekiel prophesies:

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it]. Ezekiel 34:23,24

And a few chapters later, in chapter 37, we read:

24 And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever.

And in Hosea 3:6 we read:

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

When during the Messianic Kingdom, the Messiah will sit on the throne of His father David, why will He be called “David”? The best answer that can be given, comes from the mouth of Peter. When he at Pentecost, for the benefit of his people, quoted several passages from the Psalms in which David speaks of “I”, “me” and “mine”, then Peter explains it this way:

“Men! Brethren! Allow me to say to you with boldness concerning the patriarch David, that he deceases also and was entombed, and his tomb is among us until this day. 30 Being, then, inherently, a prophet, and having perceived that God swears to him with an oath, out of the fruit of his loin to seat One on his throne, 31 perceiving this before, he speaks concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither forsaken in the unseen, nor was His flesh acquainted with decay. Acts 2

David indeed spoke in the first person (“I”, “me” and “mine”), but as a prophet, he was referring to the Christ who will come out of his loins, and who will  sit on his throne. In other words, the David of prophecy is “the Son of David!” David is not only a personal name, it, as well, is the family name of “the House of David”. It is the name of the dynasty to which God has committed His promise. Letters, in the Bible, also represent numbers (much like our Roman numerals) and therefore, a word or name also expresses a numerical value. The Hebrew name David is spelled as “daleth” (4) “wav” (6) “daleth“ (4) and therefore represents the number fourteen. How meaningful, in that light, is the structure of the registry “of Jesus Christ, the Son of David” in Matthew 1. Three times fourteen generations are presented to arrive at “the Christ” (Mat.1:17). It emphasizes that it is about the heir of David; He who inherits the throne of his father, but also his name. Jesus himself was also very aware of his Davidic identity. So He refers to the prophecy of Ezekiel, in which it was foretold that Israel would no longer be two nations, but one nation (Eze.37:22). But also that God, then, would appoint “one shepherd” over them (Eze.37:24). In Ezekiel, this shepherd is called “David”, but when Jesus refers to this, He points to Himself: “… they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). The name “David” means, significantly enough, “beloved”. Was not David also, “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22)? But for whom could this name be better and more applicable, than for Him for whom the heaven, once and again, opened with the words: “this is My Son, THE BELOVED (=the David!), in whom I delight (Matt.3:17; Matt.17:5)?

Delen: